Stop Blaming Outside Forces For Our Ills

Perhaps I'm just from an older generation who experienced the Cold War rhetoric and propaganda and misinformation of all sides. The fall of the Iron Wall (ehh .. Curtain 😉) separating East and West gave many hope. The turn of events spurned by 9/11 brought war across the globe and a new role for NATO. That wasn't change for good. An expansive NATO brought US a New Cold War with the Russian Federal Republic.

The advances in Internet technology and the role of social media brings intrusion into our private lives, manipulation and political propaganda. The principles of Democracy and the U.S. Constitution have been undermined. The role of the United Nations to bring peace has been minimized.

[...]

During the Cold War era, the CIA overrated the might of the Soviet Union in terms of its economy and military power. This was not unintentional as U.S. Congress kept funds growing for the Intelligence community and the military leadership in the Pentagon.

Recent reports released after FOIA requests makes clear nothing has changed in the American 21st Century.

Stunning. The new Pentagon papers describe 'explicit and sustained efforts by the U.S. government to deliberately mislead the public ... to distort statistics to make it appear the United States was winning the war when that was not the case.' [_link]

— Lulu NYT (@LuluGNavarro) December 9, 2019

• Afghanistan papers reveal US public were misled about unwinnable war | The Guardian - 9 Dec 2019 |

Believe me, it's an Inside Job of the Right-wing machine funded by the very rich Americans, a policy rooted in the days of Richard Nixon and Barry Goldwater. Don't put blame on Russia, Ukraine or Vladimir Putin.