Why Russia Shut Down NED Fronts

Exclusive: The neocon-flagship Washington Post fired a propaganda broadside at President Putin for shutting down the Russian activities of the National Endowment for Democracy, but left out key facts like NED’s U.S. government funding, its quasi-CIA role, and its plans for regime change in Moscow, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

The Washington Post’s descent into the depths of neoconservative propaganda willfully misleading its readers on matters of grave importance apparently knows no bounds as was demonstrated with two deceptive articles regarding Russian President Vladimir Putin and why his government is cracking down on “foreign agents.”

If you read the Post’s editorial on Wednesday and a companion op-ed by National Endowment for Democracy President Carl Gershman, you would have been led to believe that Putin is delusional, paranoid and “power mad” in his concern that outside money funneled into non-governmental organizations represents a threat to Russian sovereignty.

Russian President Vladimir Putin laying a wreath at Russia's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on May 8, 2014, as part of the observance of the World War II Victory over Germany.

Russian President Vladimir Putin laying a wreath at Russia’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on May 8, 2014, as part of the observance of the World War II Victory over Germany.

The Post and Gershman were especially outraged that the Russians have enacted laws requiring NGOs financed from abroad and seeking to influence Russian policies to register as “foreign agents” and that one of the first funding operations to fall prey to these tightened rules was Gershman’s NED.

The Post’s editors wrote that Putin’s “latest move, announced Tuesday, is to declare the NED an ‘undesirable’ organization under the terms of a law that Mr. Putin signed in May. The law bans groups from abroad who are deemed a ‘threat to the foundations of the constitutional system of the Russian Federation, its defense capabilities and its national security.’

“The charge against the NED is patently ridiculous. The NED’s grantees in Russia last year ran the gamut of civil society. They advocated transparency in public affairs, fought corruption and promoted human rights, freedom of information and freedom of association, among other things. All these activities make for a healthy democracy but are seen as threatening from the Kremlin’s ramparts.

“The new law on ‘undesirables’ comes in addition to one signed in 2012 that gave authorities the power to declare organizations ‘foreign agents’ if they engaged in any kind of politics and receive money from abroad. The designation, from the Stalin era, implies espionage.”

But there are several salient facts that the Post’s editors surely know but don’t want you to know. The first is that NED is a U.S. government-funded organization created in 1983 to do what the Central Intelligence Agency previously had done in financing organizations inside target countries to advance U.S. policy interests and, if needed, help in “regime change.”

The secret hand behind NED’s creation was CIA Director William J. Casey who worked with senior CIA covert operation specialist Walter Raymond Jr. to establish NED in 1983. Casey from the CIA and Raymond from his assignment inside President Ronald Reagan’s National Security Council focused on creating a funding mechanism to support groups inside foreign countries that would engage in propaganda and political action that the CIA had historically organized and paid for covertly. To partially replace that CIA role, the idea emerged for a congressionally funded entity that would serve as a conduit for this money.

But Casey recognized the need to hide the strings being pulled by the CIA. “Obviously we here [at CIA] should not get out front in the development of such an organization, nor should we appear to be a sponsor or advocate,” Casey said in one undated letter to then-White House counselor Edwin Meese III as Casey urged creation of a “National Endowment.”

NED Is Born

The National Endowment for Democracy took shape in late 1983 as Congress decided to also set aside pots of money, within NED, for the Republican and Democratic parties and for organized labor, creating enough bipartisan largesse that passage was assured. But some in Congress thought it was important to wall the NED off from any association with the CIA, so a provision was included to bar the participation of any current or former CIA official, according to one congressional aide who helped write the legislation.

This aide told me that one night late in the 1983 session, as the bill was about to go to the House floor, the CIA’s congressional liaison came pounding at the door to the office of Rep. Dante Fascell, a senior Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a chief sponsor of the bill. The frantic CIA official conveyed a single message from CIA Director Casey: the language barring the participation of CIA personnel must be struck from the bill, the aide recalled, noting that Fascell consented, not fully recognizing the significance of the demand.

The aide said Fascell also consented to the Reagan administration’s choice of Carl Gershman to head the National Endowment for Democracy, again not recognizing how this decision would affect the future of the new entity and American foreign policy. Gershman, who had followed the classic neoconservative path from youthful socialism to fierce anticommunism, became NED’s first (and, to this day, only) president.

Though NED is technically independent of U.S. foreign policy, Gershman in the early years coordinated decisions on grants with Raymond at the NSC. For instance, on Jan. 2, 1985, Raymond wrote to two NSC Asian experts that “Carl Gershman has called concerning a possible grant to the Chinese Alliance for Democracy (CAD). I am concerned about the political dimension to this request. We should not find ourselves in a position where we have to respond to pressure, but this request poses a real problem to Carl.”

Currently, Gershman’s NED dispenses more than $100 million a year in U.S. government funds to various NGOs, media outlets and activists around the world. The NED also has found itself in the middle of political destabilization campaigns against governments that have gotten on the wrong side of U.S. foreign policy. For instance, prior to the February 2014 coup in Ukraine, overthrowing elected President Viktor Yanukovych and installing an anti-Russian regime in Kiev, NED was funding scores of projects.

A second point left out of the Post’s editorial was the fact that Gershman took a personal hand in the Ukraine crisis and recognized it as an interim step toward regime change in Moscow. On Sept. 26, 2013, Gershman published an op-ed in the Washington Post that called Ukraine “the biggest prize” and explained how pulling it into the Western camp could contribute to the ultimate defeat of Russian President Putin.

“Ukraine’s choice to join Europe will accelerate the demise of the ideology of Russian imperialism that Putin represents,” Gershman wrote. “Russians, too, face a choice, and Putin may find himself on the losing end not just in the near abroad but within Russia itself.” In other words, NED is a U.S. government-financed entity that has set its sights on ousting Russia’s current government.

A third point that the Post ignored is that the Russian law requiring outside-funded political organizations to register as “foreign agents” was modeled on a U.S. law, the Foreign Agent Registration Act. In other words, the U.S. government also requires individuals and entities working for foreign interests and seeking to influence U.S. policies to disclose those relationships with the U.S. Justice Department or face prison.

If the Post’s editors had included any or all of these three relevant factors, you would have come away with a more balanced understanding of why Russia is acting as it is. You might still object but at least you would be aware of the full story. By concealing all three points, the Post’s editors were tricking you and other readers into accepting a propagandistic viewpoint that the Russian actions were crazy and that Putin was, according to the Post’s headline, “power mad.”

Gershman’s Op-Ed

But you might think that Gershman would at least acknowledge some of these points in his Post op-ed, surely admitting that NED is financed by the U.S. government. But Gershman didn’t. He simply portrayed Russia’s actions as despicable and desperate.

