NATO Supreme Allied Commander Philip Breedlove recently took US hawks' campaign of Russia-baiting up a notch, suggesting Russia and Syria have 'deliberately weaponized' refugees to 'break European resolve'. The remarks, and the mainstream media's ability to convey them with a straight face, are an indication of a broken system, experts suggest.
Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, Breedlove said
that "together, Russia and the Assad regime are deliberately
weaponizing migration from Syria in an attempt to overwhelm European
structures and break European resolve."
Moreover,
the commander warned, criminals and terrorists have mixed in with the
refugees, and may now be planning attacks on the West; this too,
apparently, is Russia's fault.
Analyzing the general's remarks, and the Western mainstream media's ability to convince many of its readers and listeners that there is truth behind his words, some Russian commentators are simply at a loss for words.
Asked for comment, Alexander Shatilov, the dean of the faculty of sociology and political science at Moscow's Financial University, told the newspaper that this is a 'classical example' of using propaganda to reject even basic facts and logic.
"It's an open secret to everyone with any understanding of foreign policy that it is Washington that is behind the influx of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe. Firstly, in agreement with Turkey, the borders were opened. Secondly, American charitable organizations have been used to stimulate the flow of refugees to the Old World."
Breedlove's remarks, according to Shatilov, have several goals in mind, including "serving as one more reason to sculpt the 'enemy image' of [Russia] for the average European man in the street, and attempting to pressure Moscow, in order to get it to give up its support for Bashar al-Assad, or at least become more amenable to negotiations."
Analyzing the general's remarks, and the Western mainstream media's ability to convince many of its readers and listeners that there is truth behind his words, some Russian commentators are simply at a loss for words.
"Generally, we have long become accustomed to Western propaganda's capability to work long and hard to 'prove' that white is black and black is white," Svobodnaya Pressa journalist Alexei Verhoyantsev noted.
"But in this case the charges simply look ridiculous. Is it really possible this time to convince the so-called international community that 'Russia is to blame' for all the ills of the world?"
"It's an open secret to everyone with any understanding of foreign policy that it is Washington that is behind the influx of refugees from North Africa and the Middle East to Europe. Firstly, in agreement with Turkey, the borders were opened. Secondly, American charitable organizations have been used to stimulate the flow of refugees to the Old World."
"And all this began five years ago, when the US catalyzed the Arab Spring and, in Libya, openly overthrew the authoritarian but robust regime of Muammar Gaddafi. Therefore, more than anyone, Americans should blame themselves," that is – their own government's policies.
Breedlove's remarks, according to Shatilov, have several goals in mind, including "serving as one more reason to sculpt the 'enemy image' of [Russia] for the average European man in the street, and attempting to pressure Moscow, in order to get it to give up its support for Bashar al-Assad, or at least become more amenable to negotiations."
"Washington fears that with Russia's help, Assad may become the first Middle Eastern leader to successfully resist US pressure and to stay in power. This would mean a serious moral and political defeat. The last time something like this happened to the Americans occurred after the war in Vietnam, where they were forced to ignominiously withdraw, sinking their reputation in the world for many years afterward."
