Pentagon ran secret anti-vax campaign to undermine China during pandemic : usa

[-] protist@mander.xyz 13 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

First off, your formatting sucks. Just link the damn article.

Second, I can't help but notice the Biden Admin was made aware of this not long after he entered office, and then he publicly banned the practice. This happened in spring of 2021. Why is this suddenly news?

The Biden White House issued an edict in spring 2021 banning the anti-vax effort, which also disparaged vaccines produced by other rivals, and the Pentagon initiated an internal review, Reuters found.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

I did link the article, it's the top level link of this whole post. Might be an app or instance issue keeping some people from seeing it I guess, so I'll add it to the body of this post when I get a chance.

Second,

and then he publicly banned the practice

[Italicization added]

That's incorrect, the public did not know about this program until Reuters reported on it here (which is why this is news). His administration privately told them to stop this specific campaign, but

After Reuters asked X about the accounts, the social media company removed the profiles, determining they were part of a coordinated bot campaign based on activity patterns and internal data.

and

Nevertheless, the Pentagon’s clandestine propaganda efforts are set to continue. In an unclassified strategy document last year, top Pentagon generals wrote that the U.S. military could undermine adversaries such as China and Russia using “disinformation spread across social media, false narratives disguised as news, and similar subversive activities [to] weaken societal trust by undermining the foundations of government.”

And in February, the contractor that worked on the anti-vax campaign – General Dynamics IT – won a $493 million contract. Its mission: to continue providing clandestine influence services for the military.

So, the accounts were still active and the posts were still visible until Reuters got involved, and the people who greenlit what should have been an obviously bad idea (anti-vaccine propaganda efforts) are continuing to work for our government.

Stopping anti-vaccine propaganda efforts was a good thing, but it was the absolute least Biden could do and wholly insufficient. These posts/accounts should have been publicly disowned and discredited, and the people responsible for them should have been prohibited from doing any further work for the US. Not doing so is a massive blow to our international credibility, which is like the last fucking thing democracy needs right now.

e; part of what I originally wrote seemed pretty irrelevant on second thought, so I deleted it to make it a bit less of a wall of text, but originally in between "Second," and ">and then he etc." was

the Biden Admin was made aware of this not long after he entered office

That's not totally clear (party nominees start getting briefed on some classified things before the election to get them up to speed), but does seem to be the case given what we know now.

[Indent added for clarity]

[-] TheOubliette@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago

It's news because in the supposedly democratic country that was pushing anti-vaxx sentiment during a global pandemic, its citizenry are not privy to the workings of its government until some journalists receive a leak and can then begin investigating. That happened recently.

[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 4 points 2 weeks ago

Reuters doesn't load

[-] protist@mander.xyz 1 points 1 week ago

Yes it does

[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 3 points 1 week ago

It requites JavaScript, so it won't load for many people

[-] NuclearDolphin@lemmy.ml 3 points 1 week ago

The Pentagon ran a program intended to kill untold number of innocent civilians just to hurt China and all lemmyoids can do is bicker about the effectiveness of Chinese vaccines.

The CIA thanks you for your service

[-] NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml 0 points 1 week ago

Didn't we find the location of some big-time terrorists via fake vaccine campaigns prior to this?

[-] kbin_space_program@kbin.run -4 points 2 weeks ago

"China's" vaccine was stolen from Canada.

It outright wasn't as effective since Canada hadnt finished working on it.

[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 8 points 2 weeks ago

You can't steal ideas

[-] kbin_space_program@kbin.run -3 points 2 weeks ago

Yeah you can. Thomas Edison made his fortune on stealing other people's ideas, including the Light Bulb.
It was partially completed, and the part that was completed was one China still doesnt have the tech or knowledge to do.

[-] TheOubliette@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 week ago

Edison made his fortune by using his financial power to claim exclusive economic right to the technologies developed by other people. China made this vaccine openly available and provided it to a number of poor countries while the US and its partners were restricting the use of their own vaccines. One of the mechanisms used by the US et al to restrict supply was IP laws they had previously foisted on other countries, which is the Edison thing to do in this situation.

[-] delirious_owl@discuss.online 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

His didn't steal them. He used them.

Because you can't steal ideas.

[-] kbin_space_program@kbin.run 1 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Except he did steal them because the written letters we have say that he wasnt going to take credit for inventions that weren't his.

Also, in the case of CanSinoVac, they were given physical things and never paid for them, so yes, it was stealing.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world 7 points 2 weeks ago

First off, you should really source what you're talking about, secondly it does seem to be entirely irrelevant to this story, but third, unlike the information DOD contractors were spreading in this story, that does appear to be a more or less accurate summary of what happened there.

