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[Oct 30, 2017] Could Papadopoulos case be an entrapment ? This "Russian professor" looks exactly like the heroes of Nigerian spam letters

Entrapment is as old as civilization. "In criminal law, entrapment is a practice whereby a law enforcement agent induces a person to commit a criminal offence that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit. [1] It "is the conception and planning of an offence by an officer, and his procurement of its commission by one who would not have perpetrated it except for the trickery, persuasion or fraud of the officer." [2] "
Previously I thought that members of Hillary entourage were complete idiots both as for computer security and generally security wise. Now it looks like Trump entourage have has the same problem: many of they were idiots.
In "After Snowden" world anybody who wants to communicate with a unknown foreign person via Facebook of Twitter on issues of any political significance is an idiot. Because chances of hoax, provocation of in case of Trump team "false flag operation" are nearly 100%. This way you can implicate anybody in Russian ties: hire a hoaxer and ask him to pretend that he is Russian. To simp0lify the matter ask him to use Skype to communicate with the target. Send a couple of incriminating emails. Any of Nigerian spammers can be used for this purpose. They are already trained. Rinse and repeat.
So how we can be sure that this idiot Papadopoulos was not set up? BTW he ws born in 1987 -- so he just out of the college (graduated in 2009). What does he know about foreign policy?He never has been an ambassador to an important country, words in State Depertment, or servers as a senior fellow in some research institution which study those issues. (he was "unpaid intern" in Hudson institute" in 2011) What foreign policy advisor role for such a guy ? He looks like a huckster to me.
Of cause Kieren McCarth in her joy over the development is unable to contemplate this question.
Notable quotes:
"... Papadopoulos has been assisting Mueller's special inquiry for several months, but word of this cooperation only emerged today when his guilty plea to making false statements to the FBI was unsealed. ..."
"... he used Facebook Messenger and Skype to communicate with a Russian government agent, called "the Professor," who promised to provide damaging information on the Clinton campaign. Emails, no less. ..."
"... the Professor showed interest in defendant PAPADOPOULOS only after learning of his role." ..."
"... And then there is extensive evidence -- confirmed by Papadopoulos -- that he acted as a go-between for the Trump campaign and the Russian government, including being supplied with damaging information on the Clinton campaign. ..."
"... There are also emails from other Trump campaign staff -- so far unnamed -- that show explicit efforts to work with Russians in gathering damaging information on the real-estate tycoon's political rival. In other words, efforts to engage a foreign power to swing a US presidential election. ..."
"... For one, using Facebook to carry out highly dubious and potentially illegal activity is not a good idea. This is a social network that periodically changes account settings to keep up the pretense that it's not gathering and selling every snippet of information it can get out of you. Anything you say on Facebook may go straight down a pipe to the NSA and a database searchable by the FBI. It's called Section 702 . ..."
Oct 30, 2017 | www.theregister.co.uk
Originally from: Manafort, Stone, Trump, Papadopoulos, Kushner, Mueller, Russia All the tech angles in one place • The Register By Kieren McCarthy

Former Trump foreign policy advisor George Papadopoulos -- no, not that one -- has been turned by ex-FBI director Robert Mueller as part of the latter's investigation into Trump campaign team members. Mueller is probing allegations of obstruction of justice, money laundering and other financial crimes, and collusion with Russian government agents seeking to meddle with last year's US presidential election.

Papadopoulos has been assisting Mueller's special inquiry for several months, but word of this cooperation only emerged today when his guilty plea to making false statements to the FBI was unsealed.

Coincidentally, Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort surrendered himself this morning to Mueller at his nearest FBI office, as requested, to answer allegations ranging from making false statements to acting as a foreign agent.

Ex-Trump campaign official Rick Gates, also accused of conspiracy and money laundering, handed himself in today, too. The indictment against the pair is here , and both deny any wrongdoing.

Among the wealth of details in Papadopoulos' 14-page statement [PDF] is the fact that he used Facebook Messenger and Skype to communicate with a Russian government agent, called "the Professor," who promised to provide damaging information on the Clinton campaign. Emails, no less.

"This isn't like he [the Professor]'s messaging me while I'm in April with Trump," Papadopoulos told the FBI. "I wasn't even on the Trump team." Except he was on the team in April 2016. The Feds noted in their court paperwork: "Defendant PAPADOPOULOS met the Professor for the first time on or about March 14, 2016, after defendant PAPADOPOULOS had already learned he would be a foreign policy advisor for the Campaign; the Professor showed interest in defendant PAPADOPOULOS only after learning of his role."

And then there is extensive evidence -- confirmed by Papadopoulos -- that he acted as a go-between for the Trump campaign and the Russian government, including being supplied with damaging information on the Clinton campaign.

There are also emails from other Trump campaign staff -- so far unnamed -- that show explicit efforts to work with Russians in gathering damaging information on the real-estate tycoon's political rival. In other words, efforts to engage a foreign power to swing a US presidential election.

But let's take a quick look at Facebook.

For one, using Facebook to carry out highly dubious and potentially illegal activity is not a good idea. This is a social network that periodically changes account settings to keep up the pretense that it's not gathering and selling every snippet of information it can get out of you. Anything you say on Facebook may go straight down a pipe to the NSA and a database searchable by the FBI. It's called Section 702 .

Papadopoulos is obviously not a man well versed in spy craft. Something that becomes more apparent when it's revealed the day after he was pulled in for questioning, he deleted his entire Facebook account and started a new one. He also tried changing his phone number to sidestep the Feds.

You can just imagine Mueller's team at their morning meeting: so how did the Papadopoulos interview go yesterday? Well, this morning he deleted his Facebook account. Great, now we know where to look.
... ... ...

[Sep 17, 2017] The So-called Russian Hack of the DNC Does Not Make Sense by Publius Tacitus

Highly recommended!
All signs of sophisticated false flag operation, which probably involved putting malware into DNC servers and then detecting and analyzing them
Notable quotes:
"... 6 May 2016 when CrowdStrike first detected what it assessed to be a Russian presence inside the DNC server. Follow me here. One week after realizing there had been a penetration, the DNC learns, courtesy of the computer security firm it hired, that the Russians are doing it. Okay. Does CrowdStrike shut down the penetration. Nope. The hacking apparently continues unabated. ..."
"... The Smoking Gun ..."
"... I introduce Seth Rich at this point because he represents an alternative hypothesis. Rich, who reportedly was a Bernie Sanders supporter, was in a position at the DNC that gave him access to the emails in question and the opportunity to download the emails and take them from the DNC headquarters. Worth noting that Julian Assange offered $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of Rich's killer or killers. 8. 22 July 2016. Wikileaks published the DNC emails starting on 22 July 2016. Bill Binney, a former senior official at NSA, insists that if such a hack and electronic transfer over the internet had occurred then the NSA has in it possession the intelligence data to prove that such activity had occurred. ..."
"... Notwithstanding the claim by CrowdStrike not a single piece of evidence has been provided to the public to support the conclusion that the emails were hacked and physically transferred to a server under the control of a Russian intelligence operative. ..."
"... Please do not try to post a comment stating that the "Intelligence Community" concluded as well that Russia was responsible. That claim is totally without one shred of actual forensic evidence. Also, Julian Assange insists that the emails did not come from a Russian source. ..."
"... Wikileaks, the protector of the accountability of the top, has announced a reward for finding the murderers of Seth Rich. In comparison, the DNC has not offered any reward to help the investigation of the murder of the DNC staffer, but the DNC found a well-connected lawyer to protect Imran Awan who is guilty (along with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz) in the greatest breach of national cybersecurity: http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/29/wasserman-schultz-seemingly-planned-to-pay-suspect-even-while-he-lived-in-pakistan/ ..."
"... I'm afraid you're behind the times. Wheeler is no longer relevant now that Sy Hersh has revealed an FBI report that explicitly says Rich was in contact with Wikileaks offering to sell them DNC documents. ..."
"... It's unfortunate for the Rich family, but now that the connection is pretty much confirmed, they're going to have to allow the truth to come out ..."
"... Mr. Dmitri Alperovitch, of Jewish descent (and an emigre from Russia), has been an "expert" at the Atlantic Council, the same organization that cherishes and provides for Mr. Eliot Higgins. These two gentlemen - and the directorate of Atlantic Council - are exhibit one of opportunism and intellectual dishonesty (though it is hard to think about Mr. Higgins in terms of "intellect"). ..."
"... Alperovitch is not just an incompetent "expert" in cybersecurity - he is a willing liar and war-mongering, for money. ..."
"... One could of course start earlier. What is the exact timeline of the larger cyberwar post 9/11, or at least the bits and pieces that surfaced for the nitwits among us, like: Stuxnet? ..."
"... Scott Ritter's article referenced in PT's post is terrific, covering a ton of issues related to CrowdStrike and the DNC hack. You need to read it, not just PT's timeline. In case you missed the link in PT's post: ..."
"... His article echoes and reinforces what Carr and others have said about the difficulty of attribution of infosec breaches. Namely that the basic problem of both intelligence and infosec operations is that there is too much obfuscation, manipulation, and misdirection involved to be sure of who or what is going on. ..."
"... The Seth Rich connection is pretty much a done deal, now that Sy Hersh has been caught on tape stating that he knows of an FBI report based on a forensic analysis of Rich's laptop that shows Rich was in direct contact with Wikileaks with an attempt to sell them DNC documents and that Wikileaks had access to Rich's DropBox account. Despite Hersh's subsequent denials - which everyone knows are his usual impatient deflections prior to putting out a sourced and organized article - it's pretty clear that Rich was at least one of the sources of the Wikileaks email dump and that there is zero connection to Russia. ..."
"... None of this proves that Russian intelligence - or Russians of some stripe - or for that matter hackers from literally anywhere - couldn't or didn't ALSO do a hack of the DNC. But it does prove that the iron-clad attribution of the source of Wikileaks email release to Russia is at best flawed, and at worst a deliberate cover up of a leak. ..."
Sep 05, 2017 | turcopolier.typepad.com

Notwithstanding the conventional wisdom that Russia hacked into the DNC computers, downloaded emails and a passed the stolen missives to Julian Assange's crew at Wikileaks, a careful examination of the timeline of events from 2016 shows that this story is simply not plausible.

Let me take you through the known facts:

1. 29 April 2016 , when the DNC became aware its servers had been penetrated (https://medium.com/homefront-rising/dumbstruck-how-crowdstrike-conned-america-on-the-hack-of-the-dnc-ecfa522ff44f). Note. They apparently did not know who was doing it. 2, 6 May 2016 when CrowdStrike first detected what it assessed to be a Russian presence inside the DNC server. Follow me here. One week after realizing there had been a penetration, the DNC learns, courtesy of the computer security firm it hired, that the Russians are doing it. Okay. Does CrowdStrike shut down the penetration. Nope. The hacking apparently continues unabated. 3. 25 May 2016. The messages published on Wikileaks from the DNC show that 26 May 2016 was the last date that emails were sent and received at the DNC. There are no emails in the public domain after that date. In other words, if the DNC emails were taken via a hacking operation, we can conclude from the fact that the last messages posted to Wikileaks show a date time group of 25 May 2016. Wikileaks has not reported nor posted any emails from the DNC after the 25th of May. I think it is reasonable to assume that was the day the dirty deed was done. 4. 12 June 2016, CrowdStrike purged the DNC server of all malware. Are you kidding me? 45 days after the DNC discovers that its serve has been penetrated the decision to purge the DNC server is finally made. What in the hell were they waiting for? But this also tells us that 18 days after the last email "taken" from the DNC, no additional emails were taken by this nasty malware. Here is what does not make sense to me. If the DNC emails were truly hacked and the malware was still in place on 11 June 2016 (it was not purged until the 12th) then why are there no emails from the DNC after 26 May 2016? an excellent analysis of Guccifer's role : Almost immediately after the one-two punch of the Washington Post article/CrowdStrike technical report went public, however, something totally unexpected happened -- someone came forward and took full responsibility for the DNC cyber attack. Moreover, this entity -- operating under the persona Guccifer 2.0 (ostensibly named after the original Guccifer , a Romanian hacker who stole the emails of a number of high-profile celebrities and who was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to 4 ½ years of prison in May 2016) -- did something no state actor has ever done before, publishing documents stolen from the DNC server as proof of his claims.
Hi. This is Guccifer 2.0 and this is me who hacked Democratic National Committee.

With that simple email, sent to the on-line news magazine, The Smoking Gun , Guccifer 2.0 stole the limelight away from Alperovitch. Over the course of the next few days, through a series of emails, online posts and interviews , Guccifer 2.0 openly mocked CrowdStrike and its Russian attribution. Guccifer 2.0 released a number of documents, including a massive 200-plus-missive containing opposition research on Donald Trump.

Guccifer 2.0 also directly contradicted the efforts on the part of the DNC to minimize the extent of the hacking, releasing the very donor lists the DNC specifically stated had not been stolen. More chilling, Guccifer 2.0 claimed to be in possession of "about 100 Gb of data" which had been passed on to the online publisher, Wikileaks, who "will publish them soon." 7. Seth Rich died on 10 July 2016. I introduce Seth Rich at this point because he represents an alternative hypothesis. Rich, who reportedly was a Bernie Sanders supporter, was in a position at the DNC that gave him access to the emails in question and the opportunity to download the emails and take them from the DNC headquarters. Worth noting that Julian Assange offered $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of Rich's killer or killers. 8. 22 July 2016. Wikileaks published the DNC emails starting on 22 July 2016. Bill Binney, a former senior official at NSA, insists that if such a hack and electronic transfer over the internet had occurred then the NSA has in it possession the intelligence data to prove that such activity had occurred. Notwithstanding the claim by CrowdStrike not a single piece of evidence has been provided to the public to support the conclusion that the emails were hacked and physically transferred to a server under the control of a Russian intelligence operative. Please do not try to post a comment stating that the "Intelligence Community" concluded as well that Russia was responsible. That claim is totally without one shred of actual forensic evidence. Also, Julian Assange insists that the emails did not come from a Russian source.

Fool , 05 September 2017 at 09:01 AM

Where was it reported that Rich was a Sanders supporter?
Publius Tacitus -> Fool... , 05 September 2017 at 09:15 AM
This is one of the reports, http://heavy.com/news/2016/08/seth-rich-julian-assange-source-wikileaks-wiki-dnc-emails-death-murder-reward-video-interview-hillary-clinton-shawn-lucas/.
Anna -> Publius Tacitus ... , 05 September 2017 at 10:56 AM
Wikileaks, the protector of the accountability of the top, has announced a reward for finding the murderers of Seth Rich. In comparison, the DNC has not offered any reward to help the investigation of the murder of the DNC staffer, but the DNC found a well-connected lawyer to protect Imran Awan who is guilty (along with Debbie Wasserman-Schultz) in the greatest breach of national cybersecurity: http://dailycaller.com/2017/07/29/wasserman-schultz-seemingly-planned-to-pay-suspect-even-while-he-lived-in-pakistan/
Stephanie -> Publius Tacitus ... , 06 September 2017 at 12:12 PM
Seth Rich's family have pleaded, and continue to plead, that the conspiracy theorists leave the death of their son alone and have said that those who continue to flog this nonsense around the internet are only serving to increase their pain. I suggest respectfully that some here may wish to consider their feelings. (Also, this stuff is nuts, you know.)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/were-seth-richs-parents-stop-politicizing-our-sons-murder/2017/05/23/164cf4dc-3fee-11e7-9869-bac8b446820a_story.html?utm_term=.b20208de48d3

"We also know that many people are angry at our government and want to see justice done in some way, somehow. We are asking you to please consider our feelings and words. There are people who are using our beloved Seth's memory and legacy for their own political goals, and they are using your outrage to perpetuate our nightmare."

http://www.businessinsider.com/seth-rich-family-response-lawsuit-rod-wheeler-2017-8

"Wheeler, a former Metropolitan Police Department officer, was a key figure in a series of debunked stories claiming that Rich had been in contact with Wikileaks before his death. Fox News, which reported the story online and on television, retracted it in June."

Richardstevenhack -> Stephanie... , 07 September 2017 at 07:43 PM
I'm afraid you're behind the times. Wheeler is no longer relevant now that Sy Hersh has revealed an FBI report that explicitly says Rich was in contact with Wikileaks offering to sell them DNC documents.

It's unfortunate for the Rich family, but now that the connection is pretty much confirmed, they're going to have to allow the truth to come out.

Anna , 05 September 2017 at 09:20 AM
Mr. Dmitri Alperovitch, of Jewish descent (and an emigre from Russia), has been an "expert" at the Atlantic Council, the same organization that cherishes and provides for Mr. Eliot Higgins. These two gentlemen - and the directorate of Atlantic Council - are exhibit one of opportunism and intellectual dishonesty (though it is hard to think about Mr. Higgins in terms of "intellect").

Here is an article by Alperovitch: http://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/russian-cyber-attacks-in-the-united-states-will-intensify

Take note how Alperovitch coded the names of the supposed hackers: "Russian intelligence services hacked the Democratic National Committee's computer network and accessed opposition research on Donald Trump, according to the Atlantic Council's Dmitri Alperovitch.

Two Russian groups ! codenamed FancyBear and CozyBear ! have been identified as spearheading the DNC breach." Alperovitch is not just an incompetent "expert" in cybersecurity - he is a willing liar and war-mongering, for money.

The DNC hacking story has never been about national security; Alperovitch (and his handlers) have no loyalty to the US.

LeaNder , 05 September 2017 at 09:59 AM
PT, I make a short exception. Actually decided to stop babbling for a while. But: Just finished something successfully.

And since I usually need distraction by something far more interesting then matters at hand. I was close to your line of thought yesters.

But really: Shouldn't the timeline start in 2015, since that's supposedly the time someone got into the DNC's system?

One could of course start earlier. What is the exact timeline of the larger cyberwar post 9/11, or at least the bits and pieces that surfaced for the nitwits among us, like: Stuxnet?

But nevermind. Don't forget developments and recent events around Eugene or Jewgeni Walentinowitsch Kasperski?

LondonBob , 05 September 2017 at 03:27 PM
The Russia thing certainly seems to have gone quiet.

Bannon's chum says the issue with pursuing the Clinton email thing is that you would end up having to indict almost all of the last administration, including Obama, unseemly certainly. Still there might be a fall guy, maybe Comey, and obviously it serves Trump's purposes to keep this a live issue through the good work of Grassley and the occasional tweet.

Would be amusing if Trump pardoned Obama. Still think Brennan should pay a price though, can't really be allowed to get away with it

Richardstevenhack , 05 September 2017 at 06:23 PM
Scott Ritter's article referenced in PT's post is terrific, covering a ton of issues related to CrowdStrike and the DNC hack. You need to read it, not just PT's timeline. In case you missed the link in PT's post:

Dumbstruck: How CrowdStrike Conned America on the Hack of the DNC https://medium.com/homefront-rising/dumbstruck-how-crowdstrike-conned-america-on-the-hack-of-the-dnc-ecfa522ff44f

The article by Jeffrey Carr on CrowdStrike referenced from back in 2012 is also worth reading: Where's the "Strike" in CrowdStrike? https://jeffreycarr.blogspot.com/2012/09/wheres-strike-in-crowdstrike.html

Also, the article Carr references is very important for understanding the limits of malware analysis and "attribution". Written by Michael Tanji, whose credentials appear impressive: "spent nearly 20 years in the US intelligence community. Trained in both SIGINT and HUMINT disciplines he has worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, and the National Reconnaissance Office. At various points in his career he served as an expert in information warfare, computer network operations, computer forensics, and indications and warning. A veteran of the US Army, Michael has served in both strategic and tactical assignments in the Pacific Theater, the Balkans, and the Middle East."

Malware Analysis: The Danger of Connecting the Dots: https://www.oodaloop.com/technology/2012/09/11/malware-analysis-the-danger-of-connecting-the-dots/

His article echoes and reinforces what Carr and others have said about the difficulty of attribution of infosec breaches. Namely that the basic problem of both intelligence and infosec operations is that there is too much obfuscation, manipulation, and misdirection involved to be sure of who or what is going on.

The Seth Rich connection is pretty much a done deal, now that Sy Hersh has been caught on tape stating that he knows of an FBI report based on a forensic analysis of Rich's laptop that shows Rich was in direct contact with Wikileaks with an attempt to sell them DNC documents and that Wikileaks had access to Rich's DropBox account. Despite Hersh's subsequent denials - which everyone knows are his usual impatient deflections prior to putting out a sourced and organized article - it's pretty clear that Rich was at least one of the sources of the Wikileaks email dump and that there is zero connection to Russia.

None of this proves that Russian intelligence - or Russians of some stripe - or for that matter hackers from literally anywhere - couldn't or didn't ALSO do a hack of the DNC. But it does prove that the iron-clad attribution of the source of Wikileaks email release to Russia is at best flawed, and at worst a deliberate cover up of a leak.

And Russiagate depends primarily on BOTH alleged "facts" being true: 1) that Russia hacked the DNC, and 2) that Russia was the source of Wikileaks release. And if the latter is not true, then one has to question why Russia hacked the DNC in the first place, other than for "normal" espionage operations. "Influencing the election" then becomes a far less plausible theory.

The general takeaway from an infosec point of view is that attribution by means of target identification, tools used, and "indicators of compromise" is a fatally flawed means of identifying, and thus being able to counter, the adversaries encountered in today's Internet world, as Tanji proves. Only HUMINT offers a way around this, just as it is really the only valid option in countering terrorism.

[Sep 17, 2017] Empire Idiots by Linh Dinh

Highly recommended!
There are probably two factors here: The first is the real anger of Arab population against aggression by the USA and European states (mainly GB and Frnace). That what produces radicalized Muslims who can commit terrorist attacks.
The second factor is the desire of intelligence agencies to exploit those attacks for thier own purposes. For example, it is quite possible, that they are standing idle to the most stupid of them and disrupt others, more dangerous.
Notable quotes:
"... How many Muslims are needed to drive one suicide car? Five, of course. What's the best, most lethal vehicle for the purpose? The compact Audi A3, naturally. ..."
"... From 9/11, Charlie Hebdo, Paris' Bataclan Concert Hall, Berlin's Christmas Market to Barcelona, etc., Muslim mass murderers seem expert at leaving behind their identity papers. ..."
"... Classic examples of this type of "lost and found id" were Oswald's lost wallet and James Earl Ray's dropped bundle of documents (ML King) ..."
"... Arab folks are brimming with anger that is now being met by the anger of the natives. ..."
"... I think the author misses the role of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, who appear to be the main financiers of the work performed by the above American Israel Empire. ..."
"... Perhaps the term Petrodollar Empire would be more accurate? As a bonus, it also complies better to the rules of political correctness. ..."
"... I am always deeply skeptical of these false flag claims. We bomb and kill arabs daily, yet create magnificent conspiracy theories to explain how it is someone else blowing crap up in vengeance. ..."
"... Why would Israel need to frame Muslim bombers when so many are so willing to do the job themselves and avenge their dead? Israel certainly pulls our strings to conduct the bombardment and they control American politics – why would they need to fabricate murders of random faceless Spaniards? How does that keep American taxpayers footing the bill for Zionism? ..."
"... It's really pretty simple isn't it? Before we decided to throw in with England and help genocide the Palestinians we had few problems with arabs. Now we've expanded our mission to include Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, etc and our blowback is serious. The arabs are doing what I'd do if a foreign power bombed my family. I could not care less what happens to Israelis or arabs. We need to either nuke the entire Arab world or leave it the hell alone – none of them are worth a single American life. ..."
Sep 09, 2017 | www.unz.com

How many Muslims are needed to drive one suicide car? Five, of course. What's the best, most lethal vehicle for the purpose? The compact Audi A3, naturally. What's the best time to stage such an attack? 1:15AM, grasshopper, when there are almost nobody on the Paseo Maritimo. Finally, what should you wear for such a momentous and self-defining occasion? Fake suicide vests, stupid, because they serve no purpose besides giving cops an excuse to perforate you immediately.

... .. ...

Astonishingly moronic, the five Muslims in Cambrils made all the worst choices possible, but the rest of their "terrorist cell" weren't any smarter, it is said.

Eight hours earlier, a van had killed 14 people and injured 130+ more in Barcelona, and the purported driver of that van, 22-year-old Younes Aboyaaqoub, had rented the vehicle with his own credit card. Very stupid. He also left his IDs in a second van, meant as a get-away car.

From 9/11, Charlie Hebdo, Paris' Bataclan Concert Hall, Berlin's Christmas Market to Barcelona, etc., Muslim mass murderers seem expert at leaving behind their identity papers. Otherwise, the official narrative can't be broadcast immediately. Wait a week or a month for a proper investigation, and the public won't have any idea what you're talking about, fixated as they are on a Kardashian pumped up buttocks or Messi goal.

Brabantian, Website September 9, 2017 at 9:03 am GMT

List of Passport / ID documents found at terrorism attack scenes – at least 8, including those Linh Dinh mentions above

(1) – 11 Sep 2001 passport found in NYC towers rubble tho aeroplane had 'turned to vapour'
(2) – 7 Jul 2005 London bomboings – ID of '4th bomber' allegedly 'found by UK police'
(3) – 7 Jan 2015 Charlie Hebdo, passport in car in front of Paris Jewish deli where Mossad meets
(4) – 13 Nov 2015 Bataclan Paris passport flew from body 'after killer exploded his suicide vest'
(5) – 14 Jul 2016 Nice France lorry attack 'passport found'
(6) – 19 Dec 2016 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'ID found', after 24 hours of searching lorry cab
(7) – 22 May 2017 Manchester UK 'suicide bomber leaves ID' at scene amidst another 'terror on 22nd'
(8) – 17 Aug 2017 Barcelona deadly terror attack by white van, 'Spanish passport found in van'

Also related & of interest
'Mossad did the Barcelona attack' – Israel heavily involved with Barcelona police – from Aangirfan on her site

republic, September 9, 2017 at 11:43 am GMT

@Brabantian List of Passport / ID documents found at terrorism attack scenes - at least 8, including those Linh Dinh mentions above

(1) - 11 Sep 2001 passport found in NYC towers rubble tho aeroplane had 'turned to vapour'
(2) - 7 Jul 2005 London bomboings - ID of '4th bomber' allegedly 'found by UK police'
(3) - 7 Jan 2015 Charlie Hebdo, passport in car in front of Paris Jewish deli where Mossad meets
(4) - 13 Nov 2015 Bataclan Paris passport flew from body 'after killer exploded his suicide vest'
(5) - 14 Jul 2016 Nice France lorry attack 'passport found'
(6) - 19 Dec 2016 Berlin Christmas market lorry attack 'ID found', after 24 hours of searching lorry cab
(7) - 22 May 2017 Manchester UK 'suicide bomber leaves ID' at scene amidst another 'terror on 22nd'
(8) - 17 Aug 2017 Barcelona deadly terror attack by white van, 'Spanish passport found in van'

Also related & of interest
'Mossad did the Barcelona attack' - Israel heavily involved with Barcelona police - from Aangirfan on her site
http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/mossad-did-barcelona-attack.html
http://aanirfan.blogspot.co.uk/2017/09/barcelona-false-flag-part-3.html https://wikispooks.com/wiki/Lost_and_Found_ID

Classic examples of this type of "lost and found id" were Oswald's lost wallet and James Earl Ray's dropped bundle of documents (ML King)

Cranky, September 9, 2017 at 2:35 pm GMT

Dinh, you are a fool. The Spanish police until the last two decades were always a bit trigger happy. And then you forget the Guardia Civil. They were the people in charge of keeping Franco's Spain quiet, and it was quiet like the grave. The really funny part is the Arab folks are brimming with anger that is now being met by the anger of the natives. Read the Blood of Spain, and see the complicated relationship between Franco's Moros and how they ravaged parts of Spain during the Civil War. The really ironic part is these "radicalized" kids are simply fodder for the papers back home, and an excuse to begin the round ups and mass deportations.

Fascism is now returning to Europe because of the liberal insanity of open borders and mass immigration.

Go see this in Spain: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_de_los_Ca%C3%ADdos

Built by the prisoners of France, and then ponder what it means when a people get tired of too much change.

Simpleguest, September 9, 2017 at 4:34 pm GMT

Nice read, indeed. Regarding the main idea of the article, that the:

" .. American Israel Empire is working nonstop to deform the Middle East, North Africa, Europe and, frankly, the rest of the world."

I think the author misses the role of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States, who appear to be the main financiers of the work performed by the above American Israel Empire.

Perhaps the term Petrodollar Empire would be more accurate? As a bonus, it also complies better to the rules of political correctness.

DFH, September 9, 2017 at 8:34 pm GMT

Which seems more likely prima facie , Muslim terrorism or that the whole thing was faked? The whole premise of this article seems to be that it's simply ludicrous that a Muslim would ever do something like ram a car into a crowd of people.

jacques sheete, September 9, 2017 at 11:36 pm GMT

You're being played, in short.

For sure. Deja vu all over again and again. Another fine one, LD!

Dumbo, September 10, 2017 at 3:47 am GMT

It's like in the great movie by Kurosawa, Yojimbo, one guy playing both sides one against the other. Except Sanjuro was a good guy trying to kill a bunch of thugs and bring peace to the town, while our globo-masters prefer to see innocent people being murdered and the world in chaos.

Anon, Disclaimer September 10, 2017 at 6:11 pm GMT

@Linh Dinh "Barcelona Massacre, the testimony of Bruno Gulotta's father," delivered a day after his son's death:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbvhAwlYgfA

Linh, the Orlando video seems obviously fake. For those who look for those things, there are plenty of give-aways. But what's your point with the Barcelona video? I don't speak Spanish or Catalan, as the case may be, but he seems to be fairly dispassionate and therefore not bullshitting. I do hope there was a point you were making. There is enough in what you say, so that your linguistic showing off is a pointless irritation. I would like to make my point with a pointless Hindi quip, but my phone doesn't support the script.

Dumbo, September 10, 2017 at 8:32 pm GMT

@fish

What Merkel has done in Germany is incredible. She took in a million, a million and a half refugees, and there has been no major problem. It has been a great success, a miracle."
Yeah....good luck with that! By the time this all sorts out historically Merkel will rate lower than ol Schickelgruber.

Mutti.....Europes greatest "Crazy Cat Lady"!

"and there has been no major problem"

Except for a few stabbings, shootings and bombings as well as general malaise and waste of taxpayer's money, but what is that compared to the glory of diversity?
Well, I guess Germany had too few kebab shops

"By the time this all sorts out historically Merkel will rate lower than ol Schickelgruber."

The problem of politics and especially democracy is that politicians act for short term gains, but their decisions affect everybody else in the long term. By the time the Scheiße hits the fan Merkel and her friends will be happily retired in Switzerland or Monaco.

Andrew Nichos, September 11, 2017 at 3:30 am GMT

You'd have to be blind and stupid not have noticed this convenient habit of Muslim terrorists. I wonder why the IRA/ Baader Meinhof/Brigata Rossi or the westher,men didn't have the same habit?

NoseytheDuke, September 11, 2017 at 4:26 am GMT

You'd have to be blind and stupid not have noticed this convenient habit of pseudo moslem terrorists. I wonder why the IRA/ Baader Meinhof/Brigata Rossi or the Weathermen didn't have the same habit?

I fixed that for you, mate. The frequency of this seemingly ritual habit is amazing I agree. It is certainly one for the Coincidence Theorists out there.

Erebus, September 11, 2017 at 5:39 am GMT

@Intelligent Dasein From the banner of this website:

A Collection of Interesting, Important, and Controversial Perspectives Largely Excluded from the American Mainstream Media
I am here reminded of Jerry Seinfeld's wise observation that "Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."

I would advise Ron Unz to take this saying to heart and to spike the execrable Linh Dinh from these pages, and his butt-buddy Revusky, too.

I am here reminded of Jerry Seinfeld's wise observation that "Sometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason."

Seinfeld would have been wiser if he had said that it's always less travelled for a reason. That reason is invariably along the lines of it being less convenient, more arduous, and more challenging. It often takes you to uncomfortable places, and you have to leave your beloved baggage behind.
Most people naturally choose to walk the broad level path that's been thoughtfully laid out for them. It doesn't go anywhere at all, except maybe in a giant circle, so that it doesn't matter where they start or where they stop, but they get to keep and even accumulate baggage along the way and that's what travelling is all about, isn't it?

NoseytheDuke, September 11, 2017 at 11:42 am GMT

@utu Looks like Linh Dinh was turned by Revusky. Everything must be a hoax. This is their starting position: It is a hoax until proven otherwise.

And Revusky comes up with his cheap schtick about the "emotional register." As if he ever seen true reactions of real people who lost relatives? All his life like all the hoax mongering youtube yahoos he was exposed to movies with the overacted emotional displays by actors and this formed the baseline for the youtube yahoos and Revusky. So when he sees more measure reactions of real people he thinks it must be bad acting. Yes, if you haven't noticed, the real life is full of bad acting, you fool.

More interesting would be to read about how is the bromance evolving? Actually real life is usually quite authentic which is the 'real' part and since several big "terror"events have had some inexplicable aspects to them suggesting the involvement of trickery it would be wise to suspect that of other events too. If you've been mugged while walking in the street a couple of times it would be completely rational and indeed prudent if you crossed the street to avoid a stranger, or clutched a hidden weapon as a stranger approached. This is natural and the survival instinct at work.

