I derive no satisfaction from this, "I told you so."
I derive no satisfaction from this, "I told you so."
The overt dishonesty of most western media coverage, regarding the war in Gaza and beyond
Happy Monday to the TAT family,
Today, is a piece about something I don’t believe I have ever said… out loud, “I told you so.”
Since Oct 9th, I have covered much of the war in Gaza in over a dozen articles. Tragically for most Americans and others in the West, our most respected news sources, including my short list of formerly, “most credible’ sites, have been engaged in an utterly dishonest influence campaign against Israel. Yes, this is my professional opinion, and I would add, that I am more than qualified to make this determination. Their intent, as evidenced by their reporting, was to portray Israel as vengeful, indiscriminate killers of innocent men, women and children. Nothing could be further from the truth.
If we cannot accept the whole truth about both Israel’s and the Palestinian people’s needs, there will never be peace or a two-state solution that the overwhelming majority of both Israelis and Palestinians pray for. This topic about dishonest media and war appears to be an American and western tradition. Historians of the Spanish American War will undoubtedly remember false media narratives that led to war. “Remember the Maine” was the media calling card that drove the US to war against Spain.
"The peak of yellow journalism, in terms of both intensity and influence, came in early 1898, when a U.S. battleship, the Maine, sunk in Havana harbor. The naval vessel had been sent there not long before in a display of U.S. power and, in conjunction with the planned visit of a Spanish ship to New York, an effort to defuse growing tensions between the United States and Spain. On the night of February 15, an explosion tore through the ship’s hull, and the Maine went down. Sober observers and an initial report by the colonial government of Cuba concluded that the explosion had occurred on board, but Hearst and Pulitzer, who had for several years been selling papers by fanning anti-Spanish public opinion in the United States, published rumors of plots to sink the ship. When a U.S. naval investigation later stated that the explosion had come from a mine in the harbor, the proponents of yellow journalism seized upon it and called for war. By early May, the Spanish-American War had begun." - U.S. Diplomacy and Yellow Journalism, 1895–1898 - US Department of State - Office of the Historian
Introduction
Like the proverbial onion, “there are a lot of layers” to this issue. This issue is also a primary reason for our black and white approach to politics, sports, business, marketing, national security, the ever-expanding deficit of knowledge to most news consumers, limited education and countless other issues. Digital and broadcast media are providing the primary assault against learning but nearly everyone these days has a built-in agenda, whether they know it or not. In many respects, these identity-based agendas are like the USS Maine incident, cultivated by the modern version of “Yellow Journalism.” The nuances once essential to our learning and human development are being replaced with a dichotomy of good vs. bad, yes vs. no, black vs. white, left vs. right etc.
Marketers do this for profit. Some of the least ethical, sell their skills to politicians and political parties as hired guns, that enable the septic infection that threatens our very republic. Nations use this against other nations for their own purposes. Today’s most authoritarian nations assault the US and more ethical, other nations, for the purpose of conquest. This assault by influence is actually, Narrative Warfare and little different from Genghis Khan’s conquests, via his “Golden Horde” of Mongol warriors. Media is part of this phenomena in our modern times. They are the Narrative Warriors of conquest, deeply involved in Narrative Warfare. Yes, there are good and even great journalists but all too often, they pen articles and investigative reports, based on the interests of editors beholden to special interests. This is especially true in mainstream media.
These adversarial nations are winning at influence, due to our own failures to be proficient at influence, either in defense or offense. We are not even capable of marketing democracy any longer, and for a long list of dysfunctional reasons within my former profession, influence in support of national security. More on this later.
Adversaries, political parties, marketeers etc., create narratives that divide “sides” into good vs. bad, in order to sell advertising and do the bidding of their biggest investors or benefactors. The victims of this potentially catastrophic trend are the consumers of all media, journalism and even research, like the fake research advanced by climate deniers, paid for by big oil, for at least four decades. The current “culture wars” of a massive, extreme, right-wing movement are also great examples.
