Operation Goldsmith: A Smear Vilification Campaign Containing Fake News

Operation Goldsmith is a smear vilification campaign against Pakistan and its Armed Forces. It is being run by Jewish & Indian lobbies to support their lackeys and local pawns. It gained eminence in January 2024 with the spree of negative articles publication in foreign media. Initial media blitz was to stir controversy about General Elections- 2024 in Pakistan, by implicating military’s involvement, whereas the current one is to seek concessions for jailed leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), who has harmed Pakistan’s interests on all occasions and at all forums. Operation Goldsmith is about fomenting political instability in Pakistan. Funds are flowing from the wealthiest Goldsmith and Rothschild families to project the Zionist and Capitalist agendas. Indians are also playing to their tune. Approximately 129 x negative articles have been published by major international media sources during the period from January- August 2024. Maximum number of articles have been published by BBC (14 x Articles), New York Times (13 x Articles), The Guardian (10 x Articles), Al Jazeera (8 x Articles) and Washington Post / Bloomberg / Financial Times (6 Articles each). This is a well thought out influence operation being run through the mainstream print media, in a bid to tarnish Pakistan’s image globally and induce hopelessness in its masses through spread of fake news.

The real aim of Operation Goldsmith is not to malign the military only but to save, salvage and eventually retrieve their assets (i.e lackeys and local pawns), who serve their interests without caring for the nation and the country. The jailed PTI leader Imran Khan is one such project of Zionist and Capitalist lobbies who has harmed Pakistan’s interest more than the inimical forces. Now in turn, Goldsmith and Co are out there to seek concessions for him by putting pressure on Pakistani Government through their blitzkrieg in foreign media.

Amongst the key characters of this campaign is a high-ranking diplomat of a Western country, who is posted at Pakistan. The growing involvement of this diplomat in the attempts, to revive Imran Khan’s political career is intricate as well as alarming. This diplomat, who is not so much known for the diplomatic career/ endeavors but for the sinister plotting related to regime tweak or regime change in the countries of posting, is doing everything to seek discounts for Imran Khan. Yemen, Afghanistan and Kenya have been the countries of earlier deployments of this diplomat, who is now being seen very active in Islamabad, doing meetings with the local and foreign journalists, human rights activists and academics, in the efforts to support Imran Khan. The question arises: Who is this diplomat? What are the motives? Why Western powers have so much love for Goldsmith’s ex son in law? What are the reasons for interference in internal affairs of Pakistan? It is obvious that this diplomat is not blending into the background – all activities of such a person should be monitored round the clock. Pakistan is not a country, where such provocative strategies will work out. It is not Yemen or Afghanistan or Syria or Sudan. Any attempts to foment instability and chaos in the country should be dealt with firmly.
A convicted criminal, Imran Khan, who was removed through a democratic no-confidence motion is in Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi for the past one year. He has been receiving a lot of sympathy and generous coverage in the Western press since the beginning of this year. More than 129 articles have vilified Pakistan and its state institutions, especially the Armed Forces in some of the most widely circulated international newspapers and magazines. This level of coverage is unprecedented, it is higher than the coverage of any crisis in Bangladesh or Gaza, at their worst. This trend, which Pakistan Twitterati has dubbed sarcastically, as ‘Operation Goldsmith,’ is still on the move. Imran Khan’s former in-laws the Goldsmith family and the global Zionist lobby including Imran Khan’s friend Jared Kushner, is believed to be involved. There are rumours that Khan has been encouraged to apply for the chancellorship of Cambridge University as well. All these endeavours are essentially in line with Operation Goldsmith, since Imran Khan is viewed as a creation of the Jewish lobby and a puppet of the Goldsmith family.

At the same time, the hypocrisy of the Western media is revealed by their selective journalism. Hundreds of thousands of civilians traumatized by the Gaza War, thousands more still lying unidentified under the rubble, and the rest attacked with complete disregard for their lives, are hardly given a passing reference in the same papers that have fawned over Imran Khan. Atrocities on Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir, remain uncovered in international media. These media houses not only approve the genocide in Gaza but actively participate in it and at the same time turn a blind eye towards other genocides happening in the rest of the world. Still, somehow, Imran Khan has emerged as a matter of concern for the West. This concern is clearly marked by selective morality and a very narrow and parochial view of national interest.

One irony for these western powers is that Pakistanis have a profound distrust of any politician or public personality, who has links with the US or any other western country. The more they promote Imran Khan, the more they demoralize his support base in Pakistan. Thus, by removing all masks, the West can contribute to the acceleration of the collapse of their favorite poster boy. To overcome this paradox, assistance to Khan from the foreign powers is being channeled in a manner that it does not look like that it is being done deliberately. But the mask is gradually getting removed, and the audience starts to look beyond the articles.

In a similar manner, pseudo-liberals, so-called human rights champions and embedded journalists have decided at their own to denounce Pakistani military in the name of democracy. These people, who call themselves advocates of justice have been very hypocritical. They are quick to condemn the military for supposedly undermining democracy, but they do not have a word to say about the plight of Palestinians or Kashmiris. Their selective application of justice reveals their true agenda: to meddle in Pakistan’s affairs with the intention of overthrowing the country’s democracy for their own political and ideological benefits.

To this can be added Pakistani writers, who have sold their conscience for the sake of making fortunes. People like Pakistani correspondent of New York Times, who gets paid for writing misconstrued facts about Pakistan in western newspapers has been instrumental in painting a distorted picture of Pakistan outside. Such writers have played their part in spreading misinformation about Pakistan and have been useful to those who seek to undermine their own nation.

Notwithstanding above, it remains quintessential to remember that Pakistan is not a country that can be conquered easily. Its power is in its people who love their Armed Forces who are the guarantors of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The ill-wishers of Pakistan must understand that Pakistan is not Syria, Yemen, Iraq, or Sudan, where change of regime can be orchestrated from outside. It is a nuclear power having 240 million population residing in a geo-strategically pivotal region. Its people are united in their desire to defend their country and the idea for which it stands. Therefore, smear campaigns of Operation Goldsmith, which may have found some traction will not eventually work. The planners of such operations do not understand the spirit of the Pakistani nation and the power of its Armed Forces. Pakistanis will go on supporting their military and will resist any aggression whether it is internal or external.