As previously announced, here's a repost and my full transcript (which required a bit of research on my part) of the interview of Udo Ulfkotte, a former editor of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, one of the largest newspapers in Germany, on alternative media RT News in which he admits having worked for the CIA and that he is now coming forward because he is afraid of a war between the United States, Europe and Russia. A good reminder that there is no such thing as an independent press as claimed by preeminent New York journalist John Swinton at a banquet back in 1880:
There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent press. You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest opinion out of the paper I am connected with. Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours my occupation would be gone. The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press? We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.
Labor's Untold Story, Richard O. Boyer & Herbert M. Morais (1955)
Ey@elCIA media pushing for war with Russia
I’ve been a journalist for about 25 years, and I was educated to lie, to betray, and not to tell the truth to the public. But seeing right now within the last months how the German and American media try to bring war to the people in Europe, to bring war to Russia — this is a point of no return and I’m going to stand up and say it is not right what I have done in the past, to manipulate people, to make propaganda against Russia, and it is not right what my colleagues do and have done in the past because they are bribed to betray the people, not only in Germany, all over Europe.
The reason for writing this book was that I'm very fearful of a new war in Europe and I don't like to have this situation again because war is never coming from itself. There is always people behind it to push for war. And this is not only politicians, this is journalists too. And I've just have written in the book how we have betrayed in the past our readers just to push for war and because I don't want this anymore. I'm fed up with this propaganda. We live in a banana republic and not in a democratic country where we have press freedom, where we have human rights.
If you see, the German media, especially my colleagues who day by day write against the Russians, who are in transatlantic organisations, and who are supported by the United States to do so, well people like me, I became honorary citizen of the state of Oklahoma in the United States. Why? Just because I wrote pro-American. I was supported by the Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA. Why? Because I should be pro-American. I'm fed up with it, I don't want to do it anymore and so I've just written a book not to earn money — it will cause a lot of trouble to me — just to give the people in this country, in Germany, in Europe and all over the world a glimpse of a view what goes on behind the closed doors.
The genocide of Iraqi Kurds with German-made poison gas
There are many examples for that. If you just go back to history, into the year 1988 — if you go to your archives, you'll find that in March 1988, in Iraq, the Kurdish people have been gassed with poison gas. That is known all over the world. But in July 1988, they sent me to a town called Zubaidat, that is on the Iraqi-Iranian border. It was war between the Iranians and the Iraqis and I was sent there to photograph how the Iranians have been gassed with poison gas — German poison gas. You call it lost and yprite mustard gas made by Germany. And I was there to make photographs of how these people have been killed by poison gas from Germany.
When I came back to Germany, there was just one small photo in a newspaper, The Frankfurter Allgemeine, and there was one small article. Not writing how brutal, inhuman and terrible it was to kill people with German mustard gas decades after the end of World War II. So this was a situation where I felt misused for having being there just to give a documentary of what had been done, but not being allowed to cry out to the world what we have done behind closed doors. Up to today, it is not well-known in the public that was the German Public House there had been hundreds of thousands of people gassed in this city of the Zubaidat.
Non-official cover (NOC)
Now you ask what I have done for intelligence agencies? So, please see, most of the journalists you see in foreign countries claim to be journalists — they might be journalists, European or American journalists, but many of them, like me in the past, are so-called “non-official cover”. That's how the American call them. I have been a non-official cover. Non-official cover means what? It means you do work for an intelligence agency, you help them if they want you to help them, but when you are locked or when they find out that you're not only a journalist but a spy too, they will never say: “This was one of our guys”. They will not know you, that means non-official cover.
So I have helped them in several situations and I feel ashamed for that too now. Like I feel ashamed that I have worked for very recommended newspapers like The Frankfurt Allgemeine because I was bribed by billionaires, I was bribed by the Americans not to report exactly the truth.
I just imagined in my car while I was driving to these interviews, I just tried to work out in my brain what would have happened if I would have written a pro-Russian article in The Frankfurt Allgemeine. Well, I don't know what would have happened, but we were all educated to write pro-European, pro-American, but please, not pro-Russian. So I'm very sorry for that, but this is not what I understand for democracy and for press freedom. I'm very sorry for all that.