“Russia’s newest anti-NGO law, under which the National Endowment for Democracy on Tuesday was declared an “undesirable organization” prohibited from operating in Russia, is the latest evidence that the regime of President Vladimir Putin faces a worsening crisis of political legitimacy,” Gershman wrote, adding:

“This is the context in which Russia has passed the law prohibiting Russian democrats from getting any international assistance to promote freedom of expression, the rule of law and a democratic political system. Significantly, democrats have not backed down. They have not been deterred by the criminal penalties contained in the ‘foreign agents’ law and other repressive laws. They know that these laws contradict international law, which allows for such aid, and that the laws are meant to block a better future for Russia.”

The reference to how a “foreign agents” registration law conflicts with international law might have been a good place for Gershman to explain why what is good for the goose in the United States isn’t good for the gander in Russia. But hypocrisy is a hard thing to rationalize and would have undermined the propagandistic impact of the op-ed.

So would an acknowledgement of where NED’s money comes from. How many governments would allow a hostile foreign power to sponsor politicians and civic organizations whose mission is to undermine and overthrow the existing government and put in someone who would be compliant to that foreign power?

Not surprisingly, Gershman couldn’t find the space to include any balance in his op-ed and the Post’s editors didn’t insist on any.

Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazon and barnesandnoble.com). You also can order Robert Parry’s trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America’s Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.

68 comments for “Why Russia Shut Down NED Fronts

  1. Itaia Muxaic
    August 6, 2015 at 00:38

    India has recently prohibited that 4.144 NGOs that are active in India from receiving funds from the USA, Britain, France, Germany and “Scandinavia”: Due to diversion of funds against against the national interests of India. Ford Foundation and Greenpeace in India are among them. Bolivia expelled USAID and the Danish NGO “IBIS” (for conspiracy to organize violence. “IBIS” is now in Nicaragua organizing violence against the elected government). Ecuador expelled the NGOs “Pachamama” (San Francisco, Calif) for interfering in domestic politics.

  2. Abe
    August 3, 2015 at 15:16

    On September 26, 2013, weeks before Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovich announced he would join Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union rather than the less appealing EU “associate membership”, Gershman wrote an OpEd to the Washington Post where he called Ukraine “the biggest prize,” explaining that pulling it into the Western camp could contribute to the ultimate defeat of Russian President Putin. Gershman wrote, “Ukraine’s choice to join Europe will accelerate the demise of the ideology of Russian imperialism that Putin represents. Russians, too, face a choice, and Putin may find himself on the losing end not just in the near abroad but within Russia itself.”

    In other words, NED is a US government-financed entity that intends to topple Russia’s elected President because he displeases the folks in the Washington neo-con war faction.

    Among NED projects in Russia has been to finance Russian anti-Putin opposition activist Alexei Navalny, member of a group called Russian Opposition Coordination Council. Navalny received money from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).

    The NED has sub-units: National Republican Institute, which is headed by Senator John McCain, the man who played a key role in the 2014 USA coup d’etat in Ukraine. The National Democratic Institute, tied to USA Democratic Party and chaired now by Clinton Secretary of State and Serbian bombing advocate, Madeline Albright. The NED Board of Directors includes the kernel of the Bush-Cheney neo-conservative warhawks like Elliott Abrams; Francis Fukuyama; Zalmay Khalilzad, former Iraq and Afghan US ambassador, and architect of Afghan war; Robert Zoellick, Bush family insider and ex-World Bank President.

    Among projects in Russia the NED financed in 2014 according to their abridged annual report was $530,067 under a category, Transparency in Russia: “To raise awareness of corruption.” Are they working with Russian prosecutors or police? How do they find the corruption they raise awareness of? That naturally also has a side benefit of giving Washington intimate details of corruption, real or imagined, that can be later used by its trained activist NGOs such as Navalny groups. Another project under their NED heading, Democratic Ideas and Values: $400,000 for something called “Meeting Point of Human Rights and History–To raise awareness of the use and misuse of historical memory, and to stimulate public discussion of pressing social and political issues.” It sounds suspiciously like the State Department’s recent campaign to rewrite the history of the Second World War and the fact that Russia and her affiliated Soviet regions lost 27 million lives in bearing the brunt of the victory over Hitler.

    National Endowment for Democracy is Now Officially “Undesirable” in Russia
    By F. William Engdahl
    http://journal-neo.org/2015/08/03/national-endowment-for-democracy-is-now-officially-undesirable-in-russia/

  3. craigbhill
    August 2, 2015 at 12:43

    The neocons foaming at the mouth littering the Washington Post, as if imposing their rightwing ebola on the public, NEVER MENTION NED is funded by the cia, the same anti-American and anti-global hate organization that under the “liberal” Obama organized a coup for a literal (we have photos) blackshirt Hitlerian antisemite to take power in western Ukraine—which was the site of the single worst rampage against Jews in the Greater Nazi German Empire the Post CLEARLY extols.

    • Mark
      August 3, 2015 at 06:28

      Neocons have no real principle except serving their immediate interest — and whatever problems that creates is secondary or not even considered as we’ve so often seen. Whatever they desire can be rationalized in their psychopathic one track minds — the ends always justifies any means as long as they “win”. If they win, decent people and the world in general loses.

  4. Fredric Metchnikov
    August 1, 2015 at 11:37

    The shadow gov’t can’t handle Putin trying to preserve his nation from descending into the “demonic” depths our nation is going. Putin is looking more and more like a national hero and a world leader as we the u.s become more a laughing stock.

  5. Chris Burgess
    August 1, 2015 at 08:54

    Good for Putin. These Neo-con slime balls may have finally met their match in Putin. Gershman and his friends should be thankful Putin didn’t send his “democracy” operatives to Siberia.

  6. Parakletos
    July 31, 2015 at 15:12

    “The obscurantist can be personally a scientist, a philosopher, a truly faithful person, a naturalist, a mischievous student, or just agnostic, but, as one member of the society, believes that religion among the populace serves the aim of social control. To that effect, the obscurant limits the publication, extension, and dissemination of knowledge, of evidence countering the common-belief status quo with which the nation are ruled — the local variety of the necessary Noble Lie, introduced to political discourse by the Classical Greek philosopher Plato in 380 BC. Hence the “stable-status quo restriction of knowledge” denotation of obscurantism applied by pro-science reformers within religious movements,[6] and by skeptics such as H.L. Mencken in critiquing religion.“

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obscurantism

  7. Abe
    July 31, 2015 at 11:44

    Times are tough for America’s “color revolution” industry. Perfected in Eastern Europe after the fall of the Soviet Union, and honed during the so-called “Arab Spring,” the process of backing subversion in a targeted country and overthrowing a sitting government under the cover of staged mass protests appears to be finally at the end of running its course.

