We usually tell children that it is beneficial to tell the truth because when you lie, you must remember every falsehood, which can lead to confusion. Telling the truth avoids such complications.
Generally, this is true, but in propaganda, the diametrically opposite principle applies, about which an interesting formulation is attributed to the American fiction writer Robert Sheckley: “In information wars, the one who tells the truth always loses; he is limited by the truth. A liar can say whatever he wants.”
In other words, while it is generally beneficial to tell the truth, in propaganda, you should do the opposite: fabricate something new every day because no one checks what you said yesterday.
The government has provided dozens of explanations for the loss of Artsakh: betrayal by former officials, the fifth column, 11,000 defectors, “wrong” negotiations, “bad” generals, the Lisbon Summit, even claiming that we did not need Artsakh. They argue that the struggle should not have started in 1988 because it was directed against our statehood, and so on. As you can see, liars are not limited in choosing any “hypothesis.”
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Of that pile of excuses, mainly two have been prominent in recent days. Armen Grigoryan stated, “Russia came, took Nagorno Karabakh from our hands, and returned it to Azerbaijan.”
Pashinyan’s advisor Aram Khachatryan claimed, “Artsakh was handed over by the acting authorities of Artsakh.”
A few questions arise with the first assertion. If Artsakh was “taken from our hands,” then it was “in our hands.” In whose hands: the current authorities of Armenia, former authorities, the RA, the Armenian people? When exactly did Russia take Artsakh from us, and when did it hand it over to Azerbaijan (the word “return” sounds insulting to me)? Why did the RA government allow this?
The second claim is extraordinary in its cynicism, insolence, and, I would say, misanthropy. When your leader initially says “Artsakh is Armenia,” then loses the war, then talks about “peaceful de-occupation,” then claims Artsakh is Azerbaijan, then asserts the priority issue is the security and rights of the people of Artsakh, and does nothing for them, and after all this, demands that the Artsakh Defense Army fight against the Azerbaijani Army alone, putting the lives of 120,000 people at risk… there is simply no name for it. This is part of the logic of hateful propaganda against the people of Artsakh.
…In short, let’s wait for new “hypotheses.”
Aram Abrahamyan
