Thanks sleeply,
But underlying your comment is an assumption of *logic* in this world. If it ever existed it
certainly does not
apply any longer. Look how much mileage the MSM and the anti-Democracy Party got out of the
nothingburger Russiagate.
The MSM doesn't even need to smell real blood, they will run with anything to continue the
coup.
Anything negative that involves Edward Gallagher between now and election day could be
magnified 1 million-fold and
repeated 1000 million times by the MSM and dropped in Trump's lap.
If the CIA/MI6/FBI did attempt to create a sting it need not be as dramatic as the Skripal
fakery.
What would you dream up if you were tasked by the CIA to propose something? KISS.
Russia has received a lot of criticism over the bombing of alleged 'hospitals' in Syria
which were registered on a UN sponsored list. The Russian military argued that the positions on
the UN list were not of real hospitals but of ammunition depots or command centers of the
Jihadists. After it had published dozens of articles bashing Russia's campaign the New York
Times has finally admitted that Russia was right:
United Nations officials only recently created a unit to verify locations provided by relief
groups that managed the exempt sites, some of which had been submitted incorrectly, The Times
found. Such instances of misinformation give credibility to Russian criticisms that the
system cannot be trusted and is vulnerable to misuse.
...
The groups give locations of their own choosing to the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the agency that runs the system.
A document prepared by the agency warned that participation in the system "does not
guarantee" the safety of the sites or their personnel. The document also stated that the
United Nations would not verify information provided by participating groups.
...
While investigating an airstrike in November, The Times discovered that a relief group had
provided coordinates for its health center that were around 240 meters away. When another
hospital was bombed in May, The Times found that the coordinates submitted by its supporting
organization pointed to an unrelated structure around 765 meters north.
After questions from The Times prompted the organization to review its deconfliction list,
a staff member discovered that it had provided the United Nations with incorrect locations
for 14 of its 19 deconflicted sites . The original locations had been logged by a pharmacist.
The list had been with the United Nations humanitarian agency for eight months, and no one
had contacted the organization to correct the locations, a member of the organization's staff
said.
Now that Trump so much complains and threats by Twitter about "civilians" in Idlib...we
remember the aerial bombing of the Iraq-Kuwzit highway by US...
This crime cannot be overstated as one of the most disgusting acts the US committed in the
region. A column of withdrawing soldiers and civilians which were even found to be in
compliance with UN resolution 660, were completely eviscerated by the US Air Force. A war
crime. https://twitter.com/mideastwitness/status/1211109428759613440
As Lozion said, USAF has attacked five positions of the PMU's (KH units), three in Irak and
two in Syria, it seems there are a scores of people have been killed and injured in those air
strikes, some of them seems to be senior commanders
Imbecilization of discussion of controversial issues like in case of your comment is a normal
development typical for the periods of intellectual declines which naturally follows the economic
decline of a given empire.
There's growing evidence the West is going through the same process as the USSR.
Mike Figueroa from The Humanist Report has got a bunch of angry leftists hating on Tulsi
Gabbard for her Christmas greeting
today on twitter and youtube, they are claiming Tulsi is "too religious" or "she is pandering
to evangelicals." They have gone insane obviously and are hating on Tulsi for other reasons
(she dares challenge Bernie for president). Pam Ho breaks it all down for you at Like, In The
Year 2024
The take away quote
"
Up until the OPCW leaks, WikiLeaks drops always made mainstream news headlines. Everyone
remembers how the 2016 news cycle was largely dominated by leaked Democratic Party emails
emerging from the outlet. Even the relatively minor ICE agents publication by WikiLeaks last
year, containing information that was already public, garnered headlines from top US outlets
like The Washington Post , Newsweek, and USA Today. Now, on this exponentially more important
story, zero coverage.
The mass media's stone-dead silence on the OPCW scandal is becoming its own scandal, of
equal or perhaps even greater significance than the OPCW scandal itself. It opens up a whole
litany of questions which have tremendous importance for every citizen of the western world;
questions like, how are people supposed to participate in democracy if all the outlets they
normally turn to to make informed voting decisions adamantly refuse to tell them about the
existence of massive news stories like the OPCW scandal? How are people meant to address such
conspiracies of silence when there is no mechanism in place to hold the entire mass media to
account for its complicity in it? And by what mechanism are all these outlets unifying in
that conspiracy of silence?