    That is because the United States can no longer hide the fact that it is behind these protests and often, even hide their role in the armed elements that are brought in covertly to give targeted governments their final push out the door. Nations have learned to identify, expose, and resist this tactic, and like Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime’s tactic of Blitzkrieg or “lighting war,” once appropriate countermeasures are found, the effectiveness of lighting fast, overwhelming force be it military or political, is rendered impotent.

    This was most recently observed in Armenia during the so-called “Electric Yerevan” protests – Yerevan being the capital of Armenia, and “electric” in reference to the alleged motivation of protesters – rising electric prices.

    American-backed “color revolutions” always start out with a seemingly legitimate motivation, but soon quickly become political in nature, sidestepping many of the legitimate, practical demands first made, and focusing almost entirely on “regime change.” For the Armenian agitators leading the “Electric Yerevan,” they didn’t even make it that far and spent most of their initial momentum attempting to convince the world they were not just another US-backed mob.

    Russia Shoots Down US Stealth Coup
    By Tony Cartalucci
    http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2015/07/russia-shoots-down-us-stealth-coup.html

  8. Abbybwood
    July 31, 2015 at 09:20

    The United States needs to protect itself from the overt interference and meddling in our legislative affairs by an outside country called Israel.

    It is flagrant the control Israel has over our legislators, elections, the media and even the courts!

    Why AIPAC is allowed to have the power they sway over U.S. foreign policy is deeply troubling.

    Talk about influence….geesh.

  9. OldNavyGuy
    July 31, 2015 at 08:58

    Robert,
    I’ve been following your site for years and respect your reporting. But there is a false equivalence here that seems to infect many of my fellows on the liberal side of the equation. Putin has established an anti-democratic Kleptocracy that borders on tyranny. He has shut down free expression and the free press which, were we in Russia, would ironically would make essential sites like Consortium News impossible. The regime arranges the assassination of political opponents and employs other types of oppressive measures. So does NED receiving government funds bother me? No, just like Planned Parenthood receiving funds doesn’t bother me. Conflating NED with all NGOs is also wrong. Furthermore, Mr. Carl Gershman is a social democrat, but mostly an advocate of democracy. Your ad hominem attacks are unfounded. So this is the rub. We don’t shut down Russia TV here just because we know it’s now nothing more than a propaganda wing of the Russian government. There is a real difference between the two sides. Expending time and effort on defending another oppressive measure by an oppressive regime that is being poked by a soft power organization that advocates democracy is a waste of your talent and hypocritical.

    • F. G. Sanford
      July 31, 2015 at 09:42

      If you believe even one word of what you’ve written here, I suspect you spent your entire Navy career on the “mail buoy” watch.

    • Joe Tedesky
      July 31, 2015 at 10:29

      So OldNavyGuy I take it you would be okay with ‘Pussy Riot’ performing at your church service on Sunday? I’m not here to defend Putin, but allow me to defend him anyway by pointing out how every time Putin gives a speech the Western Press demonizes his words by quoting him out of context. When the American Press does this, it only forces me to read Putin’s speeches even more. Every time I read what he actually said, I come away confused to how our media can trash this guy and yet call themselves good and responsible reporters. I also get a kick out of how while we stomp all over Putin’s Russia we Americans are killing each other in movie theaters. If going to the movies doesn’t get you, then maybe being stopped by the police will. Handing over billions of average hardworking Americans money to an out of control Wall Street cabal is something worth waving the flag for. So, before we start steering foreigners in our direction, maybe we would be wise to straighten out our own house.

    • Joe L.
      July 31, 2015 at 12:09

      OldNavyGuy… did you ever come to think that Russia, and other countries, become “protectionist” due to outside attacks against their country coming from the US and the western world. I think for the average Russian this has to be very clear when upon the reunification of Germany the USSR was promised that NATO would not expand eastward of Germany or into former Soviet States. As for talking about “tyranny”, I would ask you about how many countries is the US currently bombing in (hint the answer is 7)? How many countries does the US have “covert” operations in (hint the answer is 75)? How many military bases does the US have worldwide (hint the answer is somewhere around 1,000)? Doesn’t Obama have a “kill list” which negates the whole “innocent until proven guilty” and has even killed American citizens without a trial? How many countries has the US instituted “regime change”, even against “democracies”? I mean 11 Latin American Dictators (and their death squads) were trained at the School of the Americas in Fort Benning, Georgia and installed all throughout Latin America overthrowing “democracies” – I think the latest graduate of the School of the Americas to overthrow a country in Latin America was in Honduras 2009. Millions upon millions of people around the world are dead due to the US, and the western world, in the last decade or two and I think that well fits the definition of “tyranny”. Maybe it is time to look in the mirror first before throwing stones – don’t you think?

      So if you want to figure out a measure of tyranny then compare how many countries that Russia is bombing in right now and compare it to the US! I think that the US itself has a whole mess of “tyranny” to deal with, within its’ own borders, rather then interfering in other countries.

    • Tjoe
      August 2, 2015 at 06:15

      When I read these comments and see the falsehoods being regurgitated, it makes me want proof that the man spent one day in the Navy doing anything remotely close to risking his life for the USA. I have no doubt he could send others off to their death…so could be wrong about his Navy career…. but I have noticed a trend of claims on social media, saying they are veterans (Old Navy Guy), then following the neocon points, one by one. Its a repeating pattern by clearly intelligent assets. I’m sure there will be outrage at my questioning his credentials…that is by design.

      • F. G. Sanford
        August 2, 2015 at 10:16

        I think you hit the nail right on the head.

        • Mark
          August 3, 2015 at 06:20

          There is an army of paid Israeli propagandists working these “US” message boards for the neocon/Israel benefit by keeping Americans ignorant of the truth. And I say “neocon/Israel because they share they same goals and their operatives serve both simultaneously.

          And their propaganda does pay off — some who buy into it right here on these boards — if they’re not actual agents themselves that is.

          There are a couple of places in the US where this paid disinformation emanates from as well as much of it coming straight from Israel.

          Robert Parry, or a trusted associate, could keep an eye on some of these URL’s for a period of time, making notes of their comments, and write up the results exposing the reality to those who don’t recognize the propaganda for what it is.

          Many are honestly fooled and sucked into wrong perceptions — big problem in the US — people being deceived and thinking they are being patriotic while actually they’re believing falsehoods.