In the West these days, it has become almost impossible to say something, especially in social media that most people will not interpret as political. Then the accusations begin. Nothing is more, anti-democracy than this trend, and the last time we went through a similar trend, we went to war, North vs. South, killing hundreds of thousands of our own citizens in the process.
For the purpose of today’s article, this dangerous trend, is destroying democracy, the world over. This is not an accident.
Let’s talk Israel, Gaza, Hamas and civilian casualties, all of which are at the heart of the Western media’s dishonesty campaign.
Before launching into this, topic a bit deeper, I will post below, links to the other pieces I have written here on Substack, regarding this conflict. They are excellent background but not necessarily critical to understand what I am saying today. Numbers 7, 10 and 11 speak specifically to today’s topic. If this is too much reading, please simply skip these links and go directly to today’s insights further down.
Israel - by Paul Cobaugh - Truth About Threats
Let's unpack the complex, barbaric attack on Israel and those to blame. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Short Friday notes after yesterday's long report on Israel (truthaboutthreats.com)
A quick Sunday update regarding the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in Gaza (truthaboutthreats.com)
Three things about the war in Gaza that we all must understand. (truthaboutthreats.com)
5th in the series, Israel and Hamas updates. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Has all media, good and bad, forgotten how to report with facts and context? (truthaboutthreats.com)
A short catch-up on Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Russia and China's hand in Hamas' barbarism for their own selfish purposes. 7th in the series (truthaboutthreats.com)
Friday updates - by Paul Cobaugh - Truth About Threats
What the hell is wrong with almost all media reporting on the conflict in Gaza and ignoring the brutality in Ukraine and other nations? (truthaboutthreats.com)
“If it bleeds, it leads” - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Mid-week, national security, news round-up (truthaboutthreats.com)
When we blame countries and terrorist groups for war, don’t forget to blame corporations and Wall Street too! (truthaboutthreats.com)
Cost - Benefit Analysis, the war in Gaza - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
The road to hell, is paved with good intentions. (truthaboutthreats.com)
From roughly Oct 10th on, most western media switched from the horror of the barbaric Hamas attack on Israel of Oct. 7th to an implied indictment of Israel’s IDF/ Israel Defense Forces for murdering innocent Palestinian women and children. This became a unified front in most western reporting until roughly a week or ten days ago, when the pressure from experts like me, began publicly hounding them for their overt dishonesty.
My biggest disappointments were three of my four, most often recommended and credible news outlets, Reuters, the Associated Press and the BBC. They were in sync and uniformly dishonest about reporting the conflict. How do I know this? It’s because I am considered an expert in the realm of influence in support of national security and have a long history in both CT/ Counterterrorism and in the region.
For full transparency, one of my daughters lives in Northern Israel. I do not allow this to bias my professional assessment of terrorist and national security activities regarding the Jewish state. In fact, in one of my early articles regarding the primary entities to blame for the Oct. 7th barbarism by Hamas, I include the extreme-right wing government headed by Prime Minister, Netanyahu, commonly referred to as “Bibi.” This can be seen in the chart below that I created for my first, in-depth analysis.
Make no mistake about it, what Hamas had done on Oct. 7th, was beyond barbaric and could better be described as barbarism by gruesomeness. Here are a few reports on the topic shortly after Oct 7th but almost non-existent again until the second week of November, especially on the front pages of the BBC, Reuters and the Associated Press.
Israel releases graphic video of Hamas terror attacks as part of "narrative battle" over war in Gaza - CBS News
Israel shows Hamas terror attack video (nbcnews.com)
Israel releases images of slain children to rally support | Reuters
Reuters even goes so far as to accuse by implication, Israel of using the gruesome attack on primarily civilians to rally support as indicated by the headline.
Next, during the period from roughly Oct 10th extending for roughly a month, headlines in western media pointed jaundiced fingers at Israel, the IDF and even US and allied support to Israel for the indiscriminate murder of thousands of Palestinian civilians, quoting the Hamas propaganda public affairs spokesperson at the Hamas run Health Ministry. Evidence was and still is scarce for what they reported. Were I Israel, I would sue those news entities for everything, and apply the proceeds towards what Israel has nearly always done, support victims of terrorism and war, both Israeli and Palestinian.
