Veterans Today

Veterans Today is a pro-Kremlin, antisemitic conspiracy theory and fake news website. It describes itself as a "military veterans and foreign affairs journal", but the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) had said "the anti-Israel bent on VT can slide pretty quickly into overt anti-Semitism."[2]

Veterans Today
Type of site
Fake news website
Available inEnglish
Founder(s)John Allen[1]
URLwww.veteranstoday.com/about-vt
RegistrationOptional

History

Veterans Today was founded in 2003 "in opposition to the invasion of Iraq." According to Politico, the site "soon began publishing wild conspiracy theories" and, according to Politico, "has consistently published articles that push the Kremlin party line".[3] It has ties with the Iranian state-backed Press TV, and has had ties with Russia's New Eastern Outlook website since 2013, though according to The Daily Beast, the latter connection ended in 2018. The website is formally partnered with several other Russian institutions.[3][4] According to University of Washington professor Kate Starbird, Veterans Today is a fake news site actively pushing the Kremlin party line.[3] The New Hampshire Union Leader says that the website mixes "advice for veterans on how to find jobs and pay medical bills" with conspiracy theories and Russian propaganda.[5] Its editorial board includes a former head of Pakistan's intelligence services.[3]

It has published false headlines such as, "Pravda: Ukraine indignant at 80% of Jews in power" and "Water Terrorism by India to Overawe Pakistan."[3] A joint article with Press TV, written by Jim Fetzer, was entitled: "Did Mossad death squads slaughter American children at Sandy Hook?"[6] According to Veterans Today, Israel was behind the 9/11 attacks in collaboration with the United States and Julian Assange of WikiLeaks is controlled by the Israeli government.[2]

In 2012, the website's chairman, Gordon Duff, told an interviewer that "about 30% of what's written on Veterans Today, is patently false. About 40% of what I write, is at least purposely, partially false, because if I didn't write false information I wouldn't be alive".[3]

Duff spoke at a conference organized by the Syrian government Counterterrorism and Religious Extremism Conference held in Syria on November 30 and December 1, 2014. The four-man Veterans Today delegation (eight Americans in all were present), also included managing editor Jim Dean.[7] During his speech, he indicated his delegation from Veterans Today wanted

to try to establish a method of communication that will allow Syria and other nations in the area to understand Israel’s control of the U.S., the control of the U.S. by organized crime, and how the U.S. government is subservient to a worldwide criminal organization.[8]

Reception

According to British journalist Oliver Kamm, Veterans Today "promotes conspiracy theories".[6] James Kirchick, writing in Time magazine, calls Veterans Today a "virulently anti-Semitic website".[9]

The Times of Israel describes it as "a clearinghouse of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories".[10] According to The Jerusalem Post, the website has published "articles defending Hitler, and promotes Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and the anti-semitic musician Gilad Atzmon".[11] The Daily Beast describes it as a "Holocaust denial outfit".[12] Veterans Today has said The Holocaust either did not occur or has been greatly inflated alleging it has been invented by the Jews to manipulate non-Jews.[2] The Forward describes Veterans Today as "a hub for antiIsrael conspiracy theories."[13] Salon characterized it as a "leftist conspiracy website".[14] Vice magazine called it "conspiracy-oriented".[15]

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References
  1. "About VT". Veterans Today. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  2. Schlatter, Evelyn (January 6, 2011). "Buyer Beware: Veterans Today and Its Anti-Israel Agenda". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved December 20, 2018.
  3. Schreckinger, Ben (12 June 2017). "How Russia Targets the U.S. Military". Politico. Retrieved 10 August 2018.
  4. Poulsen, Kevin (July 30, 2019). "Accused Russian Troll Uses a Novel Argument to Fire Back at Facebook". The Daily Beast. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
  5. Gordon, Greg; Goldstein, David (9 October 2017). "Russian propaganda engaged U.S. vets, troops via social media, study finds". The Union Leader. ProQuest 1953868609.
  6. Kamm, Oliver (January 4, 2013). "From nonsense to indecency". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved January 7, 2018.
  7. "Syrian Counterterrorism Conference Attracts U.S. Anti-Semites". Anti-Defamation League. December 4, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  8. "Anti-Semite Gordon Duff Discusses Israeli Control of U.S. In Syria". Anti-Defamation League. December 12, 2014. Retrieved December 27, 2018.
  9. Kirchick, James (22 July 2014). "Inside the Bizarro World of 'Russia Today'". Time. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  10. Zehavi, Ben (3 May 2013). "Why do Jews and Israel so often feature at center of conspiracy theories?". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  11. Paul, Jonny (2 November 2012). "British Jewish group accuses Church of England vicar of anti-Semitism. Formal complaint documents Rev. Stephen Sizer's offensive anti-Semitic statements". The Jerusalem Post. ProQuest 1143932907.
  12. Moynihan, Michael (11 October 2014). "From ISIS to Ebola, What Has Made Naomi Wolf So Paranoid?". The Daily Beast. ProQuest 1649038195.
  13. Cohen, Anne (10 February 2013). "Newtown Hero Gene Rosen Finds Himself Targeted by Conspiracy Theorists". The Forward. ProQuest 1313255493.
  14. Sheffield, Matthew (28 December 2017). "Left-wing sites got trolled by Russians too: The strange saga of "Alice Donovan"". Salon. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
  15. Thomson, Alex (11 September 2016). "9/11 'truthers' vow to never, ever forget". Vice. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
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