    • dahoit
      August 3, 2015 at 10:42

      Old Israeli? naval guy;Sad,your tale of BS.
      Would you accept another nation influencing people in America?(outside of Your Israel of course)I highly doubt it.How about an NED in Israel,funding the opposition(?) to Yahoo?

  10. Erik
    July 31, 2015 at 07:43

    The NED and right wing claim to advance democracy is shown to be false by their lack of concern for restoring democracy in the US, where the essential tools of democracy, elections and mass media are controlled by money, and there is little or no constraint upon the abuses of economic power. We have democracy(trademark), nothing but a marketing scam for business gangsters, and NED would be fighting here if it were not a fraud.

    Small democracies with liberal economics, like those of Latin America and the former Iran, have often been overthrown by US conspiracies and NGOs, and cannot be criticized for suppressing any outside political influence from large countries. If they did not, they would have to directly control news media and private communications to avoid being saturated with propaganda.

    But large nations as well are the subject of propaganda influx. Only the control of US mass media and elections by business gangsters prevents such influence here, a much more severe form of censorship than direct prohibition.

  11. Brad Owen
    July 31, 2015 at 07:21

    T o Mark. It’s the banking establishment that the European and American politicians aren’t standing up to. These “too big to fail/jail” financial groups are powerful. The “Deep State” is their INVENTION. Counting houses (from Dark/Early Middle Ages) have existed longer than Nation-states(which came into existence with Treaty of Westphalia). They have ALWAYS had intelligence organizations, too keep track of “their investments” and who threatens them (and Wall Street’s took over Roosevelt’s O.S.S. in the late forties, when these current round of troubles began).

    • Mark
      July 31, 2015 at 07:50

      I think you’re right regarding the banks or really “bankers” having too much unwarranted influence behind the scenes — by spending more money in Washington lobbying “our” government than anyone else.

      Now who is it that runs the banks? Regardless of how many people refuse to accept or acknowledge reality for one reason or another, if we want to understand reality we must consider the fact, and it is a fact, that Jews run the Western banking industry.

      Money is what buys all the politicians who are for sale. And 98% of them have proven to be for sale to the highest bidder while they place personal gain ahead of honor and country and peace on earth along with so many other valuable things we are simply casting aside for what truly becomes meaningless wealth when added million$ or billion$ will not improve ones life.

      • Brad Owen
        July 31, 2015 at 08:25

        It’s the ones who direct the “runners of the banks” (old European Families who cut their teeth on “Empire-running” in Roman times) that are most culpable, and they’ve rendered themselves practically invisible and untouchable. They found a useful contingent of “bank-runners” from the Jewish community, due to circumstances in the Christian times of the Middle Ages, which branded interest as usury, and Jews were generally not allowed to own property. These families have stayed intact through the Ages. They vast vast experience and “know their Game” exceedingly well, and how to deflect attention and supply scape-goats and such. But, you are right, they don’t have everything “sewed up”. They don’t win every battle. They make mistakes and missteps. They can be defeated. They just are very experienced in depth, and win more often than lose…and supremely motivated to “keep their eye on the ball”, while people just want to enjoy what life they have.

        • Brad Owen
          July 31, 2015 at 11:25

          These culpable Families have some members in public fora. Usually as “Royals”, or titled “Nobles”, whether currently occupying a Throne, or “Between Jobs/Thrones” at the moment. Like true Royals, you will only see them smiling and waving (although you can see them busily talking to each other on the balcony, while smiling and waving). You will NEVER see them actually laying hands upon the “Levers of Power”…that is for “servants”, such as the runners of banks, and managers of think-tanks, and organizers of meetings (such as Bilderberg meetings), and holders of elective offices. It really is amazing how they get a free pass…I guess their servants-in-Media keep the camera pointing elsewhere.

        • Mark
          July 31, 2015 at 11:40

          We really don’t even need to know who is behind the scenes. We do know our government is influenced through lobbying while public sentiment is influenced on any issue they desire through media propaganda.

          Of course if someone really had proof of those specifically to be blamed, they could theoretically end the cabal and stop the madness by cutting the snake off at the head — then by all means that would be the quickest way to cause a shake up at least and could lead to a complete change. On a side note: Most people are extremely afraid of change regardless of how drastic measures are obviously warranted.

          You may have watched ‘The Money Masters’ before. It’s long but loaded with info for anyone that wants to sit through it. There may be a condensed version.

          Copy and Search; ((( ‘The Money Masters’ on YouTube )))

          The country shook off the European Bankers to a large degree when Andrew Jackson, in part ran his successful presidential campaign eliminating some of their control. Then, after heavy lobbying over a decade or two, with the Federal Reserve coming into being, and right before WWI I believe, the Bankers had their hooks back in the US politicians and electorate et all. And now here we are today with evidence of how they are involved in, and profiting off these illegal wars while commandeering the foreign resources for corporate profits which they’re invested in — wars that are illegal and wouldn’t be waged by a society and culture that adhered to the principles behind our domestic and international laws — but because they control the public sentiment, by first controlling politicians and the media they seem to get away with whatever they want.

          And to be sure; Any US politician, office holder, contractor, employee, citizen or media person that knowingly goes along with these deceptions tacitly or otherwise is completely guilty for their own complicit corruption. The fact that bankers or another country, or any other entity tempted them, does not remove or relieve them in any way from their own guilt.

          This “guilt” can honestly be described here as being systemic — as it is derived from the “systemic” corruption that we know is built right into the political system.

          • Brad Owen
            August 1, 2015 at 16:40

            Mark, I think we’ll have to agree to disagree, on the need to know who is behind the scenes, pulling the strings (or actually telling the Master Puppeteer “make it so…”). I’ve also seen parts of The Money Masters, haven’t watched the whole thing yet. I also have acquired a different, opposite view, on what Andy Jackson accomplished. If you’re curious to consider a different P.O.V. about Jackson, go to Executive Intelligence Review website, find the search box in its’ upper left-hand corner, and type in “Andrew Jackson”. It will make you think about how we have all been so mislead and oppositely informed about what took place in our history. Let’s just say the Tories, rich and POWERFUL as always, have never left, nor left us alone, and have been MASSIVELY involved in dismantling and sabotaging our every effort to secure our self-reliance and independence from the British Empire and its’ Oligarchy of arrogant, inhumane, malcontents; with the intended consequence of failure to procure the General Welfare of all of the inhabitants on this continent…which is failure to live up to that Good Mystic’s advice (more than one Mystic recommended it) to love thy fellow man. They also, usually, have had the wherewithal to see to it that the history books are “written correctly”. This struggle still goes on. It’s precisely what you and I have been talking about, here.