As to the emotional register, most people have not studied acting yet they can spot poor acting on TV or in a movie very quickly because they have experienced human behaviour their entire lives. When the behaviour or physical action doesn't match the dialogue or situation it appears very odd to us. Some people are more observant than others, this is why professional actors like to study the traits and quirks of people.

Linh Dinh has written some really excellent articles as many commenters have approved and stated as much but if you don't like them why bother reading or commenting? Jonathan Revusky too has written some very worthwhile articles in my opinion but he doesn't seem to take criticism well and has made a few enemies here but again, if you don't like them why not spend your time reading the work of other people?

bb., September 11, 2017 at 12:36 pm GMT

i agree that the passports left behind all the time are a little bit weird. when some shit goes down, among friends, we jokingly ask if they found the passports yet? but it could also be that they want to leave them behind, as a martyr signature or something maybe. like now they recruited irma for their cause..saying god is on their side.
but then again..i am susceptible to consider weird shit. like the boston bombings for example. I saw a very strange video of a simulation of a bombing attack which looked very real, like tv footage, but maybe that's the point of a good simulation.
we live in weird times. information flow is corrupted and not to be trusted. stanislaw lem wrote about it 40years ago and I always think about it reading news.

escobar, September 11, 2017 at 1:05 pm GMT

Linh Dinh's and others' dark dreams:

The American Israel Empire, the Anglo Zionist Conspiracy, the Jew Bolshevik plot

How do the Jews have time for all that and make so much money, run their dentistry, legal, media, entertainment empires and lust after blond shiksa cheerleaders as well?
Maybe it's from those gefilte fish they eat, or from the chopped liver they do even better than this sample produced by Linh Dinh.

Joe Hide, September 11, 2017 at 1:16 pm GMT

Millions of us have been aware of the "Empire" for years now Linh. We just don't have access to the media expression as you do. We tend to be quiet about it until we sense a person or group is open to this Truth. Most people think inside the box because it's safe, comforting, and lacks unpleasant reactions. We who want the Truth value your articles, because we really do believe that "The Truth will set you free."

Santoculto, September 11, 2017 at 1:50 pm GMT

Francisco, a typical teacher of philosophy and never a real philosopher. Most of this "refugees" are permanent immigrants, that's why this "refugee crisis" is just a way to accelerate the capitulation of Europe. Real refugees came back to their countries when they have opportunity. In the end the most effective way to stop middle east conflicts must be done via exposition of real (((criminals))), the direct responsible for all this shit. Only the truth can solve any problem and (((problem))).

Teacher of history's philosophy, what most of this "philosophers" are. Real philosophers learn/or invent and teach real or valid philosophical methods of thinking/analytical-critical thinking and of course subsequent action/application.

anonymous, Disclaimer September 11, 2017 at 2:34 pm GMT

The author is claiming it's all fake because the participants were inept and stupid. They possibly were being monitored and followed all along. That doesn't make it a staged fake event. "Kosher Nostra"? What's that supposed to mean? Jews are scapegoated for what Muslims do and have been doing for close to fourteen hundred years? It took the Spanish hundreds of years of struggle to free themselves from Muslim overlordship and now they're just supposed to wash their brains of any historical memory? Those third worlders written about so lovingly add nothing to Spain besides just some food joints. The author doesn't live there anyway so why is he telling them how to live?"Drugged and inflamed" is not necessarily true of all of America. The author is probably an alcoholic and needs to stop hanging around craphole taverns with all those dysfunctional boozers.

Hairway To Steven, September 11, 2017 at 8:30 pm GMT

Conspiracy theories like those expressed in this article and in many of the comments are for those either lacking the good sense to appreciate that the world is complex or the intellectual patience to sort through that complexity.

In the absence of these qualities, conspiracy nuts come up with unified theories that "explain everything" (e.g., the Jews control the world).

Actually moving out of the basement of their mom's house, or even losing their virginity, might help, but most of these sweaty little pamphleteers are lost causes whose lives rarely extend beyond a circle of like-minded friends and the insular concerns expressed in their over-heated and under-read blogs.

Stan d Mute, September 11, 2017 at 10:34 pm GMT

@DFH Which seems more likely prima facie , Muslim terrorism or that the whole thing was faked?
The whole premise of this article seems to be that it's simply ludicrous that a Muslim would ever do something like ram a car into a crowd of people.

Which seems more likely prima facie, Muslim terrorism or that the whole thing was faked?
The whole premise of this article seems to be that it's simply ludicrous that a Muslim would ever do something like ram a car into a crowd of people.

I am always deeply skeptical of these false flag claims. We bomb and kill arabs daily, yet create magnificent conspiracy theories to explain how it is someone else blowing crap up in vengeance.

Why would Israel need to frame Muslim bombers when so many are so willing to do the job themselves and avenge their dead? Israel certainly pulls our strings to conduct the bombardment and they control American politics – why would they need to fabricate murders of random faceless Spaniards? How does that keep American taxpayers footing the bill for Zionism?

It's really pretty simple isn't it? Before we decided to throw in with England and help genocide the Palestinians we had few problems with arabs. Now we've expanded our mission to include Iraq, Iran, Syria, Libya, etc and our blowback is serious. The arabs are doing what I'd do if a foreign power bombed my family. I could not care less what happens to Israelis or arabs. We need to either nuke the entire Arab world or leave it the hell alone – none of them are worth a single American life.

Art, September 12, 2017 at 2:30 am GMT

How stupid must you be to not see that the American Israel Empire has rigged every aspect of your reality?

...The pattern of human nature that they use is called the Stockholm syndrome.

It has been documented that a group of people can be turned against themselves when they are captured and terrorized, and in the process, they are propagandized to believe that the terrorizers themselves are the true victims. The terrorists tell the those they captured, that they are doing this because they themselves are the real victims.

The syndrome is that the captured group begin to sympathize with their terrorists. They take to heart that the terrorists are indeed victims, and that they should be supported. .

... ... ...

Think Peace -- Art

Stan d Mute, September 12, 2017 at 2:50 am GMT

@ChuckOrloski "... none of them are worth an American life."

Stan d Mute,

The dangerous thing about your rather common conclusion (above) is the stinky fact that, for the sake of creating Greater Israel, Neoconservatives are in your "Amen Corner" and also would green light the "nuking" of Iran.

Thank you.

Neoconservatives are in your "Amen Corner" and also would green light the "nuking" of Iran.

Don't paint me with your misrepresentation. I wrote " nuke the entire Arab world " Your Iran reply is a strawman.

Few neocons would endorse my suggestion to either obliterate the Middle East (drill for oil through the glass) or abandon their first loyalty of Zionism and all resulting meddling and murdering in the region.

Tell it like it is, September 12, 2017 at 10:05 pm GMT

Cry me a river. No sympathy from me. This article is completely one sided. What kind of investigative reporting is this when the author didn't even interview the police and review the evidence, but simply hurl out accusations through hearsay from the average guys on the street.

... ... ...

denk, September 13, 2017 at 3:32 pm GMT

The terror factory

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article34322.htm

It has already been exposed that 95% of domestic 'terror attacks' were FBI/CIA
false flags.

[Aug 24, 2017] Vault 7 release includes revelation of CIA capability to allow it to misdirect the attribution of cyber attacks leaving behind the fingerprints of the very groups that the attack techniques were stolen from

Aug 24, 2017 | www.moonofalabama.org

Robert Beal | Aug 24, 2017 12:47:02 PM | 17

"Only recently did the "collusion with Russia" nonsense suddenly die down."

My short letter to the editor of The New Yorker (see last sentence):

Raffi Katchadourian ("Julian Assange, a man without a country," Aug. 21, 2017) didn't mention Wikileak's Vault 7 release includes revelation of CIA capability to allow it to misdirect the attribution of cyber attacks. According to Wikileaks, the U.S. false-flag technology consists of "leaving behind the 'fingerprints' of the very groups that the attack techniques were stolen from."

Karchadourian's omission belies his assertion: "Whatever one thinks of Assange's election disclosures, accepting his contention that they shared no ties with the two Russian fronts requires willful blindness."

His article, of near-record length for the magazine, exhaustively attempts to resuscitate speculation about a Russian cyber connection to the Clinton meltdown.

[Jul 30, 2017] Mainstream News Manipulation of US Public

McGovern thinks that it was Brennan boys who hacked into DNC as a part of conspiracy to implicate Russia and to secure Hillary win. One of the resons was probably that DNC servers were not well protected and there were other hacks, about whihc NSA know. So the sad state of DNC internet security needed to be swiped under the carpet and that's why CrowdStike was hired.
NSA created 7 million lines of code for penetration and that includes those that were pablished by Wikileaks and designed to imitate that attackers are coming (and using the language) from: China, North Korea, Iran and Russia.
Also NSA probably intercepts and keeps all Internet communications for a month or two so if it was a hack NSA knows who did it and what was stolen
But the most unexplainable part was that fact that FBI was denied accessing the evidence. I always think that thye can dictate that they need to see in such cases, but obviously this was not the case.
Notable quotes:
"... She couldn't pack a school gymnasium while Trumps rallies were packed with 10's of thousands. ..."
Jul 30, 2017 | www.youtube.com

Anna C 1 month ago

LEGAL, WIKIMEDIA V. NSA Discussing fake news and the NSA lawsuit at Yale | https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/06/16/fake-news-nsa-lawsuit-yale/

Tracy Spose 1 month ago

Love the rest of the talk, but no way did Hillary win. No way did she get the popular vote.

The woman was calling for war and reinstating the draft on men and women. She couldn't pack a school gymnasium while Trumps rallies were packed with 10's of thousands.

[Jul 06, 2017] The Fraud of The White Helmets

Notable quotes:
"... The White Helmets ..."
"... Donald Trump called out Hillary Clinton for her buddy buddy relationship with the Saudi regime and wrote about the KSA funding terrorist groups in his books. In other words Trump was under no illusions about the direct link between Saudi cash and religious ideology and international terrorist groups. Ignorance in this area was not a problem he had. ..."
"... The war in Syria is all about Israel and teaches us our government can be purchased. What a clever investment! For chump change Uncle Sam can be convinced to spend hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, to overthrow the Syrian government, all for Israel's benefit. ..."
"... Buys into? You mean SELLS Yep. Hollywood is one of our lie factories: Hollywood, govt, media, academia, pr/marketing/ adv/polling. ..."
"... April 07, 2017 Pentagon Trained Syria's Al Qaeda "Rebels" in the Use of Chemical Weapons. The Western media refutes their own lies. http://www.globalresearch.ca/pentagon-trained-syrias-al-qaeda-rebels-in-the-use-of-chemical-weapons/5583784  ..."
"... So is the real Trump the guy who tells Putin he has to do some look-Presidential kabuki, and bomb a Syrian airfield to get the Neocons and CIA off his back - briefly - or is he a gullible emotional dimwit who buys into the transparently ridiculous "sarin attack" bs, despite the intel community telling him it was bs? ..."
"... I thought it was common knowledge by anyone with critical thinking skills that the White Helmets are just a propaganda operation for the Salafist fanatics and not a politically neutral third party as they try to depict themselves. So this would exclude George Clowney, Justin Timbersnowflake and the rest of the left wing Hollywood morons. It's looking like we can lump our president and Nimrata Haley in with the brainless and sentimental Hollywood crowd. ..."
"... "Around half of Russia's gas and oil into the EU is transported there via pipelines that traverse Ukraine, and this is a major reason why the Obama Administration (which was in service to the owners of the U.S.-based international corporations …) started, by no later than 2011, its preparations for a coup in Ukraine, which occurred in February 2014, to overthrow the democratically elected President of Ukraine… ..."
"... Israel is currently attacking the Syrian Army and has long been assisting the so-called rebels. It wants anarchy in Syria so it can steal the remainder of the Golan territory. ..."
"... Now that would be journalism worth its salt. Absolutely. USAID started as a CIA front in Vietnam during the 60s. ..."
Jul 06, 2017 | www.unz.com
Philip Giraldi

I actually forced myself to watch the documentary The White Helmets , which is available on Netflix. It is 40 minutes long, is of high quality cinematographically speaking, and tells a very convincing tale that was promoted as "the story of real-life heroes and impossible hope." It is overall a very impressive piece of propaganda, so much so that it has won numerous awards including the Oscar for Best Documentary Short this year and the White Helmets themselves were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. More to the point, however, is the undeniable fact that the documentary has helped shape the public understanding of what is going on in Syria, delivering a Manichean tale that depicts the "rebels" as always good and Bashar al-Assad and his government as un-redeemably evil.

It has been reliably reported that celebrities like George Clooney, Justin Timberlake and Hillary Clinton really like the White Helmets documentary and have promoted it with the understanding that it represents the truth about Syria, but it is, of course, not the whole story. The film, which was made by the White Helmets themselves without any external verification of what it depicts, portrays the group as "heroic," an "impartial, life-saving rescue organization" of first responders. Excluded from the scenes of heroism under fire is the White Helmets' relationship with the al-Qaeda affiliated group Jabhat al-Nusra and its participation in the torture and execution of "rebel" opponents. Indeed, the White Helmets only operate in rebel held territory, which enables them to shape the narrative both regarding who they are and what is occurring on the ground. Because of increasing awareness of the back story, there is now a growing movement to petition the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to revoke the Oscar based on the complete and deliberate misrepresentation of what the White Helmets are all about.

Exploiting their access to the western media, the White Helmets have de facto become a major source of "eyewitness" news regarding what has been going on in those many parts of Syria where European and American journalists are quite rightly afraid to go. It is all part of a broader largely successful "rebel" effort to manufacture fake news that depicts the Damascus government as engaging in war crimes directed against civilians.

The White Helmets have certainly saved some lives under dangerous circumstances but they have also exaggerated their humanitarian role as they travel to bombing sites with their film crews trailing behind them. Once at the sites, with no independent observers, they are able to arrange or even stage what is filmed to conform to their selected narrative. They have consistently promoted tales of government atrocities against civilians to encourage outside military intervention in Syria and bring about regime change in Damascus. The White Helmets were, for example, the propagators of the totally false but propagandistically effective claims regarding the government use of so-called "barrel bombs" against civilians.

The White Helmets were a largely foreign creation that came into prominence in the aftermath of the unrest in Syria that developed as a result of the Arab Spring in 2012. They are currently largely funded by a number of non-government organizations (NGOs) as well as governments, including Britain and some European Union member states. The United States has directly provided $23 million through the USAID (US Agency for International Development) as of 2016 and almost certainly considerably more indirectly. Max Blumenthal has explored in some detail the various funding resources and relationships that the organization draws on, mostly in Europe and the United States.

Former weapons inspector Scott Ritter has described how the White Helmets are not actually trained to do the complicated rescue work that they depict in their self-made videos, which have established their reputation by ostensibly showing them in action inside Syria, rescuing civilians from bombed out structures, and providing life-saving emergency medical care. As an expert in Hazardous Materials handling with New York Task Force 2 USAR team, Ritter reports that "these videos represent de facto evidence of dangerous incompetence or, worse, fraud… The bread and butter of the White Helmet's self-made reputation is the rescue of a victim-usually a small child-from beneath a pile of rubble, usually heavy reinforced concrete… The techniques used by the White Helmets are not only technically wrong, but dangerous to anyone who might actually be trapped… In my opinion, the videos are pure theater, either staged to impress an unwitting audience, or actually conducted with total disregard for the wellbeing of any real victims."

Ritter also cites the lack of training in hazardous chemicals, best observed in the videos provided by the White Helmets regarding their activity at Khan Sheikhun on April 4 th . He notes "As was the case with their 'rescues' of victims in collapsed structures, I believe the rescue efforts of the White Helmets at Khan Sheikhun were a theatrical performance designed to impress the ignorant and ill-informed… Through their actions…the White Helmets were able to breathe life into the overall narrative of a chemical weapons attack, distracting from the fact that no actual weapon existed…."

But perhaps the most serious charge against the White Helmets consists of the evidence that they actively participated in the atrocities , to include torture and murder, carried out by their al-Nusra hosts. There have been numerous photos of the White Helmets operating directly with armed terrorists and also celebrating over the bodies of execution victims and murdered Iraqi soldiers. The group has an excellent working relationship with a number of jihadi affiliates and is regarded by them as fellow "mujahideen" and "soldiers of the revolution."

So by all means let's organize to revoke the White Helmets' Oscar due to misrepresentation and fraud. It might even serve as a wake-up call to George Clooney and his fellow Hollywood snowflakes . But the bigger take-away from the tale of the White Helmets would appear to be how it is an unfortunate repeat of the bumbling by a gullible U.S. government that has wrecked the Middle East while making Americans poorer and less safe. A group of "moderates," in this case their propagandists, is supported with weapons and money to overthrow a government with which Washington has no real quarrel but it turns out the moderates are really extremists. If they succeed in changing regime in Damascus, that is when the real nightmare will begin for minorities within Syria and for the entire region, including both Israel and Saudi Arabia, both of which seem intent on bringing Bashar al-Assad down. And the truly unfortunate fact is that the Israelis and Saudis apparently have convinced an ignorant Donald Trump that that is the way to go so the situation in Syria will only get worse and, unless there is a course correction, Washington will again richly deserve most of the blame.

Fiendly Neighborhood Terrorist > , Website July 4, 2017 at 5:28 am GMT

What makes Mr Giraldi imagine that the American Empire isn't an active and fully deliberate participant in the destroy-Syria operation instead of a reluctant dupe?

Carlton Meyer > , Website July 4, 2017 at 5:16 am GMT

This brave lady deserves a Pulitzer for her reporting about Syria and the White Helmets, from December 2016.

Art > , July 4, 2017 at 5:32 am GMT

And the truly unfortunate fact is that the Israelis and Saudis apparently have convinced an ignorant Donald Trump that that is the way to go so the situation in Syria will only get worse and, unless there is a course correction, Washington will again richly deserve most of the blame.

It is said that "politics makes for strange bedfellows" How is it that America is hooked up with these scumbag countries, Israel and Saudi – doing their bidding – and killing for them. Zionism and Wahhabism are evil brothers – both seekers of age old tribal glory. The good American people have nothing in common with them.

But there is something our elite share with these tribalists – the US banking system. The US money system wags the American election process. Israel, Saudi, and the US Fed/Wall Street all bank with the Rothschild money cartel.

Trump is surrounded by greedy Jew money hunger types. For reasons of Israeli and Saudi power – a blood bath in Syria is needed.

Trump is going to meet Putin who wants peace – will he back the American people who elected him, thinking he was against another war?

Hmm? We will know by the end of the week.

Peace - Art

exiled off mainstreet > , July 4, 2017 at 5:39 am GMT

The first comment has it spot on. Hollywood is complicit in this propaganda effort to give the terrorist thug element a human face. These facts are out there for anybody not totally dependent on the official power structure for their information. People like Clooney who support this are themselves tainted with the barbarism represented by this phony propaganda front, and NGO's and governments funding them are complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Clooney's pet project, Darfur and South Sudan are other failed states. Clooney has blood on his hands for having promoted their existence.

Johnny F. Ive > , July 4, 2017 at 6:50 am GMT

Trump really hasn't given us the full Hillary Clinton on Syria yet. I believe he is aware of what is going on and we will see what his policy is as his administration continues. If people don't think so we have a great opportunity to share our point of view politely with him on twitter by sending him reputable articles or videos. Maybe he wouldn't look at it but what if he ever did and it opened some questions for him? The people who tweet to him tend to be obnoxious and insane from the fake news they've ingested. If your only source of information is fake news then you aren't going to make good decisions. He inherited a mess and there are powerful forces outside of his control that control the narrative and want to control him through the narrative. The White Helmets are apart of that narrative. If we give Trump good ideas for options to move forward and he has a support base maybe he will listen to us. What do we have to lose?

Israel wants a perpetual bloodbath in Syria but if one must prevail they want the Sunni evil to prevail.

Hollywood has turned into a de-Americanized, anti-American global enterprise where most of their earnings occur overseas. Their movies are turning into two toned (amber & teal) incoherent messes for a global audience they assume are stupid. I expect before long they will make movies praising the great firewall of China and one party rule.

Interlocutor > , July 4, 2017 at 10:59 am GMT

the Israelis and Saudis apparently have convinced an ignorant Donald Trump that that is the way to go so the situation in Syria

Donald Trump called out Hillary Clinton for her buddy buddy relationship with the Saudi regime and wrote about the KSA funding terrorist groups in his books. In other words Trump was under no illusions about the direct link between Saudi cash and religious ideology and international terrorist groups. Ignorance in this area was not a problem he had.

Yet five months into his term he's schmoozing with those very same terrorist funding Saudis and the vile Israeli regime alike and threatening all out war on Syria and rattling sabers at Iran. All because the Saudis and Israelis "convinced" him it's a good idea to throw the truth out the window and unlearn what he knew and wrote about? Not a chance. I don't buy it for a second. Something else is going on here. I suspect Trump the man is nothing like Trump the politician and he played all those people who hoped he'd follow through on his campaign promises for fools.

It is time to stop making excuses for Trump and treat him like an adult. He owns his decisions and choices and is responsible for them.

annamaria > , July 4, 2017 at 12:16 pm GMT

@chris They shouldn't revoke the Oscar, they should just change the category to 'best propaganda' and award it directly to Pompeo at Langley.

That, however, would greatly increase the list of contenders every year. "…they should just change the category to 'best propaganda' and award it directly to Pompeo at Langley."

Neither Joanna Natasegara (producer) nor Von Einsiedel (director) have ever been in Syria. They both are opportunistic fraudsters. Among the eager supporters of White Helmets are the ever badly smelling Michael Weiss, a Jewish Russophobe of questionable integrity and Eliot Higgins, a British Russophobe famous for his spectacular ignorance and for special favors from the Atlantic Council and Department of War Studies, King's College: http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2017/06/the-white-helmet-buffoons-of-khan-sheikyoun.html

Vanessa Beeley: "All of the footage used in the film was provided to the producers by the White Helmets themselves… What this film is essentially a PR cushion for a $100-$150 million covert op, which is basically an NGO front funded by USAID, the British Foreign Office, various EU member states, Qatar, and other various and sundry nations, and members of the public…"

http://www.activistpost.com/2017/03/medical-doctors-question-white-helmets-footage-al-qaeda-oscar.html

"Dr Leif Elinder, a known Swedish medical doctor: "After examination of the video material, I found that the measures inflicted upon those children, some of them lifeless, are bizarre, non-medical, non-lifesaving, and even counterproductive in terms of life-saving purposes of children".

"White Helmets founder Le Mesurier, who graduated from Britain's elite Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, is said to be an 'ex' British military intelligence officer involved in a number of other NATO 'humanitarian intervention' theatres of war, including Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq, as well as postings in Lebanon and Palestine. He also boasts a series of high-profile posts at the UN, EU, and UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Not to mention his connections back to the infamous Blackwater (Academi)." http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/09/23/exclusive-the-real-syria-civil-defence-expose-natos-white-helmets-as-terrorist-linked-imposters/

Looks that the Oscar nominees should have indeed included Langley

"Al-Qaeda Gets An Oscar:" http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/02/al-qaeda-gets-an-oscar-.html

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2017/05/15/george_clooney_busted_captured_terrorist_spills

annamaria > , July 4, 2017 at 12:29 pm GMT

@Sherman Sherman, this article is about genocide in Syria – you know, like the genocide of Jews during the WWII. Your indecent post reminded the readers about Israelis taking dinner while the IDF ("most moral") had been slaughtering the colonized dwellers of Gaza Ghetto.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/middleeast/israelis-watch-bombs-drop-on-gaza-from-front-row-seats.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israelis-cheer-gaza-bombing http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/13/israel-sderot-gaza_n_5582032.html

Do you see your tribe smiling and eating and laughing while your "most moral" kills native civilians? – This is a remake of the photographs from WWII when Jews were killed by Nazis for being Jews. "Never again," indeed. A state of Israel exhibiting a moral rot.

Joe Hide > , July 4, 2017 at 12:44 pm GMT

@Interlocutor

the Israelis and Saudis apparently have convinced an ignorant Donald Trump that that is the way to go so the situation in Syria
Donald Trump called out Hillary Clinton for her buddy buddy relationship with the Saudi regime and wrote about the KSA funding terrorist groups in his books. In other words Trump was under no illusions about the direct link between Saudi cash and religious ideology and international terrorist groups. Ignorance in this area was not a problem he had.

Yet five months into his term he's schmoozing with those very same terrorist funding Saudis and the vile Israeli regime alike and threatening all out war on Syria and rattling sabers at Iran. All because the Saudis and Israelis "convinced" him it's a good idea to throw the truth out the window and unlearn what he knew and wrote about? Not a chance. I don't buy it for a second. Something else is going on here. I suspect Trump the man is nothing like Trump the politician and he played all those people who hoped he'd follow through on his campaign promises for fools.

It is time to stop making excuses for Trump and treat him like an adult. He owns his decisions and choices and is responsible for them. I appreciate your comment. If You spend a lot of time reviewing battle tactics and war strategies, and I mean in the hundreds to thousands of hours, you will possibly come to a different conclusion. Trumps actions, as presented by a very untrustworthy media, look like those of a deceiver. Or of a crazy man. Or of whatever twisted narrative they are pushing. The results of his actions (or sometimes intentional non-actions), tell a different story. Thousands of pedophiles and sex traffickers have been arrested in the last few months. The Syrian War is being won by the Good (or at least not horrible) Guys. We don't have a WW3. Political, economic, and military corruption are being exposed. Priorities are no longer men using women's bathrooms to pee in. There is a lot more good taking place even than this. Great and lasting change takes years if not generations. This is not a quick fix. We won't get everything we want. Idealism never works but Realism does. If only the bad guys deceive, then the Good Guys lose. The Good Guys, You & Me, have to come to grips with how the game is really played.

Sherman > , July 4, 2017 at 1:41 pm GMT

@annamaria Sherman, this article is about genocide in Syria - you know, like the genocide of Jews during the WWII. Your indecent post reminded the readers about Israelis taking dinner while the IDF ("most moral") had been slaughtering the colonized dwellers of Gaza Ghetto.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/15/world/middleeast/israelis-watch-bombs-drop-on-gaza-from-front-row-seats.html https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israelis-cheer-gaza-bombing http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/07/13/israel-sderot-gaza_n_5582032.html
Do you see your tribe smiling and eating and laughing while your "most moral" kills native civilians? - This is a remake of the photographs from WWII when Jews were killed by Nazis for being Jews. "Never again," indeed. A state of Israel exhibiting a moral rot. You left out the part about the Nulands and the Kagans.

Sherm

anonymous > , July 4, 2017 at 1:47 pm GMT

It's all a propaganda fabrication, totally staged complete with them pretending to rescue children. The US has unlimited funds and doesn't miss anything in it's all-encompassing full-spectrum program of propaganda lies and deception. The movie 'Wag the Dog' was a far more realistic production than this thing is.

JoaoAlfaiate > , July 4, 2017 at 1:59 pm GMT

It's hard to celebrate July 4th knowing that our system is corrupt from top to bottom. Want to buy the destruction of Syria? No problem. $10,000,000 (or less) distributed in the right places buys a slick narrative about Syria which the msm is happy to promote Meanwhile Congress has been suborned to appropriate vast sums to fund "rebels" (al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, ISIS) seeking to over throw the Syrian Gov't and establish an Islamic regime in its place.

Why replace a secular government in Syria with an extremist Sunni regime? Hilary Clinton put it this way: "The best way to help Israel deal with Iran's growing nuclear capability is to help the people of Syria overthrow the regime of Bashar Assad. " The war in Syria is all about Israel and teaches us our government can be purchased. What a clever investment! For chump change Uncle Sam can be convinced to spend hundreds of millions, perhaps billions, to overthrow the Syrian government, all for Israel's benefit.

bjondo > , July 4, 2017 at 2:40 pm GMT

@Priss Factor Hollywood buys into yet another lie

Buys into? You mean SELLS Yep. Hollywood is one of our lie factories: Hollywood, govt, media, academia, pr/marketing/ adv/polling.

Agent76 > , July 4, 2017 at 4:45 pm GMT

No more shows actual video confirmation of the false flag footage from the staged gas attack event in Syria.

Apr 9, 2017 No More

April 07, 2017 Pentagon Trained Syria's Al Qaeda "Rebels" in the Use of Chemical Weapons. The Western media refutes their own lies. http://www.globalresearch.ca/pentagon-trained-syrias-al-qaeda-rebels-in-the-use-of-chemical-weapons/5583784 

annamaria > , July 4, 2017 at 4:49 pm GMT

@Sherman You left out the part about the Nulands and the Kagans.

Sherm 'You left out the part about the Nulands and the Kagans.'

And you remind about them why?

Look carefully at the photograph in the following article: http://theduran.com/4-ways-russia-could-and-should-bring-about-regime-change-in-kiev/
Keep in mind that the neo-Nazis have began flourishing in Kiev since the ziocon-infested State Dept. had accomplished a regime change there in 2014.

Was not it you who enquired the UNZ readers about visiting Yad Vashem? – Well, see the amazing results that have been achieved by American/UK Jews in Ukraine. Fit perfectly Yad Vashem preaching.

"How the Israel Lobby Protected Ukrainian Neo-Nazis: http://fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/government/foreign_policy_and_government/news.php?q=1417630958 "Rep. John Conyers wanted to block U.S. funding to neo-Nazis in Ukraine. But the ADL and Simon Wiesenthal Center refused to help ."

"The neo-Nazi Oleh Tyahnybok and the American Zionist Victoria Nuland, wife of Robert Kagan, are all smiles. Not since the days of the Haavara (Transfer) Agreement of August 25, 1933 between the Zionist Federation of Germany and Chancellor Adolf Hitler celebrated by the striking of a celebratory coin by the Berlin Mint (right)….:" http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/12289

Haavara (Transfer) Agreement: http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/09/07/Nazi_Zionism.html

Agent76 > , July 4, 2017 at 4:51 pm GMT

@annamaria Know this Annamaria, "The oppinion of 10.000 men is of no value if none of them know anything about the subject." Marcus Aurelius

Jeff Davis > , July 4, 2017 at 5:06 pm GMT

@Interlocutor

the Israelis and Saudis apparently have convinced an ignorant Donald Trump that that is the way to go so the situation in Syria
Donald Trump called out Hillary Clinton for her buddy buddy relationship with the Saudi regime and wrote about the KSA funding terrorist groups in his books. In other words Trump was under no illusions about the direct link between Saudi cash and religious ideology and international terrorist groups. Ignorance in this area was not a problem he had.

Yet five months into his term he's schmoozing with those very same terrorist funding Saudis and the vile Israeli regime alike and threatening all out war on Syria and rattling sabers at Iran. All because the Saudis and Israelis "convinced" him it's a good idea to throw the truth out the window and unlearn what he knew and wrote about? Not a chance. I don't buy it for a second. Something else is going on here. I suspect Trump the man is nothing like Trump the politician and he played all those people who hoped he'd follow through on his campaign promises for fools.

It is time to stop making excuses for Trump and treat him like an adult. He owns his decisions and choices and is responsible for them. "I don't buy it for a second. Something else is going on here."

Indeed, but what exactly? Everyone is guessing, mostly based on the hyperbolic hate-fest of the campaign, which was so extreme that both sides remain locked in the embrace of partisan passion, far from any chance at a calm assessment of reality.

And Trump is keeping everyone guessing. Until Trump can wrest control of the Executive branch from the Deep State, he will continue to be "unpredictable", forced to bob and weave and adjust, in order to counter the forces that seek to undermine his presidency.

So is the real Trump the guy who tells Putin he has to do some look-Presidential kabuki, and bomb a Syrian airfield to get the Neocons and CIA off his back - briefly - or is he a gullible emotional dimwit who buys into the transparently ridiculous "sarin attack" bs, despite the intel community telling him it was bs?

If you're anti-Trump you go for explanation number two. If you're a Neocon, or a paleo-Republican, or a Kool-Aid drenched, flag-wrapped "America, fuck yeah!" patriot then you "worship the beauty of our weapons" and don't bother to think much more about it. And if you've managed to avoid ideological brain-lock, then you're probably just scratchin' your head thinking "WTF ?"

Personally, I'm pro-Trump all the way, delighted by the shrieking of snowflakes, the deliciously loutish tweeting, the laugh-a-minute horrified old-maid moralism of the pundit class, and the return of take-it-out-and-wave-it-around flagrantly unapologetic manhood. Yee-hah! What a fabulous spectacle! And here's the best part: three and a half more years and maybe four more after that.

"Make America Great Again!", "Nuke the Swamp!", "Build the Wall!", "Get along with Russia!"

I frikkin' died and went to heaven. Bring it!

Jeff Davis > , July 4, 2017 at 5:24 pm GMT

@Joe Hide I appreciate your comment. If You spend a lot of time reviewing battle tactics and war strategies, and I mean in the hundreds to thousands of hours, you will possibly come to a different conclusion. Trumps actions, as presented by a very untrustworthy media, look like those of a deceiver. Or of a crazy man. Or of whatever twisted narrative they are pushing. The results of his actions (or sometimes intentional non-actions), tell a different story. Thousands of pedophiles and sex traffickers have been arrested in the last few months.