"
Is the media suppressing evidence that the 2018 chemical 'attack' in Syria didn't happen the
way officials said it did? It is perhaps the least reported media scandal about the least
reported international controversy in recent times -- the resignation of Tareq Haddad , a
well-regarded journalist from Newsweek , a mainstay of the mainstream media.
In an
announcement on Twitter , Haddad declared, "I resigned from Newsweek after my attempts to
publish newsworthy revelations about the leaked OPCW letter were refused for
no valid reason," adding , "I have collected
evidence of how they [the OPCW] suppressed the story in addition to evidence from another case
where info inconvenient to US govt was removed, though it was factually correct." Haddad
further noted that he had been threatened by Newsweek
with legal action if he sought to publish his findings elsewhere.
The OPCW's Douma investigation has been under a cloud of controversy since shortly after its
interim
report was released to the public in early March 2019. The
document was prepared by Ian Henderson , an engineer working for the OPCW. It challenged
the conclusions of the inspection team regarding the provenance of two chlorine canisters
located at the incident scene, and was leaked to the press.
The document, which the OPCW subsequently declared to be genuine, raised the probability
that the canisters had been manually placed at the scene, as opposed to having been dropped by
the Syrian Air Force, raising the question as to whether the entire Douma incident had been
staged.
Haddad's story, however, was not about Ian Henderson's report, but rather a series of new documents , backed up by
an inspector-turned-whistleblower known only as "Alex," that accused the OPCW leadership of
ignoring
the findings of its own inspectors in favor of a revisionist report prepared by another
team of inspectors based out of Turkey. This second group allegedly relied heavily on data and
witnesses provided by the Syrian Civil Defense (the "White Helmets") and the Syrian American
Medical Society (SAMS), two ostensibly humanitarian organizations opposed to the regime of
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Haddad's new sources emerged after the publication of the OPCW's
final report on the Douma incident in July 2019 . That document concluded that chlorine had
been used as a weapon at Douma, likely via chlorine canisters dropped from aircraft -- making
the Syrian government solely responsible and legitimizing the U.S.-led aerial attacks.
The leaked material was verified by interviews to select reporters (possibly including
Haddad, who is
seeking whistleblower-like protection from Newsweek ) by "Alex," who claims to have
been part of the Douma investigation. The narrative that emerges from a cursory examination of
this new data is damning -- the OPCW suppressed the findings of the investigation team, which
concluded that chlorine had not been used as a weapon at Douma. The OPCW management then
conspired with the U.S. government to manufacture another report, based on an alternate set of
facts, which sustained the notion that the Syrian government had, in fact, used chlorine as a
weapon.
The OPCW management has largely ignored the leaks. The current director general,
Fernando Arias, defended the work of his organization , declaring, "While some of these
diverse views continue to circulate in some public discussion forums, I would like to reiterate
that I stand by the independent, professional conclusion [of the investigation]." For its part,
Newsweek , through a spokesperson, told a reporter , "The
writer [Haddad] pitched a conspiracy theory rather than an idea for objective reporting.
Newsweek editors rejected the pitch."
Under normal circumstances, the leaked documents and first-hand testimony of a whistleblower
like "Alex" would have garnered the attention of the mainstream media, especially given their
link to the Trump administration. There was a time when the media wasn't afraid to take a
controversial story and run with it, even one that involved multilateral arms control. In
August 1998, I resigned from my position as a chief weapons inspector with the United Nations
Special Commission (UNSCOM), which had been charged with the removal, destruction, or
dismantling of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in accordance with relevant UN Security
Council resolutions. My resignation was front-page news at both The New York Times and The
Washington Post (among others), and I was called to testify before the both the Senate and the
House about my allegations, which centered on American interference with the work of
UNSCOM.
In retrospect, I'd be delusional to believe that the sole reason the media had taken an
interest in my story was that they found the intricacies of disarming Iraq fascinating. The
reality was that, at least from the perspective of the mass media, my resignation had served as
a means to play the story off against competing domestic political power bases, which in my
case consisted of an incumbent Democratic president, Bill Clinton, and a Congress where both
houses were controlled by Republicans.
