America’s accusation that Moscow is planning to stage a false flag incident in Ukraine is reminiscent of the US’ bogus claims that Iraq was in possession of weapons of mass destruction in 2003, the Russian Embassy in Washington said on Friday.
Writing on Facebook, a statement from the diplomats called the suggestions “creative,” and “typical” of the US.
On Thursday, the Pentagon claimed the US had received information that Moscow is planning to stage “a fake attack by Ukrainian military or intelligence forces” against “Russian sovereign territory” or “Russian-speaking people,” as a pretext for invasion.
“As part of this fake attack, we believe that Russia would produce a very graphic propaganda video, which would include corpses and actors that would be depicting mourners and images of destroyed locations,” US Department of Defense Press Secretary John Kirby said.
However, according to Russian diplomats in Washington, this accusation is a complete lie and is a fabrication on the same level as America’s claims before it invaded Iraq in 2003.
“We are not surprised by the new ‘creative’ scenario outlined by the press secretaries of the US Department of State and the US Department of Defense on February 3, about Russia’s alleged preparation of an operation under a ‘false flag’ against Ukraine,” the embassy statement said.
“This is typical of the United States. The international community remembers the forgeries the USA used for their military interventions around the world, including the well-known vial of Colin Powell.”
The diplomatic mission was referring to the now-infamous speech by former US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the UN Security Council in early 2003, when he took a test tube of white powder from his pocket in an attempt to convince the world that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was in possession of biological weapons. Two years later, after the invasion showed that the claims were false, he expressed regret for his presentation, calling it a “blot” on his record.
America’s latest accusation follows claims made in January that Russia had sent a “group of operatives” trained in urban warfare to attack “Russia’s own proxy forces” in eastern Ukraine, to create justification for an invasion. Moscow dismissed these claims as “unsubstantiated.”