How are Bellingcat so good? Western intel helping them?
Do corrupt cretins from Amnesty wanna report on Russia turning a nuclear power plant into a giant military base that they have also mined to the core in case they have to retreat? Russia bloody money are so infiltrated into these international organizations like red cross, human rights, etc., it’s insane.
Not nearly enough for the evil they brought to the peaceful soil.Just to be clear: Russia has already been condemned a million times by many organizations and their crimes are being investigated, you know this, right?
I'm not gonna post them here but there are photos from occupied Popsana going around of beheaded Ukrainian POW's with their heads put up on spikes.
But shame on the Ukrainians for trying to defend their populated areas.
Yet depressingly predictable.Fecking awful if true.
Reminds me of Mexican cartels.I'm not gonna post them here but there are photos from occupied Popsana going around of beheaded Ukrainian POW's with their heads put up on spikes.
But shame on the Ukrainians for trying to defend their populated areas.
Reminds me of Mexican cartels.
Do corrupt cretins from Amnesty wanna report on Russia turning a nuclear power plant into a giant military base that they have also mined to the core in case they have to retreat? Russia bloody money are so infiltrated into these international organizations like red cross, human rights, etc., it’s insane.
Such stupid criticism = contributing to the genocide.I usually read amnesty's reports and this is the first report (that I've read) since the war started that criticises Ukraine.
Do corrupt cretins from Amnesty wanna report on Russia turning a nuclear power plant into a giant military base that they have also mined to the core in case they have to retreat? Russia bloody money are so infiltrated into these international organizations like red cross, human rights, etc., it’s insane.
If true (not really if) once this is all done Russia should never be and be split into 100 territories signed never to form again into the country they are todayFecking awful if true.
Please read the above tweet that summarizes everything perfectly. I don’t have time to explain obvious things.So if you don't say exactly what you want to hear you're a corrupt organization that's in the pocket of Russia? Got it.
There's some fairly incredible open source intelligence tools available to the public nowadays that most people would probably think are only available to government intelligence agencies. There's also a lot of intelligent people that put them to use, if only as a hobbyists.
Bellingcat is basically a collection of these people that focus on uncovering corruption around the world. Their focus of Russia is just because all roads tend to lead to Moscow.
Which state funds them?bellingcat is basically a state funded outfit. not sure how good they are or aren't but they've been provided with support by the us and uk in particular. they aren't independent basically which might explain why they have a decent arsenal of intel tools that surpass most open intel outfits.
the us and eu apparently.Which state funds them?
Any official info on this?the us and eu apparently.
Could you please provide some info about this?the us and eu apparently.
Bellingcat does not solicit or accept funding and contributions directly from any national government. Bellingcat can solicit or accept contributions from international or intergovernmental institutions such as the European Commission or the United Nations.
https://www.mintpressnews.com/bellingcat-intelligence-agencies-launders-talking-points-media/276603/Any official info on this?
Any official info on this?
source is bellingcat's own financial documents.Source: the Russians, Syrians, and any other target of Bellingcat's work.
Source: the Russians, Syrians, and any other target of Bellingcat's work.
bellingcat is basically a state funded outfit. not sure how good they are or aren't but they've been provided with support by the us and uk in particular. they aren't independent basically which might explain why they have a decent arsenal of intel tools that surpass most open intel outfits.
including the national endowment for democracy iirc which is a cia cutout. the two above articles lay it out pretty conclusively.It was started by a kickstarter campaign (aka it was crowdsourced) and has received grants by a range of organizations across the EU, such as the Open Society Foundation and similar groups.
including the national endowment for democracy iirc which is a cia cutout. the two above articles lay it out pretty conclusively.
I read the first article and there wasn't a single piece of evidence to confirm your claims, just baseless claims about CIA links to private citizens who have worked for Bellingcat or donated to them.https://www.mintpressnews.com/bellingcat-intelligence-agencies-launders-talking-points-media/276603/
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/10/09/bellingcat-intelligence-contractors-extremists-syria/
editorial line for each of the above is typically anti-imperialism and sometimes outright provocative for the sake of clicks. but from time to time they do manage a worthwhile investigative expose. the bellingcat story to me seems minor but they do a good job of clarifying its status and receipt of funds from various states. anyway that's your trigger warning as most won't want to spend too much time on either of these sites as one is very anti-us which takes the form of anti-ukraine and that i don't condone.
