Disinfo: US intelligence involved in drug trafficking and other criminal activities in Afghanistan

Summary

In Afghanistan US intelligence has set up a network for illegal fund-raising through drug trafficking, extortion of guerrilla fighters for the passage of vehicles, and kickbacks on military contracts. Perhaps US spies are unhappy that Russian and US diplomats are jointly promoting talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Such negotiations threaten to put an end to this illegal fund-raising network.

Disproof

Conspiracy theory. The article provides no evidence to support its accusations that US intelligence is engaged in drug trafficking or other illicit fund-raising operations in Afghanistan. The article’s message is consistent with pro-Kremlin disinformation narratives on Afghanistan that seek to discredit the military and intelligence presence of the US and its allies in the country. For example, pro-Kremlin media have claimed that former Afghan president Hamid Karzai called Russia to liberate his nation from US occupation; that the West and the US are ferrying Islamic State members to Afghanistan to use them against China, as part of a so-called “Anaconda ring”; or that NATO is denying the presence of terrorists in the country but the FSB has evidence of it. Pro-Kremlin outlets continue to spread disinformation about US objectives in Afghanistan aimed at eroding Afghan public trust in U.S. security guarantees. Russia’s state media outlet Sputnik is a leading agent of such disinformation, as it operates a Dari-language website. The US and its allies are, in fact, very much aware that the Afghan drug trade, a serious international security threat, has undermined reconstruction and security in Afghanistan by financing radical Islamist insurgent groups and fueling government corruption in the country. Read a similar case of pro-Kremlin disinformation on Afghanistan claiming that NATO is responsible for the destruction of Afghanistan.

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publication/media

it.sputniknews.com (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 203
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 27/06/2020
  • Outlet language(s) Italian
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Afghanistan, US
  • Keywords: Drugs, Sputnik, Conspiracy theory
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Jun 26, 2020
Disproof

No evidence is given. Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine, which is often claimed to be under external control from the US, NATO, the EU, or IMF. Ukraine is a sovereign state. The US or its political leaders, either from the Democratic or the Republican party, do not control Ukraine. Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected by most of the free world, confirmed by the resolutions of the United Nations, but violated by Russia. The relations between the US and Ukraine are bilateral relations between two independent countries. The US recognised Ukraine as an independent state on 25 December 1991. Since then, Washington has been working closely with Ukraine, directing its assistance to support the democratic development of the country and helping Ukraine to withstand Russian aggression. U.S. policy has since been centred on realising and strengthening a stable, democratic, prosperous, and free Ukraine more closely integrated into Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures. See other disinformation cases alleging that Ukraine is under external control: that the US has taken Ukraine under external control; that neo-Bandera's Ukraine is under the US and NATO control; that Ukraine is under US control; that US Embassy controls decisions taken in Ukraine; or that US and IMF define and control political appointments in Ukraine.

Disinfo: Ukraine is a fake country, Ukrainian ideology was created to split the Russian nation

[…] the ideology of [Ukrainian nationalism, Ukrainians] is aimed at splitting the larger, united Russian nation, separating from its southern, Little Russian branch, and creating a fake state with a fake, destructive ideology. We see that this ideology led to a bloody civil war and attempts to destroy and suppress the Donbas.

Jun 26, 2020
Disproof

An example of historical revisionism, recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that Ukraine is an artificial country and that Ukrainians are a part of a larger Russian nation. This publication also promotes the pro-Kremlin narrative that there is a civil war in Donbas waged by Ukraine against the people of Donbas. Ukraine is a well-defined nation-state that has preserved language, literature and identity despite foreign rule for long periods. It is a sovereign state whose borders are guaranteed by international agreements but were violated by Russia through the illegal annexation of Crimea. Ukraine is recognised in international law as a sovereign nation-state, with its own flag, nationality, language and with a democratically-elected president and parliament. The publication refers to a derogatory term 'Little Russians' to identify Ukrainians, which derives from imperial Russian and Russian irredentist ideology that is a favoured pro-Kremlin narrative aimed at weakening the national identity of Ukrainians and undermining Ukraine's sovereignty. The war in Eastern Ukraine is not a civil conflict, but a well-documented act of ongoing aggression by Russian armed forces, since February 2014. Read similar disinformation cases alleging that Ukraine is not a country, but a territory, that Ukraine has never existed as an independent country, that Ukraine is a state formation, and not a country, that Ukraine was artificially created as a state hostile towards Russia, that myth about Ukraine as a separate nation was created in the USSR, or that Ukrainian literary language is an artificial language created by the Soviet authorities.

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A process of self-destruction is taking place in Ukraine. No one else has started this process. Chaos, the coup that took place in 2014, was controlled from the outside. But today Western curators abandoned Ukraine and what is left is starting to eat itself. There is no statehood, sovereignty, or the rule of law. Gangs feel free in Ukraine. We are witnessing the disintegration of the state and they are already talking about this. Killings and suppression of dissent are entrusted to those who were created as units ready for military action. They beat the elderly and don’t allow people to celebrate Victory Day.

Jun 26, 2020
Disproof

This is a recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Ukraine's disintegration and imminent collapse, consistent with narratives that Ukraine is under external control since the 2013-14 Euromaidan revolution. Ukraine has a functioning government and economy, it is a member of many international organisations, such as the United Nations and the Council of Europe, and a party to international agreements. Ukraine has bilateral diplomatic relations with the majority of states. It has functioning law enforcement and court systems. Ukraine did not ban the celebration of Victory Day, May 9 is still a national holiday in Ukraine. See similar disinformation cases claiming that Ukraine is in free fall, that the coronavirus will cause the collapse of Ukraine, and that there is no solution for Ukraine.