Media Deception & U.S. Intervention: ProMosaik Interviews Caleb T. Maupin
Editor’s Note: Dr. Milena Rampoldi interviewed MintPress journalist Caleb Maupin to accompany the German translation of his article on the legacy of Zbigniew Brzezinski.
Caleb Maupin is a journalist and political analyst who resides in New York City, focusing his coverage on US foreign policy and the global system of monopoly capitalism and imperialism. This month we have published this article by Caleb because we think that understanding American strategies can help us see why there is no peace. And opposing to US-militarism, for ProMosaik e.V., means promoting peace building, in particular in the Middle East.
Originally from Ohio, Caleb studied political science at Baldwin-Wallace College. In addition to his journalism, analysis, and commentary, he has engaged in political activism. He was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement from its early planning stages in August 2011. He has worked against police brutality, mass incarceration, and imperialist war. He has appeared on Russia Today, PressTV, Telesur, and CNN.
In 2014, he participated in the voyage of Iran Shahed Rescue Ship, attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen with the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We thank him so much for his time.
Dr. Milena Rampolda, ProMosaik: How did you find your path to engaged journalism?
Caleb T. Maupin, MintPress News: I am a political activist. I was involved in the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, and prior to that I did a lot of work around the issues of prisons and police brutality in Cleveland. I studied political science at Baldwin-Wallace College.
The mainstream media in the United States is highly deceptive, and very unified in its message. People in the United States often have no idea whats really happening around the world. I began doing a lot of interviews with alternative media networks like Russia Today and PressTV during Occupy Wall Street.
I was able to travel to the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2014. In 2015, I accompanied the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran onboard the Iran Shahed Rescue Ship, as they attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen, but were blocked by Saudi bombing. I find journalism to be a very meaningful and exciting way to live, and I am very happy to do what I do.
MR: Can you explain the method of destabilisation of the U.S. regime in the world?
CM: De-Stabilization is much better for the United States in terms of public relations than direct military attack. It can convince the world through media deception that the extremists its funds and arms are romantic revolutionaries. It can describe the regime it is hoping to destabilize as tyrannical. Human being, especially among the working class, are naturally altruistic. When they see other people suffering, their instinct is to try to come to their aid. The destabilization campaigns are slick means of manipulating these basic feelings of solidarity, in order to expand the profits of western banking institutions.
You have to think of what happened when the Roman empire defeated Carthage. They did not immediately put the people of Carthage to work, growing crops. Rather, they ground salt into the soil of Carthage so that no crops could be grown. The idea was to ensure that no source of strength or opposition could emerge. Poverty creates weakness. Weakness ensures enslavement. This is the strategy of colonizers and oppressors. Imperialism does not bring development. The British empire destroyed the textile industry of India.
Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America have all had beautiful vibrant beautiful civilizations. Imperialism keeps people impoverished, dependent, and subservient, and beats down any attempt to advance. Destabilization, and creating chaos and death, is a key method for doing so.
MR: What is the relation between drugs and exporting revolutions?
CM: Drugs are always a source of instability. Substance abuse and addiction is one of the most horrendous diseases that plagues the human race. The imperialists and colonizers have always used drugs against their enemies. Let’s not forget the Opium War, when Britain fought against China, because the Chinese leaders wanted to stop the importing of narcotics. The Contras in Nicaragua, the U.S. aligned forces in Afghanistan, were all heavily involved in the drug trade.
Before Afghanistan became the center of opium production in the 1980s, it was Hong Kong that was the heroin capital of the world. While China had a revolution in 1949, Hong Kong remained part of the British empire, and was the central base area for U.S. destabilizations throughout Asia. During the 1960s, when rebellions against war, racism, and capitalism, the FBI worked with Timothy Leary and other figures to promote drug use among dissident sectors of society.
This a long standing pattern of empire.
MR: Why is the example of Afghanistan so essential to explain USA plots?
