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You seem to be implying that Bellingcat/Navalny aren't proven hucksters and info-mercenaries who will say anything to keep their moneyed interests happy. At le

You seem to be implying that Bellingcat/Navalny aren't proven hucksters and info-mercenaries who will say anything to keep their moneyed interests happy. At least Brian is a plausibly independent (from powerful governments) blogger who occasionally publishes some high-signal, low-noise content. Although this sort of doxxing is out of hand even if Russians are "fair game" to his Western audience.

Ansil849 5y ago
Do you have evidence of these claims about Bellingcat?
- pphysch 5y ago
  Aaron Maté has done a lot of investigative journalism[1] into them. Basically, Bellingcat is an "intelligence launderer" for the NATO-aligned IC. Agencies can feed them real or bogus intel and they will gladly publish it in return for $$$ and media clout. In some cases, they even fabricate propaganda as in the case of their collaborations with Navalny's team. I think they are closer to "useful idiots" rather than actual intelligence operatives, though. What they are not is a largely independent OSINT group a la WikiLeaks. Bellingcat is firmly aligned with the most powerful government intelligence agencies on the planet and a darling to their media. They can be counted on to never undermine NATO's agenda (which Julian Assange is suffering immensely for doing), and are ostensibly compensated well for that. [1] - https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/24/author-bellingcat-opcw-whistleblower/ https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/24/author-bellingcat-opcw-wh...
  - avtolik 5y ago
    Citing a site full of anti NATO crap hardly makes your point.
    - pphysch 5y ago
      I did not cite a "site", I cited a specific article which makes strong claims backed by evidence. I welcome your counterarguments.
  - sam_lowry_ 5y ago
    You are citing Max Blumenthal's website :-( This in not much of a proof. Max has been a regular contributor to Russia Today, the infamous tarpit of journalism.
    - pphysch 5y ago
      To be clear, by deflecting are you implying that Bellingcat is not closely aligned financially and operationally with the NATO intelligence/media apparatus?
      - kjs3 5y ago
        I don't see where he said that. He said basically that it's questionable to try to prove one entity is "aligned financially and operationally" with a bad actor by citing another entity that is "aligned financially and operationally" with a different bad actor. If they are so obviously bad, your case would be better made by not citing a source that is an unabashed and uncritical mouthpiece for a particular government.
        pphysch 5y ago
        You don't need to trust the Grayzone, or the Russian government (or Syrian or Iranian or Venezuelan or Chinese, whichever one is the most convenient to pin Grayzone to today) to see the though the smokescreen of Bellingcat's claim to being an independent "intelligence agency for the people". It's a total farce.
sam_lowry_ 5y ago
Yes. I followed Bellingcat and Navalny Team pretty closely for many years. I dislike some of the people behind both organisations but I am sure both organisations contribute to the society in a positive way. Anyone who did above average things exposes themselves to privacy violations. This is recognized universally for politicians, for instance, otherwise why would we require our representantives to publish their tax declarations or simply campaign publicly?
- pphysch 5y ago

Ansil849 5y ago

Do you have evidence of these claims about Bellingcat?

pphysch 5y ago
Aaron Maté has done a lot of investigative journalism[1] into them. Basically, Bellingcat is an "intelligence launderer" for the NATO-aligned IC. Agencies can feed them real or bogus intel and they will gladly publish it in return for $$$ and media clout. In some cases, they even fabricate propaganda as in the case of their collaborations with Navalny's team. I think they are closer to "useful idiots" rather than actual intelligence operatives, though. What they are not is a largely independent OSINT group a la WikiLeaks. Bellingcat is firmly aligned with the most powerful government intelligence agencies on the planet and a darling to their media. They can be counted on to never undermine NATO's agenda (which Julian Assange is suffering immensely for doing), and are ostensibly compensated well for that. [1] - https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/24/author-bellingcat-opcw-whistleblower/ https://thegrayzone.com/2021/03/24/author-bellingcat-opcw-wh...
- avtolik 5y ago
  Citing a site full of anti NATO crap hardly makes your point.
  - pphysch 5y ago
    I did not cite a "site", I cited a specific article which makes strong claims backed by evidence. I welcome your counterarguments.
- sam_lowry_ 5y ago
  You are citing Max Blumenthal's website :-( This in not much of a proof. Max has been a regular contributor to Russia Today, the infamous tarpit of journalism.
  - pphysch 5y ago
    To be clear, by deflecting are you implying that Bellingcat is not closely aligned financially and operationally with the NATO intelligence/media apparatus?
    - kjs3 5y ago
      I don't see where he said that. He said basically that it's questionable to try to prove one entity is "aligned financially and operationally" with a bad actor by citing another entity that is "aligned financially and operationally" with a different bad actor. If they are so obviously bad, your case would be better made by not citing a source that is an unabashed and uncritical mouthpiece for a particular government.
      - pphysch 5y ago
        You don't need to trust the Grayzone, or the Russian government (or Syrian or Iranian or Venezuelan or Chinese, whichever one is the most convenient to pin Grayzone to today) to see the though the smokescreen of Bellingcat's claim to being an independent "intelligence agency for the people". It's a total farce.

sam_lowry_ 5y ago

Yes. I followed Bellingcat and Navalny Team pretty closely for many years. I dislike some of the people behind both organisations but I am sure both organisations contribute to the society in a positive way. Anyone who did above average things exposes themselves to privacy violations. This is recognized universally for politicians, for instance, otherwise why would we require our representantives to publish their tax declarations or simply campaign publicly?

pphysch 5y ago