McCarthyite meltdown shows how Russiagate, Syria propaganda captured ‘left’ media
McCarthyite meltdown shows how Russiagate, Syria propaganda captured ‘left’ media
In slandering me, The Young Turks demonstrated how Western chauvinism and careerism have been normalized in progressive media spaces.
Aaron Maté June 8, 2021
“On a recent episode of The Young Turks, the self-described “Home of Progressives”, hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian disparaged me in a McCarthyite rant. The apparent trigger was a mocking comment that I had tweeted at Uygur, in which I described a recent post of his about Israel-Palestine as “the worst tweet of all time.” (I’m standing by that.)”
“Their screed went to air while I was on the ground in Syria, committing wanton acts of actual journalism. Specifically, I was continuing my reporting on a major coverup at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, involving a major atrocity in the city of Douma. I was also there to see first-hand the effects of years of dirty war and the brutal US sanctions still strangling that country’s economy and citizenry. This was the context in which Kasparian described me as someone who “denies that Syrian children were killed with chemical attacks.”
“I have no training in psychology, but one doesn’t need it to detect a high degree of projection behind Uygur and Kasparian’s fabrications. A quick look at TYT’s journalistic output, and who finances it, is instructive. While falsely suggesting that I work for “disgusting dictators,” Kasparian’s resumé includes a promotional gig at the Munich Security Conference, an annual gathering sponsored by NATO governments and the weapons manufacturers that profit off their perpetual war-mongering. Kasparian, in her own defense, has claimed that she merely “covered a conference.” But her coverage consisted entirely of cheery PR videos on topics such as “the role of NATO in attempting to keep peace internationally.” (The NATO “peace” zone of post-2011 Libya did not garner a mention in the 18-minute segment.)
Kasparian also conducted a friendly sit-down with Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State. Somehow, Kasparian’s self-proclaimed disgust with those who launder the killing of children didn’t impel her to even raise Albright’s infamous declaration that killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqi children was, in her view, “worth it.” In fact, Kasparian went so far as to declare that she was “delighted” and saw it as “an honor” to interview the admitted child murderer.”
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