"The suppression of the truth about Ukraine is one of the most complete news blackouts I can remember. The biggest Western military build-up in the Caucasus and eastern Europe since world war two is blacked out. Washington's secret aid to Kiev and its neo-Nazi brigades responsible for war crimes against the population of eastern Ukraine is blacked out. Evidence that contradicts propaganda that Russia was responsible for the shooting down of a Malaysian airliner is blacked out."

In this short paragraph Pilger summarises a fundamental problem with the Australian mainstream (and much of the so-called alternative) media. The refusal of the media to discuss these issues is nothing less than a disgrace. What passes for "reporting" is more often than not thinly disguised propaganda. OLO is not, sadly, exempt from this criticism. It publishes articles such as Pilger's above, but when did you read any discussion about the points contained in the quote I gave?

Poroshenko has just been in Australia, making incredibly fatuous remarks, but not a hint of criticism in the media. Abbott has promised $100 million in aid and again no critical analysis. Ukraine has just given citizenship to three foreigners and put them immediately into the cabinet. Again, no reporting, let alone critical analysis, of the links of those three to oligarchs, big oil and the coup d'etat of February 2014.

I have no doubt that Abbott's extraordinarily ill-informed comments on Russia and Ukraine are made at the behest of the Americans, but that does not exempt our media from fulfilling what is supposed to be a key role of holding the powerful to account. That this no longer happens really says all one needs to know about the direction of Australian "democracy".

Joe, Pilger has commented on ISIS more than once, and critically. You can read his latest (that I am aware of) at johnpilger.com. An article dated 8 October 2014.

James,

Military build-up in the Caucasus ? How many troops ? How many planes ? How many missiles ? From which countries ?

Military build-up in eastern Europe ? How many troops ? How many planes ? How many missiles ?

NATO countries in eastern Europe have reduced their military budgets over the last five years by 20 %, according to TIME.

So who are the liars ? Bilger or TIME ? Who are the pro-fascists, the West or Putin and his embrace of Farage and far-right groups in eastern Europe ? Of his mate Zhironovsky ? The Russian World Federation ?

Come back in a year or so, and we'll see who the fascists were.

Joe

Joe, so many questions, so little word allowance to answer. Given a choice between Pilger or Time, I would most often opt for Pilger. Sometimes neither, because I do not rely on either for my information.

As to your other questions I would make the general comment that while it is true that most EU nations have reduced their arms budgets, that is not true of the US. There is ample documentation available as to missile deployments, increased US troops in European nations,
and much else that would rebut what I take to be your principal assumptions.

If Time is your primary source then I can't really help you. If however, as I suspect, you are more intelligent than that, can I suggest you regularly visit Information Clearing House and Vineyard of the Saker.

What, a US troop build-up in the Caucasus and eastern Europe ? How many ? In the hundreds ? Thousands ? Tens of thousands ?

After what Russia has done in Ukraine, if I were in one of those Caucasian or eastern European governments, I would be beating down Obama's door for more military support.

Useful idiots need to get something straight: fascism, by whatever name, will never succeed for long. It fragments under its own contradictions and internal rivalries. So, on that logic, will Putin still be in power in a year's time ?

Useful idiots of the world, switch horses !

An interesting opinion piece, but it is only an opinion; and given the history of the author, not an opinion I value.