The Syrian War is being won by the Good (or at least not horrible) Guys. We don't have a WW3. Political, economic, and military corruption are being exposed. Priorities are no longer men using women's bathrooms to pee in. There is a lot more good taking place even than this. Great and lasting change takes years if not generations. This is not a quick fix. We won't get everything we want. Idealism never works but Realism does. If only the bad guys deceive, then the Good Guys lose. The Good Guys, You & Me, have to come to grips with how the game is really played. Damn fine reality-based comment, Joe. Kudos.

Ivy > , July 4, 2017 at 5:44 pm GMT

@Joe Hide Are you trying to distract from the white helmet article? Your comment doesn't make any sense here. The White Helmet idea selling takes on many forms. I pointed out one of those and provided another example of how Trump applies his selling to link to the current administration. What is so hard to see in that?

annamaria > , July 4, 2017 at 5:48 pm GMT

@Sherman You left out the part about the Nulands and the Kagans.

Sherm If you insist: "Reuters (finally) realize there are Nazis in Ukraine" https://off-guardian.org/2017/06/24/reuters-finally-realize-there-are-nazis-in-ukraine/

"…local authorities [in Kiev] recently voted to rename a major street after a former Nazi collaborator and anti-Semite named Roman Shukhevych."

"In 2015, Ukraine passed a law honoring the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and its military wing, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, (OUN-UPA)"
"Numerous Holocaust memorial sites – including Babi Yar, where over 33,000 Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis – have been vandalized or desecrated by anti-Semitic graffiti and swastikas."

"…the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory (UINM) is drafting a law to posthumously exonerate OUN-UPA members convicted of murdering Polish and Jewish civilians during and after the war."

"The elevation of OUN-UPA has been accompanied by a growing number of anti-Semitic incidents in Ukraine."

"A retired general affiliated with Ukraine's security services called for the destruction of the country's Jews;"

"…a Ukrainian official called Ukraine's SS Galizien division – created with the support of Heinrich Himmler – "heroes"

In the Atlantic, in 2014, Ukrainian Nazis were dismissed as a "phantom menace". Luke Harding wrote a (brilliantly argued) column in the Guardian saying that "there weren't any Nazis in Ukraine because one of the Maidan protesters was Jewish." Politico magazine mocked "Putin's Imaginary Nazis", whilst US News warned against Russia's "Neo-Nazi Propaganda". The Guardian simply headlined: "Don't believe the Russian propaganda about Ukraine's 'fascist' protesters!"
There never were Nazis in Ukraine.

Except now there are. … John Kerry and Victoria "fuck the EU" Nuland, who had actual, hands-on control of the formation of Ukraine's new government…"

KenH > , July 4, 2017 at 6:01 pm GMT

I thought it was common knowledge by anyone with critical thinking skills that the White Helmets are just a propaganda operation for the Salafist fanatics and not a politically neutral third party as they try to depict themselves. So this would exclude George Clowney, Justin Timbersnowflake and the rest of the left wing Hollywood morons. It's looking like we can lump our president and Nimrata Haley in with the brainless and sentimental Hollywood crowd.

annamaria > , July 4, 2017 at 6:29 pm GMT

@KenH I thought it was common knowledge by anyone with critical thinking skills that the White Helmets are just a propaganda operation for the Salafist fanatics and not a politically neutral third party as they try to depict themselves. So this would exclude George Clowney, Justin Timbersnowflake and the rest of the left wing Hollywood morons. It's looking like we can lump our president and Nimrata Haley in with the brainless and sentimental Hollywood crowd. "…this would exclude George Clowney, Justin Timbersnowflake and the rest of the left wing Hollywood morons."
The Clowneys & Timbersnowflakes have financial inspirations that inform their actions. These opportunists are firmly in service to the "deciders."

When oilmen meet MIC: "The Economic Motive for America's Current Wars." https://off-guardian.org/2017/07/04/the-economic-motive-for-americas-current-wars/

"Around half of Russia's gas and oil into the EU is transported there via pipelines that traverse Ukraine, and this is a major reason why the Obama Administration (which was in service to the owners of the U.S.-based international corporations …) started, by no later than 2011, its preparations for a coup in Ukraine, which occurred in February 2014, to overthrow the democratically elected President of Ukraine…

However, Obama also had come into office in 2009 hoping to overthrow Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, because, ever since at least 1949, the U.S.-Saudi oil company Aramco was trying to be allowed to build through Syria pipelines for Saudi oil and Qatari gas into the EU so as to grab that energy-market away from Russia. Consequently, "What's Behind Lower Gas-Prices and the Bombings of Syria and of Southeastern Ukraine" is a U.S.-regime effort to grab market-share in the world's largest energy-market."

Philip Giraldi > , July 4, 2017 at 7:26 pm GMT

@Anon Why would Israel be against Assad? With him, there's no chance of a peace treat and Israel keeps the Golan. Status quo and no fighting is what Israel likes. Israel is currently attacking the Syrian Army and has long been assisting the so-called rebels. It wants anarchy in Syria so it can steal the remainder of the Golan territory.

RobinG > , July 4, 2017 at 7:31 pm GMT

@Joe Hide I appreciate your comment. If You spend a lot of time reviewing battle tactics and war strategies, and I mean in the hundreds to thousands of hours, you will possibly come to a different conclusion. Trumps actions, as presented by a very untrustworthy media, look like those of a deceiver. Or of a crazy man. Or of whatever twisted narrative they are pushing. The results of his actions (or sometimes intentional non-actions), tell a different story. Thousands of pedophiles and sex traffickers have been arrested in the last few months. The Syrian War is being won by the Good (or at least not horrible) Guys. We don't have a WW3. Political, economic, and military corruption are being exposed. Priorities are no longer men using women's bathrooms to pee in. There is a lot more good taking place even than this. Great and lasting change takes years if not generations. This is not a quick fix. We won't get everything we want. Idealism never works but Realism does. If only the bad guys deceive, then the Good Guys lose. The Good Guys, You & Me, have to come to grips with how the game is really played. May I add to that, Trump is clobbering the FakeNewsMedia which, not too long ago, Ron Unz wisely identified as the appropriate first target.

CNN is just the first domino to fall, and every chip weakens the wall of deceit. (NYT admission/correction this week: 17 intel. agencies did NOT support Russian hacking allegation.) And it's rumored that Project Veritas has plenty more incriminating video ready to drop.

Seamus Padraig > , July 4, 2017 at 7:37 pm GMT

@Carlton Meyer This brave lady deserves a Pulitzer for her reporting about Syria and the White Helmets, from December 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUhe87r5bEE

Eva Bartlett is bad-ass. Vanessa Beeley is also an excellent source on Syria.

Moi > , July 4, 2017 at 7:44 pm GMT

@Carlton Meyer I've seen Ms. Bartlett occasionally on RT but not any MSM outlet. She is a truth-teller.

RobinG > , July 4, 2017 at 8:00 pm GMT

@Ivy The White Helmet idea selling takes on many forms. I pointed out one of those and provided another example of how Trump applies his selling to link to the current administration. What is so hard to see in that? Joe Hide was right, your comment made no sense, and now you're doubling down on a ridiculously poor analogy.

It was the Obama regime that funded the White Helmets, years in the making, a conventional "old school" propaganda psy-op of the Deep State.

Trump, the Modern President, uses graceful arrows. That they're felt like cannonballs, hilarious.

Seamus Padraig > , July 4, 2017 at 8:01 pm GMT

@exiled off mainstreet The first comment has it spot on. Hollywood is complicit in this propaganda effort to give the terrorist thug element a human face. These facts are out there for anybody not totally dependent on the official power structure for their information. People like Clooney who support this are themselves tainted with the barbarism represented by this phony propaganda front, and NGO's and governments funding them are complicit in war crimes and crimes against humanity. Clooney's pet project, Darfur and South Sudan are other failed states. Clooney has blood on his hands for having promoted their existence.

One more point about Clooney: his wife, Amal, is a human rights lawyer from Lebanon. It would be interesting to know more about her background. Maybe one of Unz's regular contributors should take on this assignment. Lebanon is a very complicated place, but it does have both pro- and anti-Syrian factions. I wonder where Amal and her family would fall on this spectrum?

Maybe Steve Sailer could do it. He did some brilliant pieces last year investigating the links of Mexican gazillionaire Carlos Slim's relatives to the old Lebanese Phalange.

Backwoods Bob > , July 4, 2017 at 8:52 pm GMT

@Carlton Meyer This brave lady deserves a Pulitzer for her reporting about Syria and the White Helmets, from December 2016.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUhe87r5bEE

I saw that when it first came out. The truth is always so refreshing, sensical, and fulfilling. But I knew it before the video. All anyone has to do is listen to the Syrian people themselves.

Trump pushed a lot of the right buttons during the election with the glaring exception of being Israel-first.

He knows exactly what is going on in Syria. One of the more disheartening things to listen to is people excusing him.

If I work and raise children, and it is so obvious to me then what excuses the man with the genius IQ and having this as his full time job?

Trump is a white-hat himself. Oh, those poor beautiful babies. We have to bomb Assad for the beautiful babies. There's some fake news Trump is perfectly happy with, like Syria.

Ivy > , July 4, 2017 at 9:38 pm GMT

@RobinG Joe Hide was right, your comment made no sense, and now you're doubling down on a ridiculously poor analogy.

It was the Obama regime that funded the White Helmets, years in the making, a conventional "old school" propaganda psy-op of the Deep State.

Trump, the Modern President, uses graceful arrows. That they're felt like cannonballs, hilarious. You have the wrong person if you think that I am trying to distract from column message about the White Helmets, or are reading any mention of Trump as a negative.

My comment included observations about the Hollywood nature of how White Helmets may be portrayed to the public, regardless of facts. Media have many ways to try to communicate, not all of them honorable. For entertainment, see Wag the Dog.

Maybe I need to spell it out more for you. I am not an Obama supporter, and voted for Trump. He has used his own type of first mover advantage routinely as shown in his actions. He gets attention, like he did with the campaign immigration item, and then uses that attention to further his message. Next time I'll choose some non-armaments descriptor and write more to fill in the blanks.

Stephen R. Diamond > , Website July 4, 2017 at 11:44 pm GMT

@Joe Hide

If only the bad guys deceive, then the Good Guys lose.

Remarkably smug and cynical comment. Smug: what makes you so sure that, if you need to deceive, you're (even remotely) "good"? Cynical – and self-undermining- because in sanctioning political deception, you render yourself prima facie untrustworthy.

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 12:42 am GMT

@ANON Are the children actually humans or they 4 year old size dolls? "Dr Leif Elinder, a known Swedish medical doctor: "After examination of the video material, I found that the measures inflicted upon those children, some of them lifeless, are bizarre, non-medical, non-lifesaving, and even counterproductive in terms of life-saving purposes of children."

http://www.activistpost.com/2017/03/medical-doctors-question-white-helmets-footage-al-qaeda-oscar.html

Follow the link to read more testimonials by medical doctor. What exactly do you need to clarify?

Priss Factor > , Website July 5, 2017 at 12:42 am GMT

Globalists cause wars, create refugees, and then force white nations into accepting them. Worse, 'refugee' and 'Syrian' are fluid, and any black African coming from Libya might as well be a Syrian refugee too.

White helmets or Refugee boats, globalism is one big ugly lie.

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 12:48 am GMT

@Anon Anarchy in Syria doesn't serve Israel. Anarchy anywhere doesn't serve Israel. Managed chaos is one thing, and that may be why they funded the FSA for a while, but total anarchy is dangerous. For all its faults, Israel is still a rational actor. Plus, it has no need for the rest of Golan; the heights are all that are necessary. "Anarchy in Syria doesn't serve Israel."

Then you have missed the Israeli brass' public admission that ISIS/Al Qaeda are preferable to sovereign Syria. "Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Tuesday that Iran poses a greater threat than the Islamic State, and that if the Syrian regime were to fall, Israel would prefer that IS [Islamic State] was in control of the territory than an Iranian proxy:" http://www.timesofisrael.com/yaalon-i-would-prefer-islamic-state-to-iran-in-syria/
More:

"Alliance of Convenience: Israel Supports Syria's ISIS Terror Group:" http://www.globalresearch.ca/alliance-of-convenience-israel-supports-syrias-isis-terror-group/5587203

"Turkey and Israel Are Directly Supporting ISIS and Al Qaeda Terrorists In Syria:" http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/09/turkey-israel-directly-supporting-isis-al-qaeda-syria.html

The evidence is clear: anarchy in Syria does serve Israel

Corporal Clegg > , July 5, 2017 at 1:56 am GMT

@JoaoAlfaiate How many stories were told by the msm about Saddam's WMD? Let's see: 1)Mobile labs for producing poison gas 2) Bio weapon spraying drones 3) Importation of Uranium from Niger 4)Aluminum tubes for centrifuges 5) Al-Libi and bio weapons training....Seems to me Uncle Shmuel and his tame press have been less than truthful about Arab countries and WMD. Why should we believe them this time?

Why should we believe them this time?

Believing pro-Assad proaganda that is false on its face seems far more stupid. Doctors Without Borders confirmed signs of Sarin, but I suppose the average Unz reader thinks they are a bunch of evil Jews too.

tmauel > , July 5, 2017 at 4:27 am GMT

Amy Goodman at Democracy Now has completely sold out to the White Helmets propaganda machine which is funded by the U.S. state department. Apparently Goodman cannot bother to investigate the links to the rebels and U.S. clandestine funding of their propaganda. After all Goodman is so stuck on herself and her own star power that she doesn't care a lick about the truth.

She has consistently sold out to the democrats and their ignorant uber wealthy supporters in Hollywood.

Daves_Not_Here_Man > , July 5, 2017 at 4:55 am GMT

@Fiendly Neighborhood Terrorist Discretion being the better part of valor, I imagine Girard is soft-pedaling the degree of US complicity so as to not arouse too much cognitive dissonance in the reader and lose his main point.

One red pill per dose.

Druid > , July 5, 2017 at 4:57 am GMT

@annamaria 'You left out the part about the Nulands and the Kagans.'
And you remind about them why?

Look carefully at the photograph in the following article: http://theduran.com/4-ways-russia-could-and-should-bring-about-regime-change-in-kiev/
Keep in mind that the neo-Nazis have began flourishing in Kiev since the ziocon-infested State Dept. had accomplished a regime change there in 2014.

Was not it you who enquired the UNZ readers about visiting Yad Vashem? - Well, see the amazing results that have been achieved by American/UK Jews in Ukraine. Fit perfectly Yad Vashem preaching.

"How the Israel Lobby Protected Ukrainian Neo-Nazis: http://fourwinds10.com/siterun_data/government/foreign_policy_and_government/news.php?q=1417630958 "Rep. John Conyers wanted to block U.S. funding to neo-Nazis in Ukraine. But the ADL and Simon Wiesenthal Center refused to help ."

"The neo-Nazi Oleh Tyahnybok and the American Zionist Victoria Nuland, wife of Robert Kagan, are all smiles. Not since the days of the Haavara (Transfer) Agreement of August 25, 1933 between the Zionist Federation of Germany and Chancellor Adolf Hitler celebrated by the striking of a celebratory coin by the Berlin Mint (right)....:" http://www.intrepidreport.com/archives/12289

Haavara (Transfer) Agreement: http://www.fpp.co.uk/online/09/07/Nazi_Zionism.html You tell that Ziofascist, ma'am!

Esmehan > , July 5, 2017 at 6:00 am GMT

Anybody remember "Zlata's Diary"? This was a piece of tearjerking propaganda supposedly written by a Bosnian Muslim girl enduring the siege of Sarajevo. Absurdly compared to Anne Frank's story, it played on Western ignorance and sentimentality. Bosnian Serbs, in reality one side in a vicious three-way conflict, became " Nazis" attacking the innocent.

Uncle Bunty > , July 5, 2017 at 10:38 am GMT

The whole notion of a 'white hat' singularity is predicated on an essential falsehood: That Syrians of every stripe have not been digging themselves, their loved ones, and even strangers out of the rubble of a thousand formerly-civilized places since America decided they wanted, and needed, more 'democrazy'.

The white hats and team shirts are both imported, along with the notion that they are 'special' or 'important' – thy're part of the money we and our governments spend to bring change to Syria, a part that doesn't buy guns. .

Seamus Padraig > , July 5, 2017 at 10:46 am GMT

@Corporal Clegg Doctors Without Borders is another ZATO psy-op not much different from the White Helmets. Why their very founder, Bernard Kouchner, went on to become France's Foreign Minister under Sarko. Talk about revolving doors!

Tallulah B > , July 5, 2017 at 10:48 am GMT

@truthtellerAryan This is acceptable. Dead Arabs – killed by other Arabs – are pefect 'thematic' material to prove the goodness and humanity of real people – in Hollywood, or Tel Aviv. Like so much of everywhere else on Earth "they've been killing each other for thousands of years" – as opposed to, merely shooting a stone thrower, dispersing rioting negroes or shooting-up the local disco.

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 11:24 am GMT

@Anon None of those sources are great, but even so, none of those stories suggest that anarchy is the goal. All these sources – and many others presenting the hard facts – refute your charitable opinion of Israel, while supporting the unfortunate truth that anarchy in Syria does serve Israel and that Israel does everything in its power to generate the anarchy, including the material and logistical support for ISIS and Al Qaeda.
As for the "goal," please do not feign innocence: both PNAC and Oded Yinon plan for Eretz Israel are available online.

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 11:34 am GMT

@Corporal Clegg "Russia/Syria have several explanations, but Assad being a genocidal lispy murderer is still more easily believed than all of them."

Seems as a specter of Colin Power comes to UNZ, under pseudonym of Corporal Clegg. Or is it the morbid Cheney and his pupil Hillary Clinton? – Only a dedicated ziocon could be so rabidly hateful of Russia and Syria.
By the way, how is Assad genocidal next to the genocidal Israelis? Assad looks morally superior to the amoral supremacists and parasitoids next door.

anarchyst > , July 5, 2017 at 12:30 pm GMT

@Esmehan Anybody remember "Zlata's Diary"? This was a piece of tearjerking propaganda supposedly written by a Bosnian Muslim girl enduring the siege of Sarajevo. Absurdly compared to Anne Frank's story, it played on Western ignorance and sentimentality. Bosnian Serbs, in reality one side in a vicious three-way conflict, became " Nazis" attacking the innocent. Let's not forget that Anne Frank's "diary was mostly written with a ball-point pen, NOT invented until after WW2…

vidya > , July 5, 2017 at 12:50 pm GMT

Sarin is a subset of a group of compounds called organo phosphates. They are primarily used as insecticides/ pesticides(such as round up), as well as motor oil additives. If vaporized, as stored forms by a conventional explosive, exposure to any of them causes similar manifestations. Hence it is not possible to say which organo phosphorus compound one is exposed to in absence of a forensic analysis such as gas/ liquid chromatography.

Ludwig Watzal > , Website July 5, 2017 at 1:07 pm GMT

It's not surprising that the largest fake-factory on earth, Hollywood, awarded an OSCAR to a fake documentary. The "White Helmets" are nothing but terrorists disguised as paramedics. After the terrorists had to leave Aleppo, the "White Helmets" also disappeared. Wherever there is a terrorist attack, the phony helpers appear. Foreign powers created the White Helmets, and with the collaboration of the mainstream media, they could succeed till they finally landed in Hollywood where they belong. Unsurprisingly, Hillary Clinton and George Clooney liked these hoodlums, which should not surprise anybody. At least, Hillary and her husband belong behind bars.

http://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/syria-crisis/1531-white-helmets-oscar.html

schmenz > , July 5, 2017 at 2:13 pm GMT

@Corporal Clegg Yawn.

Michael Kenny > , July 5, 2017 at 2:34 pm GMT

Cynical me, you may say, but I can't help suspecting that if the White Helmets had been on the same side as Vladimir Putin, there would be no crticism of them on the American internet. After all, when was the last time you saw an article criticising the Ukrainian "rebels"?

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 3:27 pm GMT

@Ludwig Watzal It's not surprising that the largest fake-factory on earth, Hollywood, awarded an OSCAR to a fake documentary. The "White Helmets" are nothing but terrorists disguised as paramedics. After the terrorists had to leave Aleppo, the "White Helmets" also disappeared. Wherever there is a terrorist attack, the phony helpers appear. Foreign powers created the White Helmets, and with the collaboration of the mainstream media, they could succeed till they finally landed in Hollywood where they belong. Unsurprisingly, Hillary Clinton and George Clooney liked these hoodlums, which should not surprise anybody. At least, Hillary and her husband belong behind bars.

http://ahtribune.com/world/north-africa-south-west-asia/syria-crisis/1531-white-helmets-oscar.html Thank you for the link. More on the same: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/02/24/syrian-war-propaganda-at-the-oscars/
"The White Helmets were initiated by the British military contractor James LeMesurier and is funded (about $100 million) by the different Western governments… It's a NATO ghost organization…
The "White Helmets" have no telephone number in Syria. If one wants to get in touch with them, one has to contact Al-Qaida. Their headquarter is alongside Al-Qaida's. The Real Syria Civil Defence can be reached by dialing 113 inside Syria.

… most of the group's heavy funding goes to marketing, which is run by "The Syria Campaign" based in New York. The campaign is based in New York City, and the manager is an Irish-American woman, named Anna Nolan , who has never been to Syria. Even their website is fake. They beefed it up with video footage from a documentary produced by the BBC in 2010 that showed dancing kids and education under the Assad government."

What does Mrs. Clooney do? – defending human rights? Alongside with Clintons? – Then it should be very "humanitarian."

More on the amazing Al Qaeda affiliate known as White Helmets:
"The film is as fraudulent as the group it tries to turn into heroes. The filmmakers never set foot in Syria. Their video footage takes place in southern Turkey where they show White Helmet trainees in a hotel and talking on cell phones…
The original video has the logo of Aleppo Media Center (AMC), which was created by the Syrian Expatriates Organization. Their address on K Street in Washington DC suggests this is yet another Western-funded operation similar to the Iraqi National Congress that lobbied and lied on behalf of the 2003 invasion of Iraq."

The infamous AMC: "Aleppo Media Centre' Funded By French Foreign Office, EU and US" http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/09/20/exclusive-aleppo-media-centre-funded-by-french-foreign-office-eu-and-us/

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 3:36 pm GMT

@Corporal Clegg "Believing pro-Assad proaganda that is false on its face…"
Do you have facts to prove your statement? – otherwise you are exercising in slander on behalf of the empire of Fed. Reserve (MIC, banksters, oilmen, Israel-firsters).
No need in parroting the MSM lies on UNZ.

Man on the street > , July 5, 2017 at 4:20 pm GMT

@Priss Factor I remember vividly during the Bush attempts to invade Iraq, his neocon surrogates on TV used the terms HE DID NOT SELL IT YET TO THE AMERICA PEOPLE. In other words, the propaganda and lies to the American stupid population did not reach a critical mass. "Selling" the war? What a concept. Do you think if you ask any idiot on the street if the US was invaded by a foreign power, should the president sell to the American people on the fact that our military should attack and repel the invaders? Of course not. But, in order that a President brain wash the sheeple into sending their kids to die for Israel by invading Iraq, the president must paint the Iraqi president as evil, and of course our presstitude will never tell the sheeple that our president is the evil one for invading a sovereign nation that never attacked us.

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 6:29 pm GMT

@Man on the street

"In August, families of the British soldiers killed in the Iraq War crowd-funded £150,000 (US$194,000) to bring a case for Blair's prosecution."

This is a proper step to address the terrible injustice. The US citizenry needs to collects its courage and initiate a case against Cheney & Co, i.e., against the mega-war profiteers & ziocons. https://www.rt.com/uk/395371-tony-blair-prosecution-iraq/

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 7:00 pm GMT

@SolontoCroesus First exposures seem to have a powerful impact.

In Jan 2012 Emma Alberici interviewed Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, on Australia TV. He laid out the reasons the Russian government opposed US/UN intervention in Syria, the most significant reason being the sovereignty of Syria and its government. United Nations conventions proscribe interference in the domestic affairs of member states. It was a straightforward judgment.

US claims to be the nation that "preserves the international order" by adhering to the "rule of law," but in fact, Russia seems to have been the state sustaining that value.

Lavrov and the Russian government he represents gained credibility with that interview, and nothing I have seen him or Putin say in the 5 years subsequent, has significantly contradicted that policy laid out in 2012. "US claims to be the nation that "preserves the international order" by adhering to the "rule of law…"

It does claim this fiction, but the fraud has been exposed and there is no way to "fix" the problem:

"Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again"

"Over 500,000 Syrian Refugees Return To Government-Controlled Areas Of Syria" http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-05/over-500000-syrian-refugees-return-government-controlled-areas-syria

"Crucial to the Western narrative of the Syrian conflict is the assertion that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a brutal dictator who has taken to killing his own people over the course of Syria's six-year-long conflict. … While this narrative has been pervasive in media coverage of the Syrian conflict, it is now being debunked by the very Syrian refugees.

According to a recent statement from Andrej Mahecic, a spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, an estimated 440,000 displaced Syrians who remained in the country have returned to their homes since the year began. In addition, 31,000 refugees in neighboring countries also returned to Syria in the first half of the year, with 260,000 having returned to Syria from other nations since 2015."

The Syrians literally vote with their feet, thus exposing the US/Israeli lies.

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 7:03 pm GMT

@Authenticjazzman She's a deranged leftist flunky working for GS towards the goal of a one-world, no borders, marxist looney-bin, such as her idiot husband and the entire ilk to which they belong: BO, BC, HRC, all of hollywood, academia, the media, clergy, justistia, etc.
I guess this sort of sums it up, without the effort of a huge research project.

Authenticjazzman "Mensa" society member since 1973, airborne qualified US Army vet, and pro jazz artist. Obama and Hillary are leftists and marxists? – Don't they love money more than anything else?

annamaria > , July 5, 2017 at 8:13 pm GMT

US-Israeli love fest with Daesh: http://www.voltairenet.org/article196903.html

"…since the accession to power in Beijing by President Xi Jinping, bearer of the project for the two Silk Roads, Washington has been pushing for the creation of a " Sunnistan " straddling Iraq and Syria. In order to acheive this goal, it [the US] has financed, armed and supervised Daesh in order to cut the communication route between Beirut-Damascus-Baghdad-Teheran and Beijing.
… since the beginning of the Qatar crisis, the Iraqi and Syrian armies have suddenly advanced. They have liberated the frontier territories previously held by Daesh and are now on the verge of establishing their junction (in other words, reconnecting the Silk Road). The two armies are now separated only by two hundred metres of land controlled illegally by the US army ."

The bloodshed could be ended any time if not the Israel-occupied US Congress. They need more human meat & blood. Here, James LeMesurier and Anna Nolan come up handy, fed from the $100 million fund allocated by the US/EU "deciders" to spread propaganda against Syrian sovereignty. That was a backdrop for the opportunistic Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara (neither of them ever visited Syria) getting happily their shekels for propagandizing fakery of "White Helmets," never mind the human cost of Daesh for Syria.

L.K > , July 5, 2017 at 9:45 pm GMT

Let's be clear;

The "white helmets" are a propaganda operation backed by those countries trying to effect regime change in Syria, such as the ZUSA & ZUK, and they are also Al Qaeda's "civil defense".

I have seen various photos of their operatives in white helmet uniforms & in other photos the same individuals armed & in combat fatigues.

Independent British journalist, Vanessa Beeley, who has been to Syria has helped unmask these criminals;
SYRIA WHITE HELMETS HAND IN HAND WITH AL QAEDA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBkn78q_t_Q
In this vid, we can see the white helmets together with Al Qaeda, participating in executions, etc;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLyZkPfLoG0

Priss Factor > , Website July 5, 2017 at 10:09 pm GMT

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/when-fake-countries-go-to-war/

Some nations are real nations with deep roots of history, ethnicity, and territory.

Other nations are fake nations, recently constructed by foreign imperialists who drew lines on the map to maximize exploitation of natural resources and labor.

Globalism seeks to weaken historical roots, ethnic ties, and territorial claims for the whole world(except for Israel) and turn even real nations into fake nations like those of Middle East and Africa.

If Soros can help it, Hungary, Czech Republic, and Poland will also become country clubs of globalist elites who replace native folks with foreign minions.

There are plenty of turncoat comprador elites even in real nations who'd gladly take 30 pieces of silver to rub shoulders with the glamorites of the world.

Montag > , July 5, 2017 at 10:28 pm GMT

@exiled off mainstreet You just described exactly what is the subject matter of an independent movie and graphic novel that I'm trying in vain to get funded. Besides the obvious reasons that 95% of my media-related friends are ultra liberals (anti-truth) and the general cognitive dissonance of our society to the abject poverty of education to university debt-financed amongst young people that verges on state sponsored sleep entrainment depicted in Brave New World.

Anyway, my project has been shunned officially and unofficially; a known Hollywood actor asked me upon reading the script whether I thought it would be controversial? Hell, yes! Except why do you say that? Well you kind of lay out the plan.. It is definitely an awareness thing via social media amongst millenials recorded by Mark Dice; in short, they don't read books, they have no idea of world events, founding fathers, constitution, can't tell you what DC means in Washington, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. One young white man knew a lot; another 40 year old white woman quoted verbatim the Declaration of Independence. The rest didn't know what he was talking about.

Anyway, have a look. I don't expect you to contribute because it's DOA but wouldn't mind honest feedback, i.e., am I living in a bubble I created for myself?

https://igg.me/at/chasm-project-url/x/16732400

dcite > , July 5, 2017 at 11:58 pm GMT

@Alister

Funded by USAID……it's clear they are nothing more than a CIA front…. why no one does an in depth review of the links between USAID and the CIA…..they will find they are one and the same. It's time for UNZ to uncover the real USAID

Now that would be journalism worth its salt. Absolutely. USAID started as a CIA front in Vietnam during the 60s. Ruth Paine, "friend" of Marina Oswald, had a father named William Avery Hyde, who worked at USAID at least partly because it was tied in with the CIA So did other members of her family. I know someone who worked briefly at USAID, and would get questions from the public asking for info on projects from the 1960s. There were almost no records. We'r talking the 1960s, not the last century. There should have been the usual memos, advance reports, technical briefs, assessments, etc. Nearly nada, at least among the non-top-secret documents and archives. Only from the mid-70s on, around the time the CIA and various assassinations were looked at critically by Congress, did this agency keep good records of its activities.

RobinG > , July 6, 2017 at 12:17 am GMT

@Montag DOA? Killed my interest with reference to ZioNazi Roseanne Barr as "truth teller." Get a grip.

Erebus > , July 6, 2017 at 12:19 am GMT

For those who may remain unconvinced, Insurge Intelligence (self-described as "a crowdfunded investigative journalism project for people and planet") has acquired 1000s of documents that lift the veil on just how deeply the USM and CIA are embedded in its productions. In a word, very.

https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/exclusive-documents-expose-direct-us-military-intelligence-influence-on-1-800-movies-and-tv-shows-36433107c307

We live in a simulacrum created by others, in accordance with an agenda they too are following blindly.

Lawrence Fitton > , July 6, 2017 at 3:56 am GMT

isn't it rich, isn't strange, that hollywood types influence naive americans. ill-informed and over-respected types such as george clooney and justin timberlake inflate a narrative of good in the evil of the syrian war crime. why hasn't america demanded an end to extended war-making? the media. that's why.
steppenwolf sang goddam the pusher.
of thee i sing.

Ben_C > , July 6, 2017 at 3:58 am GMT

@L.K Yep…

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/video-white-helmets-clean-following-rebel-execution-southern-syria-18-graphic/

Don't forget this little incident:

https://rachelblevins.com/2017/06/21/gruesome-video-white-helmets-beheading-dumping-syrian-army-bodies/

Priss Factor > , Website July 6, 2017 at 6:07 am GMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwGRvsSGbuM

ROTFL. These guys says the US policy has been anti-Iran but its follies keep aiding Iran inadvertently.

Delinquent Snail > , July 6, 2017 at 7:19 am GMT

Just because we on UNZ are not idiots (most of us) and can dismiss this bs for what it is, doesn't mean the vast majority of americans arent. People nowadays don't read anything besides social media. This country's populace just doesn't care anymore, they've given up fighting to be free. Most just want to trust big brother and uncle sam to have their back, when in reality, nothing could be further from the truth. Years and years of tv programming (the actual shows and the subliminal messages) have robbed most americans of the will power needed to keep an out of controll government in check. They just dont care anymore. And if they start to question whats going on, they are called crazy or delusional, or (my personal favorite) a conspiracy theorist.

We need to do something. Organize and take back our nation. Remove our out of controll spy agencies, stop funding every third world nation in africa (if they cant support them selves, let them die or be someone elses problem. The money could go to so many more important things stateside), no more Foreign Military financing to other nations (if they want to buy our weapons, great! Pay US in cash, gold, silver, whatever. Just pay us. No more freebies(im looking at the 5 billion a year to isreal and Egypt)), we need to bring our soldiers home, and have them do what we pay other nations do do with the training we also provide (border security), we need to dismantle our lobbyist political environment by having all elected officials have all finacial transactions and property become public record (all of it).

