The US Mainstream Coverage of the Russia Ukraine Conflict is Designed to Beat the Drum for War

Executive Summary

• The western establishment media has moved into its familiar war promotion mode.
• Let us review their accuracy.

Introduction

The western establishment media has a long history of aligning with the US DOD and serving as their press office. The US is only a few months removed from exiting a two decade long war in Afghanistan that all of the western establishment media stated (as the DOD instructed them) has presented as having made progress. This was extremely enriching for the defense contracting industry to which the western establishment media has financial ties.

Now, without being held accountable for their financially biased and false reporting on Afghanistan, they have moved onto promoting a new war.

Case Study #1: MSNBC Coverage of Ukraine Conflict

Joy Ann Reid is the bottom of the barrel when it comes to journalism, and one can usually come to a correct conclusion on any topic by simply taking the exact opposite view from Joy Ann Reid. Therefore, it is not surprising that Joy Ann Reid holds to all of the DOD’s talking points in this segment.

Problematic Issue #1: The Presentation of a Single Biased Perspective

Notice that there is no one who is not pro-war invited to comment on this segment. These panelists are not brought on to provide any nuance, and they are there to make it seem as if there is complete unanimity among those with expertise on the topic that Russia is the aggressor.

Problematic Issue #2: The Presentation US State Department Information as if it is a Fact

At the 5:50 mark in the video, the statements by the US State Department are presented in a slide. Joy Ann Reid transitions immediately from what is presented on the slide to extending what the US State Dept statement implies, without ever stopping to ask if any of it is true.

There is no questioning by Joy Ann Reid of anything the US State Dept says, even though the US State Dept is constantly lying.

Problematic Issue #3: The Presentation of Putin as Insane

At the 9:00 minute mark, one of the panelists tells Joy Ann Reid that her logic cannot be applied to dictators. This is a common framework that the person in charge is “crazy.” This is a useful deflection because Joy Ann Reid’s question is valid. If Putin were to invade the Ukraine and do all the things that the Biden Administration is saying it would it, it would pay a significant price in its international relations. In order to keep from answering the question, the panelists simply says that no logic can be applied to Putin.

Problematic Issue #4: The Presentation of the US Media System as Independent Versus Russia’s Media System

At the 9:20 mark, the same panelist states that Putin shut down independent media. This is amusing as Lockheed Martin could have produced this MSNBC segment. I don’t believe what is presented in this segment and I don’t think MSNBC, which is just part of a media conglomerate should be even using the term “independent media.” Six media conglomerates control 90% of the media in the US. And MSNBC is part of one of these media conglomerates. On other fronts, Google is now censoring results, and Biden has told Big Tech firms to remove “misinformation” from their sites. This is misinformation is information that is true but that contradicts the status quo on covid.

This segment and other MSNBC segments on the Ukraine-Russia conflict are designed to please US defense contractors and carry forward US State Dept and DOD talking points.

So how is MSNBC independent?

The idea that a person would come on to MSNBC, which is rigged media, and complain about Russia’s media, while true, seems to imply that a source like MSNBC is independent.

I would also ask why everyone on this panel has the exact same opinion and whether this panel was specifically selected to make it appear as if there is one view on this topic. Does that really make sense to bring on panelists to agree with each other?

Problematic Issue #5: The Presentation the Only Dictators Starting Foreign Wars to Distract Attention from Problems

At the 9:45 mark, a panelist states that it is a classic strategy of dictators to start wars to distract from domestic problems. However, this is precisely what George Bush #1 and #2 both did, and neither were dictators. One could argue that Biden’s poll numbers are so low that he also has an incentive to have a war. Biden has more incentive to have a war than Putin as Biden is very unpopular and, without war will likely lose the 2024 election.

Case Study #2: 2nd MSNBC Coverage of Ukraine Conflict

Wars and the prospects of war are very good for ratings. This, in addition to being able to ingratiate themselves to the government, and to make defense contractors who are advertisers happy, is why media entities love promoting wars. Not a single est media entity did anything to critically analyze the false information provided by the US government regarding the War on Terror, the invasion of Afghanistan or Iraq. They were useless in providing anything more than stenography for the US government and they are useless now in analyzing this conflict. 

Problematic Issue #1: The Presentation of it Being Trump’s Fault

MSNBC is aligned with the Democrat Party, therefore at the 4:45 point of the video, Clint Watts, who is naturally part of the defense complex and does not disclose his financial conflicts, that this conflict is because of Trump allowing Putin to do what he wanted.