CM: Afghanistan is perfect example, because it illustrates how phony and deceptive the claims of “rescuing people” from U.S. leaders are.
In the 1980s, the U.S. funded and armed Takfiri extremist elements, allegedly to “rescue” the Afghans from the Soviet Union.
2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, claiming to be “rescuing it” from some of the very same elements they funded during the 1980s.
I heard so many U.S. commentators say that the U.S. was “liberating women” in Afghanistan. If the U.S. was concerned about women’s rights, why did it overthrow the People’s Democratic Party? The forces the U.S. sought to depose in the 1980s were some of the most advanced on the issue of women’s rights in the entire region.
2 million people died in the Afghan war. Millions more were forced to become refugees. U.S. media falsified battle footage, among other things. The U.S. public was duped into thinking that Osama Bin Laden was some kind of heroic freedom fighter.
It shows how dishonest our leaders truly are.
MR: How can we show people the need to protest against American imperialism?
CM: People in the United States need to be shown the track record of U.S. intervention. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria … has life gotten better for any of these peoples? Have these interventions improved the situation? Have they stopped terrorism? Have they stabilized the region? It’s obvious that they have not.
U.S. leaders are highly deceptive, and anyone they promote as being a “revolutionary” or “freedom fighter” should be highly suspect. During the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, my friends who protested with me in lower Manhattan were portrayed as criminal and insane in the U.S. media for occupying public space. However, U.S. media frequently calls armed terrorists in Ukraine, Syria, and Libya “heroes” and “revolutionaries” as they kidnap children, murder people, and violently destabilize society.
People in the United States also need to understand that millions and millions of their tax dollars go to such efforts. The National Endowment for Democracy is not cheap. So much money is spent destabilizing other countries.
That money should be spent stabilizing our own country. We need to rebuild our infrastructure. We need schools and hospitals and all kinds of services that are being shut down. Imagine if all the money spent on arming terrorists were spent on some kind of new public works program as was done by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
That would be a much better use of public funds, than arming terrorists. I think most people in the United States would agree to that.
 |
| Caleb T. Maupin with Marzieh Hashemi in Tehran. |
Caleb Maupin is a journalist and political analyst who resides in New York City, focusing his coverage on US foreign policy and the global system of monopoly capitalism and imperialism. This month we have published this article by Caleb because we think that understanding American strategies can help us see why there is no peace. And opposing to US-militarism, for ProMosaik e.V., means promoting peace building, in particular in the Middle East.
Originally from Ohio, Caleb studied political science at Baldwin-Wallace College. In addition to his journalism, analysis, and commentary, he has engaged in political activism. He was part of the Occupy Wall Street movement from its early planning stages in August 2011. He has worked against police brutality, mass incarceration, and imperialist war. He has appeared on Russia Today, PressTV, Telesur, and CNN.
In 2014, he participated in the voyage of Iran Shahed Rescue Ship, attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen with the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
We thank him so much for his time.
Dr. Milena Rampolda, ProMosaik: How did you find your path to engaged journalism?
Caleb T. Maupin, MintPress News: I am a political activist. I was involved in the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests in New York, and prior to that I did a lot of work around the issues of prisons and police brutality in Cleveland. I studied political science at Baldwin-Wallace College.
The mainstream media in the United States is highly deceptive, and very unified in its message. People in the United States often have no idea whats really happening around the world. I began doing a lot of interviews with alternative media networks like Russia Today and PressTV during Occupy Wall Street.
I was able to travel to the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2014. In 2015, I accompanied the Red Crescent Society of the Islamic Republic of Iran onboard the Iran Shahed Rescue Ship, as they attempted to deliver humanitarian aid to Yemen, but were blocked by Saudi bombing. I find journalism to be a very meaningful and exciting way to live, and I am very happy to do what I do.
MR: Can you explain the method of destabilisation of the U.S. regime in the world?
