Listen to a reading of this article:
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The western media are blaring headlines today about a “revelation” by the US government which does not actually reveal anything because it contains nothing but empty narrative fluff.
“U.S. reveals Russian plot to use fake video as pretense for Ukraine invasion,” reads a headline from CBS News.
“US reveals Russia may plan to create fake pretext for Ukraine invasion,” claims another from The Hill.
The claim is that the Russian government is plotting to fabricate a false flag operation using a graphic video with crisis actors in order to manufacture a pretense for a full-scale military invasion. State Department Spokesman Ned Price and AP reporter Matt Lee had an exchange about this claim at a Thursday press conference that you simply must watch if you haven’t already.
Please watch this video in which journalist Matt Lee accuses State Dept. spokesman Ned Price of veering into "Alex Jones territory" by making the claim that Russia plans to stage a "false flag" attack with "crisis actors" — Price then sneeringly calls Lee a Russian propagandist pic.twitter.com/5xMsbfWYgz
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) February 3, 2022
Lee pointed out that claims about false flags and crisis actors were “getting into Alex Jones territory” and asked for the evidence for these extraordinary claims, which one would think is reasonable since extraordinary claims are generally considered to require extraordinary evidence. Price said that the evidence is “intelligence information that we have declassified,” and when Lee asked where the declassified information was Price looked at him like he just asked the stupidest question in the world and said “I just delivered it.”
The exchange goes on to reveal that Price really did mean that the completely unverified government assertion he’d just regurgitated is the evidence for the claim being made, meaning the evidence of the government assertion is that assertion itself.
Refusing to relent, Lee kept hammering the point that a completely unsubstantiated assertion is not the same as evidence especially given all the government assertions that have proved not to be true over the years.
“Matt, you said yourself you’ve been in this business for quite a long time,” Price replied. “You know that when we make information, intelligence information public, we do so in a way that protects sensitive sources and methods.”
Ahh, so the evidence is secret. It’s top secret evidence, to protect “sensitive sources and methods”. It sure is convenient how all the evidence of immensely consequential claims made by a government with an extensive history of lying is always far too sensitive for the public to be permitted to scrutinize.
This is the kind of evidence you can’t see. The evidence is invisible.
Secret, Invisible Evidence Of Russian Hacking Is Not Actually Evidence
"We can't share the evidence with you because the evidence is classified. It's secret evidence. The evidence is invisible."https://t.co/ulgVeTwIXR
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) December 18, 2020
“You also know that we do so, we declassify information only when we’re confident in that information,” Price continued. “If you doubt the credibility of the U.S. government, of the British government of other governments and wanna, you know, find solace in information that the Russians are putting out, that’s for you do to.”
So if you doubt the credibility of governments with a very well-documented history of lying about exactly this sort of thing, you’re at best a useful idiot of Vladimir Putin and at worst a Kremlin operative yourself.
Yep, sounds legit. That’s definitely the sort of thing government officials say when they feel like they’re being truthful.
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden tweeted about the exchange, “This is wild. The State Department’s spokesman can’t comprehend why the Associated Press feels the need to distinguish between a claim and a fact, and becomes visibly offended—and then angered—by the suggestion that his claims may require evidence to be accepted as credible.”
Wild indeed. Assertions are not evidence. A government declassifying itself making an unsubstantiated assertion is not “declassifying” anything. This is not the sort of behavior anyone would accept from anyone else, except perhaps a televangelist or a cult leader, but it’s already being treated as truth by US and British politicians.
"Declassifying" yourself making a claim is not declassifying anything. Assertions are not evidence. It's bat shit insane how the US government will claim it is "declassifying" information that amounts to nothing more than US government assertions and people just accept that. https://t.co/iNm2kao2in
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) February 3, 2022
If I got on here for example and began drumming up publicity with claims that I have evidence that extraterrestrials are visiting this planet, and then after racking up millions of views and lots of publicity my evidence turned out to be a video clip of me saying “Extraterrestrials have been visiting this planet,” I would be called a liar, a scammer, and a clickbait grifter, and rightly so. I could then claim that I can’t provide any further evidence beyond my own assertion without compromising my sensitive sources and methods, but I’d still quite rightly be called a liar, a scammer, and a clickbait grifter.