However, Watts has a timeline problem. If Trump allowed Putin to do “pretty much whatever he wanted,” why didn’t Putin attack under Trump’s administration? The host asks this question. Watts offers up a word salad as an answer.

No I actually thought that Putin thought he would be able to take Eastern Ukraine for a deal, or that he might be able to setup a situation in Ukraine to where the Trump Administration would essentially just let it go. I mean if you went into (inaudible) Papodopolis, the guy who kicked off the whole Russian investigation was actually advancing Russian propaganda and disinformation that Ukraine was provoking a war. This was happening just yesterday. I think they thought “Ok if we can’t get it done then we should push it to Biden.” Becauase for the most part its the same national security team that was there in 2014 under Obama. I think they were trying to test the resolve of Biden and see “Hey are you going to be the same non-reactivive in Crimea in Georgia and other locations. What I see so far is, yea I thought it was a little bit slow on the uptake but for the most part the Biden Administration has done a remarkable job in the last couple of weeks, bringing together NATO allies, trying to expose essentially these Russian provocations and making it difficult for Putin. I do wonder if nothing else there has been some disruption to Putin’s plan. It has been slowed down to some degree. It is not a surprise this time. We are not on our heels. Were seeing active participation by all the NATO allies. All the European countries are concerned. And you have got military force up in Poland. So it is essentially putting some backbone into NATO, which President Trump was always very dismissive of. He questioned the need for or whether US should fight for it anymore.

That was a rambling 284-word answer, which never addressed the question of why Putin did not attack under Trump if Watt’s claim about Trump allowing Putin to do anything he wanted in Ukraine was true. The fact he has no answer to this question is telling. However, I do have an answer. This conflict is caused by Biden asserting that Ukraine needs to join NATO, which has meant placing military assets in Ukraine.

Problematic Issue #2: The Presentation The False Putin “Reconstituting Soviet Union” Argument

At around the 4:45 mark, Clint Watts makes a false claim that Putin said he wanted to reconstitute the Soviet Union essentially. This is a false claim that is constantly repeated in the western establishment media. I have debunked in the article Did Putin Really Say He Wants to Reconstitute the Soviet Union?

What the Establishment Media Will Not Explain

This video does an excellent job of explaining how the US broke the agreement with Russia not to try to incorporate Ukraine into NATO. Instead of explaining this, the establishment media points to Putin trying to “reconstitute the Soviet Union.” 

Getting Analysis From a Non-Defense Establishment Aligned Source

As has been already noted, the two MSNBC segments were produced to beat the drum for war to satisfy both the US State Dept, DOD, and MSNBC’s defense contracting advertisers as well as to maximize ratings.

What happens when someone without these financial conflicts provides an analysis. Well, it looks much different.

Independent Source #1: Russell Brand

Russell Brand makes excellent points in this video. He provides analysis that is entirely absent from the MSNBC coverage. 

Point #1: Excellent Sources Provided

The sources that Brand provides were highly enlightening. And they make the MSNBC coverage look completely rigged. The following quotes from Common Dreams are an excellent example.

“The U.S. government should agree to a long-term moratorium on any NATO expansion.”

Thus far, the U.S. has rejected Russia’s demand for a guarantee of no “further eastward expansion” of NATO. U.S.

In their joint statement on Tuesday, the 105 anti-war groups argued that the roots of the present crisis are “entangled in the failure of the U.S. government to live up to its promise made in 1990 by then-Secretary of State James Baker that NATO would expand not ‘one inch to the East.'”

While the Biden administration has publicly said it is committed to pursuing dialogue and diplomacy with Russia, it has simultaneously continued pouring arms into Ukraine and placed thousands of U.S. troops on standby for possible deployment to Eastern Europe.

“The major cause of this conflict is that the United States has pushed NATO up to Russia’s borders and now is continuing to ship very large quantities of weapons to Ukraine, a situation that the U.S. government would never tolerate if Russia were doing the same near the USA’s borders.” – Common Dreams

Notice NATO expansion was not mentioned once in the MSNBC segments, nor will it be in any other establishment western media.

“Here we go again,” Jeremy Scahill, co-founder of The Intercept, wrote in a Friday fundraising email. “With talk of war in Ukraine rising to a fever pitch, U.S. media outlets are once again beating the drums.”

The investigative reporter, who has covered U.S. wars for decades, added:

The talking heads on cable news are almost drooling over the prospect of a ratings-boosting war. Retired Pentagon officials on the payroll of the defense industry are presented as “experts,” often with no disclosure of their financial conflicts of interest.