Its not. Its a government organization created to promote democratic institutions in other countries, which is a good thing, unless of course you are conspiracy theorist who hates democracy.
its formation was closely tied to the cia. that's historical record. what the cia did covertly the ned would do overtly. and spreading and promoting democracy is not usually a good thing, ask the arab world. or are they conspiracists who hate democracy?Its not. Its a government organization created to promote democratic institutions in other countries, which is a good thing, unless of course you are conspiracy theorist who hates democracy.
its formation was closely tied to the cia. that's historical record. what the cia did covertly the ned would do overtly. and spreading and promoting democracy is not usually a good thing, ask the arab world. or are they conspiracists who hate democracy?
bellingat received state contracts. many. it received indirect contracts later linked to state agencies. its founder walked back the idea that it hadn't. that's all the proof you need for what i stated, that bellingcat are not some purely independent open intel org and are in fact tied to state actors. but you can see what you want to see. as an example, we know the editorial line of the two websites above. how often do they do work critical of russia? rarely. how often does bellingcat do work critical of the us? rarely?I read the first article and there wasn't a single piece of evidence to confirm your claims, just baseless claims about CIA links to private citizens who have worked for Bellingcat or donated to them.
Just the the same old Russian propagande, without any actual proof.
it's fringe alright but it's not bullshit. i acknowledged their bias before posting it. i know it well enough. doesn't mean they're wrong.Its not.
But apparently the fringe article you posted (which is total BS by the way) was a from an outfit called MintPress which is allied with moral paragons Russia, Iran, and Syria.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MintPress_News
In December 2001, the U.S. government passed its Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, which further tightened the screws on a nation already reeling under what amounts, in essence, to a form of collective (i.e. immoral and illegal) punishment. Considering that Zimbabwe imports 100 per cent of its oil, and 40 per cent of its electrical equipment and spare parts, these sanctions and interferences have, single-handedly, destroyed or substantially hobbled the country's industrial and agricultural sectors. None of this is to say that Mugabe hasn't acted harshly to crack down on internal dissent. But one must immediately counter with the fact that Zimbabwe is very much the subject of extensive foreign subversion. Much like the so-called "colour revolutions" in Serbia, Belarus, Georgia and Ukraine -- and numerous other attempted "revolutions" across the globe -- Zimbabwe's "independent" oppositional groups have received extensive funds, equipment and organizational support from the likes of the U.S. State Department, USAID and the ubiquitous U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy (called essentially the "civilian" arm of the CIA). And, of course, the international media can be relied upon to conjure their usual bang-up demonization campaign. Meanwhile, we hear not a media peep about countries right next door. Such as Tanzania, where even the barest hint of a strike is met with state violence and imprisonment. Or Rwanda, where under the Western-backed Tutsi leadership, thousands are routinely "disappeared." Or Uganda, where there has not been a free election since Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986. Then again, according to a recent update by the Oxford Research Bureau, the United States and Britain (with extensive support from Canada through its sub-imperial role in Afghanistan) are now responsible for the deaths of 1.3 million people in Iraq since 2003.
"Pariahs" and "monsters," it seems, are very much in the eye of the beholder.
Pariah or scapegoat?" Spectator.
Essentially the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is a soft power organization that promotes the ideological values of the US while advocating for democratic progress around the world. According to the NED’s own information about its history the organization was founded on the premise that “American assistance on behalf of democracy efforts abroad would be good both for the US and for those struggling around the world for freedom and selfgovernment,” and that, by their own admission, “the model of a non-governmental organization that receives public funding to carry out democracy initiative should be considered by other countries that appreciate the benefits of participating in this significant worldwide movement” (“History | National Endowment for Democracy,” n.d.). With origins dating back to Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration, the US first started its exploration of the notion to fund democracy building objectives around the world when it was revealed that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was receiving funding to “wage the battle of ideas at international forums,” and so Johnson’s administration recommended the establishment of a “public-private mechanism” to fund overseas activities openly (“History | National Endowment for Democracy,” n.d.). However, it took until 1983 for the NED to be fully approved and created by an order of congress known as H.R. 2915 (“History | National Endowment for Democracy,” n.d.).
The creation of the organization was an open attempt to remedy the fact that a covert spying agency was caught using some of its funding in a manner that Congress, the Executive Branch, and the American people deemed less than admirable. So, from the shadows of a CIA program exercising its will to create governments abroad favorable to the US in the name of preserving and promoting democracy the initial discussions of having an open organization dedicated the US government’s agenda was born. The origins of the NED seem less than favorable in terms of promoting the various ideologies associated with democracy in a manner befitting the crux of its ethos. This organization, by its own admission, is not based on the
autonomy usually associated with that of NGOS. In fact, the very nature of the organization was founded on the premise to serve the will of the American government. Despite its attempts to frame itself as an autonomous organization free from the influence of the government, the NED is in fact a shell organization that funnels money through the four institutions created in its wake to further the American agenda abroad.
By posing as an NGO the NED advocates freedom in a manner to help foster other American interest, just as its CIA precursors, used democracy promotion to create governments favorable to US interests. As journalist Robert Parry (2014) suggests, the NED is a, “shadow foreign policy apparatus built by Ronald Reagan for the Cold War survives to this day as a slush fund that keeps American neocons well fed and still destabilizes target nations.” There has been massive criticism of the NED’s activities since its inception. Recently, the organization was criticized for its role in Ukraine and Venezuela. Parry (2014) studied the current undertakings of the organization and found that the policies enacted on behalf of the organization in the Ukraine and Venezuela were consistent with activities that used to be conducted by the CIA; activities such as sponsoring organizations in direct opposition to democratically elected leaders that served the political and economic interests of the US.
The National Endowment for Democracy: Theory, Context, and Practice by Albert Jesse Opraseuth B.A., Georgia State University, 2009
He demonstrates that congressional control over funding constrained operations to cases genuinely aimed at strengthening democracy through democratic methods, and that senior officials in the NED and the administration subordinated democracy to security interests. As a result, the NED pursued democracy promotion on a tactical basis in countries in which such a policy was believed to enhance U.S. national security. In friendly dictatorships, this meant support for elite forces who enacted surface reforms without a fundamental elimination of injustice to preserve stability.
Søndergaard, Rasmus Sinding. Review of Democracy Promotion, National Security and Strategy: Foreign Policy under the Reagan Administration, by Robert Pee. Journal of Cold War Studies, vol. 21 no. 2, 2019, p. 199-201. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/726141.
NED got involved in Haiti in 1985, just before Jean-Claude (BabyDoc) duvalier fled. As with its operations in many countries, in Haiti, NED and its spin-off organizations, which share many common board members and affiliations, are interlocked with official government institutions such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID).
Between 1986 and 1990, NED funneled over $2.3 million in funds into Haiti.
A 1988 study commissioned by AID noted that Haiti had between 800 and 1,500 "non-governmental organizations," with U.S. funding reaching at least 400.
At a time when the democratic and popular movement was picking up steam, the study recommended more support for "the independent sector" and listed possible recipients. AID and NED each helped found institutions which later received sizable grants. One of those, the Haitian Institute for Research and Development (IHRED), played a very partisan role in the eighties and especially in the 1990 elections when it was allied with Marc L. Bazin, the U.S. government's preferred candidate, and helped him create his coalition. (Bazin later served as the second illegal prime minister of the post coup d'etat regime, overseeing rampant corruption and repression. Another NED grantee - Jean-Jacques Honorat from the Haitian Center for the Defence of Rights and Freedom (CHADEL) - served as the first illegal prime minister of the regime.)
"Subverting democracy." Multinational Monitor, vol. 15, no. 3, Mar. 1994, pp. 13+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A15409609
When these covert activities surfaced (as they inevitably did), the fallout was devastating. The CIA connection, intended to protect people and organizations from public embarrassment, had precisely the opposite effect.
"A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA," agrees Weinstein. The biggest difference is that when such activities are done overtly, the flap potential is close to zero. Openness is its own protection.
I read the first article and there wasn't a single piece of evidence to confirm your claims, just baseless claims about CIA links to private citizens who have worked for Bellingcat or donated to them.
Just the the same old Russian propagande, without any actual proof.
it's fringe alright but it's not bullshit. i acknowledged their bias before posting it. i know it well enough. doesn't mean they're wrong.
Going by their financial papers the "shady" part of their financing, which they aren't hiding by the way, accounts for a significantly lesser part of their annual budget.https://www.mintpressnews.com/bellingcat-intelligence-agencies-launders-talking-points-media/276603/
https://thegrayzone.com/2021/10/09/bellingcat-intelligence-contractors-extremists-syria/
editorial line for each of the above is typically anti-imperialism and sometimes outright provocative for the sake of clicks. but from time to time they do manage a worthwhile investigative expose. the bellingcat story to me seems minor but they do a good job of clarifying its status and receipt of funds from various states. anyway that's your trigger warning as most won't want to spend too much time on either of these sites as one is very anti-us which takes the form of anti-ukraine and that i don't condone.
Its about as useful as getting propaganda directly from a totalitarian country, then posting it here as if it were legit.
While vehemently insisting that it is independent of government influence, Bellingcat is funded by both the US government’s National Endowment for Democracy and the European Union. CIA officials have declared their “love” for Bellingcat, and there are unambiguous signs that the outlet has partnered closely with London and Washington to further the pair’s imperial objectives.
Now that the media consortium has obtained access to high-tech satellites capable of capturing 50cm resolution imagery of any place on Earth, it is time to place these connections under the microscope.
To explore the relationship between Bellingcat and centers of imperial power, look no further than its officially published financial accounts from 2019 to 2020. According to these records, Bellingcat has accepted enormous sums from Western intelligence contractors.
But just show some proof, everything you say are just baseless claimes without any proof. Same with the articles you posted.bellingat received state contracts. many. it received indirect contracts later linked to state agencies. its founder walked back the idea that it hadn't. that's all the proof you need for what i stated, that bellingcat are not some purely independent open intel org and are in fact tied to state actors. but you can see what you want to see. as an example, we know the editorial line of the two websites above. how often do they do work critical of russia? rarely. how often does bellingcat do work critical of the us? rarely?