We desperately need to STAND UP as a United group. I know im not the only one who feels this way, but alone i can only do so much. I've tried to spread awareness to people i know IRL, but it always spins back to either they dont care, the MSM told them the "truth" of the matter, or im crazy for not wanting perpetual war with nations 95% of americans couldnt find on a map. Thats why we as a group, the politically aware on sites such as this, need to start grouping up and using our wits and weight ro make an impact.

We all don't agree on the finer specifics of why this nation is broken, but we all agree its broken.

annamaria > , July 6, 2017 at 11:21 am GMT

@dcite

Funded by USAID……it's clear they are nothing more than a CIA front…. why no one does an in depth review of the links between USAID and the CIA…..they will find they are one and the same. It's time for UNZ to uncover the real USAID
Now that would be journalism worth its salt. Absolutely. USAID started as a CIA front in Vietnam during the 60s. Ruth Paine, "friend" of Marina Oswald, had a father named William Avery Hyde, who worked at USAID at least partly because it was tied in with the CIA So did other members of her family. I know someone who worked briefly at USAID, and would get questions from the public asking for info on projects from the 1960s. There were almost no records. We'r talking the 1960s, not the last century. There should have been the usual memos, advance reports, technical briefs, assessments, etc. Nearly nada, at least among the non-top-secret documents and archives. Only from the mid-70s on, around the time the CIA and various assassinations were looked at critically by Congress, did this agency keep good records of its activities. The "1984″ has been a conduit for the US "deciders" for so long that they have lost a sense of reality (whereas a sense of decency is not familiar for them at all). Here is an amazing sample of official idiocy: http://www.globalresearch.ca/fake-news-us-backed-forces-blast-through-8th-century-syrian-wall-to-fight-isis/5597701

"The Rafiqah Wall, first constructed in the 8th century by the Abbasid dynasty, is reported to be over 12 feet high, over a meter thick and stretches over 3 miles around the old city.

… the advancement of Syrian troops made the wall a trap that could have allowed the ISIS fighters to be completely wiped out. The US-backed forces, fronted by the so-called "Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)", appeared to come to ISIS's rescue. According to a July 3, 2017 TIME article(1), ISIS fighters had taken positions there "to defend the city [sic]" and planted explosive devices at what the article described as "breaks in the wall."

On the night of July 3rd, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), claimed that SDF had "found a way" through the historic wall at "the most heavily-fortified portion of Raqqa"; two 25 meter-long breaches had been blasted through it. The article claimed that the two "small" - almost 100-foot - gaps "will help preserve the remainder of the overall 2,500-meter wall…"

A fine example of ZUSA reasoning: call the ISIS supporters the "moderate" jihadis (SDF) and call the blast of an ancient monument a "preservation."

[Jun 14, 2017] Strange Oversight by Comey tells us a lot by Ray McGovern

Notable quotes:
"... Given the stakes involved in the Russia-gate investigation – now including a possible impeachment battle over removing the President of the United States – wouldn't it seem logical for the FBI to insist on its own forensics for this fundamental predicate of the case? Or could Comey's hesitancy to demand access to the DNC's computers be explained by a fear that FBI technicians not fully briefed on CIA/NSA/FBI Deep State programs might uncover a lot more than he wanted? ..."
"... "In the case of the DNC, and, I believe, the DCCC, but I'm sure the DNC, we did not have access to the devices themselves. We got relevant forensic information from a private party, a high-class entity, that had done the work. But we didn't get direct access." ..."
"... "Isn't content an important part of the forensics from a counterintelligence standpoint?" ..."
"... "It is, although what was briefed to me by my folks – the people who were my folks at the time is that they had gotten the information from the private party that they needed to understand the intrusion by the spring of 2016." ..."
"... Burr demurred on asking Comey to explain what amounts to gross misfeasance, if not worse. Perhaps, NBC could arrange for Megyn Kelly to interview Burr to ask if he has a clue as to what Putin might have been referring to when he noted, "There may be hackers, by the way, in the United States who very craftily and professionally passed the buck to Russia." ..."
"... Given the congressional intelligence "oversight" committees' obsequiousness and repeated "high esteem" for the "intelligence community," there seems an even chance that – no doubt because of an oversight – the CIA/FBI/NSA deep-stage troika failed to brief the Senate "oversight committee" chairman on WikiLeaks "Vault 7" disclosures – even when WikiLeaks publishes original CIA documents. ..."
Jun 13, 2017 | original.antiwar.com

Given the stakes involved in the Russia-gate investigation – now including a possible impeachment battle over removing the President of the United States – wouldn't it seem logical for the FBI to insist on its own forensics for this fundamental predicate of the case? Or could Comey's hesitancy to demand access to the DNC's computers be explained by a fear that FBI technicians not fully briefed on CIA/NSA/FBI Deep State programs might uncover a lot more than he wanted?

Comey was asked again about this curious oversight on June 8 by Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Richard Burr:

BURR: "And the FBI, in this case, unlike other cases that you might investigate – did you ever have access to the actual hardware that was hacked? Or did you have to rely on a third party to provide you the data that they had collected?"

COMEY: "In the case of the DNC, and, I believe, the DCCC, but I'm sure the DNC, we did not have access to the devices themselves. We got relevant forensic information from a private party, a high-class entity, that had done the work. But we didn't get direct access."

BURR: "But no content?"

COMEY: "Correct."

BURR: "Isn't content an important part of the forensics from a counterintelligence standpoint?"

COMEY: "It is, although what was briefed to me by my folks – the people who were my folks at the time is that they had gotten the information from the private party that they needed to understand the intrusion by the spring of 2016."

Burr demurred on asking Comey to explain what amounts to gross misfeasance, if not worse. Perhaps, NBC could arrange for Megyn Kelly to interview Burr to ask if he has a clue as to what Putin might have been referring to when he noted, "There may be hackers, by the way, in the United States who very craftily and professionally passed the buck to Russia."

Given the congressional intelligence "oversight" committees' obsequiousness and repeated "high esteem" for the "intelligence community," there seems an even chance that – no doubt because of an oversight – the CIA/FBI/NSA deep-stage troika failed to brief the Senate "oversight committee" chairman on WikiLeaks "Vault 7" disclosures – even when WikiLeaks publishes original CIA documents.

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He was an Army Infantry/Intelligence officer and CIA analyst for a total of 30 years and now servers on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS). Reprinted with permission from Consortium News .

[Jun 10, 2017] Comey and Mueller Russiagates Mythical Heroes

Notable quotes:
"... Mueller was even okay with the CIA conducting torture programs after his own agents warned against participation. Agents were simply instructed not to document such torture, and any "war crimes files" were made to disappear. Not only did "collect it all" surveillance and torture programs continue, but Mueller's (and then Comey's) FBI later worked to prosecute NSA and CIA whistleblowers who revealed these illegalities. ..."
"... Mueller didn't speak the truth about a war he knew to be unjustified. He didn't speak out against torture. He didn't speak out against unconstitutional surveillance. And he didn't tell the truth about 9/11. He is just "their man." ..."
"... Since Mueller was apparently appointed at least in part as a result of Comey's leak, and no evidence has been shown of the phony Russia charges despite months of possibly extra-legal digging, Mueller's appointment should be cancelled and his office liquidated if that can be done in some fashion. If not, may be he should show more integrity than has heretofore been the case and liquidate the office himself. ..."
"... My old San Fran days memory recalls that "liberal" Democrat Diane Feinstein nominated neo-nazi Republican Mueller to US Attorney for N. California. I recall some thought because her husband was under investigation for a corrupt arms deal. That's just my memory ..."
"... So Clinton's odd lesbian Attorney General helped boost a Republican to greater powers. ..."
"... He was referring specifically to a widely publicized Sept. 14 statement in which he offered assurances - later proved to be false - that the bureau had no warning that terrorists might be training in American flight schools. On Sept. 17, Mr. Mueller went further, saying he knew of "no warning signs" of any sort of attack. ..."
"... Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is on the Judiciary Committee, said his staff investigators would explore the accusations made by the Minneapolis agent, Coleen Rowley, that Mr. Mueller and other senior F.B.I. officials had intentionally shaded the truth about the investigation last summer of Zacarias Moussaoui." ..."
"... To summarize, we have a "Republican" from Northern California nominated by a "liberal" Democrat to become part of the Clinton "Justice" department who played a key role as FBI Director to cover 9-11. He now reappears from the grave with great praise from Democrats openly plotting to overthrow President Trump to investigate absurdly silly things like speaking to Russian diplomats. Let us recall Trump openly expressed doubts about the 9-11 twin towers ruse on 9-11! ..."
"... The 911 cover up team is now about to take President Trump down over yet another false flag, and this team would include the leadership of both parties. How convenient that the Democrats are doing the dirty work so that Fox News and the rest can now engage in covering up the Republicans' behind-the-scenes role in all this. ..."
"... March 07, 2017 CIA Leak: "Russian Election Hackers" May Work In Langley ..."
"... Attribution of cyber-intrusions and attacks is nearly impossible. A well executed attack can not be traced back to its culprit. If there are some trails that seem attributable one should be very cautions following them. They are likely faked. ..."
"... Although many details are still hazy because of secrecy – and further befogged by politics – it appears House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was informed last week about invasive electronic surveillance of senior U.S. government officials and, in turn, passed that information onto President Trump. ..."
"... The 9/11 myth is a multi-layered deception. Those within the kosher parameters of the 9/11 cult include the following: ..."
Jun 10, 2017 | www.unz.com

Mainstream commentators display amnesia when they describe former FBI Directors Robert Mueller and James Comey as stellar and credible law enforcement figures. Perhaps if they included J. Edgar Hoover, such fulsome praise could be put into proper perspective.

Although these Hoover successors, now occupying center stage in the investigation of President Trump, have been hailed for their impeccable character by much of Official Washington, the truth is, as top law enforcement officials of the George W. Bush Administration (Mueller as FBI Director and James Comey as Deputy Attorney General), both presided over post-9/11 cover-ups and secret abuses of the Constitution, enabled Bush-Cheney fabrications used to launch wrongful wars, and exhibited plain vanilla incompetence.

TIME Magazine would probably have not called my own disclosures a " bombshell memo " to the Joint Intelligence Committee Inquiry in May 2002 if it had not been for Mueller's having so misled everyone after 9/11. Although he bore no personal responsibility for intelligence failures before the attack, since he only became FBI Director a week before, Mueller denied or downplayed the significance of warnings that had poured in yet were all ignored or mishandled during the Spring and Summer of 2001.

Bush Administration officials had circled the wagons and refused to publicly own up to what the 9/11 Commission eventually concluded, "that the system had been blinking red ." Failures to read, share or act upon important intelligence, which a FBI agent witness termed " criminal negligence " in later trial testimony, were therefore not fixed in a timely manner. (Some failures were never fixed at all.)

Worse, Bush and Cheney used that post 9/11 period of obfuscation to "roll out" their misbegotten "war on terror," which only served to exponentially increase worldwide terrorism .

Unfulfilled Promise

I wanted to believe Director Mueller when he expressed some regret in our personal meeting the night before we both testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee. He told me he was seeking improvements and that I should not hesitate to contact him if I ever witnessed a similar situation to what was behind the FBI's pre 9/11 failures.

A few months later, when it appeared he was acceding to Bush-Cheney's ginning up intelligence to launch the unjustified, counterproductive and illegal war on Iraq, I took Mueller up on his offer, emailing him my concerns in late February 2003. Mueller knew, for instance, that Vice President Dick Cheney's claims connecting 9/11 to Iraq were bogus yet he remained quiet. He also never responded to my email.

Beyond ignoring politicized intelligence, Mueller bent to other political pressures. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Mueller directed the " post 9/11 round-up " of about 1,000 immigrants who mostly happened to be in the wrong place (the New York City area) at the wrong time. FBI Headquarters encouraged more and more detentions for what seemed to be essentially P.R. purposes. Field offices were required to report daily the number of detentions in order to supply grist for FBI press releases about FBI "progress" in fighting terrorism. Consequently, some of the detainees were brutalized and jailed for up to a year despite the fact that none turned out to be terrorists .

A History of Failure

Long before he became FBI Director, serious questions existed about Mueller's role as Acting U.S. Attorney in Boston in effectively enabling decades of corruption and covering up of the FBI's illicit deals with mobster Whitey Bulger and other "top echelon" informants who committed numerous murders and crimes. When the truth was finally uncovered through intrepid investigative reporting and persistent, honest judges, U.S. taxpayers footed a $100 million court award to the four men framed for murders committed by (the FBI-operated) Bulger gang.

Current media applause omits the fact that former FBI Director Mueller was the top official in charge of the Anthrax terror fiasco investigation into those 2001 murders , which targeted an innocent man (Steven Hatfill) whose lawsuit eventually forced the FBI to pay $5 million in compensation. Mueller's FBI was also severely criticized by Department of Justice Inspector Generals finding the FBI overstepped the law improperly serving hundreds of thousands of "national security letters" to obtain private (and irrelevant) metadata on citizens, and for infiltrating nonviolent anti-war groups under the guise of investigating "terrorism."

For his part, Deputy Attorney General James Comey , too, went along with the abuses of Bush and Cheney after 9/11 and signed off on a number of highly illegal programs including warrantless surveillance of Americans and torture of captives . Comey also defended the Bush Administration's three-year-long detention of an American citizen without charges or right to counsel.

Up to the March 2004 night in Attorney General John Ashcroft's hospital room, both Comey and Mueller were complicit with implementing a form of martial law, perpetrated via secret Office of Legal Counsel memos mainly written by John Yoo and predicated upon Yoo's singular theories of absolute "imperial" or "war presidency" powers, and requiring Ashcroft every 90 days to renew certification of a "state of emergency."

The Comey/Mueller Myth

What's not well understood is that Comey's and Mueller's joint intervention to stop Bush's men from forcing the sick Attorney General to sign the certification that night was a short-lived moment. A few days later, they all simply went back to the drawing board to draft new legal loopholes to continue the same (unconstitutional) surveillance of Americans.

The mythology of this episode, repeated endlessly throughout the press, is that Comey and Mueller did something significant and lasting in that hospital room. They didn't. Only the legal rationale for their unconstitutional actions was tweaked.

Mueller was even okay with the CIA conducting torture programs after his own agents warned against participation. Agents were simply instructed not to document such torture, and any "war crimes files" were made to disappear. Not only did "collect it all" surveillance and torture programs continue, but Mueller's (and then Comey's) FBI later worked to prosecute NSA and CIA whistleblowers who revealed these illegalities.

ORDER IT NOW

Neither Comey nor Mueller - who are reported to be " joined at the hip " - deserve their current lionization among politicians and mainstream media. Instead of Jimmy Stewart-like "G-men" with reputations for principled integrity, the two close confidants and collaborators merely proved themselves, along with former CIA Director George "Slam Dunk" Tenet, reliably politicized sycophants, enmeshing themselves in a series of wrongful abuses of power along with official incompetence.

It seems clear that based on his history and close "partnership" with Comey, called "one of the closest working relationships the top ranks of the Justice Department have ever seen," Mueller was chosen as Special Counsel not because he has integrity but because he will do what the powerful want him to do.

Mueller didn't speak the truth about a war he knew to be unjustified. He didn't speak out against torture. He didn't speak out against unconstitutional surveillance. And he didn't tell the truth about 9/11. He is just "their man."

Coleen Rowley , a retired FBI special agent and division legal counsel whose May 2002 memo to then-FBI Director Robert Mueller exposed some of the FBI's pre-9/11 failures, was named one of TIME magazine's "Persons of the Year" in 2002. Her 2003 letter to Robert Mueller in opposition to launching the Iraq War is archived in full text on the NYT and her 2013 op-ed entitled " Questions for the FBI Nominee " was published on the day of James Comey's confirmation hearing. This piece will also be cross-posted on Rowley's Huffington Post page.

Dan Hayes June 9, 2017 at 3:46 am GMT

As Colleen Rowley has so thoroughly and unequivocally demonstrated here, both Comey and Mueller are living examples of the Peter Principle (that managers rise to the level of their incompetence).

exiled off mainstreet Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 4:24 am GMT

According to Jonathan Turley, one of the best and most respected legal experts, Comey may have violated the law using his professor friend to leak what he thought was an incriminating memorandum documenting Trump's "hope" that he would lay off Flynn because Flynn was a "good guy." Even torture advocate Dershowitz, who, for his obvious faults, is a talented lawyer, indicates that it is preposterous to call this "obstruction of justice" when Trump had the power to pardon anybody. Meanwhile, the fact that Comey didn't find it necessary to document his interrogation of the harpy on the "matter" of her email server reveals that he seemed totally willing for justice to be obstructed in a more obvious fashion if he was on board with those doing the obstructing. It also came out that some of his testimony today appears to contradict statements he made under oath to Senator Grassley in a hearing dated May 3.

Since Mueller was apparently appointed at least in part as a result of Comey's leak, and no evidence has been shown of the phony Russia charges despite months of possibly extra-legal digging, Mueller's appointment should be cancelled and his office liquidated if that can be done in some fashion. If not, may be he should show more integrity than has heretofore been the case and liquidate the office himself.

Bill Jones Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 5:18 am GMT

Excellent piece. Not a dam word I can find fault with.

Carlton Meyer Website Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 5:31 am GMT

My old San Fran days memory recalls that "liberal" Democrat Diane Feinstein nominated neo-nazi Republican Mueller to US Attorney for N. California. I recall some thought because her husband was under investigation for a corrupt arms deal. That's just my memory

There are now lots of current news stories of Feinstein and open coup plotter Schumer excited about Muller's appointment to convict Trump for something. This from her own website:

https://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?id=FEA7C76A-E029-49AF-98F2-5446AABFAD22

May 17 2017

Washington-Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today released the following statement on the appointment of former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel: "The appointment of Bob Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation is a good first step to get to the bottom of the many questions we have about Russian interference in our election and possible ties to the president.

"Bob was a fine U.S. attorney, a great FBI director and there's no better person who could be asked to perform this function. He is respected, he is talented and he has the knowledge and ability to do the right thing."

I did find this from 1998:

http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/U-S-Attorney-Yamaguchi-Announces-Resignation-3000301.php

"In announcing his resignation, Yamaguchi said Attorney General Janet Reno will appoint Robert Mueller, a former federal prosecutor in San Francisco, as interim U.S. attorney. He is currently chief of the homicide division at the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C. Mueller has spent almost his entire career as a federal prosecutor, doing both civil and criminal work in the San Francisco district and then moving to the U.S. attorney's office in Boston. He eventually joined the Justice Department, where he was an assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division."

So Clinton's odd lesbian Attorney General helped boost a Republican to greater powers.

Mueller went on to play key roles in the PanAm Lockerbie coverup and the 9-11 ruse, despite this:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/692291/posts

"Mr. Mueller's credibility was harshly attacked in a letter made public last weekend in which a Minneapolis agent said the F.B.I. director was engaged in a public relations campaign "to protect the F.B.I. at all costs" after Sept. 11. But they said a review of his public remarks about the Sept. 11 investigation had raised uncomfortable questions about the F.B.I. director's credibility and about his ability to gather accurate information from his deputies."

In a news conference on Wednesday that amounted to a painful mea culpa for the bureau and for his performance in the nine months since he took over the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mr. Mueller said, "I have made mistakes occasionally in my public comments based on information or a lack of information that I subsequently got."

He was referring specifically to a widely publicized Sept. 14 statement in which he offered assurances - later proved to be false - that the bureau had no warning that terrorists might be training in American flight schools. On Sept. 17, Mr. Mueller went further, saying he knew of "no warning signs" of any sort of attack.

Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican who is on the Judiciary Committee, said his staff investigators would explore the accusations made by the Minneapolis agent, Coleen Rowley, that Mr. Mueller and other senior F.B.I. officials had intentionally shaded the truth about the investigation last summer of Zacarias Moussaoui."

To summarize, we have a "Republican" from Northern California nominated by a "liberal" Democrat to become part of the Clinton "Justice" department who played a key role as FBI Director to cover 9-11. He now reappears from the grave with great praise from Democrats openly plotting to overthrow President Trump to investigate absurdly silly things like speaking to Russian diplomats. Let us recall Trump openly expressed doubts about the 9-11 twin towers ruse on 9-11!

Yes, all corruption in DC eventually becomes a 9-11 thread.

DanCT Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 12:13 pm GMT

The 911 cover up team is now about to take President Trump down over yet another false flag, and this team would include the leadership of both parties. How convenient that the Democrats are doing the dirty work so that Fox News and the rest can now engage in covering up the Republicans' behind-the-scenes role in all this.

Also, Colleen Rowley mentions that Meuller ignored his FBI agents' warnings about not going along with CIA torture overseas, yet there is reason to believe that FBI agents were in fact sent overseas to coordinate this activity with the CIA and Mossad.

Agent76 Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 12:51 pm GMT

March 07, 2017 CIA Leak: "Russian Election Hackers" May Work In Langley

Attribution of cyber-intrusions and attacks is nearly impossible. A well executed attack can not be traced back to its culprit. If there are some trails that seem attributable one should be very cautions following them. They are likely faked.

http://www.4thmedia.org/2017/03/cia-leak-russian-election-hackers-may-work-in-langley/

Agent76 Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 12:55 pm GMT

Aug 8, 2016 "I want to scare Assad" Mike Morell on Charlie Rose

Mike Morell, former deputy director of the CIA, discusses the need to put pressure on Syria and Russia. The full conversation airs on PBS on August 8th, 2016.

MarkinLA Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 2:02 pm GMT

I need to leak a memo (actually my own interpretation of what happened after the fact) to counter any possible lies Trump might say just in case Trump produces a tape of the meeting.

What is wrong with this sentence?

Che Guava Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 3:37 pm GMT

This was an interesting article.

Counterpunch does publish many interesting articles, once upon a time, I was to considering subscription to the print edition, but no credit card, and the 80 to 90% idiocy on the site, The article at the link below is not unrepresentative, though it is at the bottom end of the scale.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/09/lessons-from-portlands-clashes-with-fascists

Agent76 Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 5:54 pm GMT

March 31, 2017 The Surveillance State Behind Russia-Gate

Although many details are still hazy because of secrecy – and further befogged by politics – it appears House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was informed last week about invasive electronic surveillance of senior U.S. government officials and, in turn, passed that information onto President Trump.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-surveillance-state-behind-russia-gate/5582211

Jan 2, 2017 CNN Caught Using Video Game Image In Fake Russian Hacking Story

It looks like CNN Has tried to pull the wool over our eyes once again. This time, they used a screenshot from the Fallout 4 Video game to paint the picture of Russian Hacking. To bad that's not what a real hacking screen looks like. And an image you will only find in the video game! Nice Try Clinton News Network!

Agent76 Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 6:10 pm GMT

@Che Guava This is another good read Che Guava. November 07, 2016 FBI Director James Comey: Hillary Should Not Face Criminal Charges

But Who Conducted the Investigation? FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Whose Wife Received $467,500. FBI Director James Comey (image left) decided to issue a report two days before the November election confirming that there is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Hillary in relation to the recent release of 650,000 Emails on October 28th.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/fbi-director-james-comey-no-evidence-of-hillary-wrong-doing-but-who-conducted-the-investigation-fbi-deputy-director-andrew-mccabe-bribed-whose-wife-received-467000/5555398

Agent76 Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 6:13 pm GMT

@Carlton Meyer This a very good read on the 9/11 event. September 07, 2016 September 11, 2001: The 15th Anniversary of the Crime and Cover-up of the Century "What Really Happened"?

New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani to be trucked away and shipped to China – an order that constitutes disturbing a crime scene – which is a federal crime.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/september-11-2001-the-15th-anniversary-of-the-crime-and-cover-up-of-the-century/5544414

Julius Evola Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 6:14 pm GMT

Get a life!

Anonymous Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 11:15 pm GMT

@MarkinLA I need to leak a memo (actually my own interpretation of what happened after the fact) to counter any possible lies Trump might say just in case Trump produces a tape of the meeting.

What is wrong with this sentence? Actually what is right about your post ia that it draws attention to the likelihood that the President would have recordings of all such conversations (not ones when he says "come for a walk with me while I stretch my legs in the garden") and that, anyway, a canny fellow like Comey would assume so and, accordingly, make notes immediately afterwards to ensure that he was right on all the key points. Which all leads to the conclusion that recordings would bear out Comey.

Priss Factor Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 11:18 pm GMT

Deep State messes up and sheeple run wild.

Anonymous Show Comment Next New Comment June 9, 2017 at 11:34 pm GMT

@Agent76 As a big factor in Comey's thinking just before the election when new material possibly pertinent to Clinton's irregullarities came to FBI attention would have been his own self interest it seems reasonable to suppose that both his embarrassment of Clinton by his communication to Congress and his exoneration of her were part of a process which began with "how bad could it be for me if Clinton wins [as I sulppose she will] and something really bad turns up from the investigation of the emails?". Then, given it was true, the exonerating statement is a no brainer (he restores his position as well as he can with Clinton in case she wins and he inly diminishes his credit with Trump slightly if Trumo wins).

Mulegino1 Show Comment Next New Comment June 10, 2017 at 1:24 am GMT

The 9/11 myth is a multi-layered deception. Those within the kosher parameters of the 9/11 cult include the following:

Robert Muller's role has nothing to do with being an impartial prosecutor but about being a "fixer" in proper Washingtonian parlance. He was probably brought into the FBI to insure a foreordained "slam dunk" verdict that 19 Arab amateur pilots hijacked 4 airliners led by a deathly ill man living in a cave, performed miraculous feats of aviation which would have made Waldo Pepper envious and violated the laws of physics all in one day. Now he is serving another purpose for his string pullers in the deep state by torpedoing Trump.

As Conan-Doyle wrote, "Whenever you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Office fires, nor jet fuel, nor building collapses or aircraft impacts will not cause hundreds of thousands of tons of structural steel and concrete to undergo molecular dissociation and turn into dust clouds. They generally do not cause the metal components of vehicles in the vicinity to be destroyed while their non-metallic components remain intact. Neither will conventional explosives or even nano-thermite. The destruction of WTC 1, WTC 2 and the core of WTC 6 was not caused by any of these things alone. WTC 7 may have been a case of conventional controlled demolition, but the idea that it experienced universal failure and collapsed into its footprint because of "raging fires" is too stupid for words.

It is O'Brien holding up the three fingers and torturing Winston into seeing two – except that a good part of our public accepts their masters' voice willingly and enthusiastically, even today in 2017.

geokat62 Show Comment Next New Comment June 10, 2017 at 2:20 am GMT

@Mulegino1

The 9/11 myth is a multi-layered deception. Those within the kosher parameters of the 9/11 cult include the following:

Not sure anyone would accuse Philip Giraldi (former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer of the CIA) of someone who is "within the kosher parameters of the 9/11 cult":

If there had been such a gathering, I would imagine that the Washington Post would have found out about it on the next day as intelligence officers are gregarious and like to talk. This has been my principal problem with the debate in some quarters about the 9/11 Commission. Their report did indeed miss many important angles in order to protect certain governmental interests, but if there had been a genuine conspiracy involving what must have been hundreds of people to demolish the Twin Towers with explosives, it surely would have leaked long ago .

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/do-high-level-leaks-suggest-a-conspiracy/

[Apr 18, 2017] Blame Putin! scheme is much older then recent Presidential elections

Notable quotes:
"... Most of the information about the specific instance of the CIA torturing an individual in Lebanon came from a biography on Bob Ames titled The Good Spy (2014) by Kai Bird. Which was a pretty good book. Ames has an interesting history. He forged a relationship which the author characterized as a friendship with high ranking individuals in the Palestinian Liberation Organization at a time when the PLO was labeled as a terrorist organization. It was this back channel connection that formed the basis of American diplomacy for peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. He died in the 1983 embassy bombing. ..."
"... Similar methods that resulted in the death of prisoners during CIA's systemic torture program during the Bush Administration were used. They'd dump cold water on'em and leave them in a cold cell. Nimr was left in a cell with a fan blowing cold air on them. Hall wasn't present at the time Nimr died. ..."
"... Besides the embassy bombing Mughniyeh was blamed for a lot of other terrorist acts that I think are based on nothing more than circumstantial evidence. Contemporary analysis suggests it's basically the "Blame Putin!" trope in action. ..."
Jan 01, 2017 | www.nakedcapitalism.com
Andrew Watts , December 31, 2016 at 3:03 pm

*I was in a rush yesterday so this is a follow-up to yesterday's hastily written comment on the torture report. Any fault or errors in that comment can be attributed to my gullibility.

Most of the information about the specific instance of the CIA torturing an individual in Lebanon came from a biography on Bob Ames titled The Good Spy (2014) by Kai Bird. Which was a pretty good book. Ames has an interesting history. He forged a relationship which the author characterized as a friendship with high ranking individuals in the Palestinian Liberation Organization at a time when the PLO was labeled as a terrorist organization. It was this back channel connection that formed the basis of American diplomacy for peace negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. He died in the 1983 embassy bombing.

-The individual who was tortured and died soon afterward was Elias Nimr . A Christian intelligence chieftain who appears to have played every side and angle he could during the Lebanon Civil War.

-The name of the CIA contractor who tortured Nimr was identified as Keith "Captain Crunch" Hall . He was originally identified by Mark Bowden in his book Road Work: Among Tyrants, Heroes, Rogues, and Beasts. (2007) A former Marine before he joined the CIA and was later a cop in California.

Similar methods that resulted in the death of prisoners during CIA's systemic torture program during the Bush Administration were used. They'd dump cold water on'em and leave them in a cold cell. Nimr was left in a cell with a fan blowing cold air on them. Hall wasn't present at the time Nimr died.

-Bob Baer neglects to mention this specific incident of torture in See No Evil but doesn't blame Nimr for the bombing of the embassy. *cough* Appropriately titled book if you ask me. *cough* A part of his theory on the masterminds behind the '83 embassy bombings involves a former PLO turned Hezbollah operative named Imad Mughniyeh . Baer claims that Mughniyeh is was still in contact with his old Fatah contacts when the embassy was bombed.

Besides the embassy bombing Mughniyeh was blamed for a lot of other terrorist acts that I think are based on nothing more than circumstantial evidence. Contemporary analysis suggests it's basically the "Blame Putin!" trope in action.

-The name of the alleged defector from the Iranian Revolutionary Guard was actually a deputy defense minister and former brigadier general named Ali Reza Asgari . There was and still probably is controversy whether he was kidnapped or defected. The Iranians wouldn't want it known that such a high ranking defector went over to the West hence the kidnapping story.

Hah! Guess not posting much for a few months finally caught up with me.

[Apr 12, 2017] Regime change in Syria? That would be a mistake by Prof Michael John Williams

Notable quotes:
"... The intervention triggers resentment and hostility at the new government, the legitimacy of which is reduced through the participation of an outside government. ..."
"... In late 2015, Eren Erdem, a Turkish MP, said in Parliament that the Turkish state was permitting Da'esh to send sarin precursors to Syria. He had a file of evidence, so was accused of treason for accessing and publicizing confidential material. The investigation into the people responsible for the transfer of toxic chemicals was shut down. ..."
"... Al-Assad is certainly capable of murdering opponents, and not bothering too much about collateral damage, but strategically it makes no sense for him to do this now, when peace talks under the aegis of Russia and Iran have begun, and the world is watching. Also, Assad has been engaged in a reconciliation process, allowing members of the FSA to return to the Syrian army, and Aleppans remain in Damascus if they didn't wish to go to Idlib. At such a juncture, using chemical weapons would be counter-productive. If Sarin was used at his command, he should be properly prosecuted: but bombing a Syrian air base merely assists Da'esh and its cronies. ..."
"... I have just watched the press conference in which Trump labelled Assad a butcher, and went on again about dead babies. I just wish that someone at one of these conferences would have the guts to point out to Trump his own butchery. ..."
"... Anyone watching this performance would think that US forces had never been responsible for killing innocent civilians, men, women, children and babies. To listen to Trump, you wouldn't think that US forces had ever killed over 150 civilians in Mosul, dozens in Raqqa, or had bombed hospitals in Afghanistan, or schools in Iraq, or were supporting the Saudi blockade of Yemen resulting in the starvation of children and babies, or had destroyed wedding parties with drones,.....I could go on. ..."
"... If Assad is a butcher, he is only a junior, apprentice, corner-shop butcher. Trump is the real thing, the large-scale, wholesale, expert butcher. ..."
"... Gotta get that pipeline in for the Saudi's, eh, no matter how many children's carcasses it crosses, yay, regime change again, yay, and a heap of new terrorists for our kids in the west to dodge and duck, yay. ..."
"... Despite the several misrepresentations, the facts are that Britain has been one of the main protagonists in prosecuting this war against Syria , which is a proxy war against Iran. ..."
"... Britain was at the forefront in setting up the Al Nusra Front and in hosting the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights to disseminate deeply negative propaganda about the Syrian Government and armed forces. ..."
"... Every step of this including the media campaign which has comprised a major part of the military campaign against Syria, has been an attempt to delegitimize the Sovereign government and its institutions and to gain consensus from the somnambulistic British and US public for yet another direct military campaign against another Middle Eastern country. ..."
"... Assad's removal would be catastrophic. There would be no stable government in Syria, it would be controlled by warlords backed by Saudi Arabia, al-Qaeda or ISIS and millions of refugees would have no country to return to or to live in. This will mean more refugees in Europe, more destabilisation and more money drained from our treasuries. ..."
Apr 12, 2017 | www.theguardian.com

The intervention triggers resentment and hostility at the new government, the legitimacy of which is reduced through the participation of an outside government.