          • Mark
            August 3, 2015 at 06:01

            I think we have more in common than not. The question is who are the real fascist overlords and where is their power derived from.

            Controlling the money supply and what’s known as “velocity” while intentionally putting people and countries in debt — like Greece — is one problem. Who controls the money and banking laws and practices? As we do know banking laws and practices are overwhelmingly and disproportionately influenced by Jews — and too many people are intimidated to state the truth. Here’s how the banks intentionally enslaved Greece:

            ‘The Greek Coup: Liquidity as a Weapon of Coercion’
            by Ellen Hodgson Brown / July 31st, 2015

            The press and media manipulating public sentiment through propaganda whisked the bank criminals to safety after they committed the biggest Ponzi scheme in world history leading to 2008 economic melt down. They also aided and protected our war criminals most blatantly since 9/11 so we could carry out Israel’s war plans for the Middle East.
            And controlling the network news and media in the Western countries are the Jews again. Search ((( Israel controls US news))).

            And they control the US government more than most people are aware of as our politicians cower from AIPAC? In spite of the fact we have a president whose job it is to decide foreign policy to benefit America, how do you explain Netanyahu coming over here to tell our US representatives, and US, to reject Obama’s peace deal with Iran and war is the only option? Search (( Israel control US government)).

            You think all these realities are just a lucky coincidence for those who benefit at our expense?

            It makes no difference who it is behind the scenes, it’s the ones that do the bidding right out in the open that deny us of our rights to the truth and thereby deny our rights to democracy itself. We know how they do it and we need to stop them. Otherwise we’re chasing an invisible bogeyman very similar to the one they have us chasing with the war on terrorism which the cabal is using as an excuse for committing ongoing and nonstop war crimes while literally robbing, enslaving and murdering huge numbers of people — including us Americans…

          • dahoit
            August 3, 2015 at 10:29

            They(ziomonsters) are really hating on Jackson lately,as he did the bidding of his electorate.They want to remove him from the 10 dollar bill.

  12. Zachary Smith
    July 30, 2015 at 22:56

    The neocon-flagship Washington Post fired a propaganda broadside at President Putin…

    Excellent nutshell summation.

    Russia would be crazy to allow the western agencies to operate without restraint inside that country.

  13. GMH
    July 30, 2015 at 21:49

    It would be wise for all country’s to enact the same laws as Russia has. The US has a lot of difficulties respecting the sovereignty and/or rights of other countries. If laws are not to the liking/and or wishes they are not in accord with International standards. We, US just live with it.

  14. john
    July 30, 2015 at 18:18

    From the loins of Abraham…..The jews are in the final stages of ruling this planet . We will be their slaves…correction….we are already their slaves . They are Yahweh’s chosen people. Remember Yahweh ? He’s the psychopathic manic murder machine found in the written history of the jews……..

  15. Joe Tedesky
    July 30, 2015 at 16:48

    “What kind of peace do I mean? What kind of peace do we seek? Not a Pax Americana enforced on the world by American weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave. I am talking about genuine peace, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children–not merely peace for Americans but peace for all men and women–not merely peace in our time but peace for all time” ….JFK’s Commencement Address at American University, June 10, 1963

    read the whole speech here….
    http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/BWC7I4C9QUmLG9J6I8oy8w.aspx

    James W. Douglas in his latest book “JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters” called Kennedys American University Speech JFK’s 3rd Bay of Pigs. I am only 10% into Mr. Douglas’s book, but so far it appears that this speech may have been the final nail on Kennedy’s behalf.

    It should be apparent to all of us that the U.S. government has no intention of achieving peace. That goal was lost over 50 years ago. When the Soviet Union collapsed people such as Dick Cheney only saw an opportunity for the U.S. to become the unrivaled “King of the Hill”. Even Nixon had warned them about this type of attitude. Call them Patriot’s or Neocon’s or whatever name you like, but these warmongers are bad for mankind.

    • Mark
      July 30, 2015 at 18:38

      The unanswerable question seems to be: why do so many seemingly good people go along with the parade of lies?

      The only answer I can come up with is that all these “seemingly good people” aren’t good at all — when they tell the lies for those who made the lies, with an ulterior motive in mind, they are the same as those that made and benefit from the lies.

      We live in a country of sell-outs that, when described by our own actions, can collectively be described as the great deceiver of nations.

      Many US citizens, believing they are being patriotic, would deny that the US is the greatest deceiver of nations — including being the greatest deceiver our own US population. This denial which is not patriotic, is further proof of what I’m saying — that those who deny the truth, have in spirit joined the ranks of the Great Deceiver — deceiving themselves and anyone that believes them…

      • Joe Tedesky
        July 31, 2015 at 01:12

        Mark to answer your question why seemly good people seem to go along with these lies, read this clip from James W. Douglas ‘JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why it Matters’

        “Harriman dictated instructions to his colleague Edward Rice for a telegram to Galbraith that instead “changed the mutual de-escalation approach into a threat of U.S. escalation of the war if the North Vietnamese refused to accept U.S. terms,” thereby subverting Kennedy’s purpose. When Rice tried to re-introduce Kennedy’s peaceful initiative into the telegram, Harriman intervened. He again crossed out the de-escalation proposal, then “simply killed the telegram altogether.”As a result of Harriman’s obstruction, Galbraith never did receive JFK’s mutual de-escalation proposal to North Vietnam.”

        John Kenneth Galbraith wasn’t able to tell anyone what JFK’s true intentions were, because Harriman lied to him. So, where there are some who will allow themselves to become subverted (all in the name of Patriotism) there are probably even more who are just flat out lied to. The day in a life of even a President who desires peace is not an easy one. My one wish would be that we could all learn what’s going on in ‘real time’, and not 50 some years later. Thank god for the Freedon of Information Act, but why so long?

        These Americsn NGO’s are just another veal obscuring the Dark States hideous face. After watching how Obama’s cabinet was put together back in 2009 it leaves one breathless to how any event could unfold to our liking. We need campaign finance laws which will seriously downsize the big corporate donor class. The U.S. needs it’s own AID, to hand the power over to the people, and the sane. Yet, none of this can or will happen until we are to have a fair and balanced press.

        • Joe Tedesky
          July 31, 2015 at 01:27

          ‘Veal’ should be ‘veil’….

          Besides being a bad speller, I guess my stomach started spelling for me instead of my brain. We should all have a 2 point default for mistakes when writing our quickly written comments. I hope you at least get my point. Now go get your knives and forks ….

        • Mark
          July 31, 2015 at 06:27

          I did get all of that Ted, and Harriman should have been fired and brought up on various charges of inciting war or escalating war contrary and in opposition to the intent of the Commander in Chief.