[-] kbin_space_program@kbin.run -1 points 2 weeks ago

Didn't think i needed to since it was big news at the time.

[-] sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago

Always cite sources. Not everyone follows the same news, or maybe their local news options are censored.

[-] davel@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Where are you getting this from, your own ass? It seems that NATOpedia mentions no such thing, and they seem to love shitting on China.

[-] gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world -1 points 2 weeks ago

NATOpedia

About that source,

The Grayzone has downplayed or denied the Chinese government's human rights abuses against Uyghurs, published conspiracy theories about Xinjiang, Syria, and other regions, and published disinformation about Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which some have described as pro-Russian propaganda. Grayzone staff Blumenthal and Aaron Maté acted as briefers on behalf of the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations at UN meetings organized by Russia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Grayzone?wprov=sfla1

[-] davel@lemmy.ml 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Yes, I’m well aware of Wikipedia’s opinion of The Grayzone & Blumenthal & Maté, and I’m familiar with its garbage English-language entries on Xinjiang & Syria & the war in Ukraine.

Lets take the Uyghurs/Xinjiang as an representative example. The US tried to foment division in China by funding and organizing terrorist cells in Xinjiang, and once those efforts failed, it concocted and promoted a genocide narrative. Antony Blinken is still pushing this slop, just last month.

The Xinjiang Genocide Allegations Are Unjustified
The Uyghur Human Rights Project is a product of the National Endowment for Democracy, which is the American government’s main regime change NGO.
Uyghur genocide allegations
American Debunks All Major Western Propaganda on Uyghurs and Xinjiang
US-Funded Uyghur Activists Train as Soldiers of Empire
A Reddit AMA Claiming To Be A Uyghur Quickly Exposes A CIA Asset Slandering China

.
The blueprint of regime change operations

We see here for example the evolution of public opinion in regards to China. In 2019, the ‘Uyghur genocide’ was broken by the media (Buzzfeed, of all outlets). In this story, we saw the machine I described up until now move in real time. Suddenly, newspapers, TV, websites were all flooded with stories about the ‘genocide’, all day, every day. People whom we’d never heard of before were brought in as experts — Adrian Zenz, to name just one; a man who does not even speak a word of Chinese.

Organizations were suddenly becoming very active and important. The World Uyghur Congress, a very serious-sounding NGO, is actually an NED Front operating out of Germany […]. From their official website, they declare themselves to be the sole legitimate representative of all Uyghurs — presumably not having asked Uyghurs in Xinjiang what they thought about that.

The WUC also has ties to the Grey Wolves, a fascist paramilitary group in Turkey, through the father of their founder, Isa Yusuf Alptekin.

Documents came out from NGOs to further legitimize the media reporting. This is how a report from the very professional-sounding China Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) came to exist. They claimed ‘up to 1.3 million’ Uyghurs were imprisoned in camps. What they didn’t say was how they got this number: they interviewed a total of 10 people from rural Xinjiang and asked them to estimate how many people might have been taken away. They then extrapolated the guesstimates they got and arrived at the 1.3 million figure.

Sanctions were enacted against China — Xinjiang cotton for example had trouble finding buyers after Western companies were pressured into boycotting it. Instead of helping fight against the purported genocide, this act actually made life more difficult for the people of Xinjiang who depend on this trade for their livelihood (as we all do depend on our skills to make a livelihood).

Any attempt China made to defend itself was met with more suspicion. They invited a UN delegation which was blocked by the US. The delegation eventually made it there, but three years later. The Arab League also visited Xinjiang and actually commended China on their policies — aimed at reducing terrorism through education and social integration, not through bombing like we tend to do in the West.

[-] TheOubliette@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago

The Grayzone pushes back on US narratives and that's basically what that summary is saying while trying to make it sound nefarious without actually stating what is bad or incorrect. And journalists looking to eat while publishing that kind of work do often look for outside funding, including by designated Enemy Nations (TM). And Blumenthal has some real stupid opinions.

But at the end of the day, the real question is whether their articles are useful and accurate. Are they correct about this case? Are you misled by a false emphasis?

It's not like major news organizations don't have the same kinds of issues.

[-] kbin_space_program@kbin.run -3 points 2 weeks ago

The word you want to search is "CanSinoVac."

[-] davel@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

And AFAICT that’s not even the vaccine this article is talking about, anyway.

United States | News & Politics