Soon, the new regime is considered a "puppet" and its existence is questioned by the people. Interestingly, the Middle East has proven particularly resistant to durable regime change and democratization, further making the success of any US-led intervention doubtful.

The situation will be even more fraught if other external actors turn any attempt at regime change into a proxy war, as Russia and Iran are likely to do. The US experienced the downside of this during the ill-conceived war in Vietnam. During the Soviet-led war in Afghanistan, the US played the spoiler of Soviet efforts, funnelling money and weapons to the anti-Soviet mujahideen, turning the USSR's intervention into a protracted, bloody war.

Prof Michael John Williams is Director of the International Relations Program at New York University.

ID4352889 , 12 Apr 2017 17:57
Those interested in how the MSM fell in love with terrorists in Syria should go back and check out Charlie Skelton's illuminating piece from The Guardian 2012 .
Ciarán Here , 12 Apr 2017 17:48
The Gulf of Tonkin, WMD in Iraq...
Ciarán Here , 12 Apr 2017 17:46
Did the USA bomb war planes that they said had been used to carry chemical weapons - a chemical attack!
Robert Rudolph , 12 Apr 2017 17:40
Instead, the western powers have followed the example cited by Machiavelli: "in order to prove their liberality, they allowed Pistoia to be destroyed."

... ... ..

1Cedar , 12 Apr 2017 17:39
In late 2015, Eren Erdem, a Turkish MP, said in Parliament that the Turkish state was permitting Da'esh to send sarin precursors to Syria. He had a file of evidence, so was accused of treason for accessing and publicizing confidential material. The investigation into the people responsible for the transfer of toxic chemicals was shut down.

That surely ought to make us at least ask evidence-seeking questions about the Idlib gas attack before yet again demanding regime change.

Al-Assad is certainly capable of murdering opponents, and not bothering too much about collateral damage, but strategically it makes no sense for him to do this now, when peace talks under the aegis of Russia and Iran have begun, and the world is watching. Also, Assad has been engaged in a reconciliation process, allowing members of the FSA to return to the Syrian army, and Aleppans remain in Damascus if they didn't wish to go to Idlib. At such a juncture, using chemical weapons would be counter-productive. If Sarin was used at his command, he should be properly prosecuted: but bombing a Syrian air base merely assists Da'esh and its cronies.

unsouthbank , 12 Apr 2017 17:32
I have just watched the press conference in which Trump labelled Assad a butcher, and went on again about dead babies. I just wish that someone at one of these conferences would have the guts to point out to Trump his own butchery.

Anyone watching this performance would think that US forces had never been responsible for killing innocent civilians, men, women, children and babies. To listen to Trump, you wouldn't think that US forces had ever killed over 150 civilians in Mosul, dozens in Raqqa, or had bombed hospitals in Afghanistan, or schools in Iraq, or were supporting the Saudi blockade of Yemen resulting in the starvation of children and babies, or had destroyed wedding parties with drones,.....I could go on.

If Assad is a butcher, he is only a junior, apprentice, corner-shop butcher. Trump is the real thing, the large-scale, wholesale, expert butcher.

Ruthie Riegler , 12 Apr 2017 17:21
...Indeed, Richard Spencer last week protested outside the White House against the airstrikes on the regime airbase carrying a sign that read "No more wars 4 Israel."
NezPerce macmarco , 12 Apr 2017 17:37

There are two possible regimes, the Assad fascists, or the rebel jihadist

The Syrian government is Baathist, it was elected.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arab_Socialist_Ba%27ath_Party_–_Syria_Region

http://www.france24.com/en/20160417-syria-bashar-assad-baath-party-wins-majority-parliamentary-vote

Latest update : 2016-04-17

Syria's ruling Baath party and its allies won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections last week across government-held parts of the country, the national electoral commission announced late Saturday.

Who are the rebels supported by Washington and Westminster?

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/aleppo-falls-to-syrian-regime-bashar-al-assad-rebels-uk-government-more-than-one-story-robert-fisk-a7471576.html

And we're going to learn a lot more about the "rebels" whom we in the West – the US, Britain and our head-chopping mates in the Gulf – have been supporting.

They did, after all, include al-Qaeda (alias Jabhat al-Nusra, alias Jabhat Fateh al-Sham), the "folk" – as George W Bush called them – who committed the crimes against humanity in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania on 11 September 2001. Remember the War on Terror? Remember the "pure evil" of al-Qaeda. Remember all the warnings from our beloved security services in the UK about how al-Qaeda can still strike terror in London?

jimbo2000M , 12 Apr 2017 16:55
Gotta get that pipeline in for the Saudi's, eh, no matter how many children's carcasses it crosses, yay, regime change again, yay, and a heap of new terrorists for our kids in the west to dodge and duck, yay.
unsouthbank , 12 Apr 2017 16:40
I agree that Bashar al-Assad is not a "good person". It is impossible to be an authoritarian leader, struggling to maintain the unity, or even existence, of a nation state, and at the same time be a kind and gentle person. However, I do not believe him to be the psychopathic monster that he is portrayed as being, either. He is almost certainly not personally responsible for the chemical attack in Idlib province.

Presidents do not normally make detailed decisions on what sort of weapons should be used on every airstrike made by their aircraft. He may be a dictator, but he is not a complete imbecile. Even the dimmest of politicians could have foreseen that this chemical attack would end up being a massive own-goal. Nobody as cynically calculating as Assad is supposed to be, would be that stupid. My own hunch, (and that is all it is) is that sarin was used due to a blunder by a low or medium ranking Syrian airforce officer.

Yes, of course Assad bears responsibility for overall strategy in this vicious war of survival, and as such, has blood on his hands. But, so does Trump, so does Obama, so does Putin so does Erdogan, so does May, and so do all the leaders who have supplied the numerous rebel groups with billions of pounds worth of weapons, and have therefore kept the pot boiling.

Last year, Theresa May stood up in parliament and proudly proclaimed her willingness to commit mass indiscriminate murder on a scale that would make Syria look like a pinprick. She declared her willingness to press the nuclear button and therefore slaughter hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of completely innocent men, women, children and babies. She not only has blood on her hands, she is proud of it. Perhaps we should remember that, when she comes out with one of her sanctimonious, nauseatingly hypocritical statements about Syria.

martinusher , 12 Apr 2017 16:35
Assad was democratically elected more than once so he must be doing something right. (OK, so they're democracy might not be our democracy but 'our' democracy has brought us Trump, Brexit and the like so its really six to one, a half dozen to the other). Syria until we started messing with it -- creating, supporting and even arming opposition groups -- was stable, wasn't messing with its neighbors and had significant religious and cultural freedoms compared to other countries in the area. (Our actions might suggest that we really don't want stable, peaceful, countries in that region, we need them to be weak and riven by internal factions.)

Anyway, given our outstanding track record of success with regime change in that part of the world we should probably adopt a hands-off approach -- all we seem to do is make an unsatisfactory situation dire. Hardly the way to win friends and influence people.

KhalijFars , 12 Apr 2017 16:07
Despite the several misrepresentations, the facts are that Britain has been one of the main protagonists in prosecuting this war against Syria , which is a proxy war against Iran.

Britain was at the forefront in setting up the Al Nusra Front and in hosting the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights to disseminate deeply negative propaganda about the Syrian Government and armed forces.

Every step of this including the media campaign which has comprised a major part of the military campaign against Syria, has been an attempt to delegitimize the Sovereign government and its institutions and to gain consensus from the somnambulistic British and US public for yet another direct military campaign against another Middle Eastern country.

The whole which has visited terrible and incalculable suffering, on the Syrian people. Syria was a paradise before the British and US did their usual work. The journalists, government and security services in Britain who have wrought this mess , I'm sure will not escape the consequences of their actions. One hopes they experience a 1000 times of the hell they have visited on Syria. These actions are truly despicable acts of cowardice and absolute wickedness.

TomasStedron KhalijFars , 12 Apr 2017 16:27
Syria was a paradise for those who rule Syria........ the Assad regime brutally repressed any opposition to their rule. In 1982 Assad´s father killed probably more than 30,000 in the siege of Hama. As well as sheltering a number of terrorist organisations who have their headquarters in Damascus....... he also armed and supported the fledgling Al-Quaeda resistance to the coalition in Iraq, giving them asylum in Syria........now the IS ....... I can think of Paradise in different ways......
MacMeow KhalijFars , 12 Apr 2017 17:30

Britain has been one of the main protagonists in prosecuting this war against Syria

Link please. Because without evidence the rest of your post collapses.

KhalijFars MacMeow , 12 Apr 2017 17:50
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jun/01/trial-swedish-man-accused-terrorism-offences-collapse-bherlin-gildo

The prosecution of a Swedish national accused of terrorist activities in Syria has collapsed at the Old Bailey after it became clear Britain's security and intelligence agencies would have been deeply embarrassed had a trial gone ahead, the Guardian can reveal.

His lawyers argued that British intelligence agencies were supporting the same Syrian opposition groups as he was, and were party to a secret operation providing weapons and non-lethal help to the groups, including the Free Syrian Army.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/aug/30/syria-chemical-attack-war-intervention-oil-gas-energy-pipelines

Leaked emails from the private intelligence firm Stratfor including notes from a meeting with Pentagon officials confirmed US-UK training of Syrian opposition forces since 2011 aimed at eliciting "collapse" of Assad's regime "from within."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-05-23/secret-pentagon-report-reveals-us-created-isis-tool-overthrow-syrias-president-assad

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/05/the-redirection

Jermaine Charles , 12 Apr 2017 16:02
More guff from the guardian/ Mr Williams, with just a little realistic sense, but who can replace Assad and in Syria he remains very popular, despite the western media like lies!
johnbonn , 12 Apr 2017 16:00
Russia has to move quickly to secure a 100 year lease for the Latakia port and airbase. Otherwise the US will soon attempt to render it useless as well, regardless of which of the moderate rebel factions it decides to install.

... Spirits die hard, and those of the Arab spring and the Orange Revolution are still alive in the halls of the Pentagon.

.... A controlled cold war however, is the only way to a avoid a larger mess than what the West has already inflicted on the innocent Syrian people by using the most abortive war design that has ever been conceived by the war college or any other war commander.

...... At the current rate there will be more Syrians in Germany than those remaining in Syria.

......... Is it hard to wonder why Syrians might hold a grudge against the, US?

BlueCollar , 12 Apr 2017 15:59
Regime change ? All in the name of democracy as we see it.Why not try it in the Kingdom of family owned country KSA or why not another family owned enterprises called UAE.
stratplaya , 12 Apr 2017 15:58
History tells us replacing Assad would be a bad idea. We should have learned the lesson with Hussain and Iraq, but didn't. We would go on to replace Gaddafi of Libya and boom, it trigged ISIS.

The hard lesson here is that for some reason Muslim majority countries have a strong central authoritarian leader. No matter if that leaders is called president, king, prime minister, or whatever. When that strong leaders is deposed, chaos ensues.

Pier16 , 12 Apr 2017 15:58
The Americans have a fetish with regime change. Up until recently they were discrete about it and did it in secret, now they are all in the open. People who are against regime change are considered anti-Americans and tools of the Soviets...ahm.... Russia. The amazing thing is Tillerson said Assad's faith should be left with the Syrian people, the American establishment in unison said how could he says such a terrible thing, "we should decide what Syrian people want."

These are the same people who elected Trump, maybe they should let Syrian people select the US president. The result may end up better.

freeandfair , 12 Apr 2017 15:53
> Bashar al-Assad is not a good person. He has reduced once great Syrian cities such as Homs and Aleppo to rubble. All six of Syria's Unesco world heritage sites have been damaged. Worse still, more than 500,000 Syrian civilians have been killed in the civil war, 6.1 million have been internally displaced and another 4.8 million are seeking refuge abroad.

Yes, Assad is not a good person. But what about American politicians such as Hillary Clinton, who armed "moderate rebels" and supported the opposition in pursuit of regime change? And Syria is not the only country were this happened. Will there ever any responsibility taken for their actions by the US and NATO?

First, they make a manageable problem into a huge problem, then just hightail back home, living local people to pick up the pieces.

Those half millions of deaths - are they all responsibility of Assad or do the sponsors of jihadists and jihadists themselves have some responsibility as well?

GlozzerBoy1 , 12 Apr 2017 15:40
Absolutely, stay the hell out, we should have no footprint in that awful part of the world.
Tom1982 , 12 Apr 2017 15:35
The choice as I see it is this:

A. A horrible authoritarian regime that tortures and murders it's opponents...........but women can wear what they like in public, get a good education courtesy of the State, and embark on a career.

B. A horrible authoritarian regime that tortures and murders it's opponents...........where women are denied education, made virtual prisoners in their own homes, and have acid flung in their faces for having the temerity to appear unveiled when they do go out in public.

It's not a great choice, but one is definitely better than the other.

Weefox Tom1982 , 12 Apr 2017 15:43
Also worth remembering that under Assad people are allowed religious freedom. I know two Syrian Christians who are terrified of what will happen if the rebels take control of their country.
Tom1982 Weefox , 12 Apr 2017 15:46
I'd imagine the Shia feel the same.
freeandfair Tom1982 , 12 Apr 2017 16:06
Choice B also includes Sharia law, full extermination of other faiths and death sentence for rejection of Islam. Basically Choice B is another Saudi Arabia, but a lot of people will have to die first.
oddballs , 12 Apr 2017 15:35
Assad would stand a good chance of winning a fair and honest election,

Still waiting for evidence by forensic experts over the chemical weapons , who did what and where.

Until proof is given hat prove otherwise the rebels are the most likly suspects. --> normankirk , 12 Apr 2017 15:35

SHA2014 , 12 Apr 2017 14:24
The world's biggest superpower is willing to risk a nuclear war with mass destruction of billions and possible extinction of life on earth on an unproven assertion made by Al Qaeda sympathisers that the Syrian government bombed them with sarin? OBL must be laughing in his grave.
aleph SHA2014 , 12 Apr 2017 14:45
1. Who is threatening a nuclear war? The Russians? I haven't heard them threaten that. Probably because no-one would seriously believe them.

2. An intellectually honest person should not describe young children as terrorist sympathisers. Let alone imply they somehow deserve to be deliberately targeted by nerve gas as a result.

Fort Sumpter aleph , 12 Apr 2017 14:54
If you have the evidence of a nerve gas agent being present please supply it forthwith.

I keep asking you guys, who must be on the ground in Idlib such is your certainty, to provide the proof but you always refuse. Why is that?

SHA2014 aleph , 12 Apr 2017 14:56
An intellectually honest person should question the veracity of a report that is unverified by a terrorist organisation. The children were never described by me as 'terrorist sympathisers' so you make a dishonest accusation, the terrorist sympathisers are those who produced the report on which the whole story is based. It is not about the death of the children which is of course a crime, but they are being used by the terrorists for thier purposes.

An intellectually honest person would also show outrage about the mass murder of civilians, including children in Mosul and by a US bombing in Syria that seem to not arouse the same outrage.

SHA2014 , 12 Apr 2017 14:13
Regime change by US has been used at least three times against democracies, in Chili, in Iran and in Ukraine. Attempted regime change has also been used often in South America to oust populist rulers because of US interests. Although the above analysis raises the very good point that change has to come from the bottom up, it starts with the same fallacies of assuming that all of the death and destruction in Syria comes from one person which is an extremely flawed point to start from. The point that is to be made is that there is no military solution to the conflict except in an anti terrorist capacity. The problem is that all of those against the Syrian government in the current conflict are either outright terrorists or those who collaborate heavily with terrorists making it difficult to have a conventional peace process.
Imperialist , 12 Apr 2017 14:07
America should not be the one who decides who is an acceptable government, and sends soldiers to enforce its will.

The UN should have done that long ago. To Assad. To Kim. Stopped the Khmer Rouge. Or Rwanda.

Yet the only time they ever have actually fought is in the Korean War.

Fort Sumpter Imperialist , 12 Apr 2017 14:55
*cough* The US supported the Khmer Rouge *cough*
Mauryan , 12 Apr 2017 13:55
America engaged in regime changes to suit American interests during the cold war and the New world order drive. The fact that they supported dictatorships worldwide and helped them overthrow democratically elected governments tells clearly that imposing democracy forcibly was not their intention. Intervention in global conflicts is mainly for controlling pathways for resources and gaining ground for business opportunities for their multinational giant corporations.
diddoit Mauryan , 12 Apr 2017 13:58
It's all about what's best for the US and the incredibly powerful(in the US) Israel lobby. The UK just goes along with it.
NezPerce , 12 Apr 2017 13:52
The West's narrative has fallen apart, nobody believes that the Syrian rebels are peace loving democrats. We have ample evidence that they are infinitely worse than Assad.

We also have plenty of evidence that the Western deep state, not the public, wants another regime change in the middle east and will stop at nothing to achieve its end including false flag gas attacks. This article goes into detail.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-04-08/false-flag-how-us-armed-syrian-rebels-set-excuse-attack-assad

False Flag: How the U.S. Armed Syrian Rebels to Set Up an Excuse to Attack Assad

Evidence suggests a false flag chemical weapons attack on the Syrian people was initiated by Syrian rebels with the help of the United States in order to justify Thursday night's U.S. Military attack on a Syrian base.

The Left is very opposed to war in Syria, the Libertarian right is very opposed to war in Syria but a hugely powerful Deep State will stop at nothing to achieve its ends.

Nat-Nat aka Kyl Shinra , 12 Apr 2017 13:50
"Worse still, more than 500,000 Syrian civilians have been killed in the civil war, 6.1 million have been internally displaced and another 4.8 million are seeking refuge abroad. "

well, you cannot put the blame on Assad only. He never asked for that war for a start and a lot of the refugees you're talking about may very well be pro-Assad.

This said, I agree, leave Assad and Syria alone.

Jayesh Iyer , 12 Apr 2017 13:48
Finally an article which still sticks to logical thinking when it comes to Syria. Assad is a terrible leader but atleast with him, most of the factions within the country can be sorted. The West's obsession with stuffing democracy down the throats of every oil producing country in the Middle East has resulted in the Mad Max wasteland i.e. Libya and the unsolvable puzzle i.e. Iraq. Both Gaddafi and Saddam were terrible human beings but removing them left a vacuum which has cost the lives of thousands and displaced millions. The West must make its peace with Assad for now, stop supporting the rebels and try to find common ground with Russia against the real enemy - ISIS.
diddoit Jayesh Iyer , 12 Apr 2017 13:55
The west - as the US/UK like to themselves, couldn't give a damn about democracy . They want compliance , not democracy. A good(brutal) dictator is better than a 'difficult' democratically elected leader , look at events in Egypt for example.

Our own democracies are pretty ropey, certainly not up there with the Scandinavian best practice.

dusktildawn Jayesh Iyer , 12 Apr 2017 13:55
You're kidding right? The West stuffing democracy down the throats of the Gulf countries. More like defending them against the threat of democracy by arming them to the teeth and stationing troops there. Have you heard of Bahrain?
diddoit Jayesh Iyer , 12 Apr 2017 13:55
call themselves. -typo
dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 13:47
The only plausible solution to this conflict is partition assuming of course the imminent defeat of Isis.

While getting rid of Assad would create a dangerous power vacuum and is in any case perhaps impossible given Russias backing, the sheer scale of the killing he's done and destruction he's unleashed on his own people - of a totally different scale to Saddam Hussein and even his father, from whom he seems to have inherited his psychopathic tendencies -renders the idea that he could continue to rule a "united" Syria or even the majority of it, laughable.

Mauryan dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 13:52
Partition would create more Assads.
Jemima15 , 12 Apr 2017 13:46
If you get rid of Assad, whoever replaces him is going to have a very difficult task. How on Earth do you enforce any sort of civilized law and order in a country which has some of the worst terrorist organizations the world has ever known. With organizations like ISIS around, a government is gong to need to take a firm hand somewhere. It's not as if you can send Jihadists on community service and expect them to come back as reformed characters.
DanielDee , 12 Apr 2017 13:46
Regime change? Why not?

Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi would make a fine statesman!

Pipcosta DanielDee , 12 Apr 2017 14:03
Until he turns on his mater
IamDolf , 12 Apr 2017 13:45
Fact is that Assad still enjoys considerable support among Syrians. In particular among those who have no problem with a woman going to the beach in a bikini and driving a car to work. He is not giong anywhere soon. And if he did, the situation would be worse. As in the case of the butcher Saddam Hussein and the crazy dictator Khadaffi, who also were supposedly removed in an attempt to bring "freedom and democracy to the people."
diddoit IamDolf , 12 Apr 2017 13:49
Syria was one of the few countries in the ME where you could drink alcohol. Does anyone believe whoever follows Assad be it someone picked by the US/Israel/KSA/Qatar will be quite so tolerant?
Patin , 12 Apr 2017 13:43
Why can't world leaders be held to account for their crimes against humanity? Is it not about time that they are compelled to comply with international law and for the United Nations Assembly to make them so by enforceable resolutions passed by a majority vote?

Assad is a tyrant who should be removed from office and held accountable for his crimes against humanity. Syrians should be entitled to a government that is respectful of their human rights.

The UN should take responsibility for enforcing a permanent ceasefire and brokering talks to secure Syria's future. It should require as a condition of UN membership compliance with and adherence to international law protecting human rights. Non compliance should be met with expulsion and the economic isolation of the country concerned from the rest of the world.

freeandfair Patin , 12 Apr 2017 16:19
> Why can't world leaders be held to account for their crimes against humanity?

You should start with American leaders like Bush. If you are serious about this.

roachclip , 12 Apr 2017 13:42

There is no shortcut to lasting peace. As uncomfortable as it is, the best that western governments can do is provide aid and assistance to those in distress, while pressuring those countries that continue to feed money and weapons to the combatants to change their positions.

You are absolutely right.

Such a pity then that the western governments in question, the UK, America and to a lesser extent, France, are in fact the same entities, via their surrogate power in the middle east, Saudi Arabia, who are the ones providing the weapons and money.

Just as they did in Iraq and Libya, and always for the same reason, to achieve regime change against the Middle Eastern leaders who were threatening their control of the oil market.

This situation is nothing new, these Western Powers have been attacking various parts of the Middle East for nigh on a century. Winston Churchill was responsible for bombing Iraq in the 1920's. That also was to achieve regime change.

All of the deaths and the destruction in the Middle East can ultimately be laid at the door of the 'Western Powers' and their willingness to do anything to protect their oil interests.

Taku2 , 12 Apr 2017 13:35
One of the most despicable thing about the West's attempts to bribe, entice and force Russia into abandoning the Syrian Government, so that America, France, Britain and Saudi Arabia can rush in, like hyenas to finish off a wounded animal, is how patronising they have been towards the Russians and Iranians. Granted that their racism towards the Russians might not be what it is towards the Syrian state, which they want to deny a voice and disrespect to the extent of talking to the Russians, and ignoring the Syrian government.

Yes, the West is behaving towards the Syrian state as if it is just something for it to manipulate, as it does with the global economy. Not having made any progress in manipulating the Syrian proxy conflict into the outcomes it wants, the West has now resorted to making merciless and unjustified attacks on Russian and the Iranians. Despite the fact that it is Russia and the Syrian government forces and their Hezbollah allies who have broken the impasse in this terrible war.

It is scurrilous that there should now be this coordinated media and political campaign to make Russia out to be 'the bad guy', the 'devil', as it were.

As for 'the liberals', well, guess what, if you want to do something constructive. Then stop blaming Russia and demonising the Russians, the Syrian Government and their allies. Look closer to home, to America, To Britain, to France and Saudi Arabia. There you will find more demons disguised as 'humanitarians' and 'angels' than probably in all of Russia and Syria.

The guys in the West who are posturing as angels are no less culpable than the Syrian government.

Of course the West should not destroy the Syrian state and government. But, since when has logic prevented this cartel from exercising its destructive force? As Libya, Iraq and Yemen have proven? The liberals need to grow up and stop being allied to the right.

Arapas Taku2 , 12 Apr 2017 13:42

so that America, France, Britain and Saudi Arabia can rush in, like hyenas to finish off a wounded animal

Your point is of great importance.

Now that Russia has done the dirty work at great cost, pushing them out of the way.........................

That will not happen, Rex was told by Sergei.

Arapas , 12 Apr 2017 13:34
robust belief in a supposed American ability to fix what is wrong.

Is meant to be the joke of the month.

What did they ever fix ? Just look what the Korean war has lead to.

Vietnam, where the Americans were defeated, is now a united and peaceful country.

On the other hand, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and other regime change candidates have been reduced to failed states.

In Syria, the fate of the Alwites will be the same of that of women and children cowering in St Sophia in 1453.

Utter slaughter!

ganaruvian , 12 Apr 2017 13:32
Firstly, we have yet to see the results of any impartial investigation checking out the Syrian/Russian version of events about the gas in Idlib province, which could be true. Nobody that I can see is 'supporting' the use of gas against civilians, but it is known that the bigger terrorist organisations such as ISIS and al Qaeda do have stocks of poison gas. Secondly,so many uninformed commentators have not understood that Syria's 6 year war has been and remains a religious war! Asad's Shiite/ Alawite/Christian/ Druse/ Ismaili communities and other minorities supported by Iran and Lebanon's Shiites, fighting for their very survival against Saudi/ Qatari/Gulf States' extremist Wahhabi fighters, who via ISIS ,Al Qaeda and similar Islamists, want to wipe them off the face of the earth (with Turkey playing a double game). At this very moment people are condemning Assad for bombing civilians, whilst the US-led coalition including our own RAF, is doing exactly the same thing in the ISIS held city of Mosul -for the same reasons. The rebels take over and then surround themselves in cities, with civilians, hoping that these horrors will raise western public opinion against the government forces trying to defeat them. The 'half- informed' public opinion is now behaving in exactly this predictable way against the Syrian government, trying to deal with its own religious extremist rebels, many of whom are not even Syrians. It was always a war that the west should stay out of -other peoples religious wars are incomprehensible to non-believers in that particular faith. To talk now of replacing Asad is juvenile and mischievous - maybe that's why Boris is so engaged?
Nolens , 12 Apr 2017 13:20
Assad is the lesser of two evils. Those who are hailed as rebels pose an enormous threat to our security.
jonnyross Nolens , 12 Apr 2017 13:44
There is an equality of evil between Assad and ISIS. That said, Assad's forces and their Shia allies have slaughtered the vast majority of the victims.

Both Assad and ISIS will lose eventually. How many Syrians are slaughtered in the meantime is anyone's guess.

Why murderous dictators are so popular btl is a mystery.

john evans , 12 Apr 2017 13:20
Syria is finished.

According to Wikipedia Estimates of deaths in the Syrian Civil War, per opposition activist groups, vary between 321,358 and 470,000.

On 23 April 2016, the United Nations and Arab League Envoy to Syria put out an estimate of 400,000 that had died in the war.

Also,according to Wikipedia I n 2016, the United Nations (UN) identified 13.5 million Syrians requiring humanitarian assistance, of which more than 6 million are internally displaced within Syria, and over 4.8 million are refugees outside of Syria. In January 2017, UNHCR counted 4,863,684 registered refugees.

Turkey is the largest host country of registered refugees with over 2.7 million Syrian refugees.

Before the troubles,Syria had a population of 23 million.

No country could go back to normality after that upheaval.

Arapas john evans , 12 Apr 2017 13:37

No country could go back to normality after that upheaval.

It can --

Look at Chechnya! A newly rebuilt Grosny, living in peace.

Bearing in mind Iraq, Libya etc who wants to see that --

NativeBornTexan Arapas , 12 Apr 2017 14:08
Chechnya is ruled by a Russian puppet dictator who executes gay men.
Shad O NativeBornTexan , 12 Apr 2017 15:13
That's because politics is heartlessly, ruthlessly, compassionlessly pragmatic. If having a pet local petty king in the area keeps it stable and does not a politically costly military operation, everything else is seen as "acceptable collateral damage".

It's funny but western foreign policy is fundamentally the same in the methods, just different in goals. If the goal of regime change is achieved and political points collected, everything else is completely irrelevant. Opposition can become "moderately islamist", "democratic" rebels may implement sharia law, "precision strikes" may cause tens of thousands of civilian casualties, but it's all for the greater good.

Pipcosta , 12 Apr 2017 13:18
Why do we send a sewer rat to the UN as our ambassador
brianboru1014 , 12 Apr 2017 13:14
Every time the West especially the Anglo west of the USA and Britain intervene in another countries affairs, the end product is a disaster so for that reason alone these two societies which can only communicate in English should leave this to the Russians.
Ruby4 , 12 Apr 2017 13:13
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Albert Einstein

Read more at: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html

Chilcot report: Findings at-a-glance:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-36721645

FFC800 , 12 Apr 2017 13:08
This almost manages to achieve sense, and it's good to see an article not promoting regime change for once, but it still falls short of stating the truth that the correct policy in Syria is to help Assad win the war, and then impose conditions on his conduct in the peace.

He has reduced once great Syrian cities such as Homs and Aleppo to rubble. All six of Syria's Unesco world heritage sites have been damaged.

Most of that was done by rebels.
jackrousseau , 12 Apr 2017 13:03
I must now begrudgingly thank the Trump Administration for causing me to realize a profound and universal truth. History doesn't rhyme at all; it parodies.

The build up to our inevitable Syria invasion is essentially an SNL parody of our Iraq invasion. All the way down to allegations of to "hidden stockpiles of WMDs", "gassing own citizens", "violation of no WMD agreement", "weapons inspectors not doing job", and most recently "Assad/Saddam is Hitler". All that's left is the final piece of evidence to tip public opinion in...the holy grail, "yellowcake uranium".

Of course, 6 months ago --with full knowledge of Saddam's gassing of the Kurds--Trump said toppling Hussein was a "uge" mistake and defended him as an "efficient killer of terrorists". "Efficient" indeed... https://cnn.com/cnn/2016/07/05/politics/donald-trump-saddam-hussein-iraq-terrorism/index.html

I'm not sure exactly what comes next (presumably Trump declaring an "Axis of Evil" consisting of Syria, ISIS, Iran, N.Korea...and perhaps Russia and/or China or both...thus setting the stage for a hilarious parody of WWII).

Who knows...I guess at least it's interesting.

John Smythe , 12 Apr 2017 13:03
Perhaps dear Boris should have had more talks with the British government to find out what is the political position of the conservative government over Syria, and more importantly with Russia. So far the American have by the look of things, telling the British Government in what they want, not bothering to ask what Britain thinks what is important.

There is actually no point in swapping one master the EU, to handcuff ourselves to the a far more right wing America.

bemusedfromdevon , 12 Apr 2017 13:00
I find the commments on here quite confusing...

Take Isil and jihadists out of the equation and what you're left with are people that want to oust a tyrannical and unelected leader who clearly has nothing but disdain for his people (groups of at least).

Those rebels (or freedom fighters) are being seen as the bad guys it seems to me...?

The only reason I can see for this is that they have slight support from the United States.

Had the boot been on the other foot and the US we're supporting Assad and Russia,the rebels (freedom fighters) I'm quite sure public opinion (Guardian readers at least) would be quite different.

So what do the Syrian rebels who are looking to overthrow a dictator have to do to be put on a pedestal of righteousness as Castro was for effectively trying to achieve the same end goal....

Oh, that's right, Castro was trying to stick it to the Yanks.... now I get it.

dusktildawn bemusedfromdevon , 12 Apr 2017 13:34
I think there's a definite strain of anti-Americanism on display however cautiously we have to view their actions after Iraq and give their closeness to the Gulf States. A quarter of the country has fled Assad, some 10 million internally displaced not to mention the incredible numbers of dead and wounded.

And yet there's a close minded reflex to say that things will be better off with him in charge ignoring even the possibility of partition, which strikes me as the most plausible option. The idea that Assad can now after all he's done rule a united country indefinitely putting a lid on refugees and terrorism strikes me as utterly preposterous.

bemusedfromdevon dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 14:11
My sentiments entirely and it shocks me that there are a considerable number of Assad apologists commenting on here as he is clearly seen as a better 'devil' than Trump...

I'm just very pleased I don't live in Syria and I think the run of the mill Syrian dying in their droves due to gas, bombs or simply drowning in the Med would be horrified to read a large number of comments on here in relation to this article and how Assad 'isn't such a bad old stick!'

I'm embarrassed to be honest....

Shad O bemusedfromdevon , 12 Apr 2017 15:25

Take Isil and jihadists out of the equation and what you're left with

what you are left is nothing. This was the big point since 2013, when Nusra began taking over the last remnants of the FSA. Since then Cameron (or was it Hammond) had to coin the term "relatively hardline islamists" to make some of the jihadi groups somewhat acceptable.

In its latest iteration, Nusra (now rebranded yet againTahrir al-Sham) has formally absorbed several other "rebel" group, including the Nour al-Din al-Zenki, who were in the past equipped by the US, and were quoted by various agencies (including this paper) as "opposition" during the recapture of Aleppo.

Ah, yes, you also have the Kurds, who are building their own state. But if there is something all the local powers agree on (Russia, US, Turkey, Syria, Iraq...) is that they don't want an independent Kurdish state.

NezPerce , 12 Apr 2017 12:58

President Obama was heavily criticized for not doing more in Syria, but he made a difficult decision that was in many ways the right on.

