Syria - OPCW Engineering Assessment: The Douma 'Chemical Weapon Attack' Was Staged
On April 7 2018 Syrian 'rebels' claimed that the Syrian government used chlorine gas and Sarin in an attack on the besieged Douma suburb near the Syrian capital Damascus. They published a series of videos which showed dead bodies of mainly women and children.
The claim of the 'chemical attack' was made shortly after U.S. President Trump had announced that he wanted U.S. troops to leave Syria. It was designed to "pull him back in" which it indeed did. In an illegal 'retaliation' the U.S., Britain and France launched a number of cruise missiles against Syria. Most of them failed to reach their targets.
Moon of Alabama published a number of pieces on the issue which are listed below.
It seemed obvious from the very first claims of the 'gas attack' that it did not happen at all. The Syrian government had no motive to use any chemical weapon or an irritant like chlorine in Douma. It had already won the battle. The incident was obviously staged, like others before it, to drag the U.S. into a new attack on Syria.
Of special interest on the incident scene were two gas cylinders which were photo- and video-graphed near to where the dead bodies were found. It was claimed that the cylinders were dropped from Syrian army helicopters and crashed through concrete roofs. One cylinder allegedly 'bumped' after completely penetrating the roof and came to rest on a bed. The other cylinder allegedly broke a roof open and came to rest on a balcony.
To anyone with a bit of 'feel' for material behavior of concrete and metal on impact, it was obvious that the damages caused on the concrete and on the cylinders were incompatible with each other. The concrete, reinforced with steel, was thoroughly penetrated while the cylinders showed only minimal damage. The roofs were most likely penetrated by artillery impact while the cylinders were most likely put there by hand.
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Shortly after the incident the NATO aligned propaganda group Bellingcat asserted that the cylinders were dropped from helicopters. In June 2018 the New York Times published a rather laughable virtual crime scene analysis of the Douma incident. Neither included an engineering assessment of the impact forces and the related damages on the cylinders and roofs. Neither had visited the scene. From observing superficial visual markings both falsely concluded that the gas cylinders were dropped from helicopters.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which sent a Fact Finding Mission to the scene to investigate the case, made a detailed engineering analysis of the impact and damage. But the results of the engineering assessment were left out of its mealy-mouthed and inconclusive final report (pdf).
Now the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media obtained a copy of the 15 pages long OPCW Engineering assessment of two cylinders observed at the Douma incident - 27 February 2019 (pdf).
[UPDATE May 16]:
The OPCW confirmed to Peter Hitchens of Mail Online that the obtained Engineering assessment is genuine. It provided no additional information.
[End Update]
After testing various hypotheses through experiments, simulations and finite element analysis the engineering sub-group of the OPCW investigation concluded (emphasis added):
32. At this stage the FFM engineering sub-team cannot be certain that the cylinders at either location arrived there as a result of being dropped from an aircraft. The dimensions, characteristics and appearances of the cylinders and the surrounding scene of the incidents, were inconsistent with what would have been expected in the case of either cylinder having been delivered from an aircraft. In each case the alternative hypothesis produced the only plausible explanation for observations at the scene.33. In summary, observations at the scene of the two locations, together with subsequent analysis, suggest that there is a higher probability that both cylinders were manually placed at those two locations rather than being delivered from aircraft.
The engineering assessment confirms our earlier conclusion. The whole scene as depicted by 'rebels' and propaganda organs was staged. The more than 34 dead on the scene were murdered elsewhere under unknown circumstances.
In its discussion of the OPCW engineering assessment and its suppression by the OPCW management, the Working Group states:
The new information we have removes all doubt that the organization has been hijacked at the top by France, UK and the US. We have no doubt that most OPCW staff continue to do their jobs professionally, and that some who are uneasy about the direction that the organization has taken nevertheless wish to protect its reputation. However what is at stake here is more than the reputation of the organization: the staged incident in Douma provoked a missile attack by the US, UK and France on 14 April 2018 that could have led to all-out war.The cover-up of evidence that the Douma incident was staged is not merely misconduct. As the staging of the Douma incident entailed mass murder of civilians, those in OPCW who have suppressed the evidence of staging are, unwittingly or otherwise, colluding with mass murder.
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Earlier coverage of the Douma incident published by Moon of Alabama:
Posted by b on May 13, 2019 at 11:55 UTC | Permalink
the propagandists always have an edge, their bs is spread around the world instantaneously while the laborious process of disproving it is always well behind. of course, when it was being disproved in real time by hans blix in the runup to the second iraq war, it didn't stop the invasion, but at least it made things more difficult--the coalition of the willing was notably smaller the second time around.
Posted by: pretzelattack | May 13 2019 12:27 utc | 2
i just saw a yahoo news headline that sweden has revived the rape charges against assange. i didn't bother to read the article as it's likely to be full of propaganda, but i trust the headline is true. i've seen speculation before that this might actually help assange by making it more difficult and time consuming for the u.s. to get its claws on him-i hope that's true, and not just a reiteration of the gambit to render him immediately to the empire.
Posted by: pretzelattack | May 13 2019 12:30 utc | 3
Speaking of propaganda being disseminated widely quickly and loudly, see today's US news about this fishy attack/non-attack/ok-it-was-an-attack of still unspecified nature on Saudi (and other?) tankers in the ME. Drudge, AP, CNN, Fox, all are already reaching breathless status while just Friday we were warned of coming "Iranian" sabotage and other threats to US interests including commercial shipping.
Here we go again. Don't anybody act surprised as the evidence is cooked to "prove" Iran is to blame without any evidence ever making it out into the public sphere.
Posted by: Kc | May 13 2019 12:37 utc | 4
After the Working Group's demolition of the OPCW report on the supposed Douma CW attack in April 2018, anyone who still believes that the OPCW is a reputable organisation, especially after its evasive behaviour over the results of the blood tests done on samples of Sergei and Julia Skripal's blood, needs to be carefully examined for symptoms of early onset dementia.
The OPCW really has no crediblity left as an impartial organisation dedicated to advancing the cause of peace and preventing war crimes, if indeed it ever possessed such impartiality.
And as always, Bellingcrap can always be counted on to keep churning out rubbish.
Posted by: Jen | May 13 2019 12:52 utc | 5
...those in OPCW who have suppressed the evidence of staging are, unwittingly or otherwise, colluding with mass murder.
The same thing about JIT who continue to profane the "investigation" of the MH17 flight crash. They not only covering the Kiev regime, who shot down a plane, but also keep lying to the relatives of victims. Wrote about it back in autumn 2018.
Actually I feel nothing but disgust when I see how once respected international structures are engaged in outright falsification and concealment of important information. It is very sad that the OPCW allowed itself to be drawn into such dirty games.
However, it is not surprising. Those international structures that are largely controlled by Western countries will continue to serve only as a policy tool of the respective countries. No one has long paid attention to the reputation and essence of these organizations.
