A State Department-linked Ukrainian NGO published a study on June 6 that listed hundreds of individuals and organizations that oppose aid to Ukraine in an effort to smear them as spreading “Russian propaganda.”
The NGO Texty.org.ua listed Antiwar.com and several of its staff members, including Eric Garris, Scott Horton, Kyle Anzalone, and many Antiwar.com contributors. Organizations that Antiwar.com works closely with were also named, including the Libertarian Institute and the Ron Paul Institute.
The American Conservative, which was also included in the list, reported that Texty.org.ua was co-founded by Anatoly Bondarenko. Bondarenko has worked as an instructor for a State Department program known as TechCamp, which provides training for foreign journalists and activists.
TechCamp’s website lists Bondarenko as a trainer for a Ukraine program that brought together “more than 60 local journalists, civil society, community leaders, and private sector partners in Eastern Europe” with the goal of helping to increase “digital and media literacy.”
The Texty.org.ua report is titled “Roller Coaster: From Trumpists to Communists. The forces in the US impeding aid to Ukraine and how they do it.”
The study acknowledges that most of the people listed “do not have direct, proven ties to the Russian government or propagandists.” But it claims that “the arguments they use to urge authorities to distance themselves from Ukraine echo key messages of Russian propaganda aimed at depriving Ukrainians of the ability to defend themselves with Western weapons and funds.”
The report links to Antiwar.com’s Ukraine news page as an example of “anti-Ukrainian statements.”
Other listed people and organizations are from across the political spectrum, from former President Donald Trump to Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. Dozens of Republican members of Congress were named, including Senators Rand Paul (R-KY), J.D. Vance (R-OH), Josh Hawley (R-MO), and many others.
Media outlets frequently linked to on the front page of Antiwar.com were also listed, including Responsible Statecraft and The Grayzone. Peace groups, including CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace, World Beyond War, and others, were also smeared.
Really? Explain the diaspora and trapping men in Ukraine. They are defending US hegemony and hubris, nothing more.
😱You are red not blue and bigger than Aaron Mate and lower and to the right more! Aaaahhhh!
What's that supposed to mean to be at a far end of a chart? In any case, that's not very nice of them
haha. What a waste of time. I thought the Ukrainians were in a war and were desperate for money and arms? Well, they certainly have enough time to make lists..
Money has been budgeted for propaganda. This review was from early 2023:
USAID has supplied $20 million to “Miscellaneous Foreign Awardees” since February 2020. Recipients include a Polish think tank called the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, a Toronto-based Ukrainian TV channel, a collection of Ukrainian “anti-corruption” organizations, and other groups listed in the screenshot below. These awards were issued on top of $26 million worth of funds USAID sent these groups between 2016 and the February 2022 war escalation…According to their own so-called “Peace Manifesto,” the ICUV’s top priority is to admit Ukraine into NATO, a move that former US diplomats from George Kennan to Jack Matlock to Henry Kissinger and even current CIA director William Burns have described as a major provocation against Russia.
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/06/27/gravy-train-independent-audit-ukraine/
You're right. Much of war is a war of information, especially in modern times, so of course they set aside money for propaganda. The targeting of politicians and journalists and labeling them as enemy propagandists (wittingly or unwittingly) is a part of the smear campaign.
Great article! Thank you.
Another good read:
Inside the Pro-Israel Information War
Israeli gov-led Zoom calls, WhatsApp chat logs, and other docs provide a window into the massive effort to shape online discourse and silence pro-Palestinian voices.
LEE FANG AND JACK POULSON
DEC 7, 2023
https://www.leefang.com/p/inside-the-pro-israel-information
Thank you for the links!
You’re welcome. There are many more if you search.
of course. this isnt my first rodeo, darling
Condescension is not necessary ”sweetie”.
I don't understand. I wasn't trying to be condescending towards you. That was never my meaning or intention.