Obama required cover from the British Parliament. Bombing Syria was incredibly unpopular with the UK public from right to left. David Miliband listened to the public and stopped the bombing of Syria. Nobody expected a Labour politician to dare to oppose the US war machine, it took them all by surprise.

Bombing Syria was incredibly unpopular with the US public and the European public, Miliband saved us from ISIS and Al Nusra both al Qaeda franchises running Syria.

The BBC routinely portrays the Libertarian right wing in the USA as Isolationists but if you hear it from them they are anti-war. The American working class understands what war is like in the middle east because many of them have experienced it. They are clearly anti another war in the middle east. proof:

https://www.infowars.com/exclusive-michael-savage-begs-trump-to-stop-wwiii/

In this off the cuff interview Michael Savage begs Donald Trump to not plunge the world into another world war that could destroy life as we know it

.

Trump has been subjugated by the deep state, his base is outraged and in despair.

dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 12:58
You could argue this isn't about regime change per se but prosecuting a dictator for targeting and massacring civilians. And surely the same rationale can be used against Isis. In other words you don't allow mass murderers to take. Over but prosecute them as well.
Mates Braas dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 15:05
You can start proceedings against your own war criminals. There is a long list of them, stretching from, Paris, London, Washington and Tel Aviv.
freeandfair dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 16:41
In that case North Korea and Saudi Arabia should be on top of the list.
Trekkie555 , 12 Apr 2017 12:57
Good article. Hits the nail on the head. Regime change may be required for Syria the G7 and Arab countries must come together to carefully plan what happens afterwards.
Nolens , 12 Apr 2017 12:54
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diddoit , 12 Apr 2017 12:54
'Monster' Assad was courted by western leaders: Remember the Assads pictured taking tea at Buckingham Palace with the Queen(google it) , Blair all smiles in Damascus. The Kerry family pictured in Damascus enjoying a late evening supper with the Assads(google it).

But Bashar al-Assad is a stubborn man , he wouldn't distance himself from Iran and their proxies such as Hezbollah, thus his fate was sealed.

zolotoy diddoit , 12 Apr 2017 12:59
Nope, wrong. Assad wouldn't give the USA, Qatar, and Turkey a nice pipeline to kneecap Russian natural gas sales in Europe.

It's all about oil and money, petrodollars and ensuring American worldwide hegemony.

sokkynick zolotoy , 12 Apr 2017 13:07
+1
diddoit zolotoy , 12 Apr 2017 13:42
Well it's all tied in . People talk about Israel wanting the Golan Heights permanently in part due to oil interests, they talk about Qatar and the gas pipeline to Europe Assad refuses. They talk about the KSA being unnerved by Iran's growing influence in the region after the Iraq war, and how it would suit KSA , Israel and the US for Sunni leadership to emerge in Syria to rebalance the region.

I think it's all of the above . Which isn't what US/UK populations are being told.

Ilan Klinger , 12 Apr 2017 12:53
A regime changing in Syria?

Can someone here try and convince me that the State of Syria still exists?

And change it from what to what?From a Murderouscracy to a Oppressionocracy?

peterwiv , 12 Apr 2017 12:52
The West learns nothing from its mistakes. Can't we understand that our real enemy is ISIS and that springs directly from our disastrous invasion of Iraq? Assad may be pretty awful but surely we should be able to comprehend that he is an ally in the fight against ISIS just as the far more horrible Stalin was an ally against the Nazis.

Just because Trump suddenly talks about "beautiful babies", we all go mad again.

aleph , 12 Apr 2017 12:51
Syria is going to need serious amounts of aid and foreign investment to recover when peace starts to take hold. But Assad cannot travel internationally because he will be subject to arrest. At least in any civilised country. So he will be gone one way or antithetical. Putin has backed the wrong horse. It's too handicapped to run.
elaine naude aleph , 12 Apr 2017 15:43
Who should he have backed? - Isis?
algae64 , 12 Apr 2017 12:47
Until the Saudis, US & UK decide that enough is enough, then this idiocy will continue. Assad is a better leader for Syria than Isis, Al Qaeda, or the other Saudi-backed groups would be.

Syria was secular and religiously tolerant under Assad. It won't be either of those things if Assad is deposed. More than likely, it would end up as a Saudi-style Islamic theocracy with the harshest head-chopping, hand-chopping version of sharia law.

BorisMalden , 12 Apr 2017 12:46
He has reduced once great Syrian cities like Homs and Aleppo to rubble

Did Assad deliberately bring his country into civil war? When his forces are being attacked by rebels sponsored by foreign groups, he really only has two choices: give up leadership and allow the rebels to take over the country, or fight back. Given that you're arguing that a regime change is a bad idea it logically follows that you support the second option, so it hardly seems fair to criticise him for the consequences of that resistance. You might do better to blame the rebels and those who sponsor them for bringing war to what was previously a (relatively) peaceful country.

Oldfranky , 12 Apr 2017 12:46
This Regime Change Policy adopted by the US and in many, if not all cases, supported by the UK, whilst in some case toppling Dictators, has left nothing but chaos in its wake.

We need to consider the case of Syria, very carefully, as we may well find ourselves handing the Country to ISIL on a plate.

Better to help Assad stabilise the Country, and then discuss political change.

The rhetoric coming from the Foreign and Defence Secretaries, can do nothing to help, but make the UK look stupid.

aleph Oldfranky , 12 Apr 2017 12:56
"Better to help Assad stabilise the Country"

Hahahahaha, collude with crimes against humanity in the name of stability and call it progress because after six years we cannot think of an alternative. Great.

Oldfranky aleph , 12 Apr 2017 13:58
Are you sure it's only Assad, laugh all you will.
BorisMalden , 12 Apr 2017 12:46
He has reduced once great Syrian cities like Homs and Aleppo to rubble

Did Assad deliberately bring his country into civil war? When his forces are being attacked by rebels sponsored by foreign groups, he really only has two choices: give up leadership and allow the rebels to take over the country, or fight back. Given that you're arguing that a regime change is a bad idea it logically follows that you support the second option, so it hardly seems fair to criticise him for the consequences of that resistance. You might do better to blame the rebels and those who sponsor them for bringing war to what was previously a (relatively) peaceful country.

Oldfranky , 12 Apr 2017 12:46
This Regime Change Policy adopted by the US and in many, if not all cases, supported by the UK, whilst in some case toppling Dictators, has left nothing but chaos in its wake.

We need to consider the case of Syria, very carefully, as we may well find ourselves handing the Country to ISIL on a plate.

Better to help Assad stabilise the Country, and then discuss political change.

The rhetoric coming from the Foreign and Defence Secretaries, can do nothing to help, but make the UK look stupid.

aleph Oldfranky , 12 Apr 2017 12:56
"Better to help Assad stabilise the Country"

Hahahahaha, collude with crimes against humanity in the name of stability and call it progress because after six years we cannot think of an alternative. Great.

Oldfranky aleph , 12 Apr 2017 13:58
Are you sure it's only Assad, laugh all you will.
Foracivilizedworld , 12 Apr 2017 12:44

Regime change in Syria? That would be a mistake

Absolutely no... it will be a colossal disaster... and would explode the entire region affecting not only all ME countries including Israel, but will extend to Europe and NA, You can't keep it all "Over There"

And I think Trump would do it.

SaracenBlade , 12 Apr 2017 12:43
Regime change, evidently the US has n't learned from the past experience. Look at Iraq, Lybia, regime change has resulted in complete chaos, instability, and perpetual conflict. Syrian population is strictly divided on sectarian line - Sunnis, Shias, Christians, Kurds. Who is going to make a cohesive government capable of running the affairs of the state? Bashar Assaad's father, Hafiz Assaad ruled Syria with an iron grip, he understood Syrian sectarian divide.
notDonaldTrump SaracenBlade , 12 Apr 2017 12:49
'regime change has resulted in complete chaos, instability, and perpetual conflict.'

If one tried to think impartially the evidence might lead one to think that was the plan all along.

BlueCollar notDonaldTrump , 12 Apr 2017 15:50
If any country needs regime change, it is Saudi Arabia. All important positions are controlled by hundreds of Royals of Al Saud, even honest criticism of royals brings you closer to the back swing of executioner .
timefliesby , 12 Apr 2017 12:42
Have we learnt nothing?
zolotoy timefliesby , 12 Apr 2017 12:54
Some of us have learned to be very comfortable with scraps from the war machine table -- Western legacy media in particular.
moreorless2 , 12 Apr 2017 12:42
My newsagent loves Assad. Why because he's a Syrian Christian. Assad is the only hope for the minority's in Syria. All of the opposition groups are some variation on Islamic nationalists. They will all happily slaughter anyone not of their faith. Assad is a murdering bastard but he kills those that threaten him. In Middle Eastern terms he's a liberal.
Terra_Infirma , 12 Apr 2017 12:39
Quite right. What the people of Syria need is stability and an end to the fighting. All else is secondary. In particular, the greatest crime that the West has committed in recent decades is the attempt to foist democracy on countries like Syria and Iraq, where it simply does not work. Even now, Western liberals dream of sitting Sunni, Shia, Alevi, Kurds, secularists and Islamic militants around a table to talk through to a democratic and mutually acceptable future for Syria. This is a fantasy - as democracy always is in heavily tribalised societies. It can only end in renewed civil war and inevitable dictatorship. I often wonder whether the West is just naive in these attempts at liberal cultural imperialism, or whether they are in fact a cynical front to mask the equally egregious aim of checkmating Russian influence in the region. Either way, shame on us.
StrongMachine Terra_Infirma , 12 Apr 2017 12:47
Are you calling George W Bush a liberal?
PSmd Terra_Infirma , 12 Apr 2017 13:07
It's not liberal cultural imperialism. It's painted as that to sell to domestic audiences.

It's liberal economic imperialism.

sokkynick , 12 Apr 2017 12:36
Now to be fair, no one knows really what the president is thinking, not even apparently his chief diplomat or his UN envoy, who have sent conflicting messages. But let's cut to the chase – this is a very, very bad idea.

WW3 is definately a very very bad idea.

The idea that the US can change the government of another country for the better is born of US arrogance and lying manipulation.

juster , 12 Apr 2017 12:36
It's a bit funny that we just casually mention that the country harping on about the respect of the international rule book sinc 2014 vaiolate one of the core UN charter principles 72 times and is openly speaking of braking it the 73th time.

Jsut picture China saying openly their goal is to change the Abe regime in Tokio or Russia to change the regime in Kiev. They can't even have a pefered presidential candidate without mass interference hysteria and we just feel like it's A OK to go around the world changing who's in charge of countries.

freeandfair juster , 12 Apr 2017 16:58
> They can't even have a pefered presidential candidate without mass interference hysteria and we just feel like it's A OK to go around the world changing who's in charge of countries.

An excellent point.

bemusedfromdevon , 12 Apr 2017 12:35
There are two main choices... Regime change... which hasn't worked out well where it's been attempted or just let the despots get on with it...

There are no easy answers but perhaps the only way is to let dictators crush and annihilate their opposition, utilise death squads to make dissenters disappear in the dead of night and, outwardly at least pretend everything is rosey....

If we, as a civilised society are able to 'look the other way' then that might be the simple answer... just hope everyone can sleep well at night and be grateful that, however much you hate our present government they aren't out gassing (allegedly) Guardian readers.

Jared Hall bemusedfromdevon , 12 Apr 2017 12:42
Not gassing people no, but still killing plenty of "innocent little babies" bombing hospitals and helping the Saudis cluster bomb fishing villages. Why don't we see pictures on TV of Yemeni kids mutilated by American bombs? How do we sleep with that?
bemusedfromdevon Jared Hall , 12 Apr 2017 12:44
We're pulling the trigger??

And that makes supporting a tyrant who will do anything a satisfactory solution to you?

Sounds like crocodile tears to me.

SterlingPound Jared Hall , 12 Apr 2017 13:11
Well, we saw the aftermath of a deliberate attack by Saudis planes on a clearly demarcated Yemeni hospital on the BBC last year. The first rocket hit an arriving ambulance with civilian casualties and a doctor on board. The response of the Saudi shills in the Commons - what is it about the British upper class and the Arabs, I wonder - was to demand forcefully that the Saudis set up an inquiry to examine the evidence of a war crime.

It should have been sadly obvious from the get-go that we had to back Assad before he attempted to beat his father's record for murder and repression, the whole family's fucking insane, but it's long past too late now. He's soiled goods and Tillerson's untutored idea of elections is surely farcical.

Muzzledagain , 12 Apr 2017 12:35
Fair article, although ISI and rebels actively participated in the destruction of Syria. If Assad falls, anarchy due to vacuum will follow, guaranteed. Agree with the last paragraph in particular and still wondering why they (the West) don't do it especially pressuring the countries that feed the rebels, and they are not so moderate, with money and weapon. Unless this is because of the infamous pipeline. Tragic state of affair indeed.
Aethelfrith , 12 Apr 2017 12:31
Decade after decade, the west has interfered or overthrown government after governemnt , all over the world , mainly for the benefit of capitalist puppeteers . America has been the worst , one only has to look at the CIA's track record in South America when legitimately elected governments were ousted by force so that "American business" interest were looked after.

This same vested self interest has been the driving force over the last few years. The interventions in Iraq , Libya, Afghanistan have all been total disasters fro the regions and resulted in more deaths than any tin pot dictator could have achieved. Backing so called "moderate" terrorists seems to be the excuse to get involved.

More moral achievement and good could have been achieved by widespread dropping of food around the world , or even the cost of the military hegemony being given as cash handouts to poor people , but this simplistic altruism does not allow for the geopolitical control games that is the true beating heart of western aggression.

austinpratt , 12 Apr 2017 12:30
And it will serve as a welcome distraction from the lack of domestic achievements by the U.S. govt.
Fort Sumpter austinpratt , 12 Apr 2017 12:36
Theresa could also do with some distraction from her shambolic government and the whole Brexit disaster.
timefliesby austinpratt , 12 Apr 2017 12:44
Got to agree. Dead cat. Nobody is talking about links and the FBI any more and Putin is mentioned on a new context.

Approval ratings from US voters?

Moo1234 Fort Sumpter , 12 Apr 2017 12:45
We are all Brexiteers now. I voted remain, but accept the democratic will of the people. Blame David Cameron and get on with the job of making a success of it, rather than whining about it....
dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 12:30
What if this was Apartheid era South Africa and the white minority were bombing the hell out of the majority black civilians who wanted them out?
duthealla dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 12:49
Nobody intervened in South Africa despite massacres like Sharpeville....perhaps it would've let to full on racial war though?
dusktildawn duthealla , 12 Apr 2017 12:55
I'm just saying people making the case for the West to back off would probably be saying the opposite in that case if the white minority were massacring black people on the scale of Syria. Isn't that hypocrisy?
Fort Sumpter dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 13:04
It isn't hypocrisy because your South African scenario bears little resemblance to what is happening in Syria. Simple as that.
Moo1234 , 12 Apr 2017 12:28
Boris obviously has a more pressing engagement over Easter.
BeanstalkJack , 12 Apr 2017 12:27
Regime change - a phrase that reminds us imperialism is alive and well.
Gandalf66 BeanstalkJack , 12 Apr 2017 12:47
The successful regime changes mentioned in the article such as Poland and the rest of the Eastern bloc were initiated by the people themselves, rather than the the "help" of a foreign power.
BeanstalkJack Gandalf66 , 12 Apr 2017 13:03
The people did it all by themselves did they? So nothing to do with the economic collapse of the Soviet Union caused by an arms race ramped up by President Reagan. Nothing to do with a very costly war in Afghanistan?
sokkynick , 12 Apr 2017 12:27
Given the situation, it is understandable why some people may think ousting Assad is necessary. Such thinking has a long pedigree in the United States, where there is a robust belief in a supposed American ability to fix what is wrong.

I think the word is arrogance rather than belief.

Mates Braas sokkynick , 12 Apr 2017 14:51
I think the word is arrogance rather than belief...............and exceptionalism.
brucebaby , 12 Apr 2017 12:26
Trump is the new boy on the block, trying to use missiles as a penis substitute.

Sorry, but simple definitions are sometimes correct.

yshani brucebaby , 12 Apr 2017 13:19
Would you have said the same thing in 1917 and 1940. Would you have said the same thing in the duration of the cold war. If US did not have a bigger penis then you would not be around to comment about it.

Long live the US penis and may it grow longer and stronger.

brucebaby yshani , 12 Apr 2017 13:26
WW2 was won principally by the USSR, who suffered many more casualties than the western alliances. The cold war would not have happened if not for the USA.

Sorry, the USA is more of a threat to the planet than any country, and Trump is unintelligent, a real threat to the world.

MacMeow brucebaby , 12 Apr 2017 17:01

WW2 was won principally by the USSR

That old clunker again, it's like the war in the Pacific never happened.

Sorry4Soul , 12 Apr 2017 12:26
Why it would be a mistake ?

Libya was such a success story.

Trumbledon , 12 Apr 2017 12:24
Finally, at long last, some sense.

I agree wholeheartedly; by far the best analysis I've read in this paper.

sokkynick , 12 Apr 2017 12:24
If the US wants Assad ousted, they should support a UN investigation to find out WHO was at fault. Shoot first questions later? Hollywood Wild West thinking. The US has zero credibility. You simply cannot blame someone without having the facts independently checked out. Yet they didn't wait and decided to break interantional law instead.
joAnn chartier , 12 Apr 2017 12:23
There seems to be a crucial component of reality lacking in this opinion piece: rather than bombing and droning and etc, why does the 'world order' not stop the manufacture and distribution of weapons of mass destruction like barrel bombs, nuclear warheads etc etc -- where profits are made by arms manufacturers and their investors--oh, could that be the reason?
Fakecharitybuster , 12 Apr 2017 12:20
Quite. Assad is awful, but he is less awful that the Islamist alternatives, which are the only realistic alternatives. We should stop posturing and accept this unpalatable reality.
ganaruvian Fakecharitybuster , 12 Apr 2017 13:40
Spot-on!
Viva_Kidocelot , 12 Apr 2017 12:20
Much more level reporting, but still is framing the narrative as a brutal gas attack and is still a rush to judgement when the case is that bombs were dropped on a supply of toxic gas, most likely Phosgene.
Moo1234 , 12 Apr 2017 12:19
At last, some common sense. like Saddam and Gaddafi, Assad is a ruthless tyrant. What the West, including the petulant Boris Johnson need to realise is that Syria ISN'T the West. Don't impose your values on a country that isn't ready for them. The sickening hypocrisy of the British government would look very foolish if Putin pulled out and allowed Syria to fall to isis. Would Boris and Theresa put British troops on the ground to keep the extremists out of Turkey?
Gandalf66 Moo1234 , 12 Apr 2017 12:51
Why isn't Syria ready for Western values? After what the country has been through the people would probably leap at the chance of free elections. Prior to the conflict Syria was a multi-ethnic patchwork. Whatever happens to the country needs to be decided by the Syrians themselves.
Mates Braas Gandalf66 , 12 Apr 2017 14:50
"Why isn't Syria ready for Western values?"

The geopolitical status quo in the Middle East is unstable, and tribal affiliations/religious/ ethnic allegiances need to be carefully balanced and controlled. Something Lebanon, Libya, Syria and Iraq achieved reasonably peacefully for many years before all the US led interventions.

There is no evidence that the terrorists are fighting for democracy, although if westerners ask them that is what they will likely say.

shockolat1 , 12 Apr 2017 12:18
So Trump is unfit to govern because of his locker room humour and possible antics, but gas a few thousand people and hey presto! A darling of the left.
bemusedfromdevon shockolat1 , 12 Apr 2017 12:22
That's how it seems...
Fort Sumpter shockolat1 , 12 Apr 2017 12:25
Not the left. These writers are pro-British Establishment, pro mixed economy liberals. Soft right if anything.
zolotoy Fort Sumpter , 12 Apr 2017 12:51
You're talking about this rag. Take a look at what's coming out of Howard Dean's mouth, or Bernie Sanders's, or practically any Democrat in Washington not named Tulsi Gabbard.

Or, if you have a really strong stomach, take a look at Daily Kos.

They're what passes for "left" in America, unfortunately, because the number of SWP and Green Party members is statistically insignificant.

richmanchester , 12 Apr 2017 12:17
"Given the situation, it is understandable why some people may think ousting Assad is necessary"

The Guardian reported that in Libya, the last country to benefit from US and "our" attempts at regime change there are now open air slave auctions.

So yeah, why not do the same in Syria; what is there to lose?

Mates Braas , 12 Apr 2017 12:16
Regime change is illegal under international law, except to the rogues of course found in western capitals, and their Gulf vassals. These are the only group of people in the entire planet who talk openly about overthrowing sovereign governments of other countries.

Imperial hubris knows no bounds.

tjt77 Mates Braas , 12 Apr 2017 12:44
The unfortunate truth is that, along with the ongoing decline of western civilization, one 'by-product' is that International Law is continually disdained. The USA, having lack of insightful leadership, does as it wants, when it wants .. the result is that perpetual wars seem to be a given .. meanwhile, Asia continues to rise and is growing real and genuine wealth by producing and exporting the goods the rest of the world consumes and is doing it very well..
jman57 , 12 Apr 2017 12:16
President Trump didn't do enough (yet) by bombing an air base at night. The people of Syria need weapons, tanks, missiles, air support, etc. from a country like the USA that stands for freedom and human rights. Assad, who lives by the sword should also die by the sword. For the U.S. to stand by and watch these atrocities unchallenged would simply be not who we are. I don't agree with President Trump on a lot of things, but on this point he is right. I have changed from not liking him at all to liking him just a bit more.
sceptic64 jman57 , 12 Apr 2017 12:24
And what comes after?
duthealla sceptic64 , 12 Apr 2017 12:54
That'd be a problem for the EU. We cook , you clean - as some neocon asshat said about Iraq.
richmanchester duthealla , 12 Apr 2017 13:14
Well the Guardian was reporting on open air slave auctions in

Libya this week.

So clearly arming "the people" and supplying air support worked well there.

Obviously the same course should be followed in Syria.

richmanchester , 12 Apr 2017 12:15
"All six of Syria's Unesco world heritage sites have been damaged. "

And that's Assad'd fault?

Or is it the fault of the originally US and still Gulf states/Turkey backed Wahhabis that have damaged them?

Trumbledon richmanchester , 12 Apr 2017 12:36
All Assad's fault, if he hadn't tried to liberate Palmyra, it'd still be standi... Oh wait.
richmanchester , 12 Apr 2017 12:14
"The logic is that by removing and replacing an undesirable leader, the political situation in the country will change. "

Absolute tosh.

The logic behind nearly all attempts at cold war regime change was to replace a regime which aligned itself with the USSR with one that aligned itself with the USA.

The internal situation, politically or otherwise was of no concern

Elinore richmanchester , 12 Apr 2017 12:23
It would work in the USA.
Nietzschestache , 12 Apr 2017 12:13
Good piece. Regime change has been such a resounding success, you only have to look at Iraq and Libya to see that. Nor does a country which has a history of using napalm and carcinogenic defoliants any room to take the moral high ground.
sokkynick , 12 Apr 2017 12:13
If Assad, is so bad, how come most of the civilian population prefer his areas to those of the rebels? The one certainty in all of this is that the MSM has sold its credibility. Most of what I see is vested interest propaganda.
pete8s sokkynick , 12 Apr 2017 12:21
Isn't the main reason that people prefer Assad's areas because he doesn't bomb them.

There is no love of Assad anywhere.

If the US were to limit itself to punishing strikes against Assad whenever his forces committed war crimes – bombing hospitals using poison gas etc then a minor at the level of civilisation creeps back into the equation.

bemusedfromdevon sokkynick , 12 Apr 2017 12:25
Perhaps because the rebel areas are getting the shit bombed out of them by the Russians and Assad...

How many heavy bombers and fighters do those fighting Assad have...?

Just think about it a little....

Fort Sumpter pete8s , 12 Apr 2017 12:26

There is no love of Assad anywhere.

How many Syrians do you know and how many times have you been there?

scipioafricanus , 12 Apr 2017 12:10
The situation will be even more fraught if other external actors turn any attempt at regime change into a proxy war, as Russia and Iran are likely to do.

A proxy war between the United States and Russia is the thing we all have to fear. In Trump and Putin you have two leaders who use brinkmanship to get what they want and who will never back down from any position no matter what the consequences. They'd rather pursue a misguided policy rathen than lose face. I'd like to think the recent war of words between the two countries is just bluster, but as each day goes by I'm no longer sure anymore.

Amanzim , 12 Apr 2017 12:10
Regime change should work if all parties believe in democracy and respect each other. That does not seem likely in the middle east. We have seen what that means forcing that idea in Iraq, Egypt and Libya. A secular SOB is better than somebody who believes in laws of yesteryears.
zankaon , 12 Apr 2017 12:09
Another way: reducing accidental use of chemical weapons?

Always drop 2 bombs; one from each side of ammunition dump. That way, one of such unmarked ordinance is likely to be conventional explosives. The latter would further disperse, and dilute (reduce density) of the chemical gas; hence lessening lethality.

Elinore , 12 Apr 2017 12:08
You could put Assad in the White House and Trump in Syria and and nothing would change except that the White House might be a tad more intelligent.
Gandalf66 Elinore , 12 Apr 2017 12:59
Assad is actually a qualified doctor so he's pretty intelligent. Strange that he's ignoring the Hippocratic Oath on a daily basis.
jman57 , 12 Apr 2017 12:08
So we agree on the final result (need for regime change which by the way the article conflicts with its own title), but we disagree on the method. Many bottoms-up revolutions would not have been successful without outside help. The French helped America achieve freedom although their reason was somewhat revengeful. The people of Syria have no chance against an army and tanks ruled by a ruthless evil dictator like Assad without outside assistance. If you think they are not shedding enough blood for their freedom, then you are living in a hole in the ground.
Mickmarrs jman57 , 12 Apr 2017 12:18
Yeah and the guys that get in are head loppers
ProfJake , 12 Apr 2017 12:05
Well said. Worth taking a look at Global Peace Index, which is produced annually by the Sydney-based Institute for Economics and Peace:

http://visionofhumanity.org/indexes/global-peace-index /

In the latest iteration for 2016, the bottom ten places in the Index, reserved for the least peaceful countries on earth, include Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya: four countries where "regime change" has been brought about – or, in Syria's case, where there is arguably an ongoing attempt to bring it about – by the use of military force.

The evidence so far is that the use of force to topple regimes does not make things better, even when the behaviour of those regimes is/was objectionable in many ways.

Fort Sumpter , 12 Apr 2017 12:05

He has reduced once great Syrian cities such as Homs and Aleppo to rubble. All six of Syria's Unesco world heritage sites have been damaged.

Nope. Most of Homs and Aleppo are intact. The areas occupied by foreign Jihadists using the local populace as human shields were heavily bombed but now they have been liberated.

Who was it who destroyed these heritage sites? Not the SAA. The Jihadists even filmed themselves doing it and posted the videos online for goodness sake.

mp66 , 12 Apr 2017 12:04
Bashar al-Assad is not a good person. He has reduced once great Syrian cities like Homs and Aleppo to rubble. All six of Syria's Unesco World Heritage sites have been damaged.

So thousands of mostly foreign jihadists occupying parts of those cities had nothing to do with it? Did the US led forces in now n Mosul, or before that in Fallujah find the way to dislodge terrorists from urban strongholds without devastation of the city? Also for all world heritage sites in Syria, they were defended by Syrian troops, and everything that could be moved was moved to safe place. It was exclusively jihadists that were destroying temples, churches, shrines, even muslim graveyards when they found the funeral momunent "too tall". In all of these efforts to save the history of the humanity, syrian govermnent got no help nor acknowledgment. To add insult to injury, the western "cultural" response was touring 3D model of Palmyra gates through western capitals but while Daesh was methodically blowing it up under clear desert skies, there was interestingly not a single american drone to be found anywhere. It was syrian, iranian and russian blood spilled to liberate it twice from the death cult.

ID1941743 , 12 Apr 2017 12:02
Yep. There isn't a solution to this problem, but the one thing I'm 99.999% convinved will not work is 'the west' dusting off it's world policeman uniform and bombing the heck out of Syria.
ariaclast , 12 Apr 2017 12:01
This is precisely why the west has largely stayed out of the Syrian conflict; despite having a policy favouring the removal of Assad there hasn't been an attempt (or even the suggestion of an attempt at a policy level) at regime change.

One does wonder, though, at what point the conflict becomes so abhorrent and the civilian casualties so grotesque that our intervention could scarcely make things any worse

Vetinary ariaclast , 12 Apr 2017 12:13
Are you actually blind?
ariaclast Vetinary , 12 Apr 2017 12:15
Who said that?
LucyandTomDog , 12 Apr 2017 12:00
The US?

Syria?

Regime change?

Moi?

It seems that Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, whilst putting all his cerebral energy into attempting to apologise for his jaw-droppingly ignorant statement that Hitler never used chemical weapons on his own people, failed to stop his mouth making yet another gaffe;

"I needed to make sure that I clarified, and was not in any shape or form any more of a distraction from the president's decisive action in Syria and the attempts that he is making to destabilise the region and root out ISIS out of Syria."

(my emphasis)

Spicer speaks about the president's attempts to destabilise the region in a CNN television interview too.

As people are beginning to ask, does Spicer actually know what distabilise means?

zolotoy LucyandTomDog , 12 Apr 2017 12:44
I'm sure it was an unintentional but very revealing Freudian slip.

The advantage of letting dunces speak is that they're not very good at hiding what they think.

LucyandTomDog LucyandTomDog , 12 Apr 2017 13:21
Typo

'As people are beginning to ask, does Spicer actually know what distabilise means?'

Should be destabilise

Guy1ncognito , 12 Apr 2017 11:59

Bashar al-Assad is not a good person.

Don't hold back...

Moo1234 Guy1ncognito , 12 Apr 2017 12:22
Daesh/ isis are even less good people......
Gandalf66 Guy1ncognito , 12 Apr 2017 13:00
More like Assad is the least worst.
davshev , 12 Apr 2017 11:56
It bothers me that Trump is suddenly showing such concern toward innocent Syrians. Yet, at the same time he wants a ban on immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries, including Syria.
sceptic64 davshev , 12 Apr 2017 12:15
Don't you think the timing here is - for Trump - rather convenient? Just when he is under pressure for being a Russian patsy, something happens to allow him to portray himself as 'standing up to Putin'.

This whole thing stinks.

davshev sceptic64 , 12 Apr 2017 12:26
Right. Also, the question should be...if Putin is sleazy enough to be complicit with Syria, then why wouldn't they be sleazy enough to be involved in trying to swing the American election?
zolotoy davshev , 12 Apr 2017 12:42
Good question. How sleazy is it to be complicit with Al Qaeda, the only entity on the planet that the USA is semiofficially at war with?
scipioafricanus , 12 Apr 2017 11:56
In essence there must be incremental change in the political climate and culture of a state amongst the masses before it culminates in regime change at the top.

The political climate is no longer there because Assad has systematically murdered everyone who could have formed a credible oppostion to his regime; opposition activitsts, aid workers, doctors and nurses, journalists - all have either been killed, have fled to Europe, or are currently being tortured in one of his detention centres. There is no one left to rise up against him.

The intervention triggers resentment and hostility at the new government whose legitimacy is reduced through the participation of an outside government. Soon the new regime is considered a 'puppet' and its own existence is questioned by the people.

This is indeed true. However backing Assad also has its costs; where is the legitimacy of someone who is now merely a "puppet" for Russia and Iran's ambitions in the region?

As uncomfortable as it is the best western governments can do is to provide aid and assistance to those in distress, whilst pressuring those countries that continue to feed money and weapons to the combatants to change their positions.

As reasonable as this sounds, I'm afraid this is just wishful thinking.

Mates Braas scipioafricanus , 12 Apr 2017 14:37
"The political climate is no longer there because Assad has systematically murdered everyone who could have formed a credible oppostion to his regime;"

There is a credible position inside Syria which has been largely ignored by the western MSM and governments, because it does not support the uprisisng or the violent overthrow of the Syrian government. It was refused participation when the first peace talks were arranged.

lemonsuckingpedant , 12 Apr 2017 11:56
Wow, a Guardian article I can finally wholeheartedly agree with. Does this Professor chap have a hotline to Trump and the rest of the Western leaders itching for a fight with Assad?
zolotoy , 12 Apr 2017 11:53
Why do I get the feeling this is just another one of those "Now that Trump is in charge, we shouldn't do regime change" pieces? I note that the author nowhere comes out against fighting an eternal war in Syria -- he just doesn't want Trump doing the "regime change."

Yeah, he blabbers on about "aid and assistance" and "pressuring those countries that continue to feed money and weapons to the combatants to change their positions" -- obviously choosing to ignore how several western governments provide money and weapons to the combatants (should they be "pressuring" themselves?) But the pinnacle of his cluelessness -- or his agenda -- is reached with this whopper:

The situation will be even more fraught if other external actors turn any attempt at regime change into a proxy war, as Russia and Iran are likely to do.

