JOHN PILGER AND THE ‘THOUGHT-FREE’ TEMPLATE
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| John Pilger |
This week there were two articles in the Guardian’s ‘Comment
is Free’ space, one by John Pilger, [1]the other
by Volodymyr Ishchenko[2]
respecting the situation in Ukraine. Reading both pieces one enters two very
separate worlds. Pilger’s world a paranoid vision of an all-powerful evil
American Empire, ably assisted by its European allies, that pulls strings that
stretch across the planet, manipulating proxies from Taiwan to Tirana. The
Ukraine being the latest theatre of the American struggle for world hegemony.
It is a world view barely distinguishable from that of Alex Jones, renowned
conspiracy theorist.[3]
Thus we have John Pilger on the Maiden protests in Kiev and
across the Ukraine.
‘In February, the US
mounted one of its proxy "colour" coups against the elected
government of Ukraine; the shock troops were fascists...’
Leaving aside the slur against the Maiden activists, -yes
far right groups were involved, yet those from countries with a free press all
reported they represented a tiny minority- the important point to note is that for
Pilger the activists on Maiden Square have no free will, along with those who
have fought for basic freedoms from Georgia to Libya, they are mere puppets
acting out an agenda agreed in Washington.
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| US Puppets on Maidan |
Pilger goes on to
provide a crude, distorted and ahistorical encapsulation of the 20th
Century history of the Ukraine.
‘Some 30 million
Russians died in the invasion of their country by Hitler's Nazis, who were
supported by the infamous Ukrainian Insurgent Army (the UPA) which was
responsible for numerous Jewish and Polish massacres. The Organisation of
Ukrainian Nationalists, of which the UPA was the military wing, inspires
today's Svoboda party.’
(Incidentally, Pilger’s figure of 30 million would have to
include Ukrainians, since no separate figures were collated for the individual
component states of the Soviet Union, millions of Ukrainians died fighting the
Nazi’s. Pilger either wittingly or not is being misleading).
The suffering of the
Ukrainians under Stalin are well recorded, I touched upon them in my last
article, and it is this suffering that provides the historical context of the
limited support that the Germans, who presented themselves as liberators,
enjoyed in the initial period following invasion.[4] This is
the context not the justification, though Pilger abandons any attempt at
balance or nuance as he seeks to slur the protesters on maiden square who are
dismissed with the single phrase, ‘Washington's putsch in Kiev.’ Pilger of
course provides no evidence for this characterisation, he feels no need,
already basking in the warm glow of millions of fellow travellers nodding
assent to his paranoid characterisation.
However if he feels no need to provide nuance and context
when speaking of those who toppled the nauseatingly corrupt regime of Viktor
Yanukovich, he feels no such lack of generosity when explaining away the
actions of Vladimir Putin.
‘Since Washington's
putsch in Kiev – and Moscow's inevitable response in Russian Crimea to protect
its Black Sea fleet – the provocation and isolation of Russia have been
inverted in the news to the "Russian threat".’
[My emphasis]
Putin you understand, following ‘Washington's putsch – and note
the sleight of hand here, no mention of annexation of Crimea, which prior to
March this year had been part of another sovereign state, - is merely seeking
to protect the Black Sea Fleet, though Pilger again finds it unnecessary to
provide any evidence that the position of the Black Sea fleet was threatened in
any way. It was of course under no threat.
The
logic of Pilger’s position is that we, and more importantly the citizens of
countries such as Georgia, Estonia, Moldova, should accept the fact that they
live within the Russian sphere of influence, we should keep our noses out, what
goes on there is none of our business.[5]
The dishonesty, distortion and naked propagandising here
would not shame a leaflet put out by some ‘Marxist-Leninist’ far left sect. Pilger however has been a significant
campaigning journalist in his time. I grew up on his fine reporting for,
amongst others, the Daily Mirror and independent television, from Vietnam and
Cambodia. Now eaten away by anti- Americanism and captured by a paranoid
world-view, his reporting is now worthless. He has discovered the joy of the
‘thought-free’ template, this will provide an instant explanation of every
international development, dispensing with the need for subtly, nuance or an
understanding of local complexities.
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| Volodymyr Ishchenko |
The contrast with the piece by Ishchenko could not be
starker. Here is a genuine piece of nuanced analysis, the writing of someone
who understands the complexities on the ground. Compare Pilger’s analysis with
Ishchenko’s:-
‘’The anti-Maidan protests cannot be supported
wholeheartedly and without reservation. Like Maidan they are diverse. Some
people support joining Russia, some support more local autonomy within the
Ukrainian state. Russian far-right nationalists, who are no better than the
Ukrainian nationalist Svoboda or Right Sector, participate in the protests
together with leftist organisations. The public in eastern and southern Ukraine
is split. Simultaneously, with anti-Maidan rallies and seizures, demonstrations
in support of the new government and a united Ukraine take place.’
While you might agree or disagree with the points Ishchenko
makes you know you are reading someone openly engaged in a process that has
involved actual thought, as opposed
to Pilger’s robotic anti-American rant.
Finally, respecting the Ukraine I can only concur with
Ishchenko’s summary, ‘…it would be better to support progressive
wings of both Maidan and anti-Maidan, and try to unite them against the
Ukrainian ruling class and against all nationalisms and imperialisms on shared
demands for social justice.
[3]
For a glimpse of Jones’s world view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgBq6q4x8Fw
(Mind you the Bilderberg group may not be a secret cabal ruling the world but
it is sufficiently anti-democratic, elitist and even sinister to merit serious
attention).
[4]
It is also true that some Ukrainians, Lithuanians Latvians and indeed Russians
committed atrocities against the Jews and other minority groups. As indeed did
some Frenchmen, Belgians and Croats. Some Russians too fought for Germany. If
Pilger wants to explore the nature of Russians who fought with the Germans
against Stalin he should read up the career of Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov, tough
I suspect that the nuance’s and complexity of Vlasov’s career may be too much
for Pilger.
[5]
I have pointed out before, see http://alextalbot.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/thoughts-on-crisis-in-ukraine.html.
The grotesque irony of some imagining themselves on
the Revolutionary Left embracing 19th Century realpolitik! It is
also worth noting the way in which Pilger throws out the numbers of Soviet,
(not Russian), dead as a moral justification for Russian domination of the
region. The citizens of countries like Estonia and Lithuania, invaded by Russia
in 1939, and not regaining their independence until 1991, witnessed the
attempted erasure of their countries culture and saw their finest and brightest
murdered or despatched to Siberia to ensure this Russian hegemony. They had
good reasons for seeking NATO membership, which enjoys great popular support in
these countries. This of course counts for nothing with Pilger. (Now if they
were Nicaraguans, subjected to the less than cuddly embrace of Uncle Sam, then
he would become exercised).
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