An explicit and unequivocal war crime - the shelling of a sovereign country by hundreds of missiles, committed under an obvious and frankly false pretext (read, blatant lies), will not have any consequences. War criminals (political and military elite of the United States, France and Britain) will not be brought under the military tribunal. Everyone will pretend that nothing has happened. Disgusting.
The next false flag may have already been employed. Bolton warns of “intelligence” claiming Iran is planning to attack US interests. Bolton announces destroyer and patriot missile deployment. Saudis claim oil tankers sabotaged. Now an “investigation” will point to Iran, and of course the US will have to respond in order to save the world.
Posted by: Musburger | May 13 2019 13:18 utc | 7
Even when I'm posting off topic, I generally try to scan the thread to make sure I'm not saying basically the same thing as a previous poster, especially in short threads like this. Guess that's not a common practice around here.
Posted by: KC | May 13 2019 13:24 utc | 8
I wonder how the corporate press will respond to this one.
If this story gains traction and can't be disproven to be genuine I can't see how they can use these CW provocations anymore.
Unless they just ignore it and carry on as usual of course.
Posted by: evilsooty999 | May 13 2019 13:32 utc | 9
The slick video and analysis of the Douma incident by James Harkin, along with Robert Mackey, Eyal Weizmann and Nour Samaha - oh and Higgins - made much of the calculations over the gas cylinders, and because they concluded that the hospital hosing scene may have been staged, put the whole credibility of the incident into the unverifiable events in the Apartment block round the corner from Douma hospital. The OPCW did not take any biopsies or examine bodies, nor one suspects see any or discover where they were allegedly buried. It's past time to expose this extreme fraud, because the same is about to be registered again on the suffering citizens, as well as their brave soldiers.
Posted by: David M | May 13 2019 13:33 utc | 10
Musburger.. @ 7 respond to save the world.. alaff @6 war crime. Jen @5 OPCW a disreputable organisation.. Kc@4 evidence is cooked to ..blame without any evidence (truth or fact). @3, and 2 Sweden has revived the rape charges against Assange <=propagandists always have an edge Piotr Berman @1 OPCW mass murder..
What more is needed to convince everyone, organized crime has taken global charge of the nation state system of governance ..
It is obvious to me, the in-charge are using the awesome powers of the states they have acquired control of, not only accomplish their criminal enterprises but also to establish the first dictatorship over all human existence on this earth? Everyone has been rendered expendable.
Humanity has a dictator and it does not even know exactly who it is..
Posted by: snake | May 13 2019 13:46 utc | 11
ACLOS alt. posting: http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/File:Engineering-assessment-of-two-cylinders-observed-at-the-Douma-incident-27-February-2019-1.pdf
Posted by: Adam Larson | May 13 2019 13:49 utc | 12
>>Swedish prosecutors are to reopen an investigation into a rape allegation against Julian Assange.
The deputy director of public prosecutions, Eva-Marie Persson, announced the decision at a press conference on Monday, saying: “I have today taken the decision to reopen the preliminary investigation.”
She said the circumstances allowed for an extradition to Sweden from Britain, and an interview with Assange should be conducted.<<
Any lawyer here that could explain why an "investigation" requires an interview with the alleged perpetrator. How does it change if the alleged perpetrator denies that the key elements of the alleged crime took place? I would think that either evidence that does not require admission of guilt exists, or it does not.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 13 2019 13:54 utc | 13
MrB, very interested in what you may have to say once you have found out more about the Oil tanker alleged sabotage operation in UAE, seems to be a lot of confusion out there, perhaps you are collating info and waiting to get a clearer picture before penning another poignant gem of your analysis? Looks to be the hottest story to kick off the week so far
Posted by: EtTuBrute | May 13 2019 13:55 utc | 14
Piotr @13
I wrote about this on the Open Thread. That's the best place to discuss Assange-Sweden until/unless b makes a post about it.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 13 2019 14:06 utc | 15
Nice analysis 'b' but I have to respectfully disagree on this one item,,,
" It was designed to "pull him back in" which it indeed did. "
I don't believe for a second Trump has to be pulled back in from any of this. He is a narc/sociopath like the rest in the government and probably 2/3rds of Americans which only believe in power and money, MAGA for short.
Trump is forced.... Trump really doesn't want ..... Trump has been tricked ..... I read this bologna everyday. What? He doesn't have a mind? The man enjoys the power of killing people, like Obama, Bush, Clinton and the rest.
I've never seen or heard anything like it,,, the man could start a nuclear war killing everything and if there was a press afterwards people would claim he was drawn into the war by the Deep State bla bla bla.....
IMHO,,,Here's the skinny.... They ALL love killing people! That's it. A bunch of psychopaths running the asylum of Earth.
And no,,, I don't vote.... period. I haven't seen one person in my lifetime (70 years) (excepting JFK, Ross Perot) that had even the smallest concern for the nation or for that matter life itself.
Posted by: ken | May 13 2019 14:21 utc | 16
another take on the assange charges;
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2019/05/the-re-opening-of-the-swedish-assange-case-should-be-welcomed/
Posted by: pretzelattack | May 13 2019 14:30 utc | 17
Allow me to state the obvious.
Trump's missile attack on Syria a SECOND time based on a SECOND false flag is inexcusable. Even the first attack (supposedly motivated by Ivanka's concern for children) was irresponsible at best.
To top it off, Trump made a big show of a 'troop pull-out' only to walk that back weeks later, and he's an active participant in USA's Venezuela coup attempt.
Yet Trump apologists continue to assert that Trump is blameless because he's manipulated by his advisors.
One might think that Trump would be more sensitive about these matters given that his 2016 campaign was targeted by the Deep State as explained by Mike Whitney in Judgment Day for John Brennan.
What might explain Trump's tone deafness as well as the persistence of Trump apologists? I've made a reasonable case (in numerous comments at MoA) that Trump's election was actually the intended outcome and that the investigation into Trump's possible collusion was a planned means of initiating a new McCarthyism as well as targeting perceived enemies like Wikileaks. Apologists are part and parcel of the faux populist political model. A faux populist will betray his promises, to continue to be effective and to better cover the sham, he must be supported by apologists.
Welcome to the rabbithole.
Posted by: Jackrabbit | May 13 2019 14:34 utc | 18
"Damage to the Saudi tanker shows that Iranian aircraft have dropped a large bed with wooden headboard directly on the iron tanker causing severe damage". Ha!
