We all remember Powell and his "washing powder," which has been recorded in history as a infamous scene of the US government openly lying on the international stage.
We also remember "Nayirah's testimony," where CIA hired a public relations firm to design a dialogue scene, in which the 15-year-old daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US disguised herself as an ordinary Kuwaiti refugee, deceiving members of the US Congress, who were not just ordinary citizens, ultimately leading to the US President obtaining authorization for the Iraq War. This has come to be regarded as a classic example of modern atrocity propaganda. The US government is willing to deceive even its own people if they deem it necessary.
There are numerous examples of such things. Since the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the website "Monthly Review" has reported, “a team of researchers at the University of Adelaide have found that as many as 80 percent of tweets about the 2022 Russia-Ukraine invasion in its early weeks were part of a covert propaganda campaign originating from automated fake ‘bot’ accounts.”
Their article also mentioned, “in May 2022, National Security Agency (NSA) Director and U.S. Cyber Command chief, General Paul Nakasone, revealed that the Cyber Command had been conducting offensive Information Operations in support of Ukraine.”
For a long time, the US government has been spreading false information and creating rumors to manipulate public opinion, demonize other countries, and maintain its own hegemony. When it comes to conducting information manipulation and propaganda through various means, the US can be said to be highly skilled. The US unilaterally regards certain countries as "challenges" and "rivals" and launches a series of offensives under the pretext of "national security".
The rise of social media has provided a new environment and means for large-scale manipulation of public opinion in the US. Some individuals, organizations, cooperating with political forces in the US, have formed a relatively systematic network for the dissemination of false information. Many bills, policies, and reports on strategic competition with China released during the Biden administration also mention the need to support and fund such actors in order to influence the flow of information, tarnish China's image, and implement a large-scale public opinion and information against China in the international community.
If we talk about the extent to which the US spreads false information and manipulates public opinion, the following example is a good reference.
These individuals, such as Jerry Kowal and Andy Boreham, who have been maliciously defamed, are simply sharing their experiences in China online. Isn't this just normal people-to-people communication? However, according to ASPI's imagination, their lives in China are portrayed as "terrifying, oppressive, and ugly," and they are accused of enduring it all only because they “receive money from China”. Clearly, this report is yet another epitome of an ignorant and fear-mongering propaganda campaign funded by far-right groups and the military-industrial complex in the US. They fabricate such narratives to gain benefits.
This brings to mind the revelations made by WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and whistleblower Edward Snowden in the Prism scandal. According to the documents they disclosed, a "deep state" composed of institutions such as the CIA and the US State Department plays a "command center" role in manipulating public opinion. They are responsible for setting targets for public opinion attacks, shaping narratives, and then swiftly followed by the US government, Western media, politicians, think tanks, and others to rapidly amplify the propaganda, employing a "wolf pack" tactic.
“We lied, we cheated, we stole… we had entire training courses." Such tricks may make people like Pompeo proud, but it is evident to everyone that the real problem lies in allowing the US intelligence agencies to manipulate the dissemination of information on social media. If the US government truly wants to identify the source of threats to national security, the best approach would be to look in the mirror, rather than fabricating non-existent "enemies" to divert public attention.
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