Deceitful Blacklists and the Cyber-Pearl Harbor that Wasn't

https://www.euractiv.com/section/defence-and-security/news/us-publishes-black-list-of-chinese-and-russian-firms-with-military-ties/

What about US blacklist – a list of firms with ties to the US military? It would be the size of a metropolitan phonebook. This kind of article is fundamentally deceitful and meant to prey on either those governed merely by passions or the ignorant.

Anyone who spends even a few minutes thinking about this issue will understand this is part of a very aggressive and escalatory anti-Russian campaign.

It's part of the hype surrounding the Cyber Pearl Harbor that wasn't, an event that has received a tremendous amount of media play even though no one can quantify just what was done or produce proofs that would indentify who did it. All we're given are circumstantial and often poorly argued assertions that the hack (which itself seems desperately overblown) demonstrates patterns that suggest similarities to past Russian behaviour. A careful read of the new bulletins suggests that even the reporting bureaus haven't seen the proof and those with some remaining shreds of journalistic integrity are forced to couch the reporting in hypothetical terms, even expressing some doubt. For those who serve as mere mouthpieces – they have their intelligence agency and State Department sources and that should be enough.

One wishes the cynicism of the 1970's would return, an era in which reporters did not just accept the official statements and pronouncements of government agencies. Why? Because these same agencies and institutions had been exposed as corrupt and deceitful and an honest person, even one largely wedded to the Establishment order couldn't take them at face value. Scepticism can become destructive but a modicum of it is healthy, even necessary – especially when power is involved and the stakes are so high.

The truth that needs to guide us with regard to such questions is that societies are structured around their war machines. All military establishments, whether Russia, China, or the United States are filthy and corrupt. They are populated by thieves, killers and moral criminals. Whether they can hide their deeds behind propaganda, bureaucracy and layers of plausible deniability does not make this any less true.

Of course Russia and China are corrupt and criminal. We're talking about power, about nations that are (motivated by covetousness, fear, and even insanity) preparing for war. The mechanisms they develop are no different than what is seen in the United States. The US war machine is of a scope so vast it's hard to place it in focus let alone comprehend it.

Do the Russians and Chinese use their business sector to strengthen the hand of their state? Do they engage in espionage, theft, and dark deeds to gain the upper hand, to stay ahead of the game? Without a doubt and yet we can also say the US does all of these things and more – and its propaganda machine is much more powerful and effective. The US engages in cybercrime, hacking and every variety of theft. Its economy and corporate structures are also wed to its military system. Is this news?

The premise of the article is deceitful and its grant of integrity is a case of fearmongering, a true exercise in propaganda. Even Reuters/Euractiv must admit (by the hints contained in the article) that there's something deceitful in the list's release - but they release it anyway without challenging the fundamental narrative. The corruption connected to the list is (at best) linked to Trump administration corruption. While Trump is undoubtedly corrupt, he is only standing on the shoulders of his predecessors.