Posted by: jef | May 13 2019 14:47 utc | 19
In important ways this issue is a far more explosive scandal than the false-flag Douma attack itself:
- we all know the terrorists commit crimes against humanity (and that the Western states assist them)
- in this case we have an international organisation - the OPCW - clearly and explicitly shown to be complicit in crimes against humanity/war crimes, namely mass murder, obviously with the support of and under the direction of certain states such as the USA, UK and France
- the involvement of USA/UK/France is necessarily at the State level, not just individuals
- this cover-up was incontrovertibly carried out to pervert the investigation of alleged chemical weapons violations and to misdirect blame, and as such is a direct negation of the entire existence of the OPCW and the chemical weapons treaty at the most profound level
- according to the linked assessment by the Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media, the OPCW office explicitly denied that the author of the engineering report had ever been a member of the Fact Finding Mission, or that the engineering report was part of the FFM report, thus further accentuating the cover-up
- all State-Parties to the OPCW who disagree with the conduct of the OPCW in connection with this matter are injured parties, and have the right to initiate legal proceedings against the OPCW
As I see it, such State-Parties to the OPCW who object to this matter - under the leadership of Syria, Russia, China and Iran - should instigate legal proceedings against OPCW for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court, and/or (preferably) constitute a new international Court specifically to investigate and prosecute these crimes. The precedent is the Nuremberg trials - and as I see it the parallels are very compelling to that case. The OPCW as it is presently constituted - as a participant in crimes against humanity - CANNOT be permitted to continue its existence: that is a compelling moral imperative.
I am not a lawyer, but I have never come across any incident since the end of WW2 backed up by such crystal clear evidence of crimes against humanity involving direct participation by a United Nations level international body. It is truly unprecedented. (Of course there are many cases where crimes are alleged and documentary evidence and witnesses exist - the cover-up of the Sbrenica massacre for example - but there are always abundent matters that are unclear).
There are many cases where profoundly important scandals occur, and certain States that would have an important interest in aggressively pursuing the matter decide not to do so after weighing up all the political implications. In contrast, in my opinion, this Douma cover-up involves such a profound challenge to the very existence of International Law and ordered relations between States that all four countries Syria, Russia, China and Iran (the latter because it was a large-scale victim of chemical weapons attacks in the Iran-Iraq war and is known to have particularly strong interests in justice with respect to chemical weapons attacks) now face a very fundamental and compelling obligation to pursue this issue aggressively to its conclusion.
Posted by: BM | May 13 2019 15:17 utc | 20
fALSE FLAG ON IRAN PLAN BLOWN TO H*LL
Want to stop a false flag? Just report it a few hours before it is supposed to happen!
The plan was to blow up oil tankers in a UAE operated port in the strait of Hormuz, and blame it on Iran. PROBLEM:
The Lebanese media jumped the gun, and released news of the attack before American planes which were witnessed by "numerous people" dropped their bombs. They could not overcome the social media backlash from this, and called off the attacks. That's the only thing that fits.
Here is the story, according to Sputnik:
"Several heavy explosions occurred early on Sunday in the port of Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, a number of media reports say. The reports, citing eyewitnesses, further suggested that American and French warplanes have been seen flying over the port at the time of the incident.
The government of Fujairah denied on Sunday media reports about several heavy explosions taking place at the emirate's port, insisting that the port is functioning as usual.
"The press service of the Fujairah government denied media reports about powerful explosions in the emirate's port earlier this day and confirmed that ship traffic is as usual," the state-run WAM news agency reports.
Earlier in the day, the Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen broadcaster said, citing local media that several heavy explosions occurred in the port of Fujairah.
The blasts were heard between 4:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. local time (00:00 — 03:00 GMT), the broadcaster reported, adding that from seven to 10 oil tankers were in flames. The broadcaster continued by saying that the real cause of the incident has still been unknown."
My comment: So there you have it. Here's what I think: Someone spilled the beans because they did not want this to go forward as planned. The U.S. was not going to have who did it identified so clearly, so they called it off. Fact: You can't see "French and American" planes during such an attack, let alone at the time the report states the attack happened because it was dark so someone who knew who was going to do this ratted it out and to make sense of it all, the reports said people saw the planes, when in fact no one did but someone knew. That's the only explanation that fits.
UPDATE: I know when the false flag was supposed to happen. It was supposed to happen at 8:30 AM CST, just on time for the American news feed. I am not going to say how I came up with the exact time. I am now totally convinced there really was going to be a false flag attack to kick off a war with Iran this morning (Sunday) and someone BLEW IT.
Posted by: dilbert | May 13 2019 15:30 utc | 22
jesus, this is depressing.. thank you b for your ongoing work highlighting all this..
i strongly echo @20 BM's comments.. "this Douma cover-up involves such a profound challenge to the very existence of International Law..." and @21 mpn - it is exactly like the FAA - boeing... thanks for the many other insightful comments here as well..
Posted by: james | May 13 2019 15:42 utc | 23
@snake 11:
Try 'gangsters-in-charge'. It acronyms nicely as gics; use together with 'gic-servants' to label the self-serving bourgeois who do the gics' detailed managerial dirty work for them, in return for relatively fat career'n'pay baubles - though nothing like as huge as the gics' own loot-piles, of course. Western lamestream mediawhores are an excellent example of gic-servants. Particularly nasty doublethinking suckers!
Gic and gic-servant are coinages that I've been using for some time, as being objective, soberly-accurate descriptions of 'our leaders' and their fixers.
True everywhere in the world? I'd suspect so. It's just that in those parts of the world that are slipping out of the control of the Anglozionist empire, aka USukiznato, and joining the Russia-China alternative, the gickery seems to be a good deal less barbarous and utterly bone-headed than it is in USukiznato, as it slides into decline and fall.
Posted by: Rhisiart Gwilym | May 13 2019 15:49 utc | 24
False Flag attacks. False "intel." Extremely biased "history" reported as fact. False assumptions about peoples and their relations within differing nations. Utterly fantastical "religious" notions treated as realities. Take all these ingredients, put them into a blender, scramble them all together and have them poured into receptive minds by charlatans with unwarranted reputations, and you end up with what we saw in the run up to Iraq in 2003 and in other previous assessments of other nations, notably Iran. All of the above and more is what Alastair Crooke just wrote, "Iran: Preparing the ‘Battle Space’". IMO, this is one of Crooke's best essays and is a must read. Here's the main premise:
"The 'Bernard Lewis plan', as it came to be known, was a design to fracture all the countries in the region – from the Middle East to India – along ethnic, sectarian and linguistic lines. A radical Balkanisation of the region. A retired US Army officer, Ralph Peters, followed up by producing the map of how a ‘Balkanised’ Middle East would look. Ben Gurion too had a similar strategic ambition for Israeli interests....
"Lewis seeded too the broader idea of a backwards-looking Muslim world, seething with hatred against a modernising and virtuous West. It was him, and not Samuel Huntington, who coined the phrase ‘clash of civilisations’ – implying further, that Islam and the West are embroiled in an existential battle for survival.