But if I’m the most powerful institution in the world and have an extensive history of lying about exactly the sort of claim I just made, that’s considered fine and normal within the mainstream western orthodoxy.
Wild. Just wild.
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42 responses to “US Again Tries To Pass Off Government Assertions As Evidence”
….caitlin, i’ll keep it short…..the essay was the finest so far as i have been reading your posts!………..
I cant say I am overly familiar with this Ned Price creature, since that type of ‘job’ in the uS regime tends to see lots of turnover, but, I have to say, based on his pictures, he actually physically resembles a weasel. At least to my eyes. The other association I couldnt help making, was he looks like how I imagine what Bart Simpson might look like if he, and this Ned Price, were actual human beings.
THEN, once you hear and see it actually speak and try to rationalize, and, well, that pretty much removes any lingering doubts that he is directly descended from the genus Mustela. Or Homer Simpson.
There are two things that rather amaze me. One, that the us government is now carrying on about “false flag operations” after spending all that effort persuading the public that no such thing could ever be, that any such assertion was tinfoil hat stuff. And even more, than a MSM reporter not only doesn’t swallow it but loudly and repeatedly questions it–and why couldn’t Ned shut him up sooner, didn’t he have a whole flock of obedient reporters he could call on? Maybe AP decided to let him out of his shackles because they’re alarmed about games between nuclear powers…I mean, slaughtering Iraqis and Yemenis and Syrians may have its justice issues but it doesn’t threaten OUR lives.
‘TRUTH THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR’.
It’s SCREAMINGLY obvious by now. We are at war. Deception and fake news are rampant. The thing most of us will not be sure of until it’s more obvious, is just whom is in alignment with whom? Not everything is as it seems.
In a twist suitable for the end of civilization, before the Americans made this claim, the Russians made the same claim, specifically around botulism toxin and antidotes being delivered to American mercenaries.So just days after the Kremlin says this, the Americans turn around and make a counter claim. One or both or neither are lying, and neither are showing the evidence, so…
Lee is guilty of crimethink. The whole exchange is like a Monty Python skit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvTBkjL6Dxo
Maybe the real agent of Putin is not Lee but Price.
It is incontrovertible that PM Harold Holt was kidnapped by a Chinese submarine whilst swimming off Cheviot Beach in Victoria. 1/. He WAS swimming off the beach. 2/. The Chinese have submarines.
The rest is awaiting declassification.
You could get a job as a writer at Babylon Bee with your insight. Love it.
american intelligence are signalling to the azov-nazis that it is allright to go and kill civilians in the donbass. they have the pr covered. it’s how they winked to the ‘moderate rebels’ that it was time to stage another gass-attack in syria. these people are so …
Rummie said “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” Case closed. Read my lips, the evidence is self-evident!
This is so bizarre, it’s an insult to Alex Jones.
With Blackwater/Academi now in Ukraine, this seems like a perfect setup for a false false-flag.
The Neocons seem quite desperate to start a conflict with Russia. Russia, please punch this failed-state tarbaby! Why? Quite likely Weimar Wall Street desperately needs another bailout.
Does anyone with at least half of a brain actually trust anything that the government says, when things such as this are at issue?
Only 99% of folks with strings of letters after their names denoting the amount of post-secondary conformity and submission training they have “deep-throated,” to borrow a term from the Girl of the Hour.
