In response to Russia’s stance against Western aggression in Syria, the West has launched a full-scale war against Moscow. One of the major triggers of this war seemed to be when Russia diplomatically outmanoeuvred the US (through brokering a deal that brought Syria’s chemical weapons under international control) following the Ghouta sarin gas attack in 2013 – which the West blamed on Assad’s forces, but which was in fact a false flag attack to justify an invasion of Syria.
Since that point, the Western mainstream media has worked in concert to engage in one of the most blatant and naked propaganda offensives in modern history. On any giving day, there are a plethora of articles in the Western media that are not intended to actually inform the public of pertinent and important issues (imagine if the presstitutes actually done the job they are supposed to do), but are purely hit pieces against Russia. Anyone who reads or watches Western media on a regular basis will have seen this propaganda ad nauseam.
From information to economic; geopolitical to cyber: the West is using every aspect of warfare in an attempt to demonize and weaken Russia. In recent years, sport is an area that the West is increasingly trying to weaponize, with the FIFA scandal illustrative of this phenomenon. As award-winning author and geopolitical analyst, Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, wrote in a June, 2015 article for the Strategic Culture Foundation titled, Forget Sports: Geopolitics is Behind the FIFA Scandal As the War Against Russia Enters a New Front:
“The whole FIFA scandal is not about corruption or dignity. The whole affair is about geopolitics and managing the world. Joseph [“Sepp”] Blatter was forced to step down because FIFA refused to cancel its decision to allow Russia to host World Cup 2018 and to reopen the bids for hosting World Cup 2018 and World Cup 2022.”
Ready, Set… Target Russia
With the FIFA scandal in mind, we can now see the decision to ban numerous Russian athletes from the Olympic Games in its proper context. The bans have absolutely nothing to do with sport, but everything to do with politics and the multifaceted offensive against Russia.
Moscow has been accused of running a state-sponsored doping program, an allegation that Russian authorities have denied. In July, the Canadian/NATO based World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) called for a complete ban on all Russian athletes from international competitions – including the 2016 Olympics in Rio – after a report commissioned by WADA claimed that Russian authorities were involved in a doping scheme.
The International Olympics Committee (IOC) has since rejected WADA’s call, and instead ruled that individual sports federations should make the decision on whether or not Russian athletes can compete. Many Russian competitors have now been banned from Rio by the international federations however, including the weightlifting team and the entire track and field team (except long-jumper, Darya Klishina, who lives and trains in the US). Over 100 Russian athletes will miss the games out of the original 387-member squad that was selected.
The targeting of Russian competitors is clearly an attempt to isolate Russia from the world, and foster criticism of Vladimir Putin domestically. It is also intended to create the perception in the minds of the global population that Russia is synonymous with corruption.
Even if all the allegations of doping are true (which they are not), the only reason Western based organizations – such as WADA – are targeting Russian athletes is because Russia is not a puppet-state of the West, and has resisted the neocons in Syria.
Steven MacMillan is an independent writer, researcher, geopolitical analyst and editor of The Analyst Report, especially for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.