"Through the Evangelical prism of today’s policy-makers, such as Pompeo and Mike Pence, this dark prognostication has metamorphosed from a civilisational ‘clash’ into the cosmic battle of good and evil (with Iran particularly pinpointed as the source of cosmic evil in today’s world).
"This is the key point: Bringing regime change to Iran – the primordial threat, in Lewis terms – was always a Lewis fantasy....
"We have been here before. The US did not just leaf through Lewis’ books, as it were; it has been acting on it for decades. As early as the 1960s, Lewis had published a book which picked up on the potential vulnerabilities, and therefore the potential use, of religious, class, and ethnic differences as the means to bring an end to Middle Eastern states."
Crooke eventually uncovers the reason behind the Outlaw US Empire's rescinding the export waivers for Iran's low-enriched uranium and heavy water products which was at the heart of the thread question b asked earlier but nobody answered. I'm not going to post it here since IMO the essay must be completely read. Another commentator can post it if s/he must.
As a historian, I must comment that much of what we've been taught about the past is wrong; that some extremely important past events and personages must be revisioned. The past has long been manipulated to empower the present, a practice that began several thousand years ago whose results we still suffer. Overthrowing the hegemonic system of the West and having to adapt to a new socio-economic paradigm due to environmental forces will do a lot to speed the revisioning process. But as Crooke points-out, we must become aware of how multiple falsifications are now being done to attain hysterical, illogical, and wantonly evil ends. Humanity cannot afford to be fooled again!
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2019 16:32 utc | 25
NYT letting Bellingcat and White Helmets publish their assessment and not presenting the possibility that they could be wrong, nor informing their readers who is presenting the information (or that may be a little bias) was a new low for human "reality" as it stands today. Its sad what a propaganda rag NYT has become, its like the opinion page became the whole paper. As far as I know they still haven't corrected the lie that Guido took over an airbase. Was it always this way and I just got smarter? Or did they have to fire legit journalists?
Posted by: Jason | May 13 2019 16:32 utc | 26
I remember watching the NY Times video which "geo-located" the "Syrian gas attack" in a very slick professional bs manner. I also remember the attacks on Robert Fisk, when he expressed his doubts. And the sarcastic response when witnesses from Douma were taken to OPCW. It was an ugly spectacle, now made uglier by the obvious cold deception.The deceivers were also the ones who exerted great effort that the OPCW be able to publicly identify designated scapegoats after the bs investigations.
A reform within the organization is necessary, and an accounting for this deceptive practice must ensue.
Posted by: jayc | May 13 2019 16:45 utc | 27
Posted by: dilbert | May 13, 2019 11:30:56 AM | 22
Spot on Dilbert, brilliant analysis!
I would add this: From what I have read, Iran has top notch humint intelligence from their regional opponents, and make good use of that intelligence. Iran is also the intended victim of the planned false flag. Lebanon is a close ally of Iran. Was it Lebanese media who first released the reports? I'm not sure, but it appears that way. Therefore we can deduce that probably Iranian intelligence found out about the plannned operation, and devised the premature publication ("premature birth") as a method of sabotaging the operation - brilliant solution! That is more likely than disapproving insiders.
Posted by: BM | May 13 2019 17:00 utc | 28
what is the relationship between amaq news,rita katz site intel group and bell pottinger and the white helmets
who paid these folks millions tens of millions and hundreds of millions and for what within the syrian theatre.
plays bad acts rough performances
all theater
whatever way you spell it
all lies bilge and msm dung for the oded yinon
yes no?
Posted by: donny | May 13 2019 17:02 utc | 29
Jason 26
Robert Parry wrote a number of articles on perception management and when it began.
https://consortiumnews.com/2014/12/28/the-victory-of-perception-management/
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | May 13 2019 17:07 utc | 30
I've just finished reading the Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media's brief on the OPCW's Final Report, which in turn I read after the assessment of the engineering report linked above.
It is mind-boggling the depth of barbarity and depravity the US/UK/France/OPCW have descended into in order to carry out this atrocity and then to cover it up. The murdered children were evidently murdered beforehand offsite by hanging them upside down by the feet so that they couldn't escape the chlorine fumes, with goggles over their eyes to prevent inconvenient tell-tale evidence of damage to their eyes, with mucus emissions from mouths and nostrils dripping downwards towards their foreheads (showing that they were hung upside down) and leaving stains on the skin even though their heads and hair (but not the rest of their bodies) had been washed to remove the mucus and were still wet in the videos.
I recommend reading the Working Group on Syria Propaganda and Media articles - they are very meticulous and very high quality. I wish the OPCW did such high quality work instead of the dishonest and criminal propaganda they have managed to cover up mass murder and help the perpetrators evade justice. The Directors General of the OPCW - current and previous - should be jailed for life with a prohibition on parole.
Posted by: BM | May 13 2019 17:22 utc | 31
I knew the decontamination pictures were staged. I retired from the US Army in 2010 and spent many training days practicing decontamination operations for Sarin. Both eh Soviets and the US would have used that agent in a war. It's a very slow and detailed operation that ensures not a pin drop of sarin touches a human as it will kill in the matter of minutes. The rebels wearing shorts, pretend masks, and spraying water on victims could not have happened. Everyone in the picture would have died very messy deaths from the sarin that would have been in the water.
Posted by: Greenbean950 | May 13 2019 17:31 utc | 32
Evilsoot (9) You got it right when you said, "Unless they just ignore it and carry on as usual." That is precisely what will happen. The only Americans who will know about this will be the inconsequential number who frequent sites like this one. It will have no impact whatsoever.
Posted by: David | May 13 2019 17:34 utc | 33
dilbert @22 - holy effing sheise; devious-er and devious-er. Excellent analysis.
Posted by: robjira | May 13 2019 17:37 utc | 34
b, I hope you will post something regarding the NYT's latest "bombshell" story about a massive torture/execution system in Assad's Syria. Is this another bogus claim from a dubious source? I suspect that it may be but am not certain.
Posted by: Rob | May 13 2019 17:45 utc | 35
Pepe Escobar article complements Crooke's. Again, falsification of an event to try and create a casus belli is certainly in the works regarding Iran, but how, when and where are still unknown. As Pepe notes, Hormuz itself probably won't be "closed;" rather, if shooting starts a great many other targets will go up in flames. It's almost impossible to imagine a scenario where the Outlaw US Empire wins.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2019 17:46 utc | 36
Rob @35--
That was noted by b on the open thread and via Twitter. It was also the probable topic for the essay he decided not to publish.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2019 17:48 utc | 37
#13
"She said the circumstances allowed for an extradition to Sweden from Britain,"
This is what it is about---ALL that it is about.
Easier to extradite from Sweden than the UK.
See ConsortiumNews report by Joe Lauria and comments on this. See also Craig Murray on Ana Ardin qua liar.