Ah but wait! You seem to forget that Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman has put his credibility on the line claiming that Russia is going to invade Ukraine! This only confirms the how! Plus when Ned Price makes the allegation that it will be after a false flag, which was already part and parcel of the earlier accusation, he also puts his credibility on the line. So we’ve got TWO credibilities on the same line! And Price even warns us that this credibility can in no way be challenged because even if the Russians don’t pull a false flag with crisis actors et al – which after all is possible since crisis actors are essentially an American commodity, like mobs for hire -, it won’t mean they never intended to! See? Prove the contrary! And it’s a fact that they did intend to because Price told us so, putting his credibility on the line just like Vindbag. And one would even be entitled to show some surprise at Price not declaring to this journalist for the American Pravda (AP), who’s wildly out of line here and will probably end up in ADX Florence or Belmarsh Prison if he doesn’t find refuge in some embassy: “Do you think a lieutenant colonel of the US Army would put his credibility on the line if he didn’t have serious evidence, you commie you?” He could also have added: “Look, Lt. Col. Vindman put his credibility on the line before when he accused usurper Trump of treason because he asked Volo to check out the Burisma affair after J.R. (Joseph Robinette) had bragged on video about pressuring Poroshenko into getting the prosecutor fired…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA–dj2-CY
“… and it is a fact that usurper Trump was impeached, not because his political opponents had a majority in the House but because Lt Col. Vindman had put his credibility on the line! People losing faith in authority figures is what will bring this great nation down, I tell you that for nothing! And that’s only a first warning! You’ll soon get a visit from the IRS and the FBI before finally getting fired because you had an affair twenty years ago with a female sewer rat that happened to be underage in spite of having lipstick on to fool passers-by. She just filed a complaint against the promise we would remove mousetraps from her surroundings even if they join Nato.” And Ned Price would be right! Imagine you‘re accused of murder and the cops ask you to provide an alibi, what better answer could you come up with than “I tell you I didn’t do it and I put my credibility on the line! Isn’t that good enough for you?” Of course it would! You’d be back in the street before you could say Jack Robinson because the cops know, out of years of experience, that nothing reflects better the truth than an allegation putting one’s credibility on the line!
The thought police is in action, even here in the comments. (Why did it get deleted? I was just stating how assertions like this happen in public health too)
Good luck but I’m now going to move on and stop reading what you say because I can find it plus more elsewhere.
I just saw the movie on Netflix called “Dont Look Up”. It is a parody about the US government and Big Tech response to a planet killer comet approaching earth. It has an all star cast and shows how we are run by a bunch of idiots who live in their own bubble. You will soon realize we survive each day not because of them but in spite of them.
A Public Service Announcement: The US Government (NIST/FEMA) asserts that on the day of 9-11-01, three steel-framed skyscrapers, WTC 1, 2 and 7, were the first ever and only examples of ‘fire’ bringing down such buildings, that the laws of physics were somehow suspended that day, but to tell what evidence supports this assertion would be a threat to public safety.
This concludes this Public Service Announcement
Political Laws of Physics occurred on that day. These laws, also know as bullshitphysics, apply when they’re required to further political objectives, they should not be used for structural engineering purposes.
Well, false flag evidence is something US intelligence agencies are quite good at, “Remember the Maine”, “Weapons of Mass Destruction”, etc.?
Don’t forget Douma.
Right, …and Gulf of Tonkin attack, Sadam’s forces throwing babies out of incubators (Caitlin’s covered these before), and in addition to 9-11 itself, there were the subsequent anthrax attacks pinned on Sadam, which were later proven to be chemically identical the US’ own bioweapons strain in Ft Dietrich. Cue the pic with Colin Powell’s ominous vial of baking soda at the UN.
lol the state department guy is a crisis actor, he’s acting like there is a crisis. what a weasel. “what would you like” SOME PROOF.
I’ve got around to watching the actual video, and it really is something – Ned Price, the State Department goon, going on for a full eight minutes about how evidence-free allegations constitute proof.
I do wonder how long Matt Lee, the journalist who disagrees with Price, will be allowed into these press shows, or even allowed to continue working for AP now he’s been revealed as a Russian agent.
