Stephen Lendman

They keep coming, new ones fabricated like others, part of longstanding Russia bashing, blaming the country for almost everything.

The latest one was concocted by Oxford University researchers, a study claiming Moscow exploits social media to target current and former US military personnel with propaganda and other misinformation. The so-called study covered a one-month period last spring, falsely claiming Russian cyberwar aims to undermine the trust of Americans in US democracy.

What doesn’t exist can’t be undermined. Study director Philip Howard claimed “(w)e’ve found an entire ecosystem of junk news about national security issues that is deliberately crafted for US veterans and active military personnel.”

“It’s a complex blend of content with a Russian view of the world – wild rumors and conspiracies.”

Former Pentagon official Mike Carpenter claimed the study “is further evidence of the Kremlin’s holistic effort to try to get inside the minds, computers and communications of our forces to steal information on things such as the locations and deployment schedules of specific military units and to conduct psy-ops against our troops.”

The problem with studies like Oxford’s and US intelligence community claims about so-called Russian interference in America’s presidential campaign is accusations and allegations aren’t supported by verifiable evidence. There is none.

Without it they’re groundless - gratuitous Russia bashing without a leg to stand on. The Oxford study also named independent web sites it claimed are linked to the Kremlin, including Veterans Today, Veterans News Now, and the Strategic Culture Foundation.

All three published some of my articles. By Oxford’s standard, that makes me a Russian agent, especially because I speak highly of Vladimir Putin and Sergey Lavrov, earlier calling them the most worthy candidates for Nobel Peace Prize recognition.

Carpenter called the above-named web sites, others Oxford cited, along with RT and Sputnik News “Russian fronts, given the high degree of Russian content.”

My web site has lots of it, the kind Carpenter, Oxford researchers and others like them loathe - hard truths they want suppressed, how imperial states and their supporters operate.

The Oxford study claimed thousands of Facebook and Twitter users referred to or used content from Russian-linked web sites over the period studied, calling it junk or phony news.

Carpenter invented his own reality, claiming the Kremlin is “very good at targeting specific demographics and subgroups within American society, with tailored content in order to sow discord and undermine trust in government.”

Months of House and Senate investigations into alleged Russian US election interference struck out, finding nothing, yet continue wasting time and money.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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