[act-ma] 9/09 The Great Russian Bounty Hoax:

[Charlie Welch]

*Paul Shannon writes*

*The Great Russian Bounty Hoax: *

*Bureaucratic Intrigue and Journalistic Malpractice*

A Zoom meeting with investigative journalist, Gareth Porter

*Wednesday, September 9 @ 7pm*

Sponsored by the Mass. Peace Action Middle East working group.

*Register Here 
<https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqcOqtqz8jE9VH6NRZGLpy2s5BZVGOfOs_>*

On June 26 the New York Times dropped another Russia-gate bombshell with 
a sensationalist front page story blaring the news that Russia was 
paying Afghan militants to kill U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Since then a 
predictable media frenzy followed reviving the anti-Russian hysteria 
that has excited the beltway establishment for years. *The story was 
given prominence in Joe Biden’s speech at the Democratic National 
Convention and has now been used extensively to build the case for 
stepping up the new cold war with Russia.* What many did not notice was 
the way this story was used in Congress to prevent the withdrawal of 
U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

Gareth Porter’s research indicates that the New York Times initial 
report appears to have been the product of a sensationalist 
disinformation dump aimed at prolonging the failed Afghan war in the 
face of Trump’s plans to withdraw U.S. troops. 
(https://thegrayzone.com/2020/07/07/pentagon-afghan-bountygate-us-intelligence-agencies/) 
In this webinar Gareth examines the both the sources and the motivations 
for this Russian bounty story. The implications of his findings are 
quite large indeed.

Gareth Porter - Institute for Policy StudiesGareth Porter was a chairman 
of the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Committee_of_Concerned_Asian_Scholars> at 
Cornell.^[7] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-7> From 
1970–1971, he served as the Saigon Bureau Chief for Dispatch News 
Service International 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispatch_News_Service_International>,^[8] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-8> and later, he 
was the co-director of the Indochina Resource Center, a research and 
education organization opposed to the Vietnam War 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War> which was based in 
Washington, D.C.^[1] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-huffingtonpost1-1>^

Porter reported on political, diplomatic and military developments in 
the Middle East <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East> for Inter 
Press Service 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_Press_Service> between 2005 and 
2014.^[9] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-9> His 
analysis and reporting appeared from the 1970s to 1990s in /Foreign 
Policy/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Policy_%28magazine%29>,^[10] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-10>/Foreign 
Affairs/ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Affairs>,^[11] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-11> and /The 
Journal of Environment & Development/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Journal_of_Environment_%26_Development>,^[12] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-12> and later for 
Al-Jazeera English 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Jazeera_English>,^[13] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-13>/Press TV/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_TV>,^[14] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-14>^[15] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-15>/The Nation/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nation>,^[16] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-16>/Salon/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salon_%28website%29>,^[17] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-17>/The 
Huffington Post/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Huffington_Post>,^[18] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-18>/CounterPunch/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CounterPunch>,^[19] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-19>/Antiwar.com/ 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiwar.com>,^[20] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-20> and 
/Truthout/ <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truthout>.^[21] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-21>

Since 2006, Porter has been investigating allegations made by the U.S. 
and Israel about Iran's nuclear program 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%27s_nuclear_program>,^[22] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-22>^[23] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-23> and has 
reported on U.S. diplomacy and military and intelligence operations in 
Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.^[24] 
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Porter#cite_note-autogenerated1-24>

He was the recipient of Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in 2012 and has 
authored a number of books. His most recent book is _The CIA Insider’s 
Guide to the Iran Crisis _co-authored with John Kiriakou, just published 
in February.

*Register Here 
<https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqcOqtqz8jE9VH6NRZGLpy2s5BZVGOfOs_>*

For information call 617-354-2169 or 617-623-5288

US Troops in Afghan village