Posted by: Really? | May 13 2019 17:57 utc | 38
Oops, my mistake @37, Rob, as b only tweeted about that BigLie Media item:
"Correct headline:
'What Islamist Opposition Propaganda Told Me About Syrian Prisons.'"
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2019 17:59 utc | 39
Dilbert why do you simply copy and paste jim stone and pass it off as your own analysis
Posted by: AlbertPike | May 13 2019 18:02 utc | 40
karlof1 36
Magnier has an article on the ship bombings. His take is interesting.
https://ejmagnier.com/2019/05/13/from-karbala-to-al-fujairah-an-act-of-sabotage-may-end-prospects-of-a-summer-war-in-the-middle-east/
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | May 13 2019 18:04 utc | 41
Thanks b, and all, for the great links provided today. More bricks, in the wall of proof, that we're all trapped in a global event of disinformation.
And all of it, simply to enrich the already rich. Pathetic...
Posted by: ben | May 13 2019 18:05 utc | 42
There was a story about this director of the OPCW whot got a visit from John Bolton in his New York office who allegedly threatened the then director to step down,which this man did.I think he was Spanish,or from a south-american country,and this was quite some years ago.,I don't know in what function Bolton operated,nor if the new director is the one still in charge,but the russian-syrian delegation to the The Hague OPCW assembly last year was widely ignored and dismissed as russian propaganda,notwithstanding the presence of children and adults that were shown suffocating in the video.Faut le faire quand-même!
What I find fascinating is the flaw in the media narrative.The French as partner in this missile attack,completely devastated a chemical weapons factory.What about that? Is it logic in retaliation for a chemical warfare incident to cause a possible Seveso-type chemical disaster? Of course there was no chemical weapons plant,but a small pharmaceutical factory,that produces medical treatment,stuff that the other nations don't allow to be bought by the Syrians by embargo inforcement.The same nations that whine about the humanitarian aid that can't enter the country.
Another intrinsic narrative contradiction,when the britons expel 30 diplomats after the Skripal event,the average news consumer could think that one of them might be the suspect that they are looking for.Any way,who cares about logic ?That's for people who like a good detective story,but in politics and storytelling it has become obsolete.
I suppose that anybody interested in the Bolton story will be able to find it,in a few clicks.
Still I like to know what happened to Julia Skripal and her father.The video statement in the park showed an enormous fresh scar under her throat,I suppose from the reanimation treatment.
And where are they now?Will they ever show up?
Posted by: willie | May 13 2019 18:12 utc | 43
willie @43 The Skripals are vanished people, nonexistent. They no longer perform for the public. Their lives are completely at the mercy of the UK government = Teresa May & Co. Hasn't she turned out to be the most vile b...tch (female dog) imaginable. The UK has descended into the abyss and keeps falling further. Truth, integrity and justice are no where to be found. A lynchpin of the Empire has fallen out. The Empire has lived out its most grotesque fantasies on Julian Assange. And the US will continue to do so.
Posted by: Quentin | May 13 2019 18:25 utc | 44
So here we have what use to be a respected international organization that is providing proof that rule-of-law is fiction to some folks.
It keeps coming closer to seeing if the West is really a pack of mad dogs or they are willing to live in a multi-polar world
In what manner can this best be brought to the public for the best effect? The UN needs to to be shown for the toady high court of empire it really is under the covers and maybe a hypocrisy like this could do the trick.
If none ever are prosecuted for war crimes then war crimes will continue to be committed and their horror will worsen. Trump has shown clearly what normalizing bad behavior does to incite the fringe.
Posted by: psychohistorian | May 13 2019 18:46 utc | 45
@41 Peter. Txs for the link. So, a warning shot across the bow from the IRGC and not a FF?
Interesting indeed..
Posted by: Lozion | May 13 2019 18:52 utc | 46
Maybe we'll find out that the tankers were damaged by wood debris from the cyclone Fani, which hit India's bay of Bengal and uprooted numerous trees. Debris was carried by the East-West ocean currents that run along the Indian coast.
Posted by: joaopft | May 13 2019 18:56 utc | 47
David @33
"The only Americans who will know about this will be the inconsequential number who frequent sites like this one. It will have no impact whatsoever."
Yeah, I fear you will be right. I still come across people who defend the Iraq war even now with everything we know. If it doesn't appear on the corporate press where the talking heads give it their nod of approval it will be dismissed as a 'conspiracy theory'.
If anyone wants a laugh about how the regime-change propagandists will try and explain this away take a look at this pathetic attempt.
Solving a Mystery: The Deadly Chemical Attack on Syria's Douma and a New Document
Eliot Higgins has retweeted this drivel approvingly.
Posted by: evilsooty999 | May 13 2019 19:02 utc | 48
"The only Americans who will know about this will be the inconsequential number who frequent sites like this one. It will have no impact whatsoever."
The information is provided.
How people use it is up to them/us.
There is a myth, much loved by the MSM and one of the foundations of their influence, that publishing produces spontaneous results. It does not: the sort of information and analysis that MoA provides would enormously increase the credibility and influence of groups prepared to act on them.
The problem is that the basic political infrastructure- Trade unions, Community groups, local political organisations, Peace groups, solidarity groups, social clubs etc- that used to exist, in the days when the 'alternative media' was a mimeographed leaflet, a hippy weekly, the Daily Worker, always good on imperialism's crimes, or IF Stone if you could find it, have dissolved into a cauldron of seething jealousies, sectarian squabbles and egotism of every kind.
The one exception that I see, apart from France where, I am sure, MoA is a favoured source among the gilets jaunes, is the Labour Party in the UK which is slowly rediscovering, after more than a century of neglect, the meaning and power of democracy.
Again I am sure that MoA is cited constantly at meetings of the socialist left in the biggest political party in Europe. It is there and places where serious people meet together to fight against imperialism that information such as this leads to change. And action.
Sitting in front of a keyboard tut-tutting and hyperventilating with rage against state criminality not only achieves little but, in a society under constant electronic surveillance, actually aids the proto-fascists building police states by helping to build up lists of potential critics and opponents.
Posted by: bevin | May 13 2019 19:27 utc | 49
There's an old Syrian saying I heard some time ago. Sorry, it loses a bit in translation.
"If you throw a mud ball at the wall, soon it will fall, but the stain will last a long time".
That to me sums up the west' campaign to muddy syria's war.
Posted by: Brad allen | May 13 2019 19:40 utc | 50
The EA Worldview rebuttal, linked at #48 above, argues that the assessments of unidentified "engineering experts" consulted months after the event and relying on images and measurements taken by others should take precedence over an on-the-scene investigation conducted in the immediate aftermath. Spokespersons from the OPCW seem to have initially denied the Engineering Report was commissioned in the first place.
The damaging information is not just the staging, but asking where the victims came from and how they were killed. The pushback will feature attacks on the credibility or official status of the Engineering team and the credibility of the Working Group coupled with a tight sequestering of OPCW officials.
