According to the Daily Beast, $160 million will be allocated for the Global Engagement Center (GEC) to counter "foreign propaganda;" an additional $100 million will be spent to "support objective Russian-language journalism, counter 'fake news,' and support research on the effects of information warfare."
The GEC was initially created under the Obama administration to fight Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) propaganda.
The initiative was kicked off by Republican Sen. Rob Portman and Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy in late 2016 and was signed into law by then President Barack Obama on December 23 as part of the FY 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Conference Report.
Commenting on the matter Pamela Geller, founder, editor and publisher of The Geller Report and President of the American Freedom Defense Initiative, highlighted that the US globalist establishment is taking every effort to prevent a potential détente between Washington and Moscow.
"It's amusing to me — demusing, I should say — that long after the Cold War ended… after ignoring, denying and downplaying the Soviet threat and ridiculing those who called attention to it," US policymakers have turned Russia into their "all-purpose bogeyman now," Geller told Radio Sputnik.
"This maybe because they see [Russian President Vladimir] Putin as a genuine threat to their globalist internationalist program," she pointed out.
Geller underscored that the Russian President "helped Russia recover its national pride." She noted that if the same thing happened in Europe and in the US, all efforts of globalists will be nullified.
"This endeavor to stamp out so-called 'fake news' is funded by George Soros, " Geller highlighted, "Clearly Soros want to prevent US-Russia rapprochement and cooperation on counter-terrorism operations."
She agreed that the US billionaire could have been behind the recent anti-Trump protests in the US.
"We know that he has funded upwards of fifty groups behind these violent riots against [US President Donald] Trump," Geller said.
US-based journalist and geopolitical analyst Gilbert Mercier shares a similar stance. In his recent interview with Sputnik Mercier pointed out that the anti-Trump protests were professionally orchestrated.
According to Mercier, American magnate Soros and his liberal counterparts could have had a hand in ongoing protest movement against Trump.
"George Soros and his Open Society Foundations, which is a network of more than 100 foundations, and still has offices in countless countries including one in Afghanistan, has his finger prints all over the pseudo spontaneous anti-Trump protests, not only in the United States, but worldwide," he said.
But that's half the problem, according to Geller. Soros has been also sponsoring US policymakers from Republican and Democratic parties for years.
"These sanctions against Russia are part of Democratic hysteria and fear-mongering that was used during the [US presidential] elections. Look, it would be better for us [the US] to get along with Russia," she stressed.
"The 'Fake News' is really a new device, it's a new media spin device [used] by the Left. It's not against Russia per se, it's against Trump and the Right in power," she opined.
Geller pointed out that in addition to attacking Trump the liberal media is trying to discredit the country's conservative media sources and independent outlets. Still, according to the US scholar Americans "don't buy it."
She recalled that at the same time the US mainstream press "adored" ex-president Barack Obama whom she dubbed a "massive marketing machine."
Geller believes that the recent counter-propaganda initiative was not authorized by Trump.
"I don't think this is a Trump initiative and he would like to make friends with Russia. He sees strategically that clearly in the Middle East we would be all better served by an alliance with Russia, when it comes to Syria, and Iran, and Iraq. Would it be possible? I don't know, but certainly it's a right approach," she told Radio Sputnik.
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