My story had relevance not because I was empowered with fact-based truth (I was), but
because my cause was taken up by one side (congressional Republicans) and used as a political
cudgel against the other (President Clinton). The moment both the president and Congress came
together of one mind, choosing military-backed regime change over legitimate disarmament, my
utility was eliminated, and the
media dropped me like a bad habit . The demonization of Saddam Hussein's Iraq precluded any
meaningful discussion of issues of disarmament, with the end result the unquestioning embrace
of the notion that Iraq had retained WMD, despite there being no evidence to sustain this, and
an acceptance of war as the only viable solution, despite the fact that weapons inspections had
proven they could be useful.
While conventional wisdom eventually evolved to accept the fact that the UN disarmament
process had worked, and that I was correct when I'd reported that Iraq had been qualitatively
disarmed and no longer posed a threat worthy of war, the fact remains that the issue of Iraqi
WMD was always secondary to the issue of Saddam Hussein. Even once there was agreement that the
WMD had been nonexistent, there was never any rethinking of how we had collectively pigeonholed
Saddam into the "evil dictator" category, with the merits of his removal rarely questioned.
There are many similarities between my case and that of the OPCW inspectors, especially when
it comes to their defending the integrity of the institution they represent and resisting the
corruption of outside influences. The OPCW matter, however, remains a matter of internal
dispute, denied the grand stage of American politics and the media attention that would
garner.
There are several reasons for this. First, it is hard to rally people around a case where
the central debate is over the relevance of particles per billion, or engineering equations
concerning the tensile strength of concrete and steel. While the underlying science and math
appears to be on the side of Ian Henderson and "Alex," the refusal of the OPCW to engage in any
substantive discussion means that what passes for a "debate" has been hijacked by social media
personalities. They're led by Eliot Higgins and his cohort of Bellingcat "specialists" who back up their questionable
science with well-worn tropes designating
all who oppose them as "pro-Assad" conspiracy theorists and/or Russian-controlled trolls who
are simply regurgitating "Kremlin talking points."
Newsweek 's suppression of the reporting of Tareq Haddad is disturbing; the failure
of the mainstream media to pick up the metaphorical ball and run with it is a damning
indictment of the current state of journalism today. There was a time when an intrepid
investigative reporter like Seymour Hersh would have sunk his
teeth into a story such as this. But Hersh's one-time outlet of choice -- the New Yorker -- and its editor, David Remnick , have
foregone the pursuit of truth in favor of publishing stories that demonize Assad and Putin. The
same can be said of The New York Times , The Washington Post , and other major
media outlets.
The OPCW whistleblower scandal has all the elements of a blockbuster -- heroes, villains,
scandal, lies, and cover-up. But fact-based truth is no longer the fuel of the media business
that modern journalism is supposed to sustain, especially when the truth can so easily be
fobbed off as "pro-Assad" or "pro-Russia." As long as this model remains in place, and the work
of genuine journalists such as Tareq Haddad is suppressed by editors, the American people will
remain prisoners of their own ignorance.
Scott Ritter is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in the former
Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert
Storm, and in Iraq overseeing the disarmament of WMD. He is the author ofseveral books,
most recently,Deal of the Century: How
Iran Blocked the West's Road
Yup, there hasn't been any journalism in America since around the time that Cronkite turned
against the Vietnam War, and there was damn little of it even back then. ALL we've had
since is deep state propaganda pushing false narratives to manipulate public opinion into
supporting or ignoring militarism and plutocracy.
We accuse Russia and other countries of having state media but we have state media which is
why we will never fix ourselves until we are eventually defeated. We are incapable of
self-correction. I am very bitter about our MSM and hold them more accountable than our
govt officials for our deplorable state. All govts lie, if our MSM cheers on our govt then
it encourages them to tell bigger and bigger lies.
As bad as FOX is, CNN is even worse. CNN will dismiss something as a 'Putin talking
point', note, there is no regard for whether or not it is true. They will quote a U.S. govt
employee as if they are quoting St. Peter. Why should we be surprised, look at how many
govt employees now work for the cable and news networks.
Add "Bashir Assad gassed his own people" to the list of the world's biggest lies.
(FWIW, The list now grows wearily long.
We still have the oldies but goodies, like "The check is in the mail" and "I did not
have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky," to name only two, but in recent years have added
others, like "Epstein killed himself" and "Russia colluded in the 2016 election.")
It's really not tho. I have a pretty heavily skewed progressive network and if say it's
only ever need as a source by the least educated progressives... If them. It really has
fallen off the radar other than a source of click bait as far as I can tell
Of course the "ZOMG Assad gassed his own people ZOMG!" story was an obvious hoax.
