Home Australia Hartcher and the Sydney Morning Herald Rewrite History Again

Hartcher and the Sydney Morning Herald Rewrite History Again

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hartcher 8Peter Hartcher 

By James O’Neill

There is no clearer example of the sorry state to which Australian mainstream media has descended than the column by the Sydney Morning Herald’s political editor Peter Hartcher, published on 9 February 2016.

In the course of discussing what Hartcher calls North Korea’s “ballistic missile” test last weekend, Hartcher sought to draw a parallel between South Korea’s reaction to the test and Russia’s reaction to the 2007 US statement that it would deploy a “missile defence” system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Let’s leave to one side the absurdly strained metaphor.  Hartcher says that the US decision created a “fundamental rupture with Russia.”  Really?   What was Russia supposed to do?  The USD had already broken a fundamental promise made to Gorbachev at the time the Soviet Union was disintegrating that NATO would not advance “one inch” to the East.

That promise was soon broken and all the countries bordering Russia in Eastern Europe progressively became members of NATO.  What was the official reason for that missile defence system?  We were told it was to protect the US against Iranian nuclear missiles.

Reporters who repeated this nonsense without question had clearly never consulted a map.  Much less had they consulted the reports of all 16 US intelligence agencies that had unanimously concluded, twice, that Iran did not have a nuclear weapons program.

Hartcher then goes on to chronicle Russia’s alleged response to this latest piece of US provocation.

“Russia’s Vladimir Putin threatened a nuclear strike on Poland.  He suspended all co-operation with the US alliance bloc in Europe, NATO.  And he set in train the events that culminated in the annexation of Crimea, the invasion of Ukraine and the shooting down of MH17 by Russian-backed Ukrainian rebels.”

That’s quite a reaction.  There is just one little problem.  Not a word of it is true.

Russia did not threaten Poland with a nuclear strike.  What the Russians have repeatedly said is that any country that has nuclear weaponry based on its soil, especially when they are US missiles pointed at Russia, automatically becomes a target in the event of war.

That is hardly remarkable.  Russia would be derelict in its duty to its citizens to do otherwise.  It is no different from US policy (or British, French and Chinese) to program missiles to target those who might pose a serious threat.  In the US case, as the Pentagon has recently revealed, that means a very large number of countries, including those officially listed as “friends and allies.”  That does not rate a mention with Hartcher.

Secondly, the annexation of Crimea?  Did Hartcher skip the history lessons at school?  Has he not heard of the Crimean War fought between Britain and Russia?  The one that among other things gave fame to the Light Brigade and Florence Nightingale.

Does he not know that Khrushchev “gifted” Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 without consulting anyone, much less the Crimeans who had been part of Russia for centuries?

Does Hartcher not know that after the American organized coup d’état that overthrew the legitimate Ukrainian government, the Crimeans held a referendum in which they voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine?  Does he not know that the UN Charter specifically provides for such a situation?  It is called the right to self-determination.

Does Hartcher not recall that his own newspaper supported Kosovo’s right to secede from Serbia, and the American bombing used to discourage the Serbs from reacting to that?

Thirdly, Hartcher refers to the invasion of Ukraine.  What invasion? By whom? When?  Hartcher obviously has sources denied to the rest of us.  Ordinary mortals may hunt high and low for evidence of such an “invasion” before being driven to the inevitable conclusion that it is also a figment of an imagination either overworked, or one hopelessly battered by the propaganda of CNN, Fox News and their ilk.

Fourthly, Russian-backed “rebels” shot down MH17.  Mr Hartcher obviously read a different edition of the Report of the Dutch Safety Board than myself.  That Report, published in October 2015, did not attribute blame to anyone.  That may or may not emerge from the ongoing criminal investigation.

In fact, Appendix T of the Report specifically pointed out that there was no evidence the “rebels” had BUK missiles, much less a capacity or desire to fire them at civilian airliners.

If Hartcher and his newspaper had not long since lost the capacity for “independence” that its masthead proudly proclaims, he would know that the overwhelming weight of evidence points to Ukrainian forces being responsible.

Unfortunately, one has to assume that a newspaper that will not inform its readers about secret agreements to give the parties to the investigation (including Ukraine) the right to suppress inconvenient findings of fact is not going to be too bothered continuing its long time role as the mouthpiece of ignorant Russia haters.