Posted by: jayc | May 13 2019 19:41 utc | 51
Wasn’t Trump eating chocolate dessert while informing Xi of his first missile attack on Syria ?
The guy gets off on this kind of thing.
Posted by: MikeSmith | May 13 2019 19:55 utc | 52
Peter AU 1 @41--
Thanks much for linking that article. It confirms Pepe's and Crooke's essays. Interesting that the incident falls into the Unknown Flag category, that it involves chemicals but won't need the OPCW to investigate. I agree with the initial commentator @14 on this incident. The analysis by dilbert @22 seems errant as it doesn't appear a false flag event was pre-empted. It's possible Houthi forces did the deed as UAE is allied with Saudi. This Sputnik report suggests a very audacious operation. Also interesting is the initial condemnation of reports of the incident by Lebanese and Iranian media as being false, while BigLie Media has been mostly mute, although Bezos Post carried this report in its business section. All the damaged ships appear to have been outside the harbor, meaning a sea-borne operation. We would expect BigLie Media to all be in-sync if Iran was being set up as the patsy; instead, however, it's eerily silent.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2019 19:56 utc | 53
@piotr b #13
As the investigation appears to be closed and a formal charge has been laid, t will be up to the Swedish gov't as to whether it will seek Assange's extradition from the UK -- the Brits would be happy to oblige as a contentious hearing and subsequent appeals could be avoided. Most importantly, the final phase of extradition proceedings could be avoided -- a formal political decision by the appropriate minister (but more likely the Cabinet) that the extradition is just and fit and proper (also subject to appeals) has to be made. One can easily imagine the large and vociferous street protests when a decision in favour of extradition to Sweden is made. All this with an election coming up.
The extradition to Sweden hearing would be interesting as the Swedes would be obliged to set out the facts upon which the charges are based.
Once in Sweden, the charges would be dropped and the Swedish vassals would rubber-stamp Assange's extradition to the US.
Posted by: chet380 | May 13 2019 20:08 utc | 54
#54
that shoould have been "...street protests when a decision in favour of extradition to the US is made"
Posted by: chet380 | May 13 2019 20:26 utc | 55
karlof1 53
Apparently UAE have bypassed Strait of Hormuz with a pipeline and storage and loading facilities on the Gulf of Oman. Team Trump may have been relying on this if the Strait of Hormuz is blocked. Trump and team in their arrogance may well have fully believed that Iran would be on the back foot and defensive, if so, this incident would come as quite a shock. They just got a light rap between the eyes.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | May 13 2019 20:33 utc | 56
Peter AU 1 @56--
Just finished perusing my Twitter contacts. Found short vid showing damage to the Norwegian flagged vessel--a @2-3 meter gash at waterline in stern looking more like contact mine than RPG. Doesn't seem intent was to sink, just cause damage incapable of being easily covered. Yes, "a light rap between the eyes" indeed!
I wish more could be done with the OPCW revelation.
Posted by: karlof1 | May 13 2019 21:22 utc | 57
"A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes."
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens).
The NYT disputes the claim that Twain invented this witticism.
The NYT denial is understandable considering that Samuel L Clemens turned 16, an impressionable age, a couple of months after the NYT published its first snippets of Fake News.
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | May 13 2019 21:27 utc | 58
Maybe John Bolton and Pompeo and Netanyahu and all other Fascist blobheads should study some more history see here
Posted by: Maximus | May 13 2019 21:55 utc | 59
And this shocks - no one! At least people who were smart enough to see how fraudulent this was from day 1.
Posted by: Jonathan Gillispie | May 13 2019 22:18 utc | 60
Rob @ 35:
That NYT story was reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald the same day it appeared in the NYT. The writer Anne Barnard is an Edward R Murrow Press Fellow at the Council for Foreign Relations, the well known think-tank based in New York and Washington DC.
Most of the article is plumped up by "personal accounts" from people whose names may have been changed and whose actual experiences may have been twisted to fit the anti-Assad narrative. They may have experienced torture but at the hands of people opposed to the Syrian government.
The article also still relies on "information" supplied by "Caesar", that notorious military photographer whose photographs of supposed victims of torture still haven't been independently verified.
Posted by: Jen | May 13 2019 22:38 utc | 61
Rob @ 35:
Sorry I should have added this link to the information about Anne Barnard and the Council for Foreign Relations in my comment @ 61, instead of the one I gave to the CFR directly.
Posted by: Jen | May 13 2019 22:44 utc | 62
the story may have many wholes but it does not mean animal assad is innocents.the childtren of syria crey in pain from hunger and shrapnels from assad and the iranians hwzboollahs and russian thugs.an infromation blip should mean we need to ignore the international war crimes and the tearing up of international normals.
we need to come together coalitions included norway,uk,france,israel and usa,canaduan and aussies new zealnders to crush assad and his henchmans already.
Posted by: moana | May 13 2019 23:07 utc | 63
@ chet380 #54
Once in Sweden, the charges would be dropped and the Swedish vassals would rubber-stamp Assange's extradition to the US.
That's how I see it, too.
Posted by: Zachary Smith | May 13 2019 23:13 utc | 64
Some facts that are overlooked by conspiracy theories. A man was mortally wounded with a crossbow at his farm in northern Wales. Afterward two men were found killed from a crossbow in Saxony (NW Germany), and now: three people, two women and one man, found similarly killed in Bavaria (SE Germany). If you connect the dots and extrapolate, mass murder by crossbowmen will eventually take place in Middle East. With sparse data so far, hard to tell if this will happen and the plains of Megiddo, or near the Strait of Hormuz.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 13 2019 23:30 utc | 65
@ karlof1 | May 13, 2019 5:22:50 PM | 57
Holy cow! That is some serious damage an RPG could never do. Very likely, prop shaft and rudder bearings nicely twisted, too. These guys knew where to place the firecracker.
Posted by: Hmpf | May 13 2019 23:38 utc | 66
May 4, 2018, BBC
Speaking to the newspaper, OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu said that an inspection of various sites in Salisbury indicated "50, 100g or so" had been used.
He added that amount was more than was needed for "research activities", which would only require "five to 10g".
However, the OPCW then released a statement saying it "would not be able to estimate or determine the amount of the nerve agent" used in Salisbury.
It added: "The quantity should probably be characterised in milligrams."
===============
So the director general of OPCW is a complete w...e and a complete idiot, but on the bright side, former NATO official who strives to be reliable.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 13 2019 23:54 utc | 67
Correction:
Rudder's junk. Propeller and shaft most likely as well. Worst case scenario is engine foundation being damaged and out of sync.
See Andrea Victory photos
Posted by: Hmpf | May 14 2019 0:08 utc | 68
Bevin (49) What I find disheartening is that even people I'm close to, people who are extremely bright and well educated, accept the preposterous narratives served up to them daily by the mainstream media. That is why I have no hope that anything is going to change. While I value sites like this one, I know that what gets printed in them will never gain enough exposure to make a difference.