Of course the OCPW knew this. So did anyone else with the brains God gave a cat.
Of course the story was suppressed. Does Newsweek really think we are that stupid?
The only question is why, and the answer is obvious. Because the "bipartisan foreign
policy consensus" (aka the "Deep State") wants its war on Syria, just as it got the war on
Iraq that it so craved.
And it seems that a senior OCPW official ordered the deletion of all traces of the
dissenting report. Just like clockwork. For some reason, TAC is not letting me post the
link, but WikiLeaks has an unparalleled track record for scrupulous accuracy.
It's been obvious to anyone with half a brain that there have been no 'chemical attacks'
carried out by the Syrian Government. The first one in Ghouta was exposed by Seymour Hersh,
the second at Khan Shekhoun supposedly happened after Aleppo was almost liberated from the
head-choppers, and one day after the US announced it would no longer seek Assad's removal
... this was mocked by one of my favorite cartoons ... a picture of Sun Tzu with the
sarcastic 'quote', 'When your enemy is nearly defeated, and final victory is at hand, gas
your own people so that nations greater than yours will intervene and destroy you'.
The final 'gas attack' in Douma was exposed immediately as a fake, because the Syrians
and Russians had won and were already busing the terrorists to Idlib. Robert Fisk was there
a day later and talked to the people at the clinic where supposed victims were taken and
was told by the Doctors there that the people in the clinic were suffering from dust
inhalation from the bombing, etc.
The draft report basically cast doubt on the whole story (as noted above) but the final
report was doctored by a few people, no doubt under CIA direction.
There is nothing surprising about these revelations. It's nice to have corroboration,
but as usual no one listens. We live today in an ocean of never-ceasing propaganda.
That a story such as this comes as no surprise doesn't make it any less tragic. Verily, but
"journalism" has become virtually indistinguishable from agitprop--and it matters not
whether of the so called Left or Right. The example of Sy Hersh illustrates how a truly
professional journalist is supposed to follow the story, no matter where it leads, and if
it doesn't accord with one's world view--so be it.
so chemical and biological weapons (such as mustard gas and anthrax) are just something
cooked up on stovetops and dispensed on Kurdish and Iranian opponents through primitive
methods?
FYI, sheeples- the systems NECESSARY to effectively deliver to intended targets(without
endangering personnel tasked with these attacks) are what was supplied by Soviet Russia as
standard equipment with aircraft and armoured vehicles to Iraq and Syria.Saddam's airforce
2nd in command went public with statements to the effect that evidence of Soviet Russian
involved in Iraq's WMD programs was removed by Russian security teams accompanied by Yuri
Primakov just
ahead of coalition force arrival.Indeed the Soviets kept violating their biochemical arms
control agreements,marked by a Urals lab spill which killed numerous local villagers.
For your information, deary, you need something more substantial than purported words of a
purported insider (whose personality is as verifiable as the one of the purported
whistleblower who purportedly heard Trump purportedly intimidating Zelensky with
purportedly menacing eyebrow moves) in regards to purportedly Russian purported security
teams purportedly removing something for a comment like this to stop making a laughing
stock and a neocon sheeple out of you. Cruel galaxy, sob-sob.
More "Russia!, Russia!, Russia!" nonsense, the result of a lifetime of guzzling "Russia!,
Russia!, Russia!" Kool-Aid. US and German companies supplied Saddam with the chemical
supplies for his chem- & bio-weapons, weapons he used in his US-supported
war-of-aggression against Iran in the '80's, after the Shah and the US were thrown out of
Iran.
I guess Haddad didn't know he was working for the CIA.
Some of us noticed at the time that Assad had nothing to gain and much to lose by
launching this attack. This was one of the more obvious lies connected to imperial
aggression in Syria.
"there was never any rethinking of how we had collectively pigeonholed Saddam into the
"evil dictator" category. . . . the New Yorker -- and its editor, David Remnick, have
foregone the pursuit of truth in favor of publishing stories that demonize Assad,"
This is not the problem. Saddam was, in fact, an evil dictator. Assad, is in fact, a
butcher well worthy of "demonization." The problem is that neither of these facts has
anything to do with the questions of whether Saddam had an active WMD program in 2003 -- he
absolutