The Biden administration revealed Friday that Russia might use a “false flag” operation as pretext for further invasion into Ukraine. The effort to disarm deception contains lessons for the Democratic Party here at home.
The Post reported last week that Russia will likely stage a phony “attack on Russian-backed separatists or Russian-speaking people in Ukraine” that “could serve as an excuse to intervene,” according to warnings from national security officials. Russian officials have advanced baseless accusations that Ukraine is guilty of “genocide” and aggression toward Russia, preposterous claims from the country that is amassing a force to invade Ukraine.
If Russia does indeed stage such a false flag operation, the West would be able to say to the world, “See, we told you Russia would do something like this to justify its aggression.” That offers a key lesson: By anticipating and preempting nefarious schemes, disinformation tactics can be rendered less effective.
Democracy advocates would be wise to borrow from our national security tactics in facing their own authoritarian foe: a Republican Party that relies on constant deception and false claims of victimhood. We know the GOP’s strategy for elections these days: Claim in advance the contest is rigged, delegitimize common voting methods (e.g., voting by mail), concoct outlandish conspiracy theories to assert the election was “stolen” and then use partisan, fake audits to sow doubt in the results and, if possible,...
The Kristo Asafo Mission of Ghana has rejected claims that former Dome-Kwabenya Member of Parliament, Sarah Adwoa Safo, was shot during an incident at the church’s property at Kwabenya, describing...