Putin exploits the lie machine but didn't invent it. British history is also full of untruths | George Monbiot

Our own crisis of truth is responsible for some of the world's biggest problems To the Syrians who have suffered its attacks, the Kremlin's lies about Ukraine must sound horribly familiar. Insisting that the victims of bombings are "crisis actors", spreading falsehoods about chemical weapons, justifying the mass murder of civilians by claiming that anyone who resists is a "Nazi" (in Ukraine) or a "head-chopper" (in Syria): its disinformation tactics have been tested and honed. This organised lyi...