{"id":369972,"date":"2018-07-19T01:39:42","date_gmt":"2018-07-19T00:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=369972"},"modified":"2018-07-19T02:36:01","modified_gmt":"2018-07-19T01:36:01","slug":"should-alex-ward-be-fired-by-vox-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/should-alex-ward-be-fired-by-vox-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Should Alex Ward be fired by vox.com?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Eric Zuesse<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The neocon \u2018journalist\u2019 Alex Ward, at the neocon \u2018news\u2019-site vox.com, criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for having supposedly allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to get away with 7 specific alleged bad things that Ward thinks Trump should have publicly lambasted Putin for during the joint Trump-Putin summit press conference that occurred on June 16th. But every one of Ward\u2019s 7 accusations is actually factually dubious at best, and is unquestioningly accepting of the truthfulness of the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies. Is that behavior professional for a journalist to do \u2014 to unquestioningly accept as Truth a routinely lying government\u2019s (in his case, the U.S. Government\u2019s) account of international affairs?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Here is the core of Ward\u2019s article, along with my own questions regarding each one, to Ward, on each of the seven points he raised \u2014 and I also question here each of the three allegations he made in his introduction:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u2014\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\"><span class=\"s2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/world\/2018\/7\/17\/17577476\/trump-putin-meeting-intelligence-win\">https:\/\/www.vox.com\/world\/2018\/7\/17\/17577476\/trump-putin-meeting-intelligence-win<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><b><i>Why Trump\u2019s Putin meeting was worse than you think<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It\u2019s not just that Trump trashed America\u2019s intelligence community [<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><b>Alex, you trust the CIA on Kennedy\u2019s assassination, or on Saddam\u2019s WMD, or on what \u2014 and why?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">] \u2014 it\u2019s that he did so while getting very little from Putin. [<\/span><span class=\"s2\"><b>How do you know what was agreed-to at that secret meeting?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">]<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">By Alex Ward@AlexWardVox alex.ward@vox.com<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Jul 17, 2018, 12:50pm EDT<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s press conference on Monday after their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy-and-politics\/2018\/7\/16\/17577096\/trump-putin-meeting-nato\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>meeting in Helsinki<\/b><\/span><\/a> was, by many accounts, a disaster.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">But that\u2019s not even the worst part.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Yes, Trump bashed America\u2019s intelligence agencies while siding with Putin \u2014 and he received basically nothing in return<i> <\/i>for it. [<\/span><span class=\"s4\"><b>How do you know? Did you interrogate the translators, to learn what the secret agreements were?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s1\">]<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">Here\u2019s what Putin \u201cgot\u201d during his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2018\/7\/16\/17576956\/transcript-putin-trump-russia-helsinki-press-conference\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>45-minute press conference<\/b><\/span><\/a> with Trump:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li5\"><span class=\"s5\">He got recognition<b> <\/b>on the world stage alongside the US president. [<\/span><span class=\"s6\"><b>That\u2019s not appropriate and customary for summits?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s5\">]<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li6\"><span class=\"s8\">Trump didn\u2019t criticize Putin for interfering in the 2016 US presidential election, or in European allies\u2019 elections [<\/span><span class=\"s9\"><b>all of which are unproven allegations made by U.S. intelligence, which jiggered the evidence on \u2018Saddam\u2019s WMD\u2019 so as to invade<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s8\">]<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li6\"><span class=\"s8\">Trump said Putin\u2019s offer to send Russian government investigators to look into Moscow\u2019s election hacking was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2018\/7\/16\/17576788\/putin-trump-meeting-election-idea-hacking\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>\u201can interesting idea.\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/a> [<\/span><span class=\"s9\"><b>Why isn\u2019t it, and even if it weren\u2019t, why should he have been hostile to Putin there \u2014 that would have been diplomatic?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s8\">] <\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li6\"><span class=\"s8\">Trump didn\u2019t shame Putin for working with Iran to prop up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and relentlessly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/syria-dozens-of-civilians-killed-in-suspected-russian-airstrikes\/a-42031407\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>bombing innocent civilians<\/b><\/span><\/a>. [<\/span><span class=\"s9\"><b>That links to a 4 Jan. 2018 article \u201cSyria: Dozens of civilians killed in suspected Russian airstrikes\u201d but what about the many U.S. bombings in Syria \u2014 and Russia is legally there, but the U.S. is not?