CM: De-Stabilization is much better for the United States in terms of public relations than direct military attack. It can convince the world through media deception that the extremists its funds and arms are romantic revolutionaries. It can describe the regime it is hoping to destabilize as tyrannical. Human being, especially among the working class, are naturally altruistic. When they see other people suffering, their instinct is to try to come to their aid. The destabilization campaigns are slick means of manipulating these basic feelings of solidarity, in order to expand the profits of western banking institutions.
You have to think of what happened when the Roman empire defeated Carthage. They did not immediately put the people of Carthage to work, growing crops. Rather, they ground salt into the soil of Carthage so that no crops could be grown. The idea was to ensure that no source of strength or opposition could emerge. Poverty creates weakness. Weakness ensures enslavement. This is the strategy of colonizers and oppressors. Imperialism does not bring development. The British empire destroyed the textile industry of India.
Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America have all had beautiful vibrant beautiful civilizations. Imperialism keeps people impoverished, dependent, and subservient, and beats down any attempt to advance. Destabilization, and creating chaos and death, is a key method for doing so.
MR: What is the relation between drugs and exporting revolutions?
CM: Drugs are always a source of instability. Substance abuse and addiction is one of the most horrendous diseases that plagues the human race. The imperialists and colonizers have always used drugs against their enemies. Let’s not forget the Opium War, when Britain fought against China, because the Chinese leaders wanted to stop the importing of narcotics. The Contras in Nicaragua, the U.S. aligned forces in Afghanistan, were all heavily involved in the drug trade.
Before Afghanistan became the center of opium production in the 1980s, it was Hong Kong that was the heroin capital of the world. While China had a revolution in 1949, Hong Kong remained part of the British empire, and was the central base area for U.S. destabilizations throughout Asia. During the 1960s, when rebellions against war, racism, and capitalism, the FBI worked with Timothy Leary and other figures to promote drug use among dissident sectors of society.
This a long standing pattern of empire.
MR: Why is the example of Afghanistan so essential to explain USA plots?
CM: Afghanistan is perfect example, because it illustrates how phony and deceptive the claims of “rescuing people” from U.S. leaders are.
In the 1980s, the U.S. funded and armed Takfiri extremist elements, allegedly to “rescue” the Afghans from the Soviet Union.
2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, claiming to be “rescuing it” from some of the very same elements they funded during the 1980s.
I heard so many U.S. commentators say that the U.S. was “liberating women” in Afghanistan. If the U.S. was concerned about women’s rights, why did it overthrow the People’s Democratic Party? The forces the U.S. sought to depose in the 1980s were some of the most advanced on the issue of women’s rights in the entire region.
2 million people died in the Afghan war. Millions more were forced to become refugees. U.S. media falsified battle footage, among other things. The U.S. public was duped into thinking that Osama Bin Laden was some kind of heroic freedom fighter.
It shows how dishonest our leaders truly are.
MR: How can we show people the need to protest against American imperialism?
CM: People in the United States need to be shown the track record of U.S. intervention. Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, and now Syria … has life gotten better for any of these peoples? Have these interventions improved the situation? Have they stopped terrorism? Have they stabilized the region? It’s obvious that they have not.
U.S. leaders are highly deceptive, and anyone they promote as being a “revolutionary” or “freedom fighter” should be highly suspect. During the Occupy Wall Street protests of 2011, my friends who protested with me in lower Manhattan were portrayed as criminal and insane in the U.S. media for occupying public space. However, U.S. media frequently calls armed terrorists in Ukraine, Syria, and Libya “heroes” and “revolutionaries” as they kidnap children, murder people, and violently destabilize society.
People in the United States also need to understand that millions and millions of their tax dollars go to such efforts. The National Endowment for Democracy is not cheap. So much money is spent destabilizing other countries.
That money should be spent stabilizing our own country. We need to rebuild our infrastructure. We need schools and hospitals and all kinds of services that are being shut down. Imagine if all the money spent on arming terrorists were spent on some kind of new public works program as was done by Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
That would be a much better use of public funds, than arming terrorists. I think most people in the United States would agree to that.
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