Posted by: David | May 14 2019 0:46 utc | 69
OPCW like other white people inventions brings to fore such marvels as sarin proof floppers. Chemical resistant nasal hair protection sprays for women.
Quick, before they patent it and take all the money, register some.. You might just get lucky and if the white government takes an interest in plundering someone might find your invention useful as a tool..
I mean lets get real here.. that stupid cat made tens of millions pulling stuff out of their ass as analysis.
Posted by: Igor Bundy | May 14 2019 1:07 utc | 70
Now that the empire is running out of meat.. I was wondering how they are going to find more. Or where they would find enough. Or Even be able to grow..
Well has anyone looked at india and what US corps are doing? They are bribing "children" to accept them, Yes its basically rearing children and into western compliant consumers. Forcing a rapid evolution into the mold.. Look at amazon.in... Who offer incentives of like online bill payments.. Almost free food which seems to be a HUGE hit.. amongst other things.. or even paypal that offers 50% or even 100% cash backs.. Why would you want to use paypal to order medicine in india??? all of them take your debt card and ship. But debt cards etc dont give you free medicine etc.. Basically a decade of growth in like korea or japan to conform to compliant western puppets in the space of an year.
Some forward thinkers might find it interesting this experiment.. It reminds me of US soldiers in bradley fighting machines wandering around baghdad throwing out candy to the kids running after them.. when they were not busy mowing down intersections of insurgents..
Growing the empire.. a hungry stomach will always find willing eaters..
Posted by: Igor Bundy | May 14 2019 1:21 utc | 71
This relates to the post on whistleblowers being hung out to dry over at the Intercept. Dont take your eyes off this issue. Insiders who expose crimes MUST be protected, not betrayed. Post from prior Moon entry of last week:
Not rumor but first hand experience. I was in Baghdad in the run up to the 2003 bombing with an antiwar group that Scahill and his colleague at the time, Jackie, were part of. The group was repeatedly told not to randomly photograph without a minders permission, as Iraq security could be threatened. All agreed to comply. At that time, Iraq was still under heavy intl sanctions and the city shut down after dark. No cars, no public transport, no music or partying by the Tigris. So dead quiet at night that coyotes would run down the deserted streets howling. Totally eery. But what did Scahill do? One night a couple weeks before US troops invaded, Scahill and an "ex- US Army photographer" Joel Preston Smith, snuck out in the dead of night with cameras, tripods and lights to take 'tourist shots'. Muckbarat caught them after the midnight hours outside filming the Oil Ministry, Baath Party HQ, Republican Guards bases, the Information Ministry and other "routine tourist sites." Rather than jail them and risk an intl incident, the Iraq govt expelled them as spies. Scahill gave those pix to whom? What the hell was he doing?? I said to a fellow peacenik: "Jeremy just assured himself Big career success once he gets back to the states. Look for him to shoot to the top." Funny he got a contract soon after to do an expose on Blackwater. How? After Abu Ghraib, the pressure was on to investigate the perps who tortured and interrogated alot of those prisoners. Having Arabic language skills and Palestinian 'experience', alot of the brutal sessions were executed by Israeli exIDF /Mossad working for Israel contractors CACI & Titan. They needed to divert attention off Israel's crimes in Ghraib. So Blackwater became the lightning rod instead, with Jeremy contracted to do the book. Was Scahill told of his obfuscatory role for Israel? I doubt it, probably just offered it as a great book deal and didnt know how he was used. But in Baghdad? He well knew exactly what he did.
None of Scahill's career as phony opposition has relieved the impression that he is an agent. His treatment of Mother Agnes and Syria clinched the deal. Scahill is a fraud and probably worse. Only a fool would trust this snake with his life. Which is what these naive whistleblowers did. How unfortunate honest whistleblowers ended up in jail because of this opportunist.
Posted by: K2 | May 13, 2019 2:00:31 PM | 82
Posted by: Efrat | May 14 2019 2:45 utc | 72
Ho hoo.
Even Escobar started understanding that the Empire is stronger than he thought.
Some people are slow learners.
Escobar: Iran Squeezed Between Imperial Psychos & European Cowards
Posted by: Passer by | May 14 2019 2:53 utc | 73
Passer by @73
Good off topic article. What's another few trillion in missiles poured into a countries infrastructure? They can do the whole thing and not set foot in the country. This just may be the first in a sting of "sabotage operations" to prime the pump until Trump gets a second term Then they can set Persia back into the dark ages for a few generations with no worries of elections. After all, the left will again join the NEOCONS in war after their CO2 lifeline to better living has been threatened.
Its just another day in the Persian gulf. Life goes on.
Posted by: dltravers | May 14 2019 3:17 utc | 74
@54 & @64
I remember someone mentioning that there were the rare few in the British judiciary who might very well balk at rendering Assange to his death in the US, contrary to the promises made to Ecuador and British law. Rather than risk this great embarrassment, or having to owe Britain one for "fixing" it, the Swedes were ordered to renew charges so as to deftly circumvent those promises. Pathetic.
Posted by: J Swift | May 14 2019 3:26 utc | 75
Passer by 73
Until the end of the Obama admin, most of the alt media could see the US empire struggling to survive. It was only a matter of time before the collapse of the petro dollar and with it the US. Trump and his backers could also see this. The petro dollar had run its course and was no longer a viable - paying- business model.
Trump's (and or his backers) gamble is to move from the petro dollar racket to energy dominance. If they fail, it will be the end of the US as a superpower, but if they succeeded, it will set the US up again in a position of dominance for some decades.
I believe this is a Kissinger strategy, but the trump gang - Pompeo, Bolton et al are simply not in kissinger's class.
We see that in venezuela with the US asset turned to Venezuela's advantage, dumb as dogshit Abrams, Pompeo, Bolton all being taken for a ride re Venezuelan defections.
US has a huge amount of firepower but but has taken too many laxatives and flushed its brains down the crapper.
Trump's US intends to go nuclear in its wars against such as Iran. If it does, it is anybody's guess what will happen.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | May 14 2019 5:02 utc | 76
i basically agree with @ peter au's comments.. the us under trump intends to go nuclear.. that is an 80/20 guess on my part too..
Posted by: james | May 14 2019 5:13 utc | 77
73
Another point to consider are Trump's religious and ideological beliefs.
Zionism is religious and American exceptionalism is ideological. These can be, and will be, exploited by his targets and their allies.