PS Before anyone jumps on me, the Russian agent bit is /s!
Matt Lee has been doing this for ages, also on other issues. i guess they keep him around as a reminder of what journalists used to be.
Thank you. The name Matt Lee didn’t ring any bells with me.
I heard that next week, Price will show up with a sock puppet playing the part of Putin!
“Hey Putin, you planning to invade Ukraine?”
Price doing a squeaky voice:
“Why yes I am! How did you find out? Was it the satellite images of 100,000 troops shining their cellphones at your satellite?”
“I cant tell you because that is classified. We will have strong words in you invade.”
In other words, you have indisputable proof and evidence that next week, Price will show up with a sock puppet playing the part of Putin.
by Jove you’ve got it!
And if the sock puppet shows up without Price, or vice-versa, that’ll just prove how devious and untrustworthy those damn Russkies are.
Assertions are Absolute Truth – hmmm .. that’s a Papal thing isn’t it .. the Dogma of Papal infallibility.
I guess this is this case it’s the Dogma of US Gov Infallibility.
The US establishment is a cult. Its members believe in stuff like US Exceptionalism and Manifest Destiny. To question it proves you are evil, a stooge of the devil itself.
I saw myself in the mirror just now, so I can confidently tell you that I have declassified that image but you cant see it because….well, you just cant!
I think the USA keeps mistaking its own image in the mirror of its mind for something else.
Same old, same old.
Accuse the other side of doing what you are doing, so their protests sound empty.
This whole beat up is the US State Department (Nudelman and the NeoCons) doing what it always does: screw over weaker countries.
Poor Ukraine, caught in the middle, understanding at last how they have been manipulated, and Zelinsky begging Biden to stop because he’s promoting lies that could cost Ukraine its very existence.
The US is desperate to start something to overshadow their collapsing economy.
Things could all go terribly wrong, and very quickly …
When has any authoritarian ever answered a question, in or out of government? When has any bully not eventually been shown to be ignorant and weak?
The only collective that is never a gang is the one that’s open to inquiry & revision, as opposed to every(?) institution in theWest and all governments around the globe.
Liberalism has been whored out by institution in theWest, leaving the public largely institutionalized, but curiosity and courage are fundamental to the human experience.
Everyone is tired of the bullshit, the shift is inevitable.
Invisibility is the favorite strategy of the US government. This is how they are planning to win a nuclear war against Russia, too.
The “invisible” F-35 fighter/bomber jets (that are so loud you can hear them from a few miles away) are supposed to surround Russia, because all NATO countries are to purchase these at exorbitant price. And they all network via a hub at Lockheed Martin corporation.
They are supposed to sneak in new B61-12 nuclear bombs into Russian territory without being detected because of being “invisible”.
I don’t know if they will stay completely invisible, but the F-35’s are prone to all kind of acts of nature and fate, so maybe they will, maybe they won’t.
That’s what you get when the State Dept spokesman is a CIA, and always wanted to be CIA.
I didn’t work for the government for very long, but when I did they had a retired investigator teach us how to spot problems with documents. The main thing he focused on was documents that had something missing, cut off, or blacked out- it was a red flag for fraud. He told us, basically, that secret evidence was secret because there was something wrong with it. Wise words.
“Its the economy, stupid. “
Our 5eyes Empire is basically ¡¡¡”lleno de caca”!!! Utter drivel, complete bullshit, smoke (what KIND of smoke) & cracked black mirror. I do not believe the WEATHER FORECAST ON MSM.
Accusations of WMD in Iraq were at least made with phony evidence. Now, they don’t even show us the equivalent of their laughable cartoon pictures of mobile bio-weapons labs–they just say they have evidence that can’t be scrutinized and expect reporters to print the story as fact, as usual. I’m sure most outlets will happily go along with the bullshit but, if there was any evidence at all, they’d have made a movie about it and had Biden show it for maximum effect.
Hey Caitlan. It’s pretty fucking obvious now isn’t it…?