The United States has launched a psychological operation against Russia after its successful airstrikes against Daesh (ISIL) targets in Syria, a former US Senate candidate says.
Mark Dankof made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Friday while commenting on a report published by The Independent on Thursday which claims that a number of long-range cruise missiles fired from a Russian warship towards targets in Syria crashed in Iran on Wednesday.
At least four missiles could not make it to their targets in Syria and landed in Iran, two US officials said citing military and intelligence information, the British newspaper reported.
The Russian Defense Ministry, however, denied claims that a few of the missiles fired from Russian ships in the Caspian Sea landed in Iran.
The Russian Defense Ministry statement said that the new Kalibr-NK cruise missiles all struck within nine feet of their intended targets in Syria.
“The Independent cites two anonymous US officials as a basis for this claim, who in turn are quoting unspecified, uncorroborated, and unverified ‘military and intelligence information,’” Dankof said.
“This is laughable on its face, and underscores the blizzard of lies spun by the American government, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council, and Turkey, about what has been going on in Syria, and who is clearly responsible for the 250,000 Syrian deaths, 1 million wounded, and 9.5 million displaced citizens of that country,” he added.
“The blame is clearly on the aforementioned states, who have financed, supported, and introduced the [Takfiriri] extremists and terrorists into the sovereign state of Syria in an illegitimate attempt to overthrow the legitimate and recognized government of that country. This is not simply evil, but illegal.
“The lies being woven by Zionist corporate media in the West about Russia are an attempt to conceal the alliance of ISIL, al-Qaeda, and affiliates with American, Israeli, British, French, and Saudi intelligence, and to conceal the obvious fact that the Russian airstrikes are hurting these terrorist groups militarily, even as they take place legally because the sovereign government of the nation of Syria has formally requested Russian assistance.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin is to be congratulated for having the guts to do this on Syria's behalf, even as he understands that the covert backing of these extremists and terrorists in Syria is taking place in his own backyard and represents a true national security threat to the sovereignty of Russia and the safety of its people.
“The second critical point is this: When joining The Independent in reporting these lies on Thursday, CNN revealed its real agenda (as well as that of the UK’s Independent) in its false reporting when it cited the White Helmets as the basis for its reports.
“CNN says this group is an ‘independent medical team’ operating on the ground in Syria. The truth is that the White Helmets are an invention of state intelligence agencies and NGOs who seek the overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This organization has special links to the British government in particular, and are linked to the PR firm Purpose, Inc, to lobby for military interventionism against Assad.
“They are closely linked to the Avaaz NGO which has the same agenda, and is linked to the Open Society Foundation of Zionist Jew George Soros. Clearly, for CNN to utilize this source, even as it admits it has no "independent corroboration" for the allegation of massive civilian casualties in Syria as a result of Russian airstrikes, is a classic case of yellow journalism, as is The Independent story.
“Thirdly, The Independent story quotes these same anonymous ‘intelligence and military sources’ to proffer the outlandish claim that 90 percent of Russian airstrike targets were neither ISIL nor al-Qaeda affiliated. No reasonable person can believe this, especially since the totality of the evidence presented globally on these strikes thus far suggests massive Russian effectiveness in hitting both of these [Takfiri] groups and their assets.
“Finally, The Independent story does manage to print one truth. It is a terrifying one. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen publicly stated that NATO's rapid response force has been quickly doubled from 20,000 troops to 40,000.
“His statements in The Independent suggest that there is a strong likelihood of their deployment on the ground in Syria. This is the most outlandish evidence yet that Paul Craig Roberts is correct: the Neoconservative and Zionist agents in charge of the American government have decided to risk World War III with a nuclear power.
“That this information was published in The Independent Thursday with nary a complaint in the larger Zionist corporate media in the West underscores the criminal link of the Zionist lobby to both corporate media and the American national security establishment. This criminal link threatens every man, woman, and child on this planet.
“That is the bottom line: What is taking place on a massive basis in the displacement and murder of innocent people in Syria is potentially but the beginning. This is why as an American paleoconservative, I second the support of Pat Buchanan for Mr. Putin's position, and the former's support for disenfranchising the Zionist fifth column in American government and media. But it may well be too late.”