Most western news consumers have zero understanding of terrorism and are easily influenced by their media of choice, and for all the reasons described in the introduction and other writings I have contributed on this and related topics. Such as:
Without factoring "brainwashing" into the equation for 2024, we're doomed to another far-right, extremist administration, no matter what pollsters say. (truthaboutthreats.com)
Dear America, I dare you! - by Paul Cobaugh (truthaboutthreats.com)
Influence Operations are centric to every aspect of National Security (truthaboutthreats.com)
The IDF and the “duty to warn” in warfare, as evaluated by the Lieber Institute at West Point:
"The IDF understands these realities and has accordingly long provided warnings before attacking targets in Gaza and elsewhere (see, e.g., report on 2008 Gaza operation, paras. 262-265; Sharvit, Baruch, & Neuman, p. 367-72)). These practices have drawn a great deal of attention. For instance, an International Law Association (ILA) Study Group on the Conduct of Hostilities" "Israel’s 2014 operations in Gaza, and the extensive efforts to provide such warnings, have elevated the discourse on this warnings precaution to unprecedented levels: some worry that the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) created an unrealistically high bar on when and how to provide warnings; conversely, some condemn the IDF because the warnings did not produce their intended effects; finally, some suggest that the extent of warnings were the result of policy decisions, and not legal obligation." - Lieber Institute report
Western media did little to no homework or research on the IDF but simply replayed existing narratives about the Palestinian people that reinforced the dishonesty of PLO, Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran and more. They played the “occupation card,” the brutality of the IDF, that Hamas was the actual government of Gaza but not mentioned as a terrorist organization, that Israel regularly denied supplies and aid to Gaza. None of this is true nor sustainable information to those who are informed. Hamas is a terrorist organization, supported by Iran, a terrorist state. This reporting has also been nearly non-existent.
Israel hasn’t occupied Gaza since 2005 but has a layered security system around Gaza to defend against the ever-recurring terrorist attacks by Hamas and others. When Israel left Gaza, Hamas was allegedly “elected” but voting at the end of an AK 47 barrel is not exactly a free and fair election. Hamas has stolen the mountain of aid provided almost exclusively by the West, ever since. They either market this aid for profit or use it almost exclusively for terrorist operations. This is why the Palestinian people who deserve the aid, go hungry, sick and live often in squalor, while Hamas leadership lives with billions and live elite wealth lifestyles.
The brutality of Hamas against the Palestinian people is infamous for those that actually report the truth or come from professions like mine. While that major news outlets ignore all of this and make unsupported allegations, is problematic and I have several ideas, including prior, professional research. I will make those allegations when I have more updated data. The topic though is that other nations, have invested heavily in western media for the purpose of influence, on issues just such as this current war.
Now we are starting to see more equitable reporting from western media, including the three that I have honestly accused in this article, Reuters, The Associated Press and the BBC. There is also now, some humiliating backpedaling by all three, albeit carefully nuanced. They are now, doing what they should have done as professional journalists from the beginning. I have zero empathy for the newsroom editors and their bosses. The bottom line is that the IDF, does their very best to operate within LOAC, the Law of Armed Conflict and other international policies regarding war crimes.
I look forward to the day that dishonest editors crawl to Jerusalem and beg for forgiveness. The simplest truth is, that the IDF is making possible, a better life for Israelis and Palestinians. The data is quite clear on this. The only exception is if the Israeli government under Netanyahu remains an extremist right-wing government similar to that of the Trump administration, Bolsonaro’s in Brazil, Modi’s, Putin’s, Erdogan’s etc.
One of the ripple effects from the dishonest reporting has been a dramatic increase in the habitual antisemitism found in many segments of society. Another is the violent activity against innocent supporters of the long betrodden Palestinian people. They are stuck between terrorists and the violence begat by the terrorism of Hamas and their ilk, sponsored, trained and equipped by Iran and Russia. For the west, who claims to honor the religious and cultural peoples of the region, antisemitism and violent bigotry against Muslims and Jews, seems to still dominate our alleged enlightened perspectives. This is not who we are as Americans, nor should ever be… again.