And once the shooting starts, mainstream pundits will drop any remaining pretense of journalistic integrity and begin openly cheerleading for “the troops,” like sports announcers rooting for the home team.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is the world’s largest arms dealer and it spends more on “defense” than China, Russia, India, the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, and Australia combined. – Common Dreams

Yes, war is great for ratings and wins media strong relationships in the government and defense contractors.

In a Friday opinion piece for Middle East Eye, journalist Joe Gill wrote that “in the 21st century, the media war is a critical element of any pre-war planning, and this appears to be reaching its crescendo.”

“The narratives repeated in the Western media are so thunderingly pro-Ukrainian and anti-Putin that it is hard to extract from the simplistic framing the complex nature of the conflict.”

“By talking up the inevitability of a war in Ukraine against Russia, Western intelligence agencies and their media outliers are implanting the idea that war has already started,” he continued, noting that “Bloomberg even accidentally announced that Russia had invaded Ukraine (before apologizing).” – Common Dreams

Yes, Putin bad, US good.

Noting that “the U.S. and NATO are pouring in high-tech weaponry and training up Ukraine’s armed forces, making it a much more militarily capable foe,” Gill wrote Friday that “from where the Russians are sitting, the deployment of billions of dollars worth of new U.S. and U.K. military hardware on its borders is a sign of escalation, rather than defense.” – Common Dreams

Something left out of the coverage by the western establishment media.

Last week, as Common Dreams reported, Matt Lee of the Associated Press grilled a U.S. State Department spokesperson about the administration’s refusal to provide any evidence backing up the claim that Russia is planning false flag operation as a pretext to invade Ukraine.

Referencing the George W. Bush administration’s infamous lies about weapons of mass destruction, Lee told the State Department’s Ned Price that “I remember WMDs in Iraq.” As the journalist pushed for more than “a series of allegations and statements,” Price accused him of wanting “to find solace in information that the Russians are putting out.”

Recalling the exchange, Gill said Friday that “this kind of briefing can’t help but recall, as Lee suggested, the feverish months in the run-up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.” – Common Dreams

That was before; this is now. The DOD and State Dept would appreciate it if all of the lies they told about Afghanistan, Iraq, Panama, Vietnam, etc were not held against them. Please, be patriotic and allow them to lie to you again.

As for providing evidence, the DOD has demurred. The DOD is still looking for the film footage of the airplane that supposedly crashed into the Pentagon when every single surveillance camera malfunctioned at the same time. But what the Pentagon and Biden Administration will accuse anyone who asks for evidence of being a pro-Putin puppet and anti-American.

Now, the government is getting in on the action, too. Press Secretary Jen Psaki accused Hawley of “parroting the talking points of Russian propagandist leaders” and charged that anyone doing so is “not aligned with longstanding bipartisan American values, which is to stand up for the sovereignty of countries like Ukraine.” Even more shockingly, when an Associated Press reporter asked a State Department official last week to provide evidence, not simply assertions, that Moscow was planning a “false flag” operation to justify invading Ukraine, that official accused him of finding “solace in information that the Russians are putting out.” – Jacobin

Case Study #3: MSNBC Calling Those That Agree With The Biden Administration Traitors

As is normally the case during the buildup to a war, those that don’t support the war are often accused of being disloyal to their country. MSNBC, as a major war promoter, has already started producing these types of segments. 

Comments on the Common Dreams Articles

Comment #1 on the Common Dreams Article: Putin Seems Rational

The following quote which is a comment on the Common Dreams article describes my cognitive dissonance between the Putin that is presented by the establishment media that Putin I have evaluated in his discussions I have reviewed on YouTube.

I’ve watched many of Putin’s speeches. Of course I have to trust the translations, which I do, but by my observation he was always calm, rational, and speaking toward peace. The M$M portrays a vastly different person. I am no Putinphile nor Putinphobe, just one sitting in the cheap seats.

I concur with this assessment.

I include the following video of Putin, who directly answers a question that relates to the conflict.

Putin has many videos available on YouTube where Putin can be listened to without an intermediary. However, Putin never is allowed to have his views presented without being filtered through those that come on est media programs that have financial conflicts with the US defense contracting and defense establishment. 

Furthermore, does Putin seem insane in this video, or does he seem very rational, well informed? The common presentation of Putin is to dehumanize him so that the worst intentions can be projected upon him. Furthermore, such an extensive and honest answer is unthinkable from a US Government spokesman. Neither Biden nor the head of the State Dept Antony Blinken could provide such a detailed response, and it certainly would not be as honest.

The comments on the above video are highly illustrative.

