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How to Debunk the Skripal Poisoning Lie - Advice from an Expert

Catching out liars and murderers is a serious business


This post first appeared on Russia Insider


Patrick Armstrong, one of the smartest Russia analyst's out there has some great advice here which was very helpful to me.

Points 2 and 3 really struck me, because, if he is right, than a large part of the effort in the alt-media to rebut this nonsense is in fact only doing more harm.

<figcaption>Armstrong seen recently on a cruise</figcaption>
Armstrong seen recently on a cruise

I think the Skripal story is where the liars finally meet their Waterloo. They got away with MH17, with Litvinenko, with killing Nemtsov, with Magnitsky, with using gas in Syria ... They got away with the snipers on Maidan Square. There is much more stretching back over the years Iraq, Georgia 2008 etc, but I don't want to belabor the point.

Skripal is just another miserable false flag right from their playbook followed up with a timed avalanche of lies in the media, and you can see how, considering what they got away with before, they think they can pull it off again.

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But this time it doesn't seem to be working.

Here is Armstrong's advice:

  1. It’s obvious nonsense brought to you by proven liars.

  2. The point of propaganda is to leave an impression after the details have been forgotten.

  3. To get involved in discussing the minutiae of the story is to help the propagandists’ aims.

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    Therefore treat it as a badly constructed story that is failing to convince.

  5. Do this by analyzing the comments on the news stories which (at least the ones I’ve looked at) show that people are skeptical.

  6. Also mock the meanderings of the story: At the restaurant! In the car! On the doorstep! Incredibly lethal but strangely ineffective. Miraculous recovery of daughter. Baby wipes as effective protection. Reminiscent of White Helmets and their flip flops, rubber gloves and paper masks; but, come to think of it, it’s the same authors in both stories. Who, after so many lies, are becoming overconfident and sloppy.

It’s a startlingly incompetent theatrical production and should be responded to with contemptuous mockery.


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