National Security “Experts” Blame Russia for the George Floyd Protests
The latest instance of American social disharmony being blamed on Moscow is
part of a long tradition, where some see an invisible Russian hand whenever it
is useful.
by Alan Macleod
June 01st, 2020
By Alan Macleod
The murder of George Floyd one week ago by Minneapolis police officer Derek
Chauvin has sparked national and international protests, as millions have
expressed their outrage over what they see as a racist and deadly policing
system. But many in the political establishment are claiming that much of the
crisis has been manufactured by powerful enemy nations, especially Russia.
Discussing the protests on CNN, Susan Rice, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.
and National Security Advisor to President Obama, pontificated that the Kremlin
was behind them. “I would bet, based on my experience – I’m not reading
intelligence these days, but based on my experience – this is right out of the
Russian playbook,” she said, adding that the U.S. cannot allow “extremists” and
“foreign actors” to distract attention away from real issues. Instead of
pressing her for evidence, host Wolf Blitzer (who worked for AIPAC, a lobby
group interfering in U.S. politics on behalf of Israel) immediately backed up
her speculation. “You’re absolutely right on the foreign interference, because
we know for decades the Russians, when it was the Soviet Union, the Communists,
have often tried to embarrass the United States by promoting the racial divide
in our country,” he replied.
Aaron Maté
✔
@aaronjmate
· May 31, 2020
Replying to @aaronjmate
Susan Rice on unrest and violence at the George Floyd protests: "This is right
out of the Russian playbook as well."
Embedded video
Aaron Maté
✔
@aaronjmate
More of Susan Rice speculating on CNN that Russia is fueling US protests: "I
would not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these
extremists on both sides using social media. I wouldn't be surprised to learn
that they are funding it in some way, shape, or form."
Embedded video
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4:25 PM - May 31, 2020
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Rice continued: “We see it all the time, we’ve seen it for years, and frankly
every day on social media, where they take any divisive painful issue, whether
it is immigration, whether it is gay rights, whether it is gun violence, and
always racism, and they play on both sides. Their aim is not simply to
embarrass the United States, Wolf, their aim is to divide us, to cause us to
come into combat with each other, to disintegrate us from within. And I would
not be surprised to learn that they have fomented some of these extremists on
both sides using social media, I would not be surprised to learn that they have
been funding it in some way, shape or form.” As such, she presented issues like
the treatment of black people as a Russian-backed talking point.
Senator Marco Rubio, a prominent Florida Republican influential in
international affairs, claimed that tensions were being “very heavily” stoked
by “at least three foreign adversaries” “promoting violence.” In an interview
with ABC, Trump’s National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien said Rubio was “spot
on,” claiming China and Iran were all involved in fanning the flames of racial
resentment. Like with CNN, host George Stephanopoulos did not challenge his
guest, but, in fact, backed him up, interrupting him to ask, “We also know that
Russia has been actively trying in the past to spark racial unrest. Are they
one of the adversaries who are now exploiting the situation as well?” O’Brien
agreed Russia was partially responsible for the explosion in protests.
The irony is that the U.S. is openly sponsoring, organizing, and supporting
uprisings abroad, like in Venezuela, Hong Kong, and Ukraine. Indeed, Rubio,
Rice, and O’Brien are key figures in organizing them. While Moscow might indeed
by promoting tensions, their measurable online reach is minimal; RT, the
primary Russia-funded English-language outlet has received only around 10,000
worldwide views on its YouTube videos on the George Floyd protests.
The tenuous attempt to connect the anger over the Floyd murder is part of a
much longer history of defaming black struggles for liberation by associating
them with Russia. The celebrated playwright and activist James Baldwin long ago
wrote that “when the nation has trouble with the Northern Negro, it blames the
Kremlin.” The Civil Rights struggle was constantly written off as a Kremlin
psychological operation; on Meet the Press in 1965, host Lawrence Spivak
engaged in red-baiting Martin Luther King, Jr., asking him, “moderate Negro
leaders, including you, have feared to point out the degree of communist
infiltration in the Civil Rights Movement. Have communists infiltrated the
movement?”
While the evidence linking the public anger over George Floyd’s killing to the
Kremlin, Beijing, or any other foreign government is hazy, at best, the utility
in blaming outside agitators for rioting or even for Donald Trump’s victory in
2016 is clear. For the national security state, it rallies the country round a
jingoistic message, increasing their power and prestige. For centrists in the
establishment, it gives them an out to look the other way and paper over the
deep cracks in American society, allowing them an excuse not to change their
policies or cede ground from insurgent populists. And for corporate media,
foreign interference was a money-spinning story. The Russiagate conspiracy, now
looking weaker than ever, dominated headlines for three years. Furthermore, the
idea of foreign interference online pushed big social media companies like
Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and search engines like Google and Bing to partner
with the national security state and alter their algorithms, promoting
establishment media and de-ranking, de-listing or deplatforming alternative
media that was challenging their dominance.
The latest instance of American social disharmony being blamed on Moscow is
part of a long tradition, where some see an invisible Russian hand whenever it
is useful.
