Twenty-Seven Prominent Individuals Denounce Being Targeted by Ukraine-U.S.-NATO as Putin Agents

Aug. 1—The Schiller Institute released a statement internationally on July 30 in response to the wide circulation of the July 14 posting by the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation, which accused 78 prominent individuals from around the world of being promoters of “Russian propaganda.” The statement and its cosigners, as of August 1, 2022, follow below.

We, the participants in various conferences of the Schiller Institute, and other individuals, are on a list of persons accused of promoting “Russian propaganda” posted by the “Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation,” which is officially part of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, operating under the authority of the President.

In times of war, publishing such a list is tantamount to targeting individuals. It is all the more unacceptable that the list agglomerates the names of many speakers, representing top institutions from around the globe, with diverse opinions, who are involved in a dialogue, searching to arrive at peace in the interest of all.

To assume that such a wide array of speakers are all “Putin agents” and can’t think for themselves, can only be explained by a belief in conspiracy theories, or as mere vulgar propaganda, or both. The key question is whether the listed speakers are promoting viewpoints consonant with the truth.

Normally, the question of truth would be up to an audience to decide. But the U.S.-NATO efforts to blacklist those that would offer any alternative to their “narrative” on Ukraine, until now, remains unchallenged.

So, hats off to Ukraine for providing a handy list of speakers who voice different ideas.

Those interested in finding out the truth will now be better able to compare the official story—the “narrative”—with an uncompromised critique, determine which can bear close scrutiny, and decide for themselves which analysis is closer to the truth.

Signers:

1. Ray McGovern (U.S.), Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA-ret.), founding member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS)

2. Kirk Wiebe (U.S.), Member of the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS), and a former senior analyst with the National Security Agency. He is also a partner with Bill Binney in the prevention of crimes by the intelligence community.

3. Sam Pitroda (U.S./India), Innovator, entrepreneur and policy-maker, former advisor to Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

4. Col. Richard H. Black (ret.) (U.S.), Former Marine, former head of the U.S. Army’s Criminal Law Division at the Pentagon, and former Virginia State Senator

5. Dr. Clifford Kiracofe (U.S.), Former Senior Staff Member, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and President, Washington Institute for Peace and Development

6. Geoff Young (U.S.), Democratic Party nominee for U.S. Congress from Kentucky, CD 6

7. Diane Sare (U.S.), LaRouche independent candidate for U.S. Senator from New York

8. David T. Pyne (U.S.), Deputy Director of National Operations for the EMP Task Force on National and Homeland Security

9. Alessia Ruggeri (Italy), Spokeswoman of the Comitato per la Repubblica, trade unionist

10. Lt.-Gen. Leonardo Tricarico (ret.) (Italy), former Chief of Staff of the Italian Air Force

11 Dr. jur. Wolfgang Bittner (Germany), Author

12. Jan Øberg, PhD (Sweden), Co-founder and director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, art photographer, peace and future researcher

13. Jens Jørgen Nielsen (Denmark), Former Moscow correspondent for the Danish daily newspaper Politiken, author of several books about Russia and Ukraine, a leader of the Russian-Danish Dialogue organization, associate professor of communication and cultural differences at the Niels Brock Business College, Denmark

14. Prof. Li Xing, PhD (Denmark), Professor of Development and International Relations in the Department of Politics and Society, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, and researcher, at the Research Center on Development and International Relations at Aalborg University, Denmark

15. Ulf Sandmark (Sweden), Chairman of the Schiller Institute in Sweden

16. Jacques Cheminade (France), President, Solidarité & Progrès, a political party in France

17 Dr. George Koo (U.S.), Retired business consultant specializing in U.S.-China Trade, and Chairman, Burlingame Foundation

18. Helga Zepp-LaRouche (Germany), Founder, Schiller Institute

19. Jason Ross (U.S.), Secretary-Treasurer, The LaRouche Organization, and Science Adviser to Lyndon LaRouche

20. Harley Schlanger (U.S.), Former spokesman for Lyndon LaRouche, spokesman for the Schiller Institute and The LaRouche Organization

21. Earl Rasmussen (U.S.), Executive Vice President, Eurasia Center

22. James Jatras (U.S.), Former diplomat, former advisor to U.S. Senate Republican leadership

23. Pedro Rubio (Colombia), President, Association of Officials of the General Accounting Office of the Republic

24. Graham Fuller (U.S.), Former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council, CIA, 25-year CIA operations officer, author of numerous books

25. Nebojsa Malic (U.S.), Serbian-American, wrote for Antiwar.com for 15 years, and for RT America until it was closed down in March 2022

26. Mike Robinson (UK), Editor of the UK Column

27. J. Michael Springmann (U.S.), Attorney, author, political commentator, and former U.S. diplomat