Finding Truth

(image by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)

Pictured above is Sergio Kiriyenko who was designated as the Kremlin’s first deputy chief of staff in 2018. In 2022 he set up a team to target Ukraine with disinformation. There were four key objectives for the Ukraine propaganda team: discredit Kyiv’s military and political leadership, cause division in the Ukrainian leadership, demoralize Ukrainian troops and disorient the Ukrainian population. They were to lower the public ratings (create distrust) of key personnel in President Zelensky’s office, the Ukrainian government, and the command of the Ukrainian armed forces. Additionally they were to increase the belief among the Ukrainian population that the country’s leadership was working only for itself. In order to increase fear and anxiety, Ukrainian war losses were to be exaggerated.

The Kremlin’s directed effort resulted in thousands of social media posts and hundreds of fabricated articles circulated in Ukraine and across Europe. The intent was to exploit what were then rumored tensions between President Volodymyr Zelensky and General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top military commander, both pictured above. Russian political strategists used social media and fake news articles to push the theme that Zelensky is hysterical, weak, and fears that he will be pushed aside by his military leaders like Zaluzhny. Ukraine’s own Kyiv-based polls showed trust in President Zelensky remains high although dropping from 81 percent to 69 percent over the last six months. (Washington Post, Sunday, February 18, 2024; “Kremlin disinfo chips at Ukraine; by Catherine Belton; p.A1)

Information is a critical part of warfare. Disinformation can be a lethal weapon with severe implications to the outcome of a particular battle and the long term war results. Russia has mastered the art of disinformation not only in Ukraine but in our nation as well.

House Republicans reached a critical point this week in their bid to impeach Joe Biden when the Justice Department indicted one of the impeachment inquiry’s lead informants for lying to the FBI about the Biden family, based on misinformation from Russia. This revelation was the latest in a series of embarrassing setbacks for the House GOP’s impeachment effort. In July, one of its whistleblowers was determined to be acting as a Chinese agent. In August, Hunter Biden’s longtime associate Devon Archer—who House Oversight Chair James Comer said could become a “hero” of the probe—testified that President Biden was not involved in his son’s business dealings. At the inquiry’s first public hearing in September, Comer’s star witness, conservative lawyer Jonathan Turley, said there was not sufficient evidence to impeach Biden. And recently, federal prosecutors claimed that FBI informant Alexander Smirnov, who made false bribery allegations against President Biden and his son Hunter, had “extensive and extremely recent contacts” with the Kremlin. (Time; “There’s No Question This is Dead”: Biden Impeachment Inquiry Falls Apart; by Eric Cortellesa, 2/23/2024) 

Alexander Smirnov (an ex-FBI informant) was indicted for lying to the FBI about President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden’s involvement with Burisma, a Ukrainian energy firm. Prosecutors allege that Smirnov repeatedly lied to his FBI handler, whom he worked with for more than a decade, and should not be trusted. He also has extensive contacts in Russia and elsewhere, prosecutors said, and lied to authorities about his “access to over $6 million in liquid funds — more than enough money for him to live comfortably overseas for the rest of his life.” His arrest and charges was a major setback for House Republican representatives ongoing impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden, as GOP investigators have touted Smirnov’s claims for months. (CNN; “Ex-FBI Informant charged with Lying about Biden’s is rearrested as Prosecutors fight to keep him behind bars” by Hannah Rabinowitz; 2/23/24)

It appears that Russian disinformation techniques have not only been effective in Ukraine but effective enough to penetrate our nation’s highest offices including the FBI and the House of Representatives. These efforts have been ongoing in our nation for many years and evidently Mr. Smirnov had been working with the FBI for ten years before he found a better customer in the halls of our Congress.

Pictured above is an olive tree about thirty miles outside of Rome, Italy. It was included on an “Olive Tree Tour” my wife and I took on our last trip and it is reported to be over 2,000 years old. That is an amazing claim. If true it means that tree was alive when Christ experienced His earthly ministry. But how do we know truth when we hear it? The fact is we don’t know whether information we hear is true or not, whether it involves an olive tree or a Congressional investigation. But there are some safeguards we can use to protect ourselves from being easily deceived.

Let’s take for example the olive tree pictured above. First, we must use common sense. Does the information square with what is plainly visible. I am no olive tree expert but this tree pictured above looked really old. Not only in its size compared to the hundreds of other olive trees we saw that day, but in the complexity of the tree that stood before us. If you look closely at any olive tree it often consists of two or more tree trunks twisted around each other over time. Not sure how or why this happens but it does. This tree included at least two huge trunks wrapped together and where they came together in proximity to the ground the space between trunks was at least three feet or more, a space large enough for small animals to nest. That did not prove anything except that it took a long time for a tree to grow that big and with such complexity. What we were seeing made sense with the narrative we heard about the tree.

Whether we are dealing with olive trees, politicians, or news from the battlefront, that should be our first test. Does what we hear square with what we see and what we know about the situation, the people involved, and the circumstances involved? I worked around military people for many years who had been tested in battle personally. They had a saying to “never believe the first report” that comes from the battlefield. That probably is not a bad guide for all of life’s circumstances. Let’s hold off on any final decisions about any new information until we give it sufficient time to be understood and be validated in some way. But as people of faith we have other resources.

“By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established” (Mathew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1) Recently I was visiting a friend who in times past would help me conduct a monthly service in a local jail near where we both lived. He is a man of faith and has been a good friend over the years. On this occasion we were having a political discussion and he said several times that he listened to only one source for his political news because all the other news channels said the same thing. Consequently he counted them as all being “false news” and the one news station that was different he believed to be the only “true news.” When I quoted the scriptural proof for truth was by two or three sources he denied that as being correct. Scripture gives us wonderful insight for living but we must open our mind to hear the word and then open our heart to receive it. Otherwise it is just noise.

“If you abide in My word, you are my disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31,32) This statement of Christ does not imply that if you are a Christian then you become a walking encyclopedia and a seat of all knowledge. He is saying if we internalize the teachings of Christ, similar to a plant drawing its life energy from the soil in which it abides, then we will have the life skills to make decisions and choices that are true to our faith. We become free to be guided by His Spirit that He promises to dwell within us by faith. This does not mean we become infallible to disinformation, lies, and deceitfulness. It simply means we are not in those battles by ourselves. We stand equipped with the grace of God, ready to take on the “wiles of the devil” with our “armor of God” (Ephesians 10:11). Bring it on Mr. Putin!