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Author of discredited Amnesty Int'l report featured in discredited CBS documentary `Arming Ukraine' [1]
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Date: 2022-08-08
Ukrainian soldiers on the front-line fire a French self-propelled Caesar howitzer at Russian positions
Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International interviewed on CBS News documentary “Arming Ukraine”
This is a Tweet from CBS News promoting its now discredited documentary “Arming Ukraine” which claimed that billions of dollars of military aid that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine doesn’t make it to the front lines.
The CBS Reports documentary did not interview a single U.S. or Ukrainian official. And those interviewed did not have first-hand knowledge about weapons shipments nor did any of them cite an actual case of corruption or black market sales of weapons.
Among those interviewed was Donatella Rovera, a Senior Crisis Adviser for Amnesty International. She was likely interviewed weeks ago.
Now it just so happens that Rovera was the principal researcher and author of the controversial Amnesty International report released last week that claimed the Ukrainian military was setting up bases in residential areas, schools and hospitals.
Hunter wrote in detail about the Amnesty International report in a diary published on Sunday that referred to Amnesty International’s “non-apology apology.”
In the CBS documentary, Rovera, without specifically mentioning any country, claimed that some countries lacked any “robust oversight mechanism” to determine where the weapons they were providing Ukraine were going.
She expressed concern that weapons could end up in the wrong hands. She gave the example of what happened in Iraq when ISIS fighters captured the city of Mosul in June 2014. The fleeing Iraqi troops left behind lots of military equipment provided by the U.S. to the Iraqi army. It was a completely different situation.
x #Ukraine’s military use fighting tactics which endanger civilians - set up bases in residential areas, #schools & #hospitals, & launch attacks from populated civilian areas. Such violations don’t justify #Russia’s indiscriminate attacks & other #WarCrimes.
https://t.co/HXgWD3sH9d — Donatella Rovera (@DRovera) August 4, 2022
I watched the full CBS documentary. As a former international news editor, I can definitively state that it is a total disgrace and embarrassment for CBS News. Edward R. Murrow would be spinning in his grave to see such a report on his network.
The documentary’s sensational claims are not even supported by its content. It should never have been aired, and those involved should face disciplinary action.
Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba, called on CBS News to conduct an internal investigation into the documentary.
"You have misled a huge audience by sharing unsubstantiated claims and damaging trust in supplies of vital military aid to a nation resisting aggression and genocide. There should be an internal investigation into who enabled this and why," Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
x Welcome first step, but it is not enough. You have misled a huge audience by sharing unsubstantiated claims and damaging trust in supplies of vital military aid to a nation resisting aggression and genocide. There should be an internal investigation into who enabled this and why.
https://t.co/kkA0boaLXX — Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) August 8, 2022
Kuleba said the steps taken so far by CBS News to clean up the misinformation in the documentary are not enough.
Later, in a Facebook post, Kuleba noted that there was a “synchronicity” with the Amnesty International report and CBS documentary coming out at a time when Russia has been trying to stop the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine.
“I don't know whether the manipulative Amnesty report and the lying CBS film, which came out almost simultaneously, have anything to do with the Russian government, Kuleba said. “But I know for sure that both organisations, and the authors of these unsubstantiated ‘masterpieces’, have inflicted an unfair and unprovoked information attack on Ukraine in perfect synch with Russian propaganda." He added: "But there is also good news. All these lies are not achieving their objectives for the moment. No partner or organisation in communication with Ukraine has voiced objections similar to the manipulations of Amnesty or CBS. And these lies have in no way affected the supply of weapons or undermined the high level of trust between Ukraine and its partners. “Our partners know perfectly well where and how much has been transferred and how it is being used. Fortunately, they don't get their information from Amnesty and CBS.”
The documentary itself can no longer be found on the CBS News website.
x @CBSNews So what did you do to your documentary, "Arming Ukraine"? Looks like you pulled it with no explanation! pic.twitter.com/Kneh0z37fF — Jeffrey Kaye (@jeff_kaye) August 7, 2022
CBS News on Monday partially retracted the documentary. It removed a video promoting the documentary that included a quote from the head of a pro-Ukraine nonprofit Blue/Yellow, Jonas Ohman, made months ago that most aid was not making it to Ukraine’s front lines. CBS News also said it was updating "Arming Ukraine," with "new information" about the delivery of military aid to Ukraine “to reflect changes after the filming of the documentary.” CBS also updated an article accompanying the documentary. "Jonas Ohman says that after filming with CBS, the delivery has improved significantly. The US had sent an official, Brigadier General Garrick M. Harmon, to Kyiv specifically to monitor the use of military aid," CBS stated. "We are updating our documentary to reflect this new information and air at a later date," CBS said. In the documentary, Ohman was quoted as saying that only around 30% of aid was reaching the front lines in Ukraine. Again, if I were editing this documentary I would never have allowed such a statement to be used as a generalization without qualifying the remarks. Ohman’s non-profit collects and distributes non-lethal aid — such as night vision goggles, body armor, helmets and commercial drones — through unofficial networks developed by his organization. His quote was based on his own experience of dealing with damaged roads, collapsed bridges, Russian drones and artillery strikes, and other obstacles. He wasn’t in a position to know about official channels used to deliver military aid to Ukrainian troops at the front — and we have seen plenty of evidence that HIMARS and other long-range artillery are being utilized quite effectively. And the documentary actually showed Ohman delivering aid to Ukrainian soldiers in the Donbas region. Ohman’s organization put out a Tweet on Monday in which it noted that the CBS News report was filmed eight weeks into the war — that would be sometime in late April.
x The @CBSNews report was filmed 8 weeks into the war. Things have changed. ANY info to be misused by certain entities in an antiUkraine context while a genocidal war is being perpetrated on #Ukraine by Russia in a terrorist state fashion, is evil & puts blood on their hands. pic.twitter.com/bfwvBYPHfB — Blue Yellow for Ukraine 🇱🇹🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@BlueYellowUKR) August 6, 2022
The statement said that others interviewed in the CBS documentary had no connection with Blue/Yellow, and that the documentary’s depiction of the situation regarding aid to the Ukrainian military was”much too negative” and “somewhat out of context.”
It stated that the observation that 30 percent of the aid reached the front-line was based on an assessment of the efficiency of the aid effort at the time.
‘"In no way is it suggested that the support is being 'sold on the black market' or 'stolen'."
The statement continued: "At this point, almost six months into the war, the situation with the support has improved significantly.”
And it added:
“For this information to be misused by certain groups and persons in an anti-Ukraine context while a genocidal war is being perpetrated on Ukraine by Russia in a terrorist state fashion, is malevolent and puts blood on the hands of all those doing this.”
Well, guess who decided to misuse this CBS documentary in a malevolent anti-Ukraine context and put blood on their hands.
The official Russian news agency TASS jumped on the initial report on the CBS documentary. And TASS eagerly quoted Rep. Lauren Boebert as saying the aid being sent by the United States to Ukraine is “a scam.”
x How many people were called Russian bots for saying this exact same thing since March?
Now, when CBS says it, it’s perfectly fine.
Whatever the case, glad the facts are out now. The majority of the Ukraine aid is a scam.
https://t.co/8AdHTA4n4i — Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) August 6, 2022
And where Boebert goes so goes Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. TASS reported that Greene also shared the CBS News article and added: “This one of the reasons voted NO. It was never about the Ukrainian people.”
[END]
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