The "chemical attack" at Khan Sheikoun was faked and a show; though a number of people were killed or hurt during its production.
This video for example, of doctors and patients in an emergence room was pure theater, taken over a longer time period. The main presenter was a well-known criminal Takfiri but with links to the British secret service. The whole show was perfected, by specialists one would think, to fit for U.S. TV screens.
There were no scenes, zero in all the coverage, that showed casualties in places where they were surprised by gas and died. No basement was searched, no place of work or living was shown – only rescue centers. The male "victims" were clean shaven, despite living in al-Qaeda land. They even had two blond "Syrian" kids in there (vid) to convince the racist constituency that "revenge" was needed and just. A cut right out of Wag The Dog (vid). It is now racist to object to the war!
Dilbert creator Scott Adams, one of the few who understands Trump's persuasion style and predicted his win, remarks:
It is almost as if someone designed this “tragedy” to be camera-ready for President Trump’s consumption. It pushed every one of his buttons. Hard. And right when things in Syria were heading in a positive direction.
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I’m going to call bullshit on the gas attack. It’s too “on-the-nose,” as Hollywood script-writers sometimes say, meaning a little too perfect to be natural. This has the look of a manufactured event.
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So how does a Master Persuader respond to a fake war crime?He does it with a fake response, if he’s smart.
The response by the U.S. was not completely fake but as small as it could be. The base was warned and had been evacuated. All movable and valuable stuff had been taken away. The attack was even smaller than planned. The Russian Defense Ministry says only 23 out of 59 cruise missiles hit the base. The others were shot down by air defense or diverted by the famous Russian Electronic Counter Measures. The Pentagon insists that all 59 hit. But the pictures and video from the base only show damage to 11 aircraft shelters. Additionally one radar, one missile launcher and a fuel depot were hit. That effect is too small for 59 impacts. The base was in use again 12 hours after the strike. The attack on it was not really serious.
Adams makes it look as if Trump did not sign off on the whole stunt before it happened. As if it was made for Trump’s consumption. Why does he think so? Does he believe the CIA bureaucrats would not ask for a direct order and presidential cover before launching such a risky operation?
The pictures and scenes were not constructed for Trump's consumption. They were constructed by Trump for consumption by the "western" public. Never forget that Trump is also a successful professional TV presenter who knows how to act in front of cameras. The plot followed Trump's persuasion style. The same style he used during the campaign and that let him win. Trump had several reasons to create such an incident. It was perfectly timed for the visit of the Chinese President Xi. This was a stunt to Trump's liking. It was his production. The blond children were there to allowed for his "Beautiful babies were cruelly murdered …" punch line. Trump proudly produced and presented to you: "Trump the NEW President".
The whole show was designed to let Trump look strong and presidential and to get rid of the "Russia Gate" nonsense the neocons ran against him. The prospect of stopping those attacks was an offer he could not refuse. Here a tweet of mine sent on the evening before the attack was launched:
Moon of Alabama @MoonofA
Prediction:
If Trump now commits to war on Syria the anti-Trump "Russia spies" campaign will immediately stop.
Ransom paid, hostage released
8:23 PM – 6 Apr 2017
Those who once warned that Trump would launch a new world war now laud him for nearly doing so:
Editorial boards of NYT, WaPo, WSJ, USAToday, DailyNews, SJ Mercury News, Houston Chon & Chicago Sun Times all endorsed Trumps Syria strikes.
"Russia Gate" is – for now – forgiven and forgotten. The NeverTrump-ers applause the strike and want more of them, ever more war and "regime change" in favor of al-Qaeda's rule.
More strikes may well come. The precedent has been established. Whenever al-Qaeda in Idleb comes under pressure and needs help we will see another fake "chemical attack". Will Trump follow up on those? Or will he manage to set aside the outrage that will follow such "attacks" when it does not fit his plans? Was this a one-time show? Or will Trump serialize it?
The open Syrian, Iranian and Russian response will be an intensification of the operations in Idleb. They will smash the "rebels" there by air and push more troops into that direction. The Russian organized flight coordination over Syria has been called off. Belgium already said its airforce will no longer take part in any U.S. "coalition" operation over Syria. Others will follow that example. An asymmetric response elsewhere will follow later. U.S. forces in the wider region better watch their backs.
Some people have wondered why the Chinese criticism of the attack at the UN Security Council or during Xi's meeting with Trump was rather mild. The Chinese believe that the best that can happen to them is a United States bogged down in further Middle East calamities. If the U.S. is busy in Iraq, Yemen and Syria it will have fewer capacity to mess up North Korea or seek a conflict over this or that atoll in the South China Sea. I can not blame them for that position.
Bonus: A truly journalistic highlight in U.S. news coverage of our time is this recommendation by CNN:
Jake Tapper @jaketapper
For more on Syria follow @AlabedBana
4:59pm · 4 Apr 2017
Do it! Be informed! Follow the 7 year old daughter of a Syrian Takfiri in Turkey. Videos of her show that she can not understand, speak or write English but she knows how to manipulate her audience in perfect tweets:
Bana Alabed @AlabedBana
Putin and Bashar al Asad bombed my school, killed my friends & robbed my childhood. It's time to punish the killers of children in Syria.
10:09am · 7 Apr 2017
Her producers let her look more intelligent that Tapper will ever be. (For background on that M.I.T./MI-6 "Bana" child exploitation enterprise see here.)
UPDATE: Jake Tapper has since deleted his tweet above, but we took a screenshot before he did so 🙂