--as if this hadn't been a proxy war for years already, one in which his own country has been quite actively engaged.
Janeira1 zolotoy , 12 Apr 2017 12:13
Didn't notice Iraq faring too well the last time the US intervened in regime change.
jamie evans , 12 Apr 2017 11:50
Trump told him over some cake?

This idiot has got to go, he is not rational. He clearly has not an inkling of the gravity of his actions. Nor does he care. How did we get to this? We always thought that a rogue state would be the end of us all. We were wrong. This moron is doing it all by himself. Some one needs to step in, take back control. This is frightening stuff.

Assad's removal would be catastrophic. There would be no stable government in Syria, it would be controlled by warlords backed by Saudi Arabia, al-Qaeda or ISIS and millions of refugees would have no country to return to or to live in. This will mean more refugees in Europe, more destabilisation and more money drained from our treasuries.

Russia would also be far from pleased and if the conflict erupted into a confrontation between NATO affiliated forces in Syria against Russia, the Eastern European front will become a lot more precarious (at a time when Britain is cutting back on military spending and very few European countries adequately contribute towards NATO). Do we really want a repeat of tensions from the pre-1991 era? I don't think so, especially with the combined threat of domestic Islamic terrorism throughout Europe and with the continental debt crisis that cannot afford more wars that are not in its interests. Russia will quickly mobilise its forces into the non-Russian caucuses, already closely aligned with Armenia and potentially link up with Iran territoriality. And what about Turkey? They cannot be relied upon.

So what benefit exactly is it to create anarchy in Syria for Britain's immediate and long-term interests? The destruction of Libya has created nothing but chaos and a stream of migrants from across Africa. Why Boris Johnson is waltzing around the world demanding hard action against Russia when we are cutting back on our armed forces is startling. A better question would be in whose immediate economic and geopolitical interests is the destruction of Assad beneficial? Well... there's two countries in the Middle East which come to mind... not hard to guess.

dusktildawn Jack1R , 12 Apr 2017 12:25
That's fair enough but what if Assad stays in power? Will the refugees, who mainly fled him, return? Will anyone invest in rebuilding the country? WIll anyone deal with the country other than Russia or Iran? Above all will the hatred of Assad, terrorism or indeed the conflict as a whole recede?
Jack1R dusktildawn , 12 Apr 2017 13:02
They didn't flee him... they fled the war. Most people, in any country, are apolitical. I expect the refugees in the Middle East and Anatolia will return to Syria and those in the West must be forced to return back.

The problem with Syria now is that it has become such a hot plate. If the West concedes to Russia and allows Syria to survive under the rule of Assad then we will lose face internationally... and it would be domestically embarrassing. No doubt Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Gulf monarchies would be less than pleased, and we depend on them for a lot of our oil.

It's a difficult question but what we do know is that there are no other credible groups that can rule Syria at the moment, other than Assad's Alawite minority. If we decide to nation-build, that will cost billions, possibly even trillions with no concrete result as our attempt in Iraq shows and we have no idea who we would put in charge. The Christians have about as much legitimacy as the Alawites. Perhaps the only conceivable outcome would be the breakup of Syria. The Christian and Alawite regions go towards Lebanon, the Kurdish regions are given independence and the Sunni areas are also given an independent state. But of course, the Sunni and Christian areas are intertwined and many Sunni's support Assad, or at least do not oppose him. And Turkey, as well as Iran, would never allow an independent Kurdistan. Iran would be less than pleased with the breakup of Syria as well.

I want to see a post-Assad plan. We all know what happens to non-Sunni minorities when a secular Arab leader is toppled. No one has yet to provide a coherent post-Assad state-structure. Unless of course they want Turkey to territoriality expand... we want to preserve the post-Ottoman borders and state-system yet at the same time we're waging war against the forces actively preserving it.

There is no simple answer. Assad is a pawn of Russia and Iran, yet the other options are either Turkish expansion (which, the last time they did that, they had sizeable European territories) or Saudi expansion (which I hope everyone agrees is less than desirable). We have no friends in the Middle East, other than Jordan, Egypt and Israel. But they all have their own interests and I suspect their friendships are determined upon those interests. I think our aim is to maintain the balance of power. Perhaps only the growth of Israel could act as a counter-weight to Sunni and Shia interests.

Alderbaran Jack1R , 12 Apr 2017 13:04
Would you support another leader from perhaps the same party taking over as an interim measure whilst different factions are brought together to defeat ISIS?

In an ideal world, I would love to see this happening, along with a form of truth and reconciliation commission, and a commitment from the international community and other bodies independent of the Syrian government to assist in tackling issues such as warlordism and corruption. The dogmatic belief that there can be no leader other than Assad is one that might have ultimately cost millions of lives and it would be wrong to use the old dictator's mantra of 'me or chaos'. And to be fair, Assad does not have a great track record in Syria.

And a final question - do you believe Russia should be doing more to put pressure on Assad or do you think it will be happy to put its international credibility on the line for him? (There is something pathological I believe in Putin's willingness to support other dictators)

Laurence Bury , 12 Apr 2017 11:50
How can one call for 'peaceful transition to a new society' when the original opposition to Assad was sponsored by multifarious power-hungry foreign actors? They exploited the Arab Spring pro-democracy utopianism then messed up their insurrectional strategy disastrously. The country now needs to be made a protectorate of an international peace-keeping force until a representative transitional government is agreed upon.
WellmeaningBob Laurence Bury , 12 Apr 2017 12:11
A little contradictory, no? Oh we fucked up, so you need to be colonised anyway.
Laurence Bury WellmeaningBob , 12 Apr 2017 12:19
No, that sounds like the pseudo-leftist neo-colonial discourse that Obama was so fond of.

The counter-argument to regime change is more that by now Assad controls most cities again, the opposition are awful sectarians who should be let nowhere near power and it may still be possible to contain IS to a manageable extent while Assad maintains a dictatorship indefinitely.

WellmeaningBob Laurence Bury , 12 Apr 2017 12:27
Not quite sure what you mean. Just saying that the "man on the street" would more likely than not understand "protectorate" pretty much the same as e.g. the Moroccans did.
Mates Braas elan , 12 Apr 2017 12:25
Civil war means that both sides are killing their own people.
zolotoy jonnyross , 12 Apr 2017 11:57
Only because his opposition is even more barbaric.
Fort Sumpter jonnyross , 12 Apr 2017 12:09
'indiscriminate weapons'

Oh dear, are they rally still pushing this 'our weapons don't kill civilians' BS?

No need for evidence of chlorine gas bombs apparently.

And anyone who questions the MSM narrative and who is sickened by endless war is an 'apologist'. What are you but an apologist for war?

Mates Braas jonnyross , 12 Apr 2017 12:23
Unfortunately, there is no way to make war nice.
SeeNOevilHearNOevil , 12 Apr 2017 11:42
Regime change in Syria was being talked directly since 9/11 and it never stopped. It's on the record. So is john Kerry, on record on TV, stating gulf states offered to cover part of the costs of a US invasion in Syria at least twice way before the so called ''civil war'' even started.

They prepared it for years but the poor taste Iraq/Libya left on the US public meant the US pulled out of the deal (all because of the planed gas pipelines from Qatar to Europe that has to go through Syria).

The Saudis along with Qatar, Turkey and Israel believed they could force the hand of the US and acted alone initiating the takeover. This is why despite the intel, organisation and provision of what is estimated to be 300k(german estimates) foreign jihadists eventually came to a standstill without direct US support.

The Jihadists then prematurely jumped the gun fragmented creating ISIS (something meant to take place behind the scenes after they defeated Assad)

The point is of course...it's all about oil...nothing about democracy or Gas or any of that crap

hpe974 SeeNOevilHearNOevil , 12 Apr 2017 16:26
Of course it is!! The USA is truly the biggest sponsor of terror and mayhem and destruction in the M.E.
namjodh , 12 Apr 2017 11:38
Yes, this is all quite true. What the USA almost always seems to do is create a power vacuum in the countries it attempts to "save" and, inevitably it seems, the USA always chooses the wrong damn party or person to support in said vacuum. A stunning misreading and proof of the failure of American foreign policy "experts" and CIA strategists to grasp the realities on the ground.
HuckelburryPin namjodh , 12 Apr 2017 11:46

Yes, this is all quite true. What the USA almost always seems to do is create a power vacuum in the countries it attempts to "save" and, inevitably it seems, the USA always chooses the wrong damn party or person to support in said vacuum.

Like in Japan. Just that Japan is ... Shinto. Or something. Not M.........

WellmeaningBob namjodh , 12 Apr 2017 12:04
I'm sure its fair to say that for many instability, disorder, mayhem and the like are entirely desirable. Witness Kissinger who out-and-out advocated/advocates looking after US long-term interests through war, disease and starvation.
ID4352889 , 12 Apr 2017 11:37
Scott Ritter has been commenting on the alleged Assad gas attacks . Unlike the MSM the former Iraq weapons inspector seems far from convinced.
Levant1998 ID4352889 , 12 Apr 2017 13:46
Former UN weapons inspector Richard Lloyd, and Professor Theodore Posto of MIT also authored a piece:

http://m.dw.com/en/is-assad-to-blame-for-the-chemical-weapons-attack-in-syria/a-38330217

jadamsj ID4352889 , 12 Apr 2017 17:12

Scott Ritter has been commenting on the alleged Assad gas attacks. Unlike the MSM the former Iraq weapons inspector seems far from convinced.

What that before or after Russia blocked an investigation into it?

ploughmanlunch , 12 Apr 2017 11:35
'The on-going devastation in Syria cries out for a response, 'do something' is the inherent plea.'

Might I suggest sending generous quantities of bubble wrap to each of the 'something must be done' brigade. Popping those bubbles is relaxing and calming. They will otherwise impatiently agitate for some ineffective, or more likely counter-productive measure that makes things drastically worse.

zolotoy ID4352889 , 12 Apr 2017 11:46
Not very sensible, actually -- see the comment by capatriot above (or below, if you do "newest first"). Rather appalling that someone with academic credentials would (1) engage in a comic book-style analysis of world politics (big bad nearly omnipotent supervillain!) and (2) put all the blame for the carnage and destruction on one side.
EdmundLange , 12 Apr 2017 11:29
We tried to change the leader in Iraq. It didn't work, and now the country is a hotbed of terrorism and incredibly corrupt and ineffectual government. We tried to change the leader in Libya. It didn't work, and now the country is a hotbed of terrorism and incredibly corrupt and ineffectual government. I guess we could try to change the leader in Syria, if we really, really want.
EdmundLange jonnyross , 12 Apr 2017 11:58
Excellent, I'm glad we're going to topple Assad so the Jihadists can take control. Just what we needed.
capatriot , 12 Apr 2017 11:26

He has reduced once great Syrian cities like Homs and Aleppo to rubble.

What, he, personally? What is he, superman? And I wonder why he'd choose to do that to his own nation's cities?

But wait, you mean that there was a rebellion against the recognized government which developed into a civil war, aided and abetted by sectarian outsiders and terrorists and the United States/West, with political and religious/ethnic overtones? And that later, as it looked like the recognized govt was going to fail, other interested outsiders like Russia and Iran intervened to help it?

Gosh, I wonder what the least worst outcome for the people of Syria actually is here ... perhaps we should leave it to them?

zolotoy jonnyross , 12 Apr 2017 11:56
It's actually a very serious question. How much control does Assad have over his government, let alone his armed forces? He's a trained dentist, ferchrissakes, and his older brother was the one groomed for the <strike>throne</strike> presidency. It makes sense to assume that his powers over an entrenched nomenklatura, to say nothing of all of the different armed factions nominally serving him, aren't limitless.

[Apr 12, 2017] Did Assad Really Use Sarin

Notable quotes:
"... Paul Gottinger ..."
"... is a journalist based in Madison, WI whose work focuses on the Middle East. He can be reached via Twitter @paulgottinger or email: [email protected] ..."
Apr 12, 2017 | www.counterpunch.org

Almost immediately after video of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Idlib hit Western media, Assad was declared guilty by US news networks and political commentators. The front page of the New York Times on April 5 th showed a heartbreaking image of a child wounded in the alleged chemical attack with a headline claiming Assad was responsible.

By the afternoon of April 7, a US attack seemed inevitable as both Rex Tillerson and Trump said action would be taken.

Between Democrats and Republicans, a bipartisan consensus emerged, rare in the Trump presidency, whereby Assad was deemed guilty and Trump was goaded on to attack. The few voices of dissent seemed mostly concerned with the lack of constitutional approval for the strike

The night of the strike, US media snapped into DPRK-style, state media mode. TV pundits fell into a trance while expressing the " beauty " of American power being unleashed on a country already destroyed by 6 years of war.

Pundits described the attack as "surgical" despite the pentagon quietly admitting one of the missiles missed its target and they don't know where it landed. My questions to both CENTCOM and the Secretary of Defense Office on the missing cruise missile have thus far gone unanswered. However, Syrian sources claim civilians were killed in the missile strike.

Trump justified the attack by invoking religiously themed buzzwords and unconvincing blather on the "beautiful babies" murdered in the chemical attack.

Following the attack, Trump officials' statements indicated there was a shift towards regime change. UN ambassador Nikki Haley said Sunday that removing Assad is now a priority.

The Neocon sharks have started circling too. Bill Kristol tweeted that these strikes should be used to move towards regime change in Iran. Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and John McCain have all joined in too, their mouths watering at the thought of ousting Assad.

But was Assad really responsible for the attack?

To ask such a question is to be deemed an "Assadist" by pundits and discourse police across the political spectrum.

Neither the lack of an independent investigation, nor the fact that nearly all the information on the alleged attack has come from rebel sources, who stand to benefit from a US response, is deemed sufficient cause for skepticism.

In a civilized society an actor is be presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. If guilt is determined, a legally justified course of action is taken. In the US however, if the accused is a US enemy, no evidence is needed, and even deranged conspiracies are given play in mainstream media coverage.

The best recent example of this is the US media's conspiracy about Russia stealing the US election and working for Trump. The US media has stooped so low as to even push bizarre conspiracies by Louise Mensch . She recently claimed the 2014 uprising in Ferguson was a Russian plot.

In the case of the alleged attack on Khan Sheikhun, US officials and pro-war experts immediately declared Assad's guilty and then cheered on an illegal use of force. This is all very reminiscent of the lead up to the Iraq war.

In an eerie coincidence, Michael R. Gordon, who with Judith Miller helped sell the Iraq WMD story to Americans, coauthored the New York Times April 4th article on Assad's alleged sarin attack at Khan Sheikhun.

To help sell the sarin narrative, the US media brought on a doctor to describe the alleged attack that has been accused of helping kidnap journalists in his work with extremists.

When the US investigated its own airstrike in Mosul this March, it took a number of days before it admitted it had killed hundreds of civilians. Yet, guilt was immediately assigned in the Khan Sheikhun attack.

In 2013, the US media also rushed to the conclusion Assad used sarin in a horrific incident in Ghouta. The US was on the verge of attacking Assad then, but Obama decided against it. Obama claimed he held off because US intelligence voiced skepticism about Assad's guilt.

The UN investigation on the Ghouta attack took almost a month and even its conclusions have been disputed.

In December of 2013, Seymour Hersh published a lengthy investigation into the 2013 attack in Ghouta and found reason to doubt Assad's responsibility for attack. He was forced to publish it in the London Review of Books after the New York Times and the Washington Post refused to run it.

He reported that classified US reports claimed that Syria's al Qaeda affiliate had "mastered the mechanics of creating sarin".

A month after Hersh's piece appeared, a MIT study cast further doubt on the US government's story by demonstrating that the rockets used in the Ghouta attack couldn't have flown as far as the US government claimed.

Ted Postol, one of the authors of the study said, "We were within a whisker of war based on egregious errors."

In this latest alleged gas attack, a few individuals have dared question the state narrative.

The journalist Robert Parry has recently claimed there is much to be made of the fact that Mike Pompeo, the CIA Director, wasn't among those helping sell this latest sarin story to the American people. He believes it indicates doubt in the CIA over Assad's involvement.

Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, has raised skepticism over Assad's involvement. He says rebels have had chemical weapons facilities in Syria and some of the witnesses' statements describe a strong smell during the attack, which indicates something other than sarin was used.

The Canadian government originally called for an investigation and stopped short of blaming Assad at the UN, but then later championed Trump's strikes.

Groups like Organizations for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Human Rights Watch are still investigating the alleged attack in Khan Sheikhun.

Whether these groups or others will be able to conduct an independent investigation is not known. But in usual fashion, the US had no interest in investigating facts, which may provide the wrong answers.

It's possible that Assad carried out the attack, but just because he's a reprehensible figure doesn't mean there is no need to present evidence and conduct an independent investigation.

What's clear now is that the US attack benefitted jihadi groups, has made further US military action more likely, and has increased the chances of a direct military confrontation with Russia. All of these results are very dangerous.

Future US military action in Syria should be resisted with popular pressure. History shows we can't count on the media or pundits to act as the voice of reason. Join the debate on Facebook

Paul Gottinger is a journalist based in Madison, WI whose work focuses on the Middle East. He can be reached via Twitter @paulgottinger or email: [email protected]

[Apr 12, 2017] Did Assad Really Use Sarin

Notable quotes:
"... is a journalist based in Madison, WI whose work focuses on the Middle East. He can be reached via Twitter @paulgottinger or email: [email protected] ..."
Apr 12, 2017 | www.counterpunch.org

Almost immediately after video of the alleged chemical weapons attack in Idlib hit Western media, Assad was declared guilty by US news networks and political commentators. The front page of the New York Times on April 5 th showed a heartbreaking image of a child wounded in the alleged chemical attack with a headline claiming Assad was responsible.

By the afternoon of April 7, a US attack seemed inevitable as both Rex Tillerson and Trump said action would be taken.

Between Democrats and Republicans, a bipartisan consensus emerged, rare in the Trump presidency, whereby Assad was deemed guilty and Trump was goaded on to attack. The few voices of dissent seemed mostly concerned with the lack of constitutional approval for the strike

The night of the strike, US media snapped into DPRK-style, state media mode. TV pundits fell into a trance while expressing the " beauty " of American power being unleashed on a country already destroyed by 6 years of war.

Pundits described the attack as "surgical" despite the pentagon quietly admitting one of the missiles missed its target and they don't know where it landed. My questions to both CENTCOM and the Secretary of Defense Office on the missing cruise missile have thus far gone unanswered. However, Syrian sources claim civilians were killed in the missile strike.

Trump justified the attack by invoking religiously themed buzzwords and unconvincing blather on the "beautiful babies" murdered in the chemical attack.

Following the attack, Trump officials' statements indicated there was a shift towards regime change. UN ambassador Nikki Haley said Sunday that removing Assad is now a priority.

The Neocon sharks have started circling too. Bill Kristol tweeted that these strikes should be used to move towards regime change in Iran. Marco Rubio, Lindsey Graham, and John McCain have all joined in too, their mouths watering at the thought of ousting Assad.

But was Assad really responsible for the attack?

To ask such a question is to be deemed an "Assadist" by pundits and discourse police across the political spectrum.

Neither the lack of an independent investigation, nor the fact that nearly all the information on the alleged attack has come from rebel sources, who stand to benefit from a US response, is deemed sufficient cause for skepticism.

In a civilized society an actor is be presumed to be innocent until proven guilty. If guilt is determined, a legally justified course of action is taken. In the US however, if the accused is a US enemy, no evidence is needed, and even deranged conspiracies are given play in mainstream media coverage.

The best recent example of this is the US media's conspiracy about Russia stealing the US election and working for Trump. The US media has stooped so low as to even push bizarre conspiracies by Louise Mensch . She recently claimed the 2014 uprising in Ferguson was a Russian plot.

In the case of the alleged attack on Khan Sheikhun, US officials and pro-war experts immediately declared Assad's guilty and then cheered on an illegal use of force. This is all very reminiscent of the lead up to the Iraq war.

In an eerie coincidence, Michael R. Gordon, who with Judith Miller helped sell the Iraq WMD story to Americans, coauthored the New York Times April 4th article on Assad's alleged sarin attack at Khan Sheikhun.

To help sell the sarin narrative, the US media brought on a doctor to describe the alleged attack that has been accused of helping kidnap journalists in his work with extremists.

When the US investigated its own airstrike in Mosul this March, it took a number of days before it admitted it had killed hundreds of civilians. Yet, guilt was immediately assigned in the Khan Sheikhun attack.

In 2013, the US media also rushed to the conclusion Assad used sarin in a horrific incident in Ghouta. The US was on the verge of attacking Assad then, but Obama decided against it. Obama claimed he held off because US intelligence voiced skepticism about Assad's guilt.

The UN investigation on the Ghouta attack took almost a month and even its conclusions have been disputed.

In December of 2013, Seymour Hersh published a lengthy investigation into the 2013 attack in Ghouta and found reason to doubt Assad's responsibility for attack. He was forced to publish it in the London Review of Books after the New York Times and the Washington Post refused to run it.

He reported that classified US reports claimed that Syria's al Qaeda affiliate had "mastered the mechanics of creating sarin".

A month after Hersh's piece appeared, a MIT study cast further doubt on the US government's story by demonstrating that the rockets used in the Ghouta attack couldn't have flown as far as the US government claimed.

Ted Postol, one of the authors of the study said, "We were within a whisker of war based on egregious errors."

In this latest alleged gas attack, a few individuals have dared question the state narrative.

The journalist Robert Parry has recently claimed there is much to be made of the fact that Mike Pompeo, the CIA Director, wasn't among those helping sell this latest sarin story to the American people. He believes it indicates doubt in the CIA over Assad's involvement.

Scott Ritter, a former UN weapons inspector in Iraq, has raised skepticism over Assad's involvement. He says rebels have had chemical weapons facilities in Syria and some of the witnesses' statements describe a strong smell during the attack, which indicates something other than sarin was used.

The Canadian government originally called for an investigation and stopped short of blaming Assad at the UN, but then later championed Trump's strikes.

Groups like Organizations for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Human Rights Watch are still investigating the alleged attack in Khan Sheikhun.

Whether these groups or others will be able to conduct an independent investigation is not known. But in usual fashion, the US had no interest in investigating facts, which may provide the wrong answers.

It's possible that Assad carried out the attack, but just because he's a reprehensible figure doesn't mean there is no need to present evidence and conduct an independent investigation.

What's clear now is that the US attack benefitted jihadi groups, has made further US military action more likely, and has increased the chances of a direct military confrontation with Russia. All of these results are very dangerous.

Future US military action in Syria should be resisted with popular pressure. History shows we can't count on the media or pundits to act as the voice of reason. Join the debate on Facebook

Paul Gottinger is a journalist based in Madison, WI whose work focuses on the Middle East. He can be reached via Twitter @paulgottinger or email: [email protected]

[Apr 09, 2017] Who is responsible for the chemical attack in Syria

Previous false flag
Sep 08, 2013 | www.salon.com
The early morning assault in a rebel-held Damascus suburb known as Ghouta was said to be the deadliest chemical weapons attack in Syria's 2 1/2-year civil war. Survivors' accounts, photographs of many of the dead wrapped peacefully in white sheets and dozens of videos showing victims in spasms and gasping for breath shocked the world and moved President Barack Obama to call for action because the use of chemical weapons crossed the red line he had drawn a year earlier.

Yet one week after Secretary of State John Kerry outlined the case against Assad, Americans – at least those without access to classified reports – haven't seen a shred of his proof.

There is open-source evidence that provides clues about the attack, including videos of fragments from the rockets that analysts believe were likely used. U.S. officials on Saturday released a compilation of videos showing victims, including children, exhibiting what appear to be symptoms of nerve gas poisoning. Some experts think the size of the strike, and the amount of toxic chemicals that appear to have been delivered, make it doubtful that the rebels could have carried it out.

What's missing from the public record is direct proof, rather than circumstantial evidence, tying this to the regime.

The Obama administration, searching for support from a divided Congress and skeptical world leaders, says its own assessment is based mainly on satellite and signals intelligence, including intercepted communications and satellite images indicating that in the three days prior to the attack that the regime was preparing to use poisonous gas.

But multiple requests to view that satellite imagery have been denied, though the administration produced copious amounts of satellite imagery earlier in the war to show the results of the Syrian regime's military onslaught. When asked Friday whether such imagery would be made available showing the Aug. 21 incident, a spokesman referred The Associated Press to a map produced by the White House last week that shows what officials say are the unconfirmed areas that were attacked.

The Obama administration maintains it intercepted communications from a senior Syrian official on the use of chemical weapons, but requests to see that transcript have been denied. So has a request by the AP to see a transcript of communications allegedly ordering Syrian military personnel to prepare for a chemical weapons attack by readying gas masks.

The U.S. administration says its evidence is classified and is only sharing details in closed-door briefings with members of Congress and key allies.

Yet the assessment, also based on accounts by Syrian activists and hundreds of YouTube videos of the attack's aftermath, has confounded many experts who cannot fathom what might have motivated Assad to unleash weapons of mass destruction on his own people – especially while U.N. experts were nearby and at a time when his troops had the upper hand on the ground.

Rebels who accuse Assad of the attack have suggested he had learned of fighters' plans to advance on Damascus, his seat of power, and ordered the gassing to prevent that.

[Apr 09, 2017] Biden No doubt Syria unleashed chemical attack, must pay price

So warmonger Biden was trying to unleash the US invasion against Syria but failed...
Notable quotes:
"... He said rebel forces were to blame for security concerns near the suspected chemical sites, arguing that Western leaders are using the claims as an excuse to go after al-Assad's regime. ..."
"... "We all hear the drums of war," Moallem said. "They want to attack Syria. I believe to use chemical weapons as a pretext is not a right." ..."
Aug 28, 2013 | www.cnn.com

Saying "there is no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons attack in Syria: the Syrian regime," Vice President Joe Biden signaled Tuesday that the United States -- with its allies -- was ready to act.

"Those who use chemical weapons against defenseless men, women and children should and must be held accountable," Biden said in a speech to the American Legion.

The vice president's remarks echo those made by other U.S. officials in recent days, as well as many of the nation's foremost allies.

French President Francois Hollande said his administration was "ready to punish those who made the decision to gas these innocent people," adding that "everything leads us to believe" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces are responsible.

British Prime Minister David Cameron -- who talked Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama -- called lawmakers back from their summer vacations to consider a response to Syria, as the UK military prepares contingency plans.

And U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the BBC on Tuesday that U.S. forces are "ready to go" if ordered to strike Syria by President Barack Obama.

"The options are there. The United States Department of Defense is ready to carry out those options," Hagel said.

Western leaders were reacting to a growing consensus that the Syrian regime was responsible for an August 21 attack that killed more than 1,300 people, most of them dying from exposure to toxic gases, according to rebel officials. The opposition -- which has said it's been targeted by chemical weapons attacks in the past as well -- backed up its latest allegations with gruesome video of rows of dead bodies, including women and children, with no visible wounds.

Opinion: For U.S., Syria is truly a problem from hell

Syrian officials, though, have steadfastly denied using chemical weapons in this or other cases.

Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Tuesday that his government would never use such munitions against its own people, daring those who disagree to present evidence publicly.

He said rebel forces were to blame for security concerns near the suspected chemical sites, arguing that Western leaders are using the claims as an excuse to go after al-Assad's regime.

"We all hear the drums of war," Moallem said. "They want to attack Syria. I believe to use chemical weapons as a pretext is not a right."

And if foreign powers do strike the Middle Eastern nation, its foreign minister said the government and its forces will fight back.

"Syria is not easy to swallow," said Moallem. "We have the materials to defend ourselves. We will surprise others."

[Jan 14, 2017] Position Statement in support of a new investigation into the total collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 on September 11, 2001

Sponsors: Daniel Barnum, FAIA and Fifty Members of the Institute

Intent: To adopt a Position Statement in support of a new investigation into the total collapse of World Trade Center Building 7 on September 11, 2001.

Text of Resolution

WHEREAS, according to the AIA Public Policies and Position Statements, architects are professionally obligated to use their knowledge, skill, and experience to engage in civic life; and

WHEREAS, World Trade Center Building 7 (WTC 7), a 47-story, steel-framed high-rise building, suffered a total collapse at 5:20 PM on the afternoon of September 11, 2001; and

WHEREAS, the cause of the collapse of WTC 7 has become the subject of vigorous public debate, such that establishing the true cause of the collapse
of WTC 7 is of great civic importance; and|

WHEREAS, the cause of the collapse of WTC 7 has become the subject of vigorous public debate, such that establishing the true cause of the collapse of WTC 7 is of great civic importance; and

WHEREAS, prior to and since September 11, 2001, no steel-framed high-rise building has ever suffered a total collapse, except buildings demolished through the procedure known as controlled demolition; and

WHEREAS, the collapse of WTC 7 exemplified many of the signature features of controlled demolition, including:

WHEREAS, first responders and bystanders reported explosions and other phenomena suggestive of controlled demolition immediately prior to and during the collapse of WTC 7, as exemplified in the following account by a first-year NYU medical student identified as "Darryl" on 1010 Wins Radio: "[W]e heard this sound that sounded like a clap of thunder. Turned around. We were shocked to see that the building was, uh Well, it looked like there was a shockwave ripping through the building and the windows all busted out. It was horrifying. And then about a second later the bottom floor caved out and the building followed after that"; and

WHEREAS, a CNN video captured both the sound of an explosion coming from WTC 7 and the following statements prior to the onset of the collapse:

Unidentified voice: "You hear that?"

Voice of emergency worker #1: "Keep your eye on that building. It'll be coming down soon."

Voice of emergency worker #2: "Building is about to blow up, move it back . We are walking back, there's a building about to blow up. Flame and debris coming down"; and

WHEREAS, numerous experts in controlled demolition and structural engineering have attested that the collapse of WTC 7 could have only been caused by controlled demolition, as exemplified in the following statement made by Dutch demolition expert Danny Jowenko after viewing video of the collapse: "This is controlled demolition . It's been imploded. It's a hired job, done by a team of experts"; and

WHEREAS, in spite of the fact that WTC 7 had only few, small, and scattered fires and modest structural damage, the NYC Office of Emergency Management and the New York Fire Department predicted the collapse of WTC 7 with extraordinary confidence and precision, deciding to establish a safety zone around WTC 7 early in the afternoon and waiting several hours in anticipation of the building's collapse; and

WHEREAS, local authorities were so certain of WTC 7's eventual collapse that anticipation of the collapse was widely reported in the media, as exemplified by MSNBC's Ashleigh Banfield, who reported, "I've heard several reports from several different officers now that that is the building that is gonna go down next. In fact, one officer told me they're just waiting for that to come down at this point" - and by the BBC, who erroneously began reporting the collapse 23 minutes before it actually occurred; and

WHEREAS, in spite of the fact that local authorities predicted the collapse of WTC 7 with extraordinary confidence and precision, investigators for the Building Performance Study, conducted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), were "stunned" by the collapse of WTC 7 and concluded in May 2002: "The specifics of the fires in WTC 7 and how they caused the building to collapse remain unknown at this time. Although the total diesel fuel on the premises contained massive potential energy, the best hypothesis has only a low probability of occurrence"; and

WHEREAS, three and a half years after the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) began its investigation into the World Trade Center disaster, NIST's lead investigator, Dr. Shyam Sunder, stated that NIST had some "preliminary hypotheses," but conceded, "[T]ruthfully, I don't really know. We've had trouble getting a handle on building No. 7"; and

WHEREAS, NIST finally concluded in its 2008 report that the collapse of WTC 7 was caused by "normal office fires," thus abandoning earlier hypotheses that diesel fuel fires or structural damage caused the collapse; and

WHEREAS, according to NIST, the fires that it alleges triggered the total collapse of WTC 7 burned at temperatures "hundreds of degrees below those typically considered in design practice for establishing structural fire resistance ratings"; and

WHEREAS, NIST neglected to examine steel from WTC 7 with a "Swiss cheese appearance" that had been attacked by molten iron - as documented in Appendix C of the FEMA/ASCE Building Performance Study - and instead falsely alleged that no identifiable steel was recovered from WTC 7; and

WHEREAS, in its draft report for public comment, NIST falsely denied that WTC 7 entered free fall, and then acknowledged the occurrence of free fall in its final report, but falsely alleged that the occurrence of free fall was consistent with its computer model, which, in fact, does not show a period of free fall, nor does it come close to replicating the observed collapse; and

WHEREAS, NIST's computer model omitted critical structural features of WTC 7, which, in the opinion of independent engineers, had they been included, the computer model would have shown that NIST's alleged collapse initiation mechanism had zero probability of occurring; and

WHEREAS, NIST has refused to release key portions of its modeling data to engineers studying the collapse of WTC 7, claiming that to do so "might jeopardize public safety"; and

WHEREAS, thousands of members of the architecture and engineering professions, including the 97 sponsors of this resolution, believe there is sufficient evidence contradicting NIST's explanation of the collapse of WTC 7 to warrant a new investigation.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the AIA Board of Directors shall commence the process to adopt a Position Statement, to be published in the AIA Directory of Public Policies and Position Statements, stating both:

 The AIA's belief that incidents involving the catastrophic failure of buildings and other structures must be investigated using the highest standards of science-based investigation and analysis; and

 The AIA's support for a new investigation into the total collapse of WTC 7.