          Don’t worry about spelling, my cell phone misspells things for me all the time and gets blamed weather it’s guilty or not.

          • Joe Tedesky
            July 31, 2015 at 09:42

            Mark, I did assume you got it, I was attempting to drive that point home with my comment. You may have noticed how I am enjoying the Douglas JFK book, as well. I also had read where Putin calls this American NGO scheme ‘meddling’. I am sure that there are many things in many places which could, or even should be improved, but when does it become the duty of the United States to fix these problems?

        • Mark
          July 31, 2015 at 06:33

          See what my phone did? I typed Joe and it spelled Ted.

          I forgot to mention th Reagan’s FCC did away with what I think was called ‘The Fair Reporting Act’ which basically said liscensed news agencies had to provide “fair and balanced” reporting.

          • Joe Tedesky
            July 31, 2015 at 10:07

            Progressive radio host Thom Hartman calls the trashing away with the ‘Fair Reporting Doctrine’ by Reagan the beginning of Infotainment. Lewis Powell I believe in 1972 wrote a memo advising in detail to his conservative colleagues how they could change the political landscape to their advantage. There is nothing actually wrong with what Justice Powell did there writing his memo, but that’s what he did. I always found the movie ‘Network’ with William Holden and Fay Dunaway another example of how our news media went the way of the advertisers, and less in the direction of good and responsible reporting. BTW, besides our NGO interference in other nations business, what about what we do with the airwaves. Radio Free Europe is one of those examples. I wrestle with this, because broadcasting is a form of a free speech society, but should we be aiming our efforts at creating unrest in another country? Remember there have been many Americans who have been involved in this form of media who truly believed they were doing some good. It is the way of the world that not everyone has good intentions…oh well.

      • Peter Loeb
        July 31, 2015 at 05:44

        THE US ALREADY HAS SUCH LEGISLATION….

        The US already has similar legislation on the books. Somewhere
        on the books”. But if anyone shoulc mention this Israel’s
        lobby in the US promptly ensures his/her defeat as soon
        as possible. Fullbright (ARK) was immediately replaced
        by a defeat in the next primary because he began to ask
        questions about AIPAC’s right to influence etc. If memory
        serves, that law is called “The Logan Act”.

        Please correct me if my memory is faulty.

        At any rate, such laws do not apply to Israel, its
        lobbies, or anyone who supports these organizations.

        The rules as practiced (enforced) are that Israel
        can do whatever it chooses. Conquest, murder,
        rapes, home and last dispossess, aggression etc.
        UN resolutions simply do not apply. US laws
        also do not apply. Instead, the US is to send billions
        of dollars in aid.

        —-Peter Loeb, Boston, MA, USA

        • Mark
          July 31, 2015 at 06:20

          The reality you noted is so absurd — favoritism and exceptionalism equates to automatic discrimination against anyone not in the chosen group — of course it’s only natural this leads to all kinds of abuses and building resentments.

        • Mark
          July 31, 2015 at 06:44

          Reagan’s legalization of propaganda by eliminating the ‘Fair Reporting Act’ did wonders for misinforming the public — it could be argued the result has been to distort perception and reality itself — certainly it has made a mockery of law on serveral fronts when disinformation led directly to international war crimes by first illegally misleading the domestic population to support war based on lies.

      • George
        August 1, 2015 at 06:45

        Your comment that “[t]he only answer I can come up with is that all these ‘seemingly good people’ aren’t good at all,” is a very important insight into the American problem. I am consistently appalled by how unredeeming so many Americans are in the way they live their lives. Corruption is counted as a virtue, and the lack of principle can be felt on a daily basis as one interacts with his fellow citizens. When such “virtues” permeate a society, it can hardly be surprising that the “leaders” it pushes into positions of power can scream “Thief!” and “Tyrant!” at the leaders of countries that won’t be bought stooges, even as they shamelessly scoop cash out of the public trough into their own pockets, and corrupt the very meaning of the Constitution to create a police state. No, they are not very good at all; in fact, they are quite satanic, as you clearly imply.

  16. John Earls
    July 30, 2015 at 16:39

    And to cap it all, I remember a year or so ago that the US and the EU accused Russia of financing the NGO Greenpeace to resist corporate mining destructiveness (though Greenpeace also protests Russian extractive activity in the Arctic!). God, the official lies are so infantile.

  17. Abe
    July 30, 2015 at 16:34

    Democracy promotion: America’s new regime change formula
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I914DOyc5eY

  18. Mark
    July 30, 2015 at 15:06

    If the European countries had stood up to the US the way Putin and Russia are, on a matter of pure principle(s), then the Ukraine standoff would not exist as it does.

    If that were the case, with Europe being principled, the US never would have been able to illegally invade 2003 Iraq intentionally creating havoc in the Greater ME, as the neocons have, by implementing Israel’s plans for the greater Middle East.

    If Europe had stood up, niether the M-E or Ukrainian crisis would exist as it does and those responsible never would have gotten away with it to date, without a genuine investigation with all known facts being considered.

    And of course without a complicit Western press, it’s also likely none of these events would have taken place as they have.

    • Brad Owen
      July 31, 2015 at 05:53

      I don’t think they can stand up against their own Agents-for-Empire, any better than can we here, in USA. Syriza tried. Over here O’Malley’s trying; so is Tarpley’s United Front Against Austerities, and Tax Wall Street Party. Have you heard of them? Probably not. That’s the problem. Hard to find the chink in The Empire’s armor, and sink the dagger deep.

      • Brad Owen
        July 31, 2015 at 05:55

        This is an INTRA-National, Factional fight, not a “squaring off” between Sovereign Nations.

        • Mark
          July 31, 2015 at 06:10

          I would disagree with he notion this is an “INTRA-national fight”, when the US is funding organizations trying to overthrow and impose “regime change” (or favorable dictatorship) on supposedly sovereign nations with democratically elected officials.

          • Brad Owen
            July 31, 2015 at 07:09

            My point exactly. Do WE elect our representatives to disregard what we want, and then fund and “green light” wicked operations to overthrow other regimes? Of course not. What then? Recall? Impeach? As if all of these avenues of redress are not already rigged-for-failure. This is also assuming (gigantically) that WE actually “voted” for these people in the first place (the vote machines). On top of all of this, the majority are grossly mis/mal- informed. To date, only Greece rose to the occasion, and failed.

          • Mark
            July 31, 2015 at 07:28

            Short of revolution, politics and practices change slowly. If more people would look outside the network news for factual information things could change much faster than before simply because of the speed that information moves around the Internet.

