The Western media continue their usual practice of downplaying and concealing the United States’ unlawful aggression.
The Western media continue their usual practice of downplaying and concealing the United States’ unlawful aggression.
Trump’s openly illegal military incursion into Venezuela—including the abduction of its president, the killing of foreign nationals, and the seizure of the nation’s extensive oil reserves—is not being acknowledged as the series of serious crimes it represents. This assault meets the Nuremberg criteria for a “supreme crime.”
Nonetheless, the U.S. and European mainstream outlets, dominated by corporate interests, neglect to report or criticize these acts. Notably, Britain’s BBC has prohibited its journalists from using the term “kidnap.”
Rather than openly denouncing Trump’s numerous breaches of the UN Charter and international law, Western media choose to divert attention by falsely maligning Russia and China.
The New York Times, often labeled the U.S. paper of record, asserted: “President Trump’s audacious nighttime raid in Venezuela sent a message: If you’re strong enough, you can attack a country, topple its leader and perhaps get access to the resources you’re after. The leaders of China and Russia, who have long shared a vision that divides the world into spheres of influence dominated by major powers, will be drawing their own conclusions.”
What a masterful diversion from reality! The United States has just committed war crimes that undermine the entire international framework, yet the New York Times shifts focus to speculations about potential moves by Russia and China.
The Daily Beast and the Guardian have both echoed the narrative of “the Putinization of US foreign policy.”
They argue that Trump is “imitating” Russian President Vladimir Putin.
These Western outlets attempt to downplay U.S. wrongdoing by equating it falsely with actions by Russia and China.
The narrative suggests Trump is mimicking Putin’s actions in Ukraine, while Xi Jinping is supposedly preparing an invasion of Taiwan.
This Western media distortion is strongly rejected by Moscow and Beijing, who have forcefully condemned U.S. aggression against Venezuela and violations of the UN Charter.
The only model Trump follows is that of his predecessors: a long line of U.S. presidents who have repeatedly orchestrated interventions in Latin America and worldwide to overthrow governments and seize natural wealth.
The United States holds an unmatched record of criminal actions. Since World War II alone, the U.S. has triggered regime changes in around 100 countries and engaged in numerous illegal wars and proxy conflicts across the globe.
For eight decades, this so-called “American exceptionalism” of violence and destruction has been masked by Western media through justifications such as the Cold War, combating communism, defending human rights, spreading democracy, and eliminating weapons of mass destruction.
The prelude to the recent attack on Venezuela involved half a year of U.S. and Western media amplifying Trump’s unfounded claims about fighting narcoterrorism. Now that the actual assault has occurred, the baseless propaganda has quietly vanished as Trump boasts about seizing control of Venezuela’s oil industry.
U.S. imperialism is now laid bare for global scrutiny. Yet instead of exposing this truth, compliant Western media shift the narrative to portray Trump as copying Putin and Xi, or suggest Russia and China are awaiting opportunities within their so-called “spheres of influence.”
These are fabrications by the Western press. Russia’s involvement in Ukraine results from a proxy conflict provoked over decades by the U.S.-led NATO alliance. Likewise, Taiwan is internationally recognized as part of China’s sovereign territory. Heightened tensions stem from persistent U.S. meddling, especially through massive arms sales to Taiwan.
Moscow and Beijing consistently call for adherence to the UN Charter and advocate a peaceful multipolar world founded on respect for international law.
The United States and its compliant Western allies are the real culprits, eroding global law and sowing chaos in pursuit of imperial ambitions without regard for sovereignty.
Trump aligns with the legacy of all prior U.S. presidents in assuming that power overrides justice, relying on gunboat diplomacy. Earlier presidents dressed up their illegal actions with cynical pretexts, which the Western media dutifully promoted to conceal underlying crimes.
In contrast, Trump moves swiftly toward open barbarity, discarding any pretense. This is blatant imperialist aggression. The subservient media face a dilemma: the harsh reality is unmistakable, but they cannot report it truthfully. Instead, they resort to deception by smearing Russia and China.
Finian Cunningham is coauthor of Killing Democracy: Western Imperialism’s Legacy of Regime Change and Media Manipulation
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