How young journalists get corrupted
Yes, I understand your question very well. Germany is still a kind of a colony of the United States. You'll see that in many points like the majority of the Germans don't want to have nukes in our country, but we still have American nukes. We're still kind of a colony of the Americans and being a colony, it is very easy to approach young journalists through — very important here — transatlantic organisations.
All journalists from really respected and recommended big German newspapers, magazines, radio stations, TV stations — they are all members or guests of those big transatlantic organisations. And there, in these transatlantic organisations, you are approached to be pro-American. There is nobody coming to you and say: “Well, we are the Central Intelligence Agency. Would you like to work for us?” No, this is not how it happens. What these transatlantic organisations do is they invite you for seeing the United States. They pay for that, they pay all your expenses and everything, so you are bribed to get more and more corrupt because they make you good contacts. You don't know whether these good contacts are let's say “non-official covers” or people officially working for Central Intelligence Agency or other American agencies so you make friends. You think they are friends and you cooperate with them. They ask you: “Oh, could you do me this favour? Could you do me that favour?” So your brain more and more is brainwashed though this guys.
And your question was: “Is it only the case with German journalists?” No, I think it is especially the case with British journalists because they have a much closer relationship. It is especially the case with Israelis, of course with French journalists — for a part, not that big as with the German or British journalists. It is the case for Australian journalists, for journalists from New Zealand, from Taiwan... there is many countries. Countries in the Arab world like Jordan, for example, like Oman. There is many countries where this happens, where you find people to claim they are respected journalists, but if you look behind them you'll find they are puppets on a string of the Central Intelligence Agency.
When Intelligence agencies write your articles
I'm sorry for interrupting you: I'll give you one example. Sometimes, the intelligence agencies come to your office and they want you to write an article. I'll give you an example not from stranger other journalists from me and myself. I've just forgotten the year, I just remember that the German Foreign Intelligence — Bundesnachrichtendienst, it is just a sister organisation of the Central Intelligence Agency, it was founded by the American intelligence agency — so one day, the BND, this German foreign intelligence agency, came to my office at The Frankfurter Allgemeine in Frankfurt and they wanted me to write an article about Libya and about Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. I had absolutely no secret information regarding Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and Libya but they gave me all this secret information and they just wanted me to sign the article with my name. I did that but it was an article that was published in The Frankfurter Allgemeine that originally came from the Bundesnachrichtendienst, the German Foreign Intelligence Agency. So do you really think that this is journalism intelligence agencies writing articles?
Oh yes, that article I have reprinted it partly in my book. That article was how Libya and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi secretly tried to build a poison gas factory. It was a story that was printed worldwide two days later but I had no information on that. It was the intelligence agency that wanted me to write this article. This is not the way journalism should work that intelligence agencies decide what is printed and what's not.
I'll give you a very good example if you say no: we have a rescue unit in Germany with helicopters for traffic accidents. They call themselves the Yellow Angels. There was one guy who didn't want to cooperate — he was a pilot of the helicopter service of the Yellow Angels in Germany. This guy said no to the Foreign Intelligence Service, Bundesnachrichtendienst, when they approach him and wanted him as an non-official cover to work for the German foreign intelligence agency, to pretend to be somebody from the Yellow Angels. So what happened was that he lost his job and the judge decided they were right because such a guy could not be trusted. He was kicked off his job because he didn't cooperate with the Foreign Intelligence Service. I knew what'd happen if I didn't cooperate with intelligence services.
The truth won't die
I have had six times my house searched because I was accused by the German public prosecutor of leaking state secrets. They hoped that I wouldn't do that ever again but I think it's worth it for the truth will come out one day. The truth won't die and I don't mind what happens. I've had three heart attacks, I have no children so if they want to bring me to court or to prison so it's worth it. For the truth.
Original text by UDO ULFKOTTE
transcribed by EY@EL
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