            Greece did not succeed in throwing off their oppressive, and in many respects what is unjust debt, but awareness of various realities were still advanced in and outside of Greece — no one can know the future with certainty but what we do know is that things cannot stand as they are — how much time it will take to bring good or bad changes is also unknowable but things can change very fast when certain conditions will not just permit change, but they will dictate it.

      • Mark
        July 31, 2015 at 07:09

        Who, in your mind, is it that European or American politicians are not standing up to?

        As I’ve stated before; behind the scenes we have all that is and all that support Zionism — the US and Israel are tied at the hip — partners in crime playing good cop/bad cop for their mutual benefit in many respects — and yes they are both criminal in many respects — as are Europeans, Canadians, Austrailians and anyone else who knows the truth of their crimes while still backing them and not calling for justice.

        The “deep state” Does not have the control it seeks; if it did then we wouldn’t see Obama having defied Israel and all of Israel’s American puppet politicians with the Iranian Nuke Deal. The deep state must be flexible as it’s often wrong and completely in error with it’s conclusions and actions — more important than success for them is the over-rated and dangerous importance they place on the “belief” that they can have complete power and absolute control — if they had complete control they would control their opposition, and though they try, they have not succeeded.

    • dahoit
      August 3, 2015 at 10:20

      If there is two nations that need sanctioning,US and our master Israel top the list.

  19. Chet Roman
    July 30, 2015 at 14:55

    Thank you for the propaganda alert. It’s not surprising that the U.S. wants to destabilize Russia and damage its relationship with Europe. There are only two countries that can potentially challenge U.S. global hegemony, Russia and China, and the U.S. will do anything to marginalize them. The U.S. wants to isolate Russia from Europe to hurt them economically and to prevent what is a major concern: an alliance between Germany and Russia. An alliance between these countries would be a powerful counter force to U.S. power and Merkel, who is from former Eastern Germany and speaks fluent Russian, would be well suited to make it happen.

  20. josepxicot
    July 30, 2015 at 14:01

    Putin is more like that,heis the last stadistic heat in occident,he is honest with the russias
    because,he is a patriot,a rare specimen,nowdays,God Bless Russia and it´s president,with
    he and the russians we ares sure that wwlll,will not a reality

    • cicicary
      July 30, 2015 at 17:30

      I see Putin as a man who loves his country. In the USA, most of the elected and non elected leaders love only what they can take for themselves.

      • dahoit
        August 3, 2015 at 10:19

        I see that also.All we have are Ziowhores.

  21. James lake
    July 30, 2015 at 13:55

    Excellent summary of what the NGOs do.
    What is a shame is how the news papers seek to misinform and distort the facts the promote the anti Putin agenda.

    It plays into the prejudices of the readers who don’t look beyond what they are told

  22. Joe L.
    July 30, 2015 at 13:36

    On and on this little Washington game goes! Really this NGO should be called the “National Endowment for Regime Change” because that is what it really is. Along with USAID, NED has funded opposition groups, opposition media, opposition government officials and protesters in country after country. It is just funny to see US Government officials try to declare that while it funded opposition within countries like Venezuela, it had nothing to do with the attempted “regime change” – even though many of the perpetrators fled to the US after the coup failed. Ironically the attempted coup in Venezuela in 2002, along with the media coverage, sounded eerily similar to what we heard about Ukraine (blaming Hugo Chavez for shooting protesters etc.). All that one has to do is look at where “regime change” has occurred and likely you will find the fingerprints of NED, USAID or a whole slew of US quasi government organizations and I think that countries around the world are very aware of this. This is why, I think Maduro kicked out some Americans from his country in Venezuela and why countries like China and Russia are also very wary of these organizations.

    There are many links to regime change or attempted regime change to US NGO’s, all that one has to do is look. USAID trying to institute regime change in Cuba in, I believe, 2012 by creating a Cuban Twitter (ZunZuneo), Al Jazeera writing an article about US funding for anti-Morsi activists in Egypt, USAID (and I am sure NED) being involved in the $5 Billion in Ukraine where now the new Finance Minister is an “American” who used to work for USAID in Ukraine, seeing one of the graduates of the School of the Americas pulling off a coup in Honduras in 2009 etc.

    I don’t know, for a country that supposedly has so much respect for “Democracy”, the US surely overthrows a lot of them.

    • Brendan
      July 30, 2015 at 16:31

      Victoria Nuland told a group of Ukrainian-American businessmen in December 2013 that the US had spent more than five billion dollars for political purposes in Ukraine:

      “Since Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the United States has supported Ukrainians as they build democratic skills and institutions, as they promote civic participation and good governance, all of which are preconditions for Ukraine to achieve its European aspirations. We’ve invested over $5 billion to assist Ukraine in these and other goals that will ensure a secure and prosperous and democratic Ukraine.”
      http://www.state.gov/p/eur/rls/rm/2013/dec/218804.htm

      Much of that $5 billion was channeled through USAID. The achievements that they claim sound a lot like what Nuland had described in her speech:

      “Over the last 20 years USAID has provided $1.8 billion in critical development assistance in support of the Ukrainian people. Much of this development assistance has helped Ukrainians experience increased political freedoms, stronger transparency guarantees, and more economic and social opportunities.”
      http://www.usaid.gov/where-we-work/europe-and-eurasia/ukraine

      USAID has all the appearancances of being a charity. Just look at their homepage today with pictures of smiling African children helping to grow food. The results of their ‘assistance’ in Ukraine tell a different story. I can’t help wondering if USAID is controlled by NED which in turn is controlled by the CIA.

      • Joe L.
        July 31, 2015 at 16:46

        Brendan… Well I knew that most of the funding came through the National Endowment for Democracy and USAID, hence why Ukraine’s new Finance Minister is an “American” who used to work for USAID. This is the same formula used over and over again, have a read of the article in Al Jazeera entitled “Exclusive: US bankrolled anti-Morsi activists” (http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/07/2013710113522489801.html) and of course NED and USAID both come up. You can even look at USAID in Cuba, in I believe 2012, where USAID created a “Cuban Twitter” in order to try to create “regime change” (http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/us-secretly-created-cuban-twitter-stir-unrest). The fingerprints of USAID and NED are also present in the attempted overthrow of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela 2002 which bares a remarkable resemblance to the coup in Ukraine (http://williamblum.org/chapters/freeing-the-world-to-death/us-coup-against-hugo-chavez-of-venezuela-2002). You can even see how graduates from the School of the Americas (in Fort Benning, Georgia) pulled off a military coup in Honduras 2009 (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/nov/18/us-military-usa). On and on this goes but hopefully more and more countries will try and keep these organizations out.