Small wonder that readership of this propaganda drivel is shrinking rapidly.  People who want to know what is going on no longer rely on columnists such as Hartcher.  His latest column provides stunning confirmation of the reasons why.

—James O’Neill is a Barrister at Law.  He may be contacted at joneill@qldbar.asn.au

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24 COMMENTS

  2. We await the mass media smh and / or Mr. Hartcher’s reply.
    Just as gumshoe has awaited replies from Dr. Kay, on building 7, Jonathan Faine on 911 and USS liberty and poor Derryn on his Assad gassing allegations.
    I am sure gumshoe would publish their replies.
    By the way, we have not heard from Morrison on the TPP or Bishop on the deal on mh17.
    Dear oh dear gumshoe, they seem to think gumshoe will go away and the public will keep financing the msm and the abc.
    ‘Tell em that they are dreamin’. [apols: The Castle].
    Hate to be a msm sharehder. 40
    Billion off the market today.

      • Silly me. I just googled for “Christian Science Monitor, Jahar” and got this:
        “Russian-American journalist Masha Gessen suggests that Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev may have seen terrorism as ‘a shortcut to greatness.’ As a terrorist, ‘You can go from being a nobody to declaring war on a great country,’ says Gessen.”

        and some have greatness thrust upon ’em type thing?

  5. Sydney Morning Herald news is usually propaganda aimed at the population that refuses to think critically. The owners/editors/journalists that engage in any propaganda have failed as journalists but have succeeded in a Trojan Horse assault…. best false flags that an exceptional empire would be proud of….. Which empire…. Guess, my fellow citizens, guess… it’s not hard !

          • I done just read this on an ASIO website January 2015:

            “The shocking and terrible acts of violence we have witnessed in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and most recently France, emphasise the gravity of the threat posed by terrorism. These tragic events, as well as the turmoil in Syria and Iraq, illustrate the disturbed world in-which security intelligence and law enforcement agencies are currently operating in. We deal with people with no regard for the law, with no regard for community, and often, with no regard for human life.”

            My question is, does the speaker know whom he works for?
            I think I will also post this comment on my “Tavistock” article. Twisted minds R us.

          • Hi Mary,

            Re your comment: “Nah. It’s higher than the USA”, could you please provide some evidence of this. On the contrary the evidence abounds that it is solely the USA:
            ** Tonkin incident a lie started war
            ** Pear Harbour: neglecting attack information gave US Govt. the OK to join European theatre of WW2
            **JFK, Robert Kennedy…say no more
            **Big daddy of all 9/11

            Credible professionals like Noam Chomsky, Philip Marshall, Glen Greenwald, Amy Goodman, Paul Craig Roberts, ConsortiumNews, Dr Judy Wood and especially our own Julian Assange ( Collateral Murder) present all the evidence one needs, except that the main stream media hushes it up ALL the time.

            The SMH & all the others “NEVER” discuss the above other than with a slant towards ridicule.

            You may remember a CIA representative advising the US Congress years ago that “we have assets in all major media in the western world”.

            It is only with false flags that truth is hidden. So, please don’t say “Nah” because the evidence is available. Just look at the information from these people.! Look!

        • Its the central banking mafia that are at the top of it all! On paper, they own it all, but they know they cant come and take it (yes your flesh is on their books) so the only way to keep it all going is with distraction by any means!

  6. Cover-up of a crime is tantamount to committing the crime. Conspirators expose themselves to prosecution.

    How to commence indictments? That is the question.

    911JusticeCampaign.org proposes one solution.

    • Dear Rediscover,
      Thanks for that lead. i went to it and found this:

      “A single County – with committed, justice-minded elected officials in place – has the power to bring the treasonous mass-murderers who planned, perpetrated, and subsequently covered up the crimes of 9-11 before a Grand Jury…..”

      I don’t agree that the county has to have good officials. A grand jury belongs to the people. You can start one yourself. Bill Windsor has made the excellent suggestion (to Yanks) that if your state does not allow the public to access the state’s grand jury, you should file for an injunction against this unconstitutional behavior.

      Go, Constitution! Go, Peeps! Go 9-11 non-Putter-Up-Withs!

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