Shaun ‘wish I’d brought my camera’ Walker

 

 

Folk at The Independent must have been rubbing their hands with glee when Shaun ‘Scoop’ Walker took off with his off pencil and notepad to join The Guardian.

Yesterday, he and a journalist from The Telegraph claim to have spotted a Russian armoured convoy driving through a hole in the fence that separates Russia from Ukraine at the dead of night on Thursday.

Let’s examine the probability of that for a moment. Shaun Walker and another journalist just happen to be out for a midnight stroll along the Ukraine/Russia border, like you do, when, would you credit it, they only go and bump into a Russian military convoy. As we’ve all said on such occasions “Wish I’d brought my camera.” Who’d have thought it, eh? There they were, two seasoned journalists at exactly the right place and exactly the right time and not camera or mobile phone between them. What a couple of silly-billies!

Quite a coincidence, eh? Looking at my map at a very rough guess I’d calculate the frontier separating Russia from East Ukraine has to be more than a thousand miles long. And the Russians have to go and choose the same spot where sniffer Shaun and his buddy are out walking. Which just goes to show what a coincidence it was. I bet neither of them could’ve predicted that happening. Just wait till their editors back in London hear that one. They’ll never buy it. But they did, as did nearly every other media outlet in the Western world, despite denials from Russia. But what evidence did the Russians produce showing their tanks weren’t in Ukraine? Not a scrap. Not even one photo. Now they can’t expect us to believe all of them didn’t have their cameras and mobile phones with them when they weren’t in Ukraine too, because Shaun has already used that one. If you weren’t there, show us the photos. You can’t can you? So you must have been.

The original convoy story was so good the ace reporter referred to it again today in yet another massive scoop headlined sensationally Ukraine rebel says he has 1,200 fighters ‘trained in Russia’ under his command Scoop should know, he got his info from a ‘top rebel leader’. But not first hand, we soon learn.

He got it from a video Walker claims had been posted by a pro-separatist media outlet. As it seems The Telegraph now own it, and not a pro-separatist media outlet, Walker probably saw their version. I mean, as he goes out for midnight strolls with a Telegraph journalist, they must share their videos sometimes. Oh, I forgot, they keep forgetting their phones and cameras. Then again, Walker could think The Telegraph is a pro-separatist media outlet. Well, as some of his stories reveal, he has got a vivid imagination.

To quote from the article: “His language suggested the men had already crossed the border”. So, what language was that then, Shaun? According to the subtitles I read, his language more than suggested they had crossed the border, whether true or not, he actually said it.

But the funniest thing about today’s scoop is the bit I quote below (the spacing mistakes are The Guardian’s):

The claims come after a week when Russia’s actions on the border with Ukraine have been under renewed scrutiny. Journalists for the Guardian andDaily Telegraph observed a convoy of armoured vehicles accompanied bytrucks with Russian military plates crossing over the border on Thursdaynight. Ukraine said it had destroyed part of a Russian column later that night, but did not provide any evidence. Russia denied any incursion had taken place.

That first sentence is typical Walkerese in sinister mode, without actually saying anything at all, or producing any evidence, he hints that the Russians are up to no good when they say they’re trying to get aid to starving Ukrainians. We all know those white trucks are bristling with nuclear weapons, because the mainstream media has been saying it all week. But note the use of the word ‘journalists’. By using it in that way Scoop is trying to create the impression it wasn’t him but another Guardian journalist who observed the convoy sneaking by under cover of darkness. One can assume it was an effort to lend the story, which seems to be unravelling quicker than a ball of wool hurtling down a mountain, a bit more credence. Follow the link he gives and you will see the The Guardian journalist he refers to was none other than himself. Unless The Guardian has two Shaun Walkers reporting from Ukraine. Well, as you can see from his reports, coincidence is no stranger to our Shaun, or Shauns, whichever the case may be.

Whatever the truth of the matter,  the neo-fascist propaganda machine in Kiev lost no time at all in exploiting the story. Walker and his hiking companion had provided them with an imaginary Russian convoy to shoot at, so they did. Almost immediately they claimed to have destroyed a Russian convoy on Ukraine soil. Unfortunately, in a country where everybody seems to have a camera of some sort, on this occasion there was nobody around to record it, or the burned-out vehicles either. What are the odds of everybody leaving their cameras and mobile phones at home all on the same night, eh? I told you coincidence and Walker are no strangers.

There can’t have been any Russians in the convoy either, because no deaths were reported and no prisoners appear to have been taken. Everything seems to have disappeared without a trace. Those Ukrainians must be good cleaners. Well worth making a note of that for when I next need one.

And talking of notes, note Walker makes a point of saying that the Ukrainians didn’t provide any evidence of their great victory. But then neither did he provide any evidence of the convoy. The others have to prove evidence, whereas we just have to take Walker’s word for it. Of course, we could give him the benefit of the doubt. If you look at it from another angle, it could be seen as proof that even the best-prepared of us can leave their cameras at home sometimes. But for all the to do it on the same night. Well, you can hardly believe it. But they did.

Walker is becoming a joke and embarrassment. More and more of his stories seem to be made up by him or someone else. They often turn out to be false or misreported. Sometimes, the truth emerges within days, other times it doesn’t come out months. By that time Walker will be somewhere else churning out more stuff for the fantasy factory.

Copyright © 20014 Bryan Hemming