        • a.z
          August 1, 2015 at 09:35

          thank you for the links. i idea was that the us knew about the coup. it okayed and encouraged the coup. but i never guessed that it actively participated in the egyptian coup.

      • Brendan
        August 1, 2015 at 15:03

        Even ten years ago it was clear that American NGOs were being used to channel money for the purpose of interfering in Ukraine. Ron Paul told the House International Relations Committee in December 2004:

        “We do not know exactly how many millions—or tens of millions—of dollars the United States government spent on the presidential election in Ukraine. We do know that much of that money was targeted to assist one particular candidate, and that through a series of cut-out non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—both American and Ukrainian—millions of dollars ended up in support of the presidential candidate, Viktor Yushchenko.”

        http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2014/march/23/us-democracy-promotion-destroys-democracy-overseas/

        http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/intlrel/hfa97187.000/hfa97187_0f.htm

        It appeared to be money well spent because Yushchenko won that election.
        The next election in 2010, on the other hand, was won by Viktor Yanukovich, who had been Yushchenko’s opponent in the 2004 presidential election that Ron Paul was speaking about.

        Shortly before leaving office the 2010, the American-backed Yushchenko awarded the Nazi collaborator Stepan Bandera the posthumous title of Hero of Ukraine.

        Four years after that, in 2014, his opponent and successor Yanukovich was overthrown by an an American engineered coup in which neo-Nazis played a prominent role.

  23. Abe
    July 30, 2015 at 13:16

    On May 23, 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law a new bill from the Duma that now gives prosecutors power to declare foreign and international organizations “undesirable” in Russia and shut them down. Predictably US State Department spokesperson, Marie Harf, said the United States is “deeply troubled” by the new law, calling it “a further example of the Russian government’s growing crackdown on independent voices and intentional steps to isolate the Russian people from the world.”

    Under the new law Russian authorities can ban foreign NGOs and prosecute their employees, who risk up to six years in prison or being barred from the country. The EU joined the US State Department in calling the law a “”worrying step in a series of restrictions on civil society, independent media and political opposition.” The George Soros-funded NGO, Human Rights Watch, condemned the law as did Amnesty International.

    As with many things in today’s world of political doublespeak, the background to the new law is worth understanding. Far from a giant goose-step in the direction of turning Russia into a fascist state, the new law could help protect the sovereignty of the nation at a time it is in a de facto state of war with, above all, the United States and with various NATO spokesmen who try to curry favor with Washington, such as Jens Stoltenberg, its new Russophobic civilian head.

    Russia has been targeted by political NGO’s operating on instructions from the US State Department and US intelligence since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the beginning of the 1990’s. The NGOs have financed and trained hand-picked opposition figures such as Alexei Navalny, member of a group called Russian Opposition Coordination Council. Navalny received money from the Washington NGO National Endowment for Democracy (NED), an acknowledged front for CIA political dirty tricks in their “weaponization of human rights and democracy” project.

    Sovereignty, Sedition and Russia’s Undesirable NGOs
    By F. William Engdahl
    http://journal-neo.org/2015/05/31/sovereignty-sedition-and-russia-s-undesirable-ngos-2/

  24. Abe
    July 30, 2015 at 13:11

    China has recently taken an important step in more tightly regulating foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs) inside the country. Despite condemnation from so called human rights groups in the West, China’s move should be understood as a critical decision to assert sovereignty over its own political space. Naturally, the shrill cries of “repression” and “hostility toward civil society” from western NGOs have done little to shake the resolve of Beijing as the government has recognized the critical importance of cutting off all avenues for political and social destabilization.

    The predictable argument, once again being made against China’s Overseas NGO Management Law, is that it is a restriction on freedom of association and expression, and a means of stifling the burgeoning civil society sector in China. The NGO advocates portray this proposed legislation as another example of the violation of human rights in China, and further evidence of Beijing’s lack of commitment to them. They posit that China is moving to further entrench an authoritarian government by closing off the democratic space which has emerged in recent years.

    However, amid all the hand-wringing about human rights and democracy, what is conveniently left out of the narrative is the simple fact that foreign NGOs, and domestic ones funded by foreign money, are, to a large extent, agents of foreign interests, and are quite used as soft power weapons for destabilization. And this is no mere conspiracy theory as the documented record of the role of NGOs in recent political unrest in China is voluminous. It would not be a stretch to say that Beijing has finally recognized, just as Russia has before it, that in order to maintain political stability and true sovereignty, it must be able to control the civil society space otherwise manipulated by the US and its allies.

    China’s NGO Law: Countering Western Soft Power and Subversion
    By Eric Draitser
    http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2015/07/chinas-ngo-law-countering-western-soft.html

    • August 3, 2015 at 05:05

      Of course, ‘how’ you do something is important. But I can’t help thinking that China wouldn’t be worse off it was taken over by the US. I don’t feel the same sense of urgency for the Russian people under Putin. Although not long ago I did. Reading can do that. The Chinese ruling class has succeeded in ruining it’s citizens. Unless that’s an exaggeration. I hope it is. I know that there is more turmoil – strikes and protests over corruption – than our Western media wants us to know about. Isn’t that interesting? I was really struck when reading a Globe and Mail (Canadian) series on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre by how bad a number the authorities had done on young people in China, to the point where they have accepted the idea that the protesters were trouble makers and the government responded entirely appropriately. (http://bit.ly/1oUcA14)

      Naomi Klein, in “The Shock Doctrine,” notes that Western rulers quite like the form that capitalism had taken in China and prefer it to their own. They desire to dispense with democracy altogether. And that is what Donald Gutstein notes partly constitutes neoliberalism: “Their utopian dream is a state governed by market transactions and not democratic practices. It’s based on the principle that economic freedom must come before political freedom. Political freedom may not even be necessary. It’s fair to say they believe in government, but not in democracy.” What holds the West’s ‘leaders’ back. Not a whole lot. And the constraints get weaker by the day. Here in Canada we just had passed the police state Bill C-51. It ramps up and up. Still, there’s vestiges of a social democratic society. It may take our ruling class and their media and educational allies some time to completely squeeze all memory of that time and culture out of society. With the passing of oldsters, it gets easier. What a nightmare this world is!

      • dahoit
        August 3, 2015 at 10:15

        The Israel NED in America has worked very very well.We aint even America anymore,but Zions little boy toy.

  25. Minnesota Mary
    July 30, 2015 at 12:58

    Very well written on cogent article explaining exactly what is going on with the U.S.’s determination to exact regime change in Russia. I believe Putin has a bull’s eye on his back because he is a very good leader for Russia.

    • pino
      August 2, 2015 at 10:05

      Poetin is een echte leider en geen slaaf van de joodse parasieten.

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