© Eldar Sarakhman/Genya Savilov/AFPMotherland Monument in Kyiv draped in colors of U$ flag
Experts with important-sounding titles linked to academic-sounding entities have been shaping hearts and minds in the press, both at home and abroad, in favor of endless conflict in Ukraine.
Guess what deep-pocketed benefactor lurks beneath the surface?During the Iraq War, the Pentagon backed
retired generals to make the rounds of TV and radio shows as 'military analysts' to promote the Bush administration's agenda in the Persian Gulf. It was like inviting Ronald McDonald on a program to debate and discuss the merit of Big Macs. You could almost see the strings attached to the puppets, linked to the military-industrial complex that benefited from war without an off-ramp.
Fast forward 20 years, and the sales tactics have drastically changed. The generals have been replaced by various experts with academic credentials, typically linked to one or more 'think tanks'. Far from the neutral academic centers of intellectual integrity that the names suggest,
these entities are little more than laundromats for discreet special interests. I should know - I used to be a director of one.
Every Wednesday, some of the highest-ranking figures of the Bush administration would come to our Washington, DC office to deliver their main agenda points for the week, requesting assistance in placing and promoting them to both grassroots activists sympathetic to the cause and to the general public.
The experts within the think tank were hired based on political litmus tests, no doubt to ensure that their views aligned with the organization's. When they no longer do, you're either fired or you leave.
The donors, many of whom were well-known millionaires and billionaires driven by a passion for certain issues, would come straight out and ask for bang for their buck in exchange for the opening of their wallets. In some cases, an entire project or department would be mounted at the think tank with the understanding that it would be
fully funded by a single donor. These rich, influential folks typically had business or investment interests that benefited from shaping the establishment narrative in their favor, and they wanted to do so
without leaving any footprints. What better way than to have it all fronted by a shiny veneer of expert credibility?
Comment: In the same way that the EU was willing to destroy its economies for the US' anti-Russia sanctions, it seems that they're willign to cut themselves off from the world's richest and most productive economy, this, whist Germany is facing a deep recession (or crash); Italy has also pulled out of China's OBOR project, despite having the largest, and most precarious debt situation in the EU: