Western media should pipe down about the "Kremlin's Troll Army". It just draws attention to the glaringly obvious fact that western intelligence services are way ahead of the Russkies in digital Jiu Jitsu.

This article originally appeared at Thick Toast

All you hear about, regarding social media manipulation lately, is about “Kremlin’s Troll Army”. Seriously, I’d like to know where I could sign up for this army, apparently they pay pretty well? Personally, I’m pro-sanity, and in the case of the Ukraine war that means I’m pro-Kremlin. I’m also an American citizen.

Perception

If you don’t believe it, quiz me. Either I am who I say I am, or I’m a secret agent, funded by the Kremlin, with flawless English and who knows all the intimacies of having grown up in western Michigan during the 70s and 80s, later having moved down to Denton, Texas for many years before finally becoming an ex-pat. Read my intro on the real reason for the Ukraine war for a bit of my background, and if you’re still unconvinced question me on twitter.

Why did I become an ex-pat? It’s not because I hate America, though I do have a thing against our war-mongering bank-bailing republicans-and-democrats-just-as-bad administration that believes we should police the world and “stop people from killing people by killing many more people” mentality. Mainly it has to do with not wanting to be around when the greedy military industrial complex starts WW3 (I figure Philippines is a safe bet, so here I am).

No doubt, I am labeled a “Kremlin troll” by those who disagree with me, and typically this is followed by accusations that I’m paid to do so. First, I’d like to instruct these accusers that I would happily get paid to do so, and please point me in the right direction where I can sign up for said paid service. Second, I’d ask “Why do you think that?”, because apparently, if you don’t think that the US has the right to go charging around the world like a bull in a china shop, risking nuclear war over the vice president’s right to have his son Hunter Biden be on the largest gas company in Ukraine, ready to plunder Ukraine of over 9 trillion in natural resources, then that makes you a Kremlin troll?

Western Claims

The United States, as well as western media, accuses Russia of employing an army of trolls to engage with social media, in order to influence public opinion. In case you missed it, here are some examples:

It’s almost comical how these papers describe it, as though groups of Russian citizens (who apparently speak flawless English) are crammed into “sweat shops” (if you can actually sweat in St. Petersburg), and paid a paltry sum of $900+ per month in order to slave away at crafting propaganda.

Now, I’m not going to claim that Russia doesn’t do this. They’d be stupid not to. Russia cares about how it is perceived in the world. For crying out loud, they spent 42 billion dollars on the Sochi winter Olympics. They’re going to spend even more on the upcoming World Cup in 2018. The United States has declared economic war on Russia, enforcing sanctions and bullying / browbeating / humiliating / threatening regime change, etc., to any country who doesn’t go along with it. Through its control of western media, the US has engaged in a major propaganda war against Russia. Why wouldn’t Russia come forward to make its own case?

Russia is majorly criticized for giving its own point of view.

Tell me again, western media, how much you value free speech? Tell me how Russia, as a country, should not be allowed to face the countless barrage of allegations against it? Western media was loudly proclaiming Russia’s guilt over MH17 within hours after it occurred, with strong condemnation from the White House, and apparently Russia isn’t allowed to say anything on its own behalf to counter these allegations.

Drawing our attention back to this supposed army of online social media warriors hired by the Kremlin, I’d like to present to you major hypocrisy by the west.

UK Hires 1500 Soldiers to Spread Positive Propaganda on Social Websites

As you can see here:

The British army is creating a special force of Facebook warriors, skilled in psychological operations and use of social media to engage in unconventional warfare in the information age.

Aren’t you happy, citizens of the UK, that your tax dollars has paid for 1500 soldiers to sit there, on social media websites, pretending to be people who they are not, and engaging in propaganda so that you, the average UK citizen, will know the right thing to think when some evidence comes forward that is damning to western interests, and exonerates Russia? Certainly all the news that the west offers should be sufficient for you to make up your mind, without the army lying about its identity and telling you how you should think?

CIA Manipulates Social Media

Any truth or defense presented by Russia is such a threat, that the CIA has taken precautions so you don’t accidentally believe any of it:

The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.

And, very interestingly, this 2011 article makes a prediction:

The discovery that the US military is developing false online personalities – known to users of social media as “sock puppets” – could also encourage other governments, private companies and non-government organisations to do the same.

Over four years ago, the Guardian predicted that other governments would have to come up with their own social armies, to fight against the one that the US has been preparing for many years.

I’m going to ask you all a question, and I want you to think about it. When you’re reading some pro-western article online, and the comments are filled with “bravo, excellent post, Russia sucks” types of comments, how do you know that is not the CIA, US Military, or UK Military personnel, or fancy US generated software that isn’t making those posts? Really, how do you know? Because the CIA, US Military and UK government’s employment of these “fake” social media soldiers is a documented fact. There are 1500 soldiers employed by UK alone. How many online newspapers are there, exactly? How many articles come out every day that are important to US foreign policy? A dozen? Two dozen? Let’s call it 100 articles daily, shall we? That means there are 15 personnel employed by the UK, per article, per day. That also assumes each one only makes a comment on one article. If this is your job, how many posts could you make per day, 50? If that’s true, the UK alone could be responsible for some 75,000+ comments per day! Now throw in the CIA and special military software to do the same type of commenting, perhaps even automated.

It’s all propaganda folks. Russia has a 1% stake in your daily propaganda, if you so happen to log in to RT news, or see a Russian-made comment on your favorite newspaper. The west feeds you 99% of your propaganda. Seeing that Obama has bombed over 7 countries in the last 6 years, that war is the main export of the US, and that Ukraine has become a total war zone in order to plunder it of its natural resources, are you sure you’re reading the right propaganda?