Thursday, June 17, 2004
The American Tendency in the Media. posted by Richard Seymour
Timothy Garton Ash , the "tortured liberal" who regularly appears in the Comment pages of the Guardian, is a governor of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy . That probably sounds very nice and respectable, and it is supposed to. For Garton Ash's lachrymal secretions in the Guardian would begin to look suspect if the institution advertised itself as an MI6 front, rather like that CIA-front, the National Endowment for Democracy , which has been busily supporting putschists in Venezuela, far right death squads in Colombia, and the Totoists in Haiti. Let noone ever doubt their powerful commitment to democracy.Among the luminaries of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) are Lord Robertson, head of Nato, former vice-President of the WFD, former member of the British Atlantic Committee, former governor of the Ditchley Commission, member of the British American Project - well, look, just take it from me that if there is a semi-occluded right-wing organisation associate with American or British intelligence in this country, George Robertson probably is or has been a member of it. The WFD is associated with various other quasi-intelligence outfits like the CDI , which is the Australian version of the same thing, and the German Stiftungen. The WFD officially receives about £4 million from the British government to carry out its work. It operates in Eastern Europe, Africa and Central America, apparently dispensing humanitarian aid and promoting democratic values. Yes, they're big on trade unions and womens' rights. But they're also big on meddling with elections and supporting British objectives in various regions.
Now, this isn't necessarily all sinister. But it does enjoin us to a certain amount of scepticism about anyone who is associated with such interests and who is likely to act and propagandise on their behalf. Remember that next time you read Timothy Garton Ash's "tortured" protestations in the Guardian.