[Oct 12, 2016] NSA whistleblower says DNC hack was not done by Russia, but by US intelligence

Highly recommended!
Notable quotes:
"... Stated Binney: "Now what he (Mueller) is talking about is going into the NSA database, which is shown of course in the (Edward) Snowden material released, which shows a direct access into the NSA database by the FBI and the CIA Which there is no oversight of by the way. So that means that NSA and a number of agencies in the U.S. government also have those emails." ..."
"... "Yes," he responded. "That would be my point. They have them all and the FBI can get them right there." ..."
"... And the other point is that Hillary, according to an article published by the Observer in March of this year, has a problem with NSA because she compromised Gamma material. Now that is the most sensitive material at NSA. And so there were a number of NSA officials complaining to the press or to the people who wrote the article that she did that. She lifted the material that was in her emails directly out of Gamma reporting. That is a direct compromise of the most sensitive material at the NSA. So she's got a real problem there. So there are many people who have problems with what she has done in the past. So I don't necessarily look at the Russians as the only one(s) who got into those emails. ..."
"... GAMMA compartment, which is an NSA handling caveat that is applied to extraordinarily sensitive information (for instance, decrypted conversations between top foreign leadership, as this was). ..."
Oct 12, 2016 | theduran.com
Binney also proclaimed that the NSA has all of Clinton's deleted emails, and the FBI could gain access to them if they so wished. No need for Trump to ask the Russians for those emails, he can just call on the FBI or NSA to hand them over.

Breitbart reports further

Binney referenced testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2011 by then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller in which Meuller spoke of the FBI's ability to access various secretive databases "to track down known and suspected terrorists."

Stated Binney: "Now what he (Mueller) is talking about is going into the NSA database, which is shown of course in the (Edward) Snowden material released, which shows a direct access into the NSA database by the FBI and the CIA Which there is no oversight of by the way. So that means that NSA and a number of agencies in the U.S. government also have those emails."

"So if the FBI really wanted them they can go into that database and get them right now," he stated of Clinton's emails as well as DNC emails.

Asked point blank if he believed the NSA has copies of "all" of Clinton's emails, including the deleted correspondence, Binney replied in the affirmative.

"Yes," he responded. "That would be my point. They have them all and the FBI can get them right there."

Binney surmised that the hack of the DNC could have been coordinated by someone inside the U.S. intelligence community angry over Clinton's compromise of national security data with her email use.

And the other point is that Hillary, according to an article published by the Observer in March of this year, has a problem with NSA because she compromised Gamma material. Now that is the most sensitive material at NSA. And so there were a number of NSA officials complaining to the press or to the people who wrote the article that she did that. She lifted the material that was in her emails directly out of Gamma reporting. That is a direct compromise of the most sensitive material at the NSA. So she's got a real problem there. So there are many people who have problems with what she has done in the past. So I don't necessarily look at the Russians as the only one(s) who got into those emails.

The Observer defined the GAMMA classification:

GAMMA compartment, which is an NSA handling caveat that is applied to extraordinarily sensitive information (for instance, decrypted conversations between top foreign leadership, as this was).

Zerohedge has some background on Binney , who is about as rock solid a security analyst as you could get.

Over a year before Edward Snowden shocked the world in the summer of 2013 with revelations that have since changed everything from domestic to foreign US policy but most of all, provided everyone a glimpse into just what the NSA truly does on a daily basis, a former NSA staffer, and now famous whistleblower, William Binney, gave excruciating detail to Wired magazine about all that Snowden would substantiate the following summer.

We covered it in a 2012 post titled " We Are This Far From A Turnkey Totalitarian State" – Big Brother Goes Live September 2013." Not surprisingly, Binney received little attention in 2012 – his suggestions at the time were seen as preposterous and ridiculously conspiratorial. Only after the fact, did it become obvious that he was right. More importantly, in the aftermath of the Snowden revelations, what Binney has to say has become gospel.

Binney was an architect of the NSA's surveillance program. He became a famed whistleblower when he resigned on October 31, 2001, after spending more than 30 years with the agency. He referenced testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in March 2011 by then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller in which Meuller spoke of the FBI's ability to access various secretive databases "to track down known and suspected terrorists."

[Sep 14, 2016] the motives of which are transparently political and actually create disinformation around veritable realities

Notable quotes:
"... It's unclear how a jetliner is [more] powerful than an earthquake, and how, if such requirements failed to save the WTC towers, preparing for even more powerful earthquakes is going to prevent a recurrence of the same. ..."
"... The heavy, black smoke emanating from the structures belies your premise. ..."
Sep 12, 2016 | www.nakedcapitalism.com

JSM September 12, 2016 at 5:10 pm

No offense is meant but fewer articles from Ms. Scofield, please, with transparent, dubious, questionable, or propagandistic angles. The article 'How building design changed after 9/11' has been written annually for fifteen years.

"In fact, for years building codes from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Concrete Institute have required structural supports to be designed with high enough ductility to withstand a major earthquake so rare its probability of happening is once every 2,000 years. "

It's unclear how a jetliner is [more] powerful than an earthquake, and how, if such requirements failed to save the WTC towers, preparing for even more powerful earthquakes is going to prevent a recurrence of the same.

This would also go for any articles entitled 'How the US Can Win the War in Syria' in which no objectives are articulated, non-evidential articles entitled 'U.S. Could Pay a High Price for Suing the Saudis,' any more New Yorker articles, the motives of which are transparently political and actually create disinformation around veritable realities, about 'Trump and the Truth', e.g. 'The Unemployment Rate Hoax,' etc. I'm sure posting links is largely a thankless job, but if I wanted to I could turn on CNN and 'learn' these very things.

Jess , September 12, 2016 at 6:31 pm

"In fact, for years building codes from the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Institute of Steel Construction and the American Concrete Institute have required structural supports to be designed with high enough ductility to withstand a major earthquake so rare its probability of happening is once every 2,000 years."

Hate to break it to you, but earthquake forces - seismic events - are considerably different than thermal events. Granted, fire often erupt as a result of severed gas and electric lines caused by an earthquake, but an earthquake is a brief, violent, hard shaking or rolling. A high-rise fire of sustained intensity sits in one place and does its work within a confined setting. In the case of the multiple floors damaged by the impact of the planes in 9-11, that confined setting bore a striking resemblance to a combination blast furnace and chimney. (People tend to forget that skyscrapers tend to create their own wind patterns, in this case well over 500 feet high. Just like air being pumped into a fire by a bellows.

human -> Jess , September 12, 2016 at 8:47 pm

The heavy, black smoke emanating from the structures belies your premise.

MyLessThanPrimeBeef , September 12, 2016 at 10:17 pm

The second order partial differentiation equation* governing structure responding during a dynamic event like an earthquakes shows that the force on the structure is related to its mass.

The heavier a structure, the bigger force it is subjected to, going through the same quake.

The force of an impacting plane is same regardless of the building size, all else being equal.

*(mass x acceleration) + (damping coefficient x velocity) + (stiffness modulus x displacement) = zero.

[Sep 11, 2016] The Mysterious Collapse of WTC Building 7

Is this a plan of the elite to introduce national security state in action. Are they afraid of the collapse of neoliberal social order and try to take precautions?
Notable quotes:
"... These factors would have resulted in the structural framing furthest from the flames remaining intact and possessing its full structural integrity, i.e., strength and stiffness. ..."
"... the superstructure above would begin to lean in the direction of the burning side. ..."
"... Nevertheless, the ultimate failure mode would have been a toppling of the upper floors to one side-much like the topping of a tall redwood tree-not a concentric, vertical collapse. ..."
"... A reporter with rare access to the debris at ground zero "descended deep below street level to areas where underground fires still burned and steel flowed in molten streams." ..."
"... Please remember that firefighters sprayed millions of gallons of water on the fires, and also applied high-tech fire retardants. Specifically, 4 million gallons of water were dropped on Ground Zero within the first 10 days after September 11, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories : ..."
"... Why would the Insiders bother blowing Building 7? Indeed, why would the Insiders bother with WTC at all? Exactly what were the motivations of the Insiders supposed to be? ..."
"... Larry Silverstein had a magic ball that told him to insure the buildings for "terrorist attacks". In February of 2002, Silverstein was awarded $861,000,000 for his insurance claims from Industrial Risk Insurers. His initial investment in WTC 7 was only $386,000,000. ..."
"... Perhaps after the first couple of attempted attacks on the WTC in the 90's they had a good look at what would happen if an attack was successful. Perhaps they then decided that the massive collateral damage from a partial or messy collapse could be greatly reduced by having the buildings ready to be brought down in a controlled way. ..."
"... All this would have to be kept secret as noone would work in a building lined with explosives. However the insurance companies, and the owner of the building would know, and this would explain the comments made by silverstein (comments that he himself never clarified). ..."
"... This may all be completely wrong, but lets face it, explosives did bring these buildings down. ..."
"... http://topdocumentaryfilms.com ...How about a 5 hour video that methodically refutes and explains the flaws of virtually every aspect of the 'official story', in particular the shamefully flawed NIST report ..."
"... There were no pyroclastic flows at WTC. That's obvious by the fact that pieces of intact paper lay everywhere, something that would be impossible if a hot cloud covered the area. ..."
"... The reason that you have to resort to esoteric explanations for what happened at WTC is that you believe lies about what happened at WTC. ..."
"... If you really believe that this was done by hydrocarbon based fires begun by burning jet fuel you are beyond hopeless. ..."
"... Why do you trust the government so much? That to me is idiotic. History has proven pretty much every government to be corrupt. It's sheep like you that allow them to get away with it. Just keep walking sheep, don't want to fall back from the mob. ..."
"... The "accepted scholarship" is conducted almost entirely by government shills for the benefit of dumbed down Americans whose information intake is limited to Fox, CNN, and MSNBC. ..."
Sep 15, 2012 | WashingtonsBlog

... ... ...

What Do the Experts Say?

What does the evidence show about the Solomon Brothers Building in Manhattan?

Numerous structural engineers – the people who know the most about office building vulnerabilities and accidents – say that the official explanation of why building 7 at the World Trade Center collapsed on 9/11 is "impossible", "defies common logic" and "violates the law of physics":

The collapse of WTC7 looks like it may have been the result of a controlled demolition. This should have been looked into as part of the original investigation

Photos of the steel, evidence about how the buildings collapsed, the unexplainable collapse of WTC 7, evidence of thermite in the debris as well as several other red flags, are quite troubling indications of well planned and controlled demolition

In my view, the chances of the three buildings collapsing symmetrically into their own footprint, at freefall speed, by any other means than by controlled demolition, are so remote that there is no other plausible explanation

Near-freefall collapse violates laws of physics. Fire induced collapse is not consistent with observed collapse mode . . . .

How did the structures collapse in near symmetrical fashion when the apparent precipitating causes were asymmetrical loading? The collapses defies common logic from an elementary structural engineering perspective.

***

Heat transmission (diffusion) through the steel members would have been irregular owing to differing sizes of the individual members; and, the temperature in the members would have dropped off precipitously the further away the steel was from the flames-just as the handle on a frying pan doesn't get hot at the same rate as the pan on the burner of the stove. These factors would have resulted in the structural framing furthest from the flames remaining intact and possessing its full structural integrity, i.e., strength and stiffness.

Structural steel is highly ductile, when subjected to compression and bending it buckles and bends long before reaching its tensile or shear capacity. Under the given assumptions, "if" the structure in the vicinity started to weaken, the superstructure above would begin to lean in the direction of the burning side. The opposite, intact, side of the building would resist toppling until the ultimate capacity of the structure was reached, at which point, a weak-link failure would undoubtedly occur. Nevertheless, the ultimate failure mode would have been a toppling of the upper floors to one side-much like the topping of a tall redwood tree-not a concentric, vertical collapse.

For this reason alone, I rejected the official explanation for the collapse .

We design and analyze buildings for the overturning stability to resist the lateral loads with the combination of the gravity loads. Any tall structure failure mode would be a fall over to its side. It is impossible that heavy steel columns could collapse at the fraction of the second within each story and subsequently at each floor below.We do not know the phenomenon of the high rise building to disintegrate internally faster than the free fall of the debris coming down from the top.

The engineering science and the law of physics simply doesn't know such possibility. Only very sophisticated controlled demolition can achieve such result, eliminating the natural dampening effect of the structural framing huge mass that should normally stop the partial collapse. The pancake theory is a fallacy, telling us that more and more energy would be generated to accelerate the collapse. Where would such energy would be coming from?

Fire and impact were insignificant in all three buildings [Again, please ignore any reference to the Twin Towers this essay focuses solely on WTC7]. Impossible for the three to collapse at free-fall speed. Laws of physics were not suspended on 9/11, unless proven otherwise

The symmetrical "collapse" due to asymmetrical damage is at odds with the principles of structural mechanics

It is virtually impossible for WTC building 7 to collapse as it did with the influence of sporadic fires. This collapse HAD to be planned

It is very suspicious that fire brought down Building 7 yet the Madrid hotel fire was still standing after 24 hours of fire. This is very suspicious to me because I design buildings for a living

The above is just a sample. Many other structural engineers have questioned the collapse of Building 7, as have numerous top experts in other relevant disciplines, including:

The collapse was too symmetrical to have been eccentrically generated. The destruction was symmetrically initiated to cause the buildings to implode as they did

Watch this short video on Building 7 by Architects and Engineers (ignore any reference to the Twin Towers, deaths on 9/11, or any other topics other than WTC7):

Fish In a Barrel

Poking holes in the government's spin on Building 7 is so easy that it is like shooting fish in a barrel.

As just one example, the spokesman for the government agency which says that the building collapsed due to fire said there was no molten metal at ground zero:


The facts are a wee bit different:

Please remember that firefighters sprayed millions of gallons of water on the fires, and also applied high-tech fire retardants. Specifically, 4 million gallons of water were dropped on Ground Zero within the first 10 days after September 11, according to the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories:

Approximately three million gallons of water were hosed on site in the fire-fighting efforts, and 1 million gallons fell as rainwater, between 9/11 and 9/21 .

The spraying continued for months afterward (the 10 day period was simply the timeframe in which the DOE was sampling). Enormous amounts of water were hosed on Ground Zero continuously, day and night:

"Firetrucks [sprayed] a nearly constant jet of water on [ground zero]. You couldn't even begin to imagine how much water was pumped in there," said Tom Manley of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, the largest fire department union. "It was like you were creating a giant lake."

This photograph may capture a sense of how wet the ground became due to the constant spraying:

murphy Arguments Regarding the Collapse of the World Trade Center Evaporate Upon Inspection
In addition, the fires were sprayed with thousands of gallons of high tech fire-retardants.

The fact that there were raging fires and molten metal even after the application of massive quantities of water and fire retardants shows how silly the government spokesman's claim is.

Again, this has nothing to do with "inside job" no one was killed in the collapse of Building 7, no wars were launched based on a rallying cry of "remember the Solomon Brothers building", and no civil liberties were lost based on a claim that we have to prevent future WTC7 tragedies.

It is merely meant to show that government folks sometimes lie even about issues tangentially related to 9/11.

Pooua > Wolfen Batroach • 2 years ago

Why would the Insiders bother blowing Building 7? Indeed, why would the Insiders bother with WTC at all? Exactly what were the motivations of the Insiders supposed to be?

JusticeFor911 > Pooua

Larry Silverstein had a magic ball that told him to insure the buildings for "terrorist attacks". In February of 2002, Silverstein was awarded $861,000,000 for his insurance claims from Industrial Risk Insurers. His initial investment in WTC 7 was only $386,000,000.

I'd say nearly half of $1,000,000,000.00 was the primary cause to include this building with the towers. Keep in mind that President Bush's brother Marvin was a principal in the company Securacom that provided security for the WTC, United Airlines and Dulles International Airport. Are dots connecting yet?

Pooua > JusticeFor911

If you buy a new car, you take out full coverage insurance on it. Insuring billion-dollar buildings is standard procedure, especially when one had already suffered a terrorist attack. You insinuation is nothing but gossip and suggestion.

No, Securacom did not provide security for WTC; that's the job of the Port Authority of NY & NJ. Securacom had a contract to perform a limited service for PANYNJ, and Marvin Bush was only a bit player (he was on the board of directors) in the company. Your paranoid ramblings are lies.

IBSHILLIN > Pooua

Perhaps after the first couple of attempted attacks on the WTC in the 90's they had a good look at what would happen if an attack was successful. Perhaps they then decided that the massive collateral damage from a partial or messy collapse could be greatly reduced by having the buildings ready to be brought down in a controlled way.

All this would have to be kept secret as noone would work in a building lined with explosives. However the insurance companies, and the owner of the building would know, and this would explain the comments made by silverstein (comments that he himself never clarified).

This may all be completely wrong, but lets face it, explosives did bring these buildings down.

Pooua > IBSHILLIN

I find it amazing that you consider yourself such an unquestionable expert that you not only feel qualified to insist that explosives brought down the WTC buildings, even in contradiction to scores of scientists, engineers and investigators of NIST, FEMA, FBI and MIT who say otherwise, and you do so without offering any evidence at all to support your bizarre claim.

No building the size of any of the WTC buildings has ever been brought down by controlled demolition, but of those that come closest, the planning took years, and the rigging took months of hard work by teams of experts working around the clock. This is not something that can be hidden.

Your suggestion is entirely preposterous and without merit.

ihaveabrain > Pooua

explain this? You are smarter than these experts? http://www.hulu.com/watch/4120...

NIST, FEMA, FBI and MIT are worthless entities! What about the experts in that documentary? Nanothermite brought them down smart guy!

Pooua > ihaveabrain • 25 days ago

You posted a 1.5-hour video. I am not here to watch a 1.5-hour video; I'm here to discuss the topic of the collapse of WTC 7. If you have something to say, say it here.

NIST has been the premier standards body used by the US government for a century, covering virtually every aspect of engineering and public safety in this country. It employes thousands of scientists, engineers and technicians. For you to claim that it is a worthless entity is idiocy on your part.

linked1 > Pooua • 24 days ago

http://topdocumentaryfilms.com ...How about a 5 hour video that methodically refutes and explains the flaws of virtually every aspect of the 'official story', in particular the shamefully flawed NIST report

You claim to want to discuss the topic of the collapse of WTC-7 but you can't be bothered to watch painstakingly researched documentaries that include thousands of witnesses, victims, scientists, and structural professionals.

You ought to educate yourself before calling other's claims 'worthless idiocy'. You are wrong, and history will prove you wrong.

Pooua > linked1

I've been reading arguments about 9/11 for two years. I've been arguing about other issues for the last 25 years, at least since I took a class in classical logic. What you need to understand is, you aren't arguing anything when you send me off to listen to someone else. The other guy might be arguing something, but you aren't doing anything. And, the fact that I've spent two years reading everything I could find on the subject makes me strongly suspect that this five-hour video would be just a waste of my time.

If you want to discuss this matter, then discuss it. Don't send me off to spend hours of my time listening to someone else. You explain it. If you can't explain it, then you don't understand it, and you are wasting everyone's time.

mulegino1 . > Pooua

The levels of energy required to turn most of the Twin Towers and WTC7 into nanoparticles (thus the pyrocastic flow which only occurs in volcanic eruptions and nuclear detonations) would be thousands of orders of magnitude greater than airliner impacts and hydrocarbon based office fires, which are claimed to have initiated a "gravity collapse".

How could a "gravity collapse" perfectly mimic the detonation of a small tactical nuclear device or devices-electromagnetic pulse, molten lava and a mushroom cloud?

Pooua > mulegino1

I want you to look at this image from the WTC on 9/11. It shows the debris after the Towers collapsed. Does this look like nanoparticles to you? Most of the debris was bigger than a man's fist.

Thumbnail

There were no pyroclastic flows at WTC. That's obvious by the fact that pieces of intact paper lay everywhere, something that would be impossible if a hot cloud covered the area.

The reason that you have to resort to esoteric explanations for what happened at WTC is that you believe lies about what happened at WTC.

mulegino1 . > Pooua

If you really believe that this was done by hydrocarbon based fires begun by burning jet fuel you are beyond hopeless.

There was indeed a pyroclasticas flow as anyone with youtube can determine for themselves.

Pooua > WilliamBinney • a year ago

It is your job to do more than make idiotic, speculative assertions and pretend that constitutes a reason for disregarding the government's account of the event. Yet, you all have completely failed to do anything except expose your own inability to account for the events of that day.

Dizzer13 > Pooua • a year ago

Why do you trust the government so much? That to me is idiotic. History has proven pretty much every government to be corrupt. It's sheep like you that allow them to get away with it. Just keep walking sheep, don't want to fall back from the mob.

mulegino1 . > Pooua • 2 years ago

The "accepted scholarship" is conducted almost entirely by government shills for the benefit of dumbed down Americans whose information intake is limited to Fox, CNN, and MSNBC.

The official narrative is so ludicrous from any standpoint that the "debunkers" resort to wildly implausible scenarios in order to convince the above cited demographic that the government and the major national media were reporting factual information when in fact they were reading from a script. And it was a very poorly written script. The Bin Laden bogeyman was already being invoked before the buildings exploded.

What you've got here is a pseudo-religious narrative designed to so enrage the dumbed down sheeple that they will lash out in their fury against virtually anyone designated by the powers that be as the enemy- a Sorelian myth.

Like any false narrative, the official story breaks down at the level of discrete facts and can only survive as a holistic mythologized, meta-historical events.

[Aug 16, 2015] Americans Are Finally Waking Up To False Flag Terror

Zero Hedge
So Common … There's a Name for It

This tactic is so common that it was given a name for hundreds of years ago.

"False flag terrorism" is defined as a government attacking its own people, then blaming others in order to justify going to war against the people it blames. Or as Wikipedia defines it:

False flag operations are covert operations conducted by governments, corporations, or other organizations, which are designed to appear as if they are being carried out by other entities.

The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is, flying the flag of a country other than one's own. False flag operations are not limited to war and counter-insurgency operations, and have been used in peace-time; for example, during Italy's strategy of tension.

The term comes from the old days of wooden ships, when one ship would hang the flag of its enemy before attacking another ship in its own navy. Because the enemy's flag, instead of the flag of the real country of the attacking ship, was hung, it was called a "false flag" attack.

Indeed, this concept is so well-accepted that rules of engagement for naval, air and land warfare all prohibit false flag attacks.

Leaders Throughout History Have Acknowledged False Flags

Leaders throughout history have acknowledged the danger of false flags:

"This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector."
- Plato

"If Tyranny and Oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy."
- U.S. President James Madison

"A history of false flag attacks used to manipulate the minds of the people! "In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations, and epochs it is the rule."
? Friedrich Nietzsche

"Terrorism is the best political weapon for nothing drives people harder than a fear of sudden death".
- Adolph Hitler

"Why of course the people don't want war … But after all it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship … Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country."
- Hermann Goering, Nazi leader.

"The easiest way to gain control of a population is to carry out acts of terror. [The public] will clamor for such laws if their personal security is threatened".
- Josef Stalin

People Are Waking Up to False Flags

People are slowly waking up to this whole con job by governments who want to justify war.

More people are talking about the phrase "false flag" than ever before.

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[Nov 24, 2018] Now we know created MH17 smear campaign, who financial Steele dossier and created Skripal affair ;-)

[Nov 24, 2018] When you are paid a lot of money to come up with plots psyops, you tend to come up with plots for psyops . The word entrapment comes to mind. Probably self-serving also.

[Nov 12, 2018] Protecting Americans from foreign influence, smells with COINTELPRO. Structural witch-hunt effect like during the McCarthy era is designed to supress decent to neoliberal oligarcy by Andre Damon and Joseph Kishore

[Oct 20, 2018] Cloak and Dagger by Israel Shamir

[Oct 09, 2018] The Skripals Are an MI6 Hoax - 'Not Worthy of Ladies' Detective Novels' - Israeli Expert Demolishes UK Case

[Oct 08, 2018] British intelligence now officially is a by-word for organized crime by John Wight

[Sep 23, 2018] UK Begged Trump Not To Declassify Russia Docs; Cited Grave Concerns Over Steele Involvement

[Sep 15, 2018] BBC is skanky state propaganda

[Aug 14, 2018] US Intelligence Community is Tearing the Country Apart from the Inside by Dmitry Orlov

[Aug 08, 2018] Sergei Skripal was linked to a consultant with former UK spy Christopher Steele's Orbis Business Intelligence

[Aug 08, 2018] Ten Bombshell Revelations From Seymour Hersh's New Autobiography

[Jul 05, 2018] Britain's Most Censored Stories (Non-Military)

[Jun 13, 2018] How False Flag Operations Are Carried Out Today by Philip M. GIRALDI

[Jun 09, 2018] Spooks Spooking Themselves by Daniel Lazare

[Jun 09, 2018] Still Waiting for Evidence of a Russian Hack by Ray McGovern

[May 04, 2018] Media Use Disinformation To Accuse Russia Of Spreading Such by b

[May 03, 2018] Skripal case British confirm they have no suspect; Yulia Skripal vanishes, no word of Sergey Skripal by Alexander Mercouris

[Apr 23, 2018] The Tony Blair Rule: The Truth Takes 15 Years to Come Out, Skripal Countdown Starts Now - Simonyan

[Apr 22, 2018] The Crisis Is Only In Its Beginning Stages by Paul Craig Roberts

[Apr 21, 2018] Amazingly BBC newsnight just started preparing viewers for the possibility that there was no sarin attack, and the missile strikes might just have been for show

[Apr 21, 2018] It s a tough old world and we are certainly capable of a Salisbury set-up and god knows what else in Syria.

[Apr 20, 2018] Stench of hypocrisy British 'war on terror' strategic ties with radical Islam by John Wight

[Apr 17, 2018] Probable sequence of event in Douma false flag operation

[Apr 16, 2018] British Propaganda and Disinformation An Imperial and Colonial Tradition by Wayne MADSEN

[Apr 11, 2018] It is long passed the time when any thinking person took Trump tweets seriously

[Apr 10, 2018] The Ghouta Massacre near Damascus on Aug 21, 2013 was not a sarin rocket attack carried out by Assad or his supporters. It was a false-flag stunt carried out by the insurgents using carbon monoxide or cyanide to murder children and use their corpses as bait to lure the Americans into attacking Assad.

[Apr 05, 2018] The Three Most Important Aspects of the Skripal Case so Far and Where They by Rob Slane

[Apr 05, 2018] An Interview with Retired Russian General Evgeny Buzhinsky The National Interest

[Apr 03, 2018] This Washington Post Headline Is Fake News

[Apr 03, 2018] Exercise TOXIC DAGGER - the sharp end of chemical warfare

[Apr 02, 2018] Russia 'Novichok' Hysteria Proves Politicians and Media Haven't Learned the Lessons of Iraq by Patrick Henningsen

[Apr 02, 2018] The Litvinenko Conspiracy

[Apr 01, 2018] UK may have staged Skripal poisoning to rally people against Russia, Moscow believes

[Mar 31, 2018] FBI Director Mueller testified to Congress that Saddam Hussein was responsible for anthrax attack! That was Mueller's role in selling the "intelligence" to invade Iraq.

[Mar 28, 2018] Deep State and False Flag Attacks

[Mar 22, 2018] Vladimir Putin: nonsense to think Russia would poison spy in UK

[Mar 21, 2018] Arafat and Litvinenko: an Interesting Turn to a Mysterious Story

[Mar 16, 2018] Corbyn Calls for Evidence in Escalating Poison Row

[Mar 16, 2018] NATO to display common front in Skripal case

[Mar 14, 2018] Russian UN anvoy> alleged the Salisbury attack was a false-flag attack, possibly by the UK itself, intended to harm Russia s reputation by Julian Borger

[Mar 14, 2018] UNSC holds urgent meeting over Salisbury attack

[Mar 12, 2018] New Huge Anti-Russian Provocation ahead of Russian election by Robert Stevens

[Mar 11, 2018] The Elephant In The Room by Craig Murray

[Mar 11, 2018] It is highly probably that Steele and Skripal knew each other

[Mar 11, 2018] Ramping Russophobia is the most convincing motive for the Skripal attack

[Mar 10, 2018] Meier might have discovered that his subject had been, as it were, 'top supporting actor' in the first fumbling attempt by Christopher Steele et al to produce a plausible-sounding scenario as to the background to Litvinenko s death.

[Mar 10, 2018] There is reason to suspect that some former and very likely current employees of the FBI have been colluding with elements in other American and British intelligence agencies, in particular the CIA and MI6, in support of an extremely ambitious foreign policy agenda for a very long time. It also seems clear that influential journalists, such as Glenn Simpson was before founding Fusion GPS, along with his wife Mary Jacoby, have been strongly involved in this

[Mar 08, 2018] Cue bono question in Scripal case?

[Jan 16, 2018] The Russia Explainer

[Dec 28, 2017] How CrowdStrike placed malware in DNC hacked servers by Alex Christoforou

[Dec 10, 2017] When Washington Cheered the Jihadists Consortiumnews

[Dec 28, 2019] Senior OPCW Official Busted Leaked Email Exposes Orders To Delete All Traces Of Dissent On Douma

[Dec 14, 2019] Full Interview: Barr Criticizes Inspector General Report On The Russia Investigation

[Dec 14, 2019] A Determined Effort to Undermine Russia

[Dec 04, 2019] The central question of Ukrainegate is whether CrowdStrike actions on DNC leak were a false flag operation designed to open Russiagate and what was the level of participation of Poroshenko government and Ukrainian Security services in this false flag operation by Factotum

[Dec 04, 2019] Common Funding Themes Link 'Whistleblower' Complaint and CrowdStrike Firm Certifying DNC Russia 'Hack' by Aaron Klein

[Dec 04, 2019] DNC Russian Hackers Found! You Won't Believe Who They Really Work For by the Anonymous Patriots

[Dec 04, 2019] June 4th, 2017 Crowdstrike Was at the DNC Six Weeks by George Webb

[Dec 04, 2019] Cyberanalyst George Eliason Claims that the "Fancy Bear" Who Hacked the DNC Server is Ukrainian Intelligence – In League with the Atlantic Council and Crowdstrike

[Dec 04, 2019] Fancy Bear - Conservapedia

[Dec 04, 2019] June 2nd, 2018 Alperovich's DNC Cover Stories Soon To Match With His Hacking Teams by George Webb

[Dec 02, 2019] Ghouta is Arabic for Reichstag Fire by Publius Tacitus

[Oct 28, 2019] Expert Panel Finds Gaping Plot-Holes In OPCW Report On Alleged Syrian Chemical Attack by Caitlin Johnstone

[Oct 24, 2019] Trump is now proven war criminal: WikiLeaks Releases New Documents Questioning Syria Chemical Attack Narrative

[Sep 22, 2019] More Americans Questioning Official 9-11 Story As New Evidence Contradicts Official Narrative by Whitney Webb

[Jul 23, 2019] John Helmer MH17 Evidence Tampering Revealed by Malaysia – FBI Attempt To Seize Black Boxes; Dutch Cover-Up of Forged Telephon

[Jun 19, 2019] Bias bias the inclination to accuse people of bias by James Thompson

[May 19, 2019] Intel agencies of the UK and US are guilty of fabricating evidence, breaking the laws (certainly of the targeted countries, but also of the UK and US), providing fake analysis and operating as evil actors on the dark side of humanity

[May 14, 2019] The Propaganda Multiplier How Global News Agencies and Western Media Report on Geopolitics

[May 11, 2019] CIA Paid $100,000 To Shadowy Russian For Dirt on Trump, Including Sex Video by Chuck Ross

[May 10, 2019] Mueller Report - Expensive Estimations And Elusive Evidence by Adam Carter

[May 08, 2019] Obama Spied on Other Republicans and Democrats As Well by Larry C Johnson

[Apr 22, 2019] FBI top brass have been colluding with top brass of CIA and MI6 to pursue ambitious anti-Russian agenda

[Apr 16, 2019] CIA Director Used Fake Skripal Incident Photos To Manipulate Trump

[Mar 24, 2019] The manner in which Guccifer 2.0's English was broken, did not follow the typical errors one would expect if Guccifer 2.0's first language was Russian.

[Mar 24, 2019] The accountability that must follow Mueller's report

[Mar 24, 2019] One could wish that DOJ IG Horowitz could investigate and sanction British Intelligence for its use of official and non-official officials in starting this debacle.

[Mar 17, 2019] Mueller uses the same old false flag scams, just different packaging of his forensics-free findings

[Mar 17, 2019] VIPS- Mueller's Forensics-Free Findings

[Jan 20, 2019] Doctor, nurse, Chief Nursing Officer of the Army, whatever.

[Jan 19, 2019] Coincidence - Chief Nurse Of British Army Was First Person To Arrive At Novichoked Skripal Scene

[Jan 08, 2019] Shock Files- What Role Did Integrity Initiative Play in Sergei Skripal Affair- - Sputnik International

[Jan 08, 2019] Skripal spin doctors- Documents link UK govt-funded Integrity Initiative to anti-Russia narrative

[Jan 06, 2019] British elite fantasy of again ruling the world (with American and Zionist aid) has led to a series of catastrophic blunders and overreaches in both foreign and domestic policies.

[Jan 02, 2019] The Only Meddling "Russian Bots" Were Actually Democrat-Led "Experts" by Mac Slavo

[Dec 29, 2018] -Election Meddling- Enters Bizarro World As MSM Ignores Democrat-Linked -Russian Bot- Scheme -

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Last modified: April, 09, 2020