As an American, this is the first time I’m hearing Putin’s side of the story on the occupation of Ukraine. While I think Ukraine deserves its independence, Russia has an understandable reason to feel threatened and treated unfairly by the US and the rest of Europe in terms of strategic military positioning. I think the best option right now to avoid war is for Ukraine to remain of out NATO and for Russia to pull back its army in an effort towards peace. – Trent Smith

Yes, just as I said. The est media never shows any video of Putin providing his logic.

Isn’t it interesting to hear his side being quite understandable/reasonable. all the while US media will not even let us hear his side? – Joe Hamilton

And this comment.

Fascinating a leader of a country answering questions with facts. No side stepping or changing the subject. Our entire American Government needs to watch this, they might actually learn a thing or two. Like how to answer a question the public has with a straight forward and honest answer that’s based on provable facts. I’m sorry if I piss anyone off (NOT REALLY) but I’m with Russia on this one. – Anomymous

And this comment.

I’m extremely shocked regarding the lack of exposure to this interview. If the wider public knew, anti-sentiment against Russia would lower. Including us public support in Ukraine hence saving lives. – Anomymous

Isn’t it interesting what people think when they have an opportunity to hear what a person thinks without going through a biased filter that presents what they think Putin thinks rather than Putin being allowed to state what he thinks? Why would I need MSNBC to tell me what Putin is thinking when I can find Putin’s direct thoughts available from his speeches and answers to questions?

Comment #2 on the Common Dreams Article: The US Hates Dictators?

Every time the US makes a claim about a horrible dictator, it is undermined by the horrible dictators who are our closest allies.

The US doesn’t have a problem with a repressive regime in Saudi Arabia, one that holds public executions and kills journalists. Matter of fact, we sell them lots and lots of high tech weapons systems.

The US calls out dictators like Putin but seems to be ok with Saudi Arabia, which is an absolute monarchy. Why does the US never refer to Saudi Arabia as led by a dictator?

Point #2: Observation of How the War is Presented as Inevitable

At the 2:00 mark in the video, Brand astutely points out that the establishment media and the DOD and US State Dept are presenting the war as inevitable. This shuts down discussion.

As Brand says…

As if its a weather system you can’t do anything about.

And he uses quotes from the establishment media has proposed that the war has already started and are “pre-announcing” the invasion.

Point #3: Observation of The One Sided Presentation by the Establishment Media

Brand observes that the est media is presenting a highly controlled narrative to their audiences that is specifically designed to build support for a war. No nuances are being explained. If the information can be used to justify a war, then it is included. If the information would contradict the war, then it is excluded.

Point #4: Observation of Financial Conflicts

The est media has financial conflicts, but then they bring on ex-generals and analysts who have their own financial conflicts. None of these financial conflicts are declared by the est media or those they bring onto the shows. These segments are not designed to inform,  they are designed to mind control the audience into supporting the DOD, US State Dept, and defense contractor agendas.

Independent Source #2: Historian Dr. John Mearsheimer

This video is from a historian and uploaded in 2015. It is as relevant today as it was in 2015, and the establishment media does not want you to see it.

Dr. Mearsheimer does not view Putin as the primary source of the conflict and instead puts the blame on NATO expansion. However, the video provides so much great historical context that it will be very difficult to trick you on this topic after you watch the video. 

Independent Source #3: Jimmy Dore

Background the establishment Democrat media does not want you to see.

A very important point brought out in the video is that the US supported a coup in Ukraine, which was hidden by the establishment media in the US. 

This ex-ambassador Volker makes the assertion that the US needs to provide warplanes to the Ukrainians, as well as providing intelligence and satellite surveillance. He also tells Russians to rise up and depose Putin. Imagine if Putin called for Americans to rise up and depose Biden, what the reaction from the US would be. The US claimed falsely that Putin interfered in US elections, however, now we have ex-US officials calling for Putin to be overthrown. 

This video describes how much weaponry is being sent to Ukraine and how much intelligence support is being provided by the US to Ukraine. 

Conclusion

The establishment media coverage of the Ukraine-Russia conflict is designed to provide views and readers with a one-sided view that will enable the desired conflict to occur. I have presented evidence in this article that those that consume mainstream media are not getting a balanced view. I would ask why anyone is still getting their news and analysis from mainstream sources. At a fundamental level, these sources do not even disclose their financial conflicts. Why would anyone care what a source thinks if they a) have financial conflicts, and b) do not disclose those financial conflicts.

MSNBC provided false information on what a good idea the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were. Let us review the outcomes before listening to them again.

Afghanistan Outcome

This war was explained as necessary by MSNBC for two decades. 

Iraq Outcome

These two wars alone are why the entire est media — including MSNBC score a zero when it comes to credibility.