These mighty weapons of Kaliyuga—lies, rumors, and malicious propaganda

These mighty weapons of Kaliyuga—lies, rumours, and malicious propaganda

The kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife from the capital Caracas on January 3, followed by their airlifting to New York under the pretext of promoting drug trafficking, mirrors the sudden flare up of recent so-called anti-regime protests in Iran—amplified to prepare the ground for another U.S. attack on that country. These incidents, and the stark ground realities tied to them, have reignited a pressing debate: Has the world now fallen entirely into the clutches of lies, rumours, and malicious propaganda? Have falsehoods, disinformation, and rumours become such formidable powers in today’s world? Powers so immense that they can overturn election results, tarnish the opposition in one’s own country or the ruling regime in another, ignite the flames of civil war, brand one country as possessing illicit nuclear weapons and another as stockpiling chemical arms, to justify its total destruction, or vilify a proud country or leader as a dictator or a tyrant, thereby scripting a bloody fate?

Lies, rumours, and propaganda have always been potent weapons of power and politics. German dictator Hitler regarded them as highly effective tools. He believed: “Repeat the same lies over and over, no matter how simple they may sound.” He also said that “in propaganda, blending a little truth with lies makes the falsehood even more potent.” And he held the view that the lie must be colossal enough that no one would even imagine anyone could utter such a monumental falsehood.” Hitler himself employed this strategy against the Jews, allegedly orchestrating the world’s greatest genocide. Recall the 2002-2003 period when the US gravely accused the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein of possessing chemical weapons and other WMDs. America propagated this claim so relentlessly that it ended up justifying the Iraq invasion in March 2003. Saddam was deposed and later hanged for other mass murder charges. Subsequent reports revealed no active or large-scale stockpiles of chemical weapons in Iraq—no production facilities, no vast VX gas reserves, no mobile biological labs, nothing at all. Even the U.S. later admitted its own intelligence was flawed. President George W. Bush, who ordered the invasion, claimed at the time that “they too were disappointed.” Several U.S. officials and former intelligence chiefs labelled it an “intelligence failure.” But by then, Saddam Hussein had already fallen victim to the lies, rumours, and disinformation. Under this pretext, a range of manoeuvres followed—from exploiting Iraq’s oil to destabilizing and devastating the country, and establishing U.S. military bases there.

               The United States has primarily accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of narco-terrorism, conspiring to import cocaine, possessing and using machine guns and destructive weapons, money laundering, and plotting arms trafficking. However, immediately after Maduro’s arrest, Trump stated that the United States would run Venezuela—especially its oil reserves and oil industry—until a “secure and fair system” is established there. Trump also declared that major American oil companies would invest billions of dollars, repair the country’s dilapidated oil infrastructure, and ramp up production. He further noted that Venezuela holds the world’s largest oil reserves (approximately 303 billion barrels), and that America would now take control of these reserves, sell the oil, and use the proceeds for the benefit of both America and the Venezuelan people. Could it be, then, that—just like with Saddam—the accusations against Nicolas Maduro were based on lies, rumours, and propaganda? Was the real motive simply control over Venezuela’s oil reserves?

              Similarly, protests that occurred in Iran in recent days have been hyped up and propagandized by Western media, particularly outlets linked to Israel and USA. Since the 2022 ‘Mahsa Amini movement’ till the recent economic protests in Iran, there is ample evidence and accusations of exaggeration by Western media coverage, with the roles of the US and Israel prominently highlighted. For instance, the recent protests in Iran began over economic issues like inflation and currency crisis. Yet, the protests turned immediately violent & calls for regime change emerged. Allegations also point to certain Western media outlets for inflating the death tolls dramatically—falsely reporting figures from 2,000 to as high as 20,000 protesters killed. An Al Jazeera report revealed that networks linked to Israel artificially amplified hashtags and narratives—a tactic known as “astroturfing”—to create the illusion of massive opposition and widespread public consensus. Ehud Yaari, an analyst on Israel’s Channel 12, himself admitted that Israeli media had exaggerated rumours of the current Iranian regime’s collapse, later apologizing when the protests dwindled and the Iranian government regained complete control. Russian and Chinese media labelled this as anti-Iran propaganda and “Western disinformation.” In stark contrast as portrayed by Western media, millions across Iran took to the streets in support of the current Iranian leadership—especially Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei—and in opposition to the US and Israel. But all such pro-government rallies to be ignored by the same Western outlets.

Thus, it would not be wrong to say that lies, rumours, and disinformation have become far more powerful and dangerous weapons than ever before. Regrettably, in this battle between truth and falsehood; lies, rumours, and propaganda are undoubtedly racing ahead at a much faster pace.

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Tanveer Jafri

(About the Author)

Author  Tanveer Jafri is a columnist based in India.He is related with hundreds of most popular daily news papers/magazines and news portals in India and abroad. Jafri, Almost  writes in the field of communal harmony, world peace, anti communalism, anti terrorism, national integration, national & international politics etc.He is a devoted social activist for world peace, unity, integrity & global brotherhood. Thousands of articles of the author have been published in different newspapers, websites & newsportals throughout the world. He is also a recipient of so many awards in the field of Communal Harmony & other social activities. (Email : tjafri1@gmail.com )