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s8\">]<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li6\"><span class=\"s8\">Trump didn\u2019t push back on Putin\u2019s invasion of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2018\/2\/8\/16992194\/ukraine-russia-conflict-putin-eu\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>Ukraine<\/b><\/span><\/a> [<\/span><span class=\"s9\"><b>you don\u2019t mention Obama\u2019s prior <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=8-RyOaFwcEw\"><span class=\"s11\"><b><i>coup<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a><b> that seized Ukraine in February 2014 and installed racist-fascists who <\/b><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonsblog.com\/2015\/08\/the-anti-crimean-pogrom-that-sparked-crimeas-breakaway.html\"><span class=\"s11\"><b><i>terrorized Crimeans<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><span class=\"s8\">] or annexation of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2018\/2\/8\/16992194\/ukraine-russia-conflict-putin-eu\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>Crimea<\/b><\/span><\/a> in 2014 [<\/span><span class=\"s5\"><b>which the Soviet dictator had arbitrarily transferred from Russia to Ukraine in 1954<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s8\">] or his attempt to take over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2014\/03\/13\/world\/europe\/2008-georgia-russia-conflict\/index.html\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>Georgia<\/b><\/span><\/a> in 2008. [<\/span><span class=\"s9\"><b>No such thing as an \u2018attempt to take over Georgia\u2019 is documented there.<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s8\">]<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li6\"><span class=\"s8\">Trump didn\u2019t condemn Russia for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2014\/7\/18\/5915385\/how-mh17-is-affecting-europes-russia-policy\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>shooting down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH-17<\/b><\/span><\/a> in 2014 or Moscow\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/15\/world\/europe\/uk-skripal-russia-novichok.html\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>apparent use of a deadly nerve agent in the UK<\/b><\/span><\/a> this year. [<\/span><span class=\"s9\"><b>No evidence is presented there that Russia did either of those; and all members of the Dutch-led committee that wrote the official report on MH-17 are U.S. allies and thus not to be trusted on the matter.<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s8\">]<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li6\"><span class=\"s8\">Putin made Trump look bad by refusing to deny he had <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/2018\/7\/16\/17576784\/trump-putin-pee-tape\"><span class=\"s3\"><b>\u201ccompromising material\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/a> on the American leader. [<\/span><span class=\"s9\"><b>If Putin has compromising material on Trump, are you demanding that Putin say yes to that, or that Putin should have lied instead?<\/b><\/span><span class=\"s8\">]<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p4\"><span class=\"s1\">That\u2019s a lot of points on the board for Putin \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">\u2014\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">It seems to me that, on all ten of those hits by Ward against the abysmal Trump, Ward scores 0 \u2014 0 for 10.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">What does it say when a major \u2018news\u2019medium is so unquestioning as this, of its lying Government, just like had happened with the <i>New York Times<\/i>, <i>Washington Post<\/i>, CNN, Fox \u2018News\u2019, etc., when this Government raped Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011, Syria in 2012-, Ukraine in 2014, and Yemen now? <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s5\">So, should Vox fire Alex Ward and the others like him? Or should the public fire such \u2018news\u2019media instead?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p6\"><span class=\"s1\">\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p8\"><span class=\"s12\">Investigative historian Eric Zuesse is the author, most recently, of\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Theyre-Not-Even-Close-Democratic\/dp\/1880026090\/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1339027537&amp;sr=8-9\"><span class=\"s13\"><i>They\u2019re Not Even Close: The Democratic vs. Republican Economic Records, 1910-2010<\/i><\/span><\/a><i>,<\/i> and of<\/span><span class=\"s14\"> <i>\u00a0<\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/dp\/B007Q1H4EG\"><span class=\"s13\"><i>CHRIST\u2019S VENTRILOQUISTS: The Event that Created Christianity<\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><span class=\"s12\">.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eric Zuesse The neocon \u2018journalist\u2019 Alex Ward, at the neocon \u2018news\u2019-site vox.com, criticized U.S. President Donald Trump for having supposedly allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to get away with 7 specific alleged bad things that Ward thinks Trump should have publicly lambasted Putin for during the joint Trump-Putin summit press conference that occurred on June [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1254,"featured_media":369941,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[461,519],"tags":[115,30,1036,32,96,3604,1034,543,524,754,523,49],"class_list":{"0":"post-369972","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-editorials","8":"category-newswire","9":"tag-barack-obama","10":"tag-big-brother","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-cia","13":"tag-cover-up","14":"tag-donald-trump","15":"tag-independent-media","16":"tag-putin","17":"tag-russia","18":"tag-syria","19":"tag-ukraine","20":"tag-usa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369972","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1254"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=369972"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369972\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":369985,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/369972\/revisions\/369985"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/369941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=369972"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=369972"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=369972"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}