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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGreenwald weighs in on Russia
By Glenn Greenwald
The vast bulk of the commentary issuing from American commentators about the Russian military action in Ukraine involves condemning exactly that which they routinely advocate and which the U.S. itself routinely does. So suffocating is the resulting stench that those who played leading roles in selling the public the attack on Iraq and who are still unrepentant about it, such as David Axis of Evil/The Right Man Frum, have actually become the leading media voices condemning Russia on the ground that it is wrong to invade sovereign countries; Frum thus has no trouble saying things like this with an apparently straight face: If Russia acts the outlaw nation, can it be expected to be treated as anything but an outlaw?
Enthusiastic supporters of a wide range of other U.S. interventions in sovereign states, both past and present and in and out of government, are equally righteous in their newfound contempt for invasions when done by Russia. Secretary of State John Kerry who stood on the Senate floor in 2002 and voted to authorize the invasion of Iraq because Saddam Hussein [is] sitting in Baghdad with an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction and there is little doubt that Saddam Hussein wants to retain his arsenal of weapons of mass destruction told Face the Nation on Sunday: You just dont in the 21st Century behave in 19th Century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped-up pretext. The supremely sycophantic Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer as he demanded to know how Russia would be punished never once bothered Kerry (or his other Iraq-war-advocating guests, including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Washington Post columnist David Ignatius) by asking about any of that unpleasantness (is it hard at all for you to sermonize against invasions of sovereign countries given, you know, how often you yourself support them?)
American invasions and occupations of nations halfway around the world are perfectly noble, but Russian interference in a part of a country right on its border is the supreme act of lawless, imperial aggression. Few things are worse than watching Americas militarists, invasion-and-occupying-justifiers, regime-change enthusiasts, drone-lovers, and supporters of its various kinetic military actions self-righteously wrap themselves in the banner of non-intervention, international law and respect for sovereignty. Does anyone take those denunciations seriously outside of the class of western elites who disseminate them?
- more -
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/03/04/rt-host-abby-martin-condemns-russian-incursion-crimea-rt/
Speaking of someone deciding to "sermonize," it's a little hilarious that Greenwald, who supported the Iraq war is now criticizing people who spoke out about the invasion even before he did...and they're politicians.
This is Greenwald's debunk of his support for the Iraq war?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023134060
Here are some of Kerry's statements from that time
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024590090#post26
Hagel 2003:
Kennedy said U.N. weapons inspectors need more time to discover what kind of weapons Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein may be amassing in Iraq.
Bush, however, said Tuesday that Saddam was not disarming his nation and was giving the world community "the runaround." (Full story) ...But in an interview with CNN, Sen. Chuck Hagel, a Nebraska Republican and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged the Bush administration not to rush toward any confrontation with Iraq.
"We need to be patient here; time is on our side here," Hagel said. He added that a "precipitous" move would "endanger not just Americans around the world, but it would endanger this country, our security, stability in the world for a long time to come because we were rash in using our power."
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http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/01/21/kennedy.speech/index.html
Also, notice that the purpose of Greenwald's piece is to hype RT.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Shocked. Shocked I am.
Sid
treestar
(82,383 posts)That is just opinion.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)all I can do is try to enlighten them one at a time...
ProSense
(116,464 posts)he's standing up for journalism by hyping a host on the Russian propaganda channel. Truth to power.
I mean, this from a guy who lambastes Rachel Maddow in part because she's on MSNBC.
Guy is a tool.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)1. Russia's actions questionable, but USA and her allies have been a million times worse
2. No U.S. media/politicians have the right to criticize Russia EVER when they have turned a blind eye (or a wink and a nod) to U.S. military antics in recent years
3. Because an English-language RT news host bravely criticized Russia, RT has more freedom and independence in their reporting than any U.S. news outlet (although I'm sure his praise would have been similar if the host bravely supported Russian intervention as well)
Interestingly, Greenwald doesn't seem to have the stones to take a personal stance on the issue either way; although he has no problem critiquing the stance of others...Guess he plans to be neutral like Switzerland...
ProSense
(116,464 posts)All he's doing is being an apologist for Russian propaganda.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)and sometimes the Guardian, and he reverses himself or forgets what he said last year quite often.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)"I used to read his stuff in Salon and sometimes the Guardian, and he reverses himself or forgets what he said last year quite often."
...stating that a lot of people on the left gave Bush the benefit of the doubt. I know no one who opposed the war, other than politicians, who gave Bush the benefit of the doubt for invading Iraq.
Most people on the left were cynical because Bush was basically selected President. While he got strong support after 9/11 that went rapidly downhill after his illegal invasion of Iraq.
Also that lame attempt to justify Greenwald's support for the Iraq war does nothing to refute the point that he is criticizing politicians who spoke out against the invasion even before he did.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)http://www.buzzfeed.com/katherinemiller/insane-moments-from-rts-coverage-of-the-russian-invasion-of
h/t msanthrope
Pretzel_Warrior
(8,361 posts)Geeenwald takes no position on Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Pathetic.
struggle4progress
(118,320 posts)of the situation in the Ukraine, nothing on geopolitics, nothing but his tendentious overblown outgassings