For those of you here in the US. Don’t expect the US national security community to put media and adversarial influence back under the dark rock they crawled out from under. The US community has at least a four decades long losing streak in the realm of influence. Yes, there have been niche successes but the entire apparatus of US and to and extent, NATO security is utterly deficient in either protecting us from foreign influence or projecting western values to the world. Influence is an art and science, not simply a task for the CYBER community as they would have us believe.
We rely on antiquated doctrine, at least two generations behind our adversaries, fail to train operators, disregard cutting edge thinking, have a national security architecture impossible to operate with and are addicted to a contracting system that is professional, only in executing nepotism. In short, taxpayers continue to pay for forty years of failure to mostly the same alleged experts who have perpetrated the failure. To be perfectly frank, the community at large fails the very first rule of research; they have utterly failed to define the problem.
Here’s a short library of reading about our national security failures at ethical influence.
Combat ineffective, the rusted, broken hulk of US Influence Operations (truthaboutthreats.com)
On the battlefield of influence, the US is unarmed (truthaboutthreats.com)
The US National Security Community has left us a critical vulnerability in US national security. (truthaboutthreats.com)
The US always fights the "last war," instead of the one we're in. (truthaboutthreats.com)
The US National Security community is incapable of managing mis/ disinformation threats (truthaboutthreats.com)
A Five Point Strategy to Oppose Russian Narrative Warfare (truthaboutthreats.com)
We can't protect ourselves from mis/ disinformation, until we understand influence (truthaboutthreats.com)
Summary
Today’s piece has given everyone a virtual library of thought, research and truth, about the threat of dishonestly activist media. We almost lost democracy completely in 2016 due to Russian influence, still fight to catch up the influence broadside from nations like China and our politics are now so convoluted with anti-American conspiracy theories, like stolen elections, tourists visiting the Capital on January 6th and well-intentioned but destructive support for a false Palestinian narrative conjured out of thin air, by our adversaries, media and their investors. Still, the US national security community for the reasons above, cannot and will not come to the rescue.
The only thing that we can do as citizens and consumers of news, is to demand truth and put our money where our mouths are. Media responds to an absence of ad dollars and support by their investors.
The final thing that I will say on this wintry afternoon, is that it is the patriotic duty of every single citizen to be well and accurately informed before we vote. This applies to all matters, domestic or foreign impacting the United States. Putting party over country, is one of the most un-American things you can do and should require you to turn in your claim to being patriotic at all. As in the case in Gaza, subservience to party politics often means being so misinformed that your vote will contribute to the deaths of innocents.
War is occasionally required to protect true human values. This is what is occurring in Gaza by the IDF. For those who have experienced war and in today’s case, a war against sub-human terrorists, the death of other human beings, is a terrible burden to bear for those operating lawfully. No one seeks this. This is the IDF. Those fighting in Gaza will have to live with such a horrific burden and one I know on a personal level. When innocents die, not by intent, the burden is even more severe. Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, Russia and the other terrorist organizations aligned against Israel and the West will not suffer. Their moral spine has been removed. The gruesomeness of Oct. 7th clearly demonstrated this. The biggest benefactors of this horrific war will be the Palestinian people and Israelis, like their Palestinian neighbors, praying for peace.
The hardest part will be to isolate and neuter the terrorists running Iran. Their time is coming and the brutally oppressed people of Iran, will also be free of these spineless, oppressive cowards.
Often and as, I have professionally experienced, influence is quite frequently more important than ships, planes, missiles etc. Too bad that the State Department, Pentagon and IC/ Intelligence Community are stuck in 1990 and failing to invest heartily in effective and ethical influence. They instead use what they do invest to reward demonstrable failure, from nepotistic contractors and other alleged experts. This is not only killing democracy but the liberal world order that everyone wanted to be part of, during the Cold War. As the saying goes, this community now, “couldn’t sell ice to Eskimos.” How far we have inexcusably fallen, as leaders of the free world.
My best for your week,
Paul