Posted by: Peter AU 1 | May 14 2019 5:50 utc | 78
FYI, Ahmet Uzumcu, OPCW's past head, has already sold out. This is him receiving French Légion d’Honneur back in 2015 - the highest French honor.
http://www.diplomatmagazine.nl/2015/12/16/uzumcu/
Posted by: Bacchante | May 14 2019 6:11 utc | 79
Macron seems to owe a lot to the US, and his lackey position is getting clearer by the day. Latest is that 2 French FS were lost in Burkina-Fasso in the operation "ordered by Macron alone" to free 2 tourists who had been kidnapped a week before and........ a south-Korean and an American. The SK was on the plane with the 2 French tourists at their arrival in Paris but the US citizen was not, and neither was her name disclosed! 2 French FS to save 1 US spy. How much more does France owes the US? For their silence about Syria?
Posted by: Mina | May 14 2019 6:33 utc | 80
some folks are more interested in worldly honours, then they are in the truth... what can one say about that?? it seems like the worlds top political and monetary players have a real ability to display what appear like sociopathic characteristics.. i once heard this was a feature of top ceos... it doesn't really surprise me...
Posted by: james | May 14 2019 6:35 utc | 81
@20 Yes, Iran was a victim of chemical-weapons attacks. And let's not forget who provided the weapons. From Wikipedia:
According to documents at the National Archives Archeological Site (College Park, Maryland), the US supported Saddam Hussein's regime in their use of chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war and the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict.[5][better source needed] Reporter Michael Dobbs of the Washington Post stated that Reagan's administration was well aware that the materials sold to Iraq would be used to manufacture chemical weapons for use in the war against Iran. He stated that Iraq's use of chemical weapons was “hardly a secret, with the Iraqi military issuing this warning in February 1984: "The invaders should know that for every harmful insect, there is an insecticide capable of annihilating it... and Iraq possesses this annihilation insecticide."” According to Reagan's foreign policy, every attempt to save Iraq was necessary and legal.[4]According to Iraqi documents, assistance in the development of chemical weapons was obtained from firms in many countries, including the United States, West Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and France. A report stated that Dutch, Australian, Italian, French and both West and East German companies were involved in the export of raw materials to Iraqi chemical weapons factories.[7]
Posted by: Gene Poole | May 14 2019 6:55 utc | 82
Bolton is an Israeli asset. We know what Israel wants. They want our money, our weapons and our soldiers to die for Israel's occupation of Arab lands. That's a win win for Israel, and a lose loes for everyone else. For the Zionists the United States and its vassals in Nato are a host for Israel. Zionism is the parasitic ideology that guides the freeloader, Israel.
And once again our illustrious b gets the drop on everyone...
Leaked Document Pokes More Holes In Establishment Syria Narrative
“The engineering assessment confirms our earlier conclusion,” the excellent Moon of Alabama blog writes."
...complete with link to MoA... kudos b!
Posted by: xLemming | May 15 2019 13:35 utc | 85
Not only the OPCW but IAEA, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, they've all been corrupted at some time or other. Which is a shame in any case, but particularly when AI or HRW allows themselves to be co-opted in the service of a regime change/war narrative, they end up promoting, and on a mass scale, the very opposite of what their mission is purported to be -- war crimes,human rights abuses, crimes against humanity, humanitarian crises. And when that happens it seems like whatever good they do, and they still do good work and take up worthy causes in some cases, is more than cancelled by the evil they promote. I'd like to be a supporter, but since they've allowed themselves to act as an extension of U.S. imperialism -- there's no way I could unreservedly do so.
Posted by: Steverino | May 15 2019 15:36 utc | 86
All CW attacks in Syria blamed on the Syrian Government were in fact either falsely created or did happen by the hands of the terrorists with full knowledge by NATO/GCC/Israel. That is a fact of life.
My only question is when Syria will start receiving billions of USD in compensation for the crimes against humanity and war crimes against the Syrians and its Government. US,UK,France,Turkey,Israel,KSA,Qatar and Qatar should take the most expensive bills, they all have blood in their hands.
Posted by: Canthama | May 15 2019 21:05 utc | 87
US,UK,France,Turkey,Israel,KSA,Qatar and Qatar should take the most expensive bills, they all have blood in their hands.
Posted by: Canthama | May 15, 2019 5:05:41 PM | 87
I assume that one of the Qatars is actually UAE. EU as the whole should foot the bill for the effects of their economic sanctions that directly inflicted misery and indirectly have a large contribution to extending the duration of the bloodiest war of this century.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 16 2019 0:48 utc | 88
I'm surprised how muted the reaction of the Russians to this has been given its use in invalidating the next predictable staged CW attack when/if they try to retake Idlib.
They must know about it as Sputnik ran a couple of articles, but even they haven't been pushing it either.
Posted by: evilsooty999 | May 16 2019 8:02 utc | 89
You are aware that Henderson furnished his report to the OPCW but they did not see it as worthy of inclusion in their official findings. You are trying to have it both ways. To make a big deal out of his status as an OPCW employee, which he was not, and to discredit the OPCW's report that implicitly blames Assad since it states that the chlorine cylinders were dropped from the air. I imagine that this doesn't matter to people who have the same faith in Assad that Dominican priests have in the pope.
Posted by: Louis N. Proyect | May 18 2019 1:15 utc | 90
louis proyect... what does that say about people would have faith in such orgazations as the faa when it comes to boeing? notice the parallels yet? many here do... sorry to burst your bubble... more likely that the gas cylinders were placed there by hand as opposed to dropped from an syrian plane... truth is quite inconvenient sometimes, isn't it, especially when it leans the wrong way for the empire you so avidly support...
Posted by: james | May 18 2019 2:29 utc | 91
SST is REALLY fired up about the OPCW being hijacked to file a report full of bs. They're talking about setting up a fund for legal defense of OPCW whistleblowers and taking action to have OPCW disbanded. They're also working out how best to demand an investigation aimed at prosecuting the people responsible for the operation (and kidnapping and murdering the 30+ fake victims).
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | May 18 2019 14:45 utc | 92
Aaron Maté interviews Theodore Postol on the leaked report: Leaked OPCW report suggests Syria gas attack was 'staged,' MIT scientist says.
Posted by: S | May 25 2019 21:00 utc | 93
The comments to this entry are closed.
"... those in OPCW who have suppressed the evidence of staging are, unwittingly or otherwise, colluding with mass murder." But "those" did it for a good cause, namely, bolstering "rule based international order".
From the website of United Nations Association of Australia:
"The rules-based international order can generally be described as a shared commitment by all countries to conduct their activities in accordance with agreed rules that evolve over time, such as international law, regional security arrangements, trade agreements, immigration protocols, and cultural arrangements."
The small print is that it would not do for the "rules" to "evolve" chaotically, what would we do if the rules are themselves unruly? There has to be a consistent source of changes, and no better source exists that Administration of USA that receives advice from its most trusted allies and heeds that advice when it feels like it. The rest is "organizing the intelligence according to the conclusions" etc.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | May 13 2019 12:19 utc | 1