More:
How The FBI Helps Ukrainian Intelligence Hunt ‘Disinformation’ On Social Media
In an interview, a senior Ukrainian official defined “disinformation” as any news that contradicts his government’s message.
https://www.leefang.com/p/how-the-fbi-helps-ukrainian-intelligence
FBI helps Ukraine censor Twitter users and obtain their info, including journalists
The FBI aided a Ukrainian intelligence effort to ban Twitter users and collect their data, leaks reveal. Twitter declined to censor journalists targeted by Ukraine, including Aaron Maté.
https://mate.substack.com/p/fbi-helps-ukraine-censor-twitter
A badge of honor!
Truly … if I had a website and it wasn't included on this list, I'd feel like I did something wrong …
Dave, are you being modest? Or didn't they include you?
Would be amazing if he posted an essay making a proud case for his inclusion : "For consideration by your committee, sirs".
Didn't see his name in the charts…!
What's wrong with being "anti-Ukraine"?
George Bush's slogan…. "You're either with us or against us" still exists…!
FGB!
Zelensky and his slaves need to know, Americans will say whatever we want and do NOT need their permission. We are a Republic, not a FAUX Democracy like Ukraine, where there is NO "Freedom of Speech".
It would be nice if Zelensky were the problem but he's just a tool of US war machine.
Wear that "accusation" as a point of pride, antiwar.com !
Not for the first or last time is this site on the right side of history.
"Smears" is not the right word in title. A smear would imply something that is not true. There is no question that this site is against supply arms to Ukraine. Other than that, so what. Every side in a conflict has their own views of the war.
Poor sport
It must mean that antiwar’s exposure has increased.
LOL this carries echoes of a McCarthyite yelling, "I have here a list of 275 Americans who are card-carrying Commu….."etc ad nauseum. Unless they're planning on sending hit squads after everyone on the list, it's all political theater (and probably in aid of making sure a few people continue to get a paycheck from Uncle Sam).
Journalists and leftists are targets on new Ukraine ‘undesirables’ hit list
https://www.peoplesworld.org/article/journalists-and-leftists-are-targets-on-new-ukraine-undesirables-hit-list/
The anonymous authors of the so-called “Brown List” claim to be progressives, but it has been compared to the notorious Myrotvorets (Peacemaker) website launched by the former governor of Lugansk oblast, George Tuka, in December 2014.
The Myrotvorets website was allegedly backed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and published the personal data of those deemed to be “enemies of Ukraine” on several occasions. In May 2016, it published the personal data of 4,508 journalists and other media members from all over the world who had worked or had received accreditation to work in the eastern Donbass region.
Opposition politician Oleg Kalashnikov and journalist Oles Burzina were killed by neo-Nazi forces days after their names appeared on the list, while many other journalists were subjected to death threats….Italian journalist Andrea Rocchelli was added to the list following the Maidan coup in 2014. He was killed by the Ukrainian army the same year, and a file was found in the Myrotvorets Centre with the word “liquidated” written over his photograph. Rocchelli was accused of collaborating with “pro-Russian terrorist organizations.”
The Brown List has been condemned as a new attack on civil and social rights, which critics say were being systematically suppressed in Ukraine even before the Russian invasion. The list names a large number of Communists, journalists, academics, and leftist politicians and invites people to submit names for inclusion.
On Opening Day at Yankee Stadium in 2022, fans desperate for some baseball after a long winter, having invested time and money to get their seats, became a captive audience for a pro Ukraine rally by the US taxpayer funded US war machine complete with Ukraine national anthem and on-field ceremony featuring Ukraine citizens.
Who gives a shit what this jerkoff says or writes? Count me in as anti-Ukraine when it comes to the corrupt assemblage of misfits running that casino.
Ukraine is just a butcher shop where the proprietors feed the flower of their youth into the meat grinder – for personal profit.
choose a side! (neither side is anti-war)
Almost as useful as AIPAC's list of who not to vote for if you don't like foreign countries dominating your government. https://candidates.aipacpac…
I say almost, because while everyone on the AIPAC list is bad for America, not everyone on this list is necessarily good (like Charles Koch).
Ukraine isn't a foreign country, it's a US military base.