Thursday, August 10, 2017

Who is this "@_americafirst_" behind this Meme?

   Now would be a wonderful time to be able to trace the sources of disinformation, propaganda and misleading memes.
   Take one of the big ones now making the rounds. "BILL CLINTON GAVE NORTH KOREA $5 BILLION AND TWO NUCLEAR REACTORS IN 1994, ESSENTIALLY GIVING THEM NUKES"
  It turns out, Clinton did negotiate an agreement in which North Korea would take a current reactor off line and stop development of two other nuclear reactors in exchange for the United States helping it construct two light-water reactors. The $5 billion might be a reference to the cost projected for those two reactors.
   But, the deal fell through. The two light-water nuclear reactors were never completed, so how much of the $5 billion was actually expended is hard to say. Was there anything, at all, then, to the claim that Clinton essentially gave North Korea nukes? Well, North Korea did steal the construction equipment used for building the nuclear reactors and did learn a little bit about making light-water reactors.
   However much the Koreans benefited is hard to say, but the meme appears to be an overstatement.
   I wonder at such memes, and such disinformation. (President Trump coined or popularized a name for them: fake news.) I wonder at them. What if we could trace down where they came from, who started these rumors.
   This one comes with a tag line, @_americafirst_. I word search, and find that that is an Instagram account. Who are the actual people behind it, however, is another matter.
   Two reasons for wanting to know where all these fake memes and such come from: (1) They are damaging and misleading, and we should want to know all those who seek to lead us astray. We should maybe even be compiling a list of those who commonly spread such disinformation. (2) When the investigation into Russian influence in our election was younger, the Intel Community said much of what was done was but disinformation and propaganda. We have no reason to believe the Russians have ceased such efforts. So, doesn't it follow that a share of the false memes might be coming from the Russians? I think we should at least be wary of that, at least open to the idea and looking to see if it is true.
(Edited Aug. 11, 2017)

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