“Obvious fake”: why is hysteria spread in the media around the “Russian-ordered killings” of the US military in Afghanistan

Donald Trump accused The New York Times of knowingly lying, writing on Twitter that the authors of the material about the alleged involvement of Russia in the attacks of the Afghan Taliban on American troops are unlikely to provide any evidence of the veracity of the publication.

“The New York Times fake news distributors should reveal their“ anonymous source. ” But they cannot, because this “man” does not seem to exist at all! ” - said the American president. 

The Fake News @ nytimes must reveal its “anonymous” source. Bet they can't do it, this “person” probably does not even exist! https://t.co/pdg4AjybOG

Earlier, the head of the US National Intelligence John Ratcliffe denied reports of US media.

“I confirmed that neither the US president nor the vice president was informed about the intelligence referred to in The New York Times in his article yesterday,” the head of the intelligence service said on an official Twitter.

Statement by DNI Ratcliffe: "I have confirmed that neither the President nor the Vice President were ever briefed on any intelligence alleged by the New York Times in its reporting yesterday." (1/2)

The head of intelligence said that the statement published by the White House, which denied holding an information meeting on cooperation between Russia and the Taliban, is true.

“The information from the material of The New York Times and the subsequent news reports about the alleged holding of such a briefing are unreliable,” the head of the National Intelligence Service said.

On the eve of criticism of the publication The New York Times, which had previously published material on the alleged cooperation of Russia with the Taliban, the former acting director of National Intelligence, Richard Grenell (now holds the post of special representative of the US president for dialogue between Serbia and Kosovo. - RT ).

Answering Congressman Democrat Ted Liu’s question, is White House spokeswoman Kaley Makinani true that the US president and vice president did not receive information from him about Russia's involvement in the deaths of the US military in Afghanistan, Grenell said he had never heard of like that. 

“And the way you continue to politicize intelligence is disgusting. You clearly do not understand how the process of confirming unverified intelligence information occurs. A leak in the media of incomplete information from anonymous sources is dangerous, because you are being manipulated for the sake of political gain, ”Grenell added.

Answering Liu’s question why the White House, instead of denying the story of the reward for the killing of US military personnel, only says that the administration did not receive such information, Grenell focused on the fact that all sources in The New York Times were anonymous.

“And these same journalists presented us with lies about a conspiracy with Russia, for which you are still holding on,” he added.

Anonymous approach

Recall that the recent publication of The New York Times became the reason for Russia's accusations of "conspiring" with Afghan extremists. With reference to some unnamed sources in the American intelligence community, the publication announced the involvement of the Russian side in the deaths of US troops in Afghanistan.

As noted in The New York Times, Russia allegedly provided rewards to the Taliban for attacks on US troops and the coalition operating in Afghanistan. According to the publication, such information was obtained by US intelligence during interrogations of the captured "rebels."

In addition, the authors of the material stated that information about the alleged involvement of Moscow in the attacks on the American military special services was transmitted to the White House, but there was no reaction from the Trump administration.

• Reuters
• © Parwiz

Moscow rejected the allegations made in the American media, the Russian Foreign Ministry called the publication about the Russian side’s ties with the Taliban a lie.

“They drew attention to the next newsfeed launched by the American intelligence community into the media about the alleged involvement of Russian military intelligence in the contract killings of US troops in Afghanistan,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement.

Also, the Foreign Ministry noted that this "unpretentious stuffing" speaks of the "low intellectual abilities" of the propagandists from the American intelligence, and recalled the failure of the US campaign in Afghanistan.

The Taliban also denied the publication of The New York Times.

The absence of real evidence and the absurdity of the allegations against Moscow is also indicated by experts interviewed by RT. 

“The allegations cited in The New York Times are sucked. No important details are given. For example, how does Moscow allegedly carry out this program, what are its goals, etc.? And in general, this publication completely lacks geopolitical logic: it is absolutely unclear why Russia could have taken such actions, ”Vladimir Vasiliev, a researcher at the US and Canada Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT.

According to the expert, the article gives the impression of far-fetched and custom-made, clearly pursuing political goals in the context of the US election campaign.

A similar point of view is shared by Konstantin Blokhin, a researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“The allegations that Moscow allegedly encouraged the Taliban to attack Americans are an obvious fake. It is needed only in order to maintain the myth of the “Russian threat,” the expert explained in a commentary to RT. 

Accusations of “betrayal of the military”

The New York Times article, biased, according to experts, already had negative consequences for the Russian embassy in the United States, putting its employees in a potentially dangerous position: Russian diplomats began to receive threats against them. The diplomatic mission announced this on Twitter, urging the media to stop publishing fake and provocative materials. 

The material of The New York Times also became the occasion for high-profile political accusations in the United States. Donald Trump's potential rival in the upcoming presidential election, Joe Biden, hastened to accuse his opponent of “betraying” the US military.

• Joe Biden
• Reuters
• © Mark Makela

“All of his (Trump. - RT ) presidency is a solid gift for Putin, but this is no way. This is a betrayal of the most sacred duty of our country to protect and equip our military, whom we are sending to a dangerous business. This is a betrayal of every American family in which there is a loved one serving in Afghanistan or elsewhere, ”Biden said during a distance meeting with the public on June 27.

Biden also condemned Trump for allegedly possessing the information contained in the material of The New York Times, he still sought to return Russia to the G7.

According to Vladimir Vasiliev, both the editors of The New York Times and Biden, who picked up the accusations, have one goal - to inflict political damage on Donald Trump.

“This is an attempt to weaken Trump’s support among the military and veterans, because now the army and the military-industrial complex sympathize with him. And such accusations were a serious blow to Trump’s image, ”the expert explained.

Dangerous character

Accusing Russia of having links with the Taliban is not the first attempt to attribute to Russia cooperation with terrorist organizations by American politicians and the media. So, in December 2019, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a bill according to which the Secretary of State should decide whether Russia belongs to the countries sponsoring terrorism. 

At the same time, in early December 2019, the US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, David Hale, said that the State Department at this stage did not rank Russia among the countries sponsoring terrorism.

• Donald Trump
• Reuters
• © Carlos Barria

According to Vladimir Vasiliev, one of the goals of the current campaign to attribute Russia ties with the militants is the destruction of Russian-American cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

“Publications such as this article by The New York Times are dangerous and provocative in international relations. However, in the first place, the accusations made are designed to undermine the confidence of voters in Trump and to create a dissonance in his relations with the intelligence community, ”the expert summed up.

* “Taliban” - the organization was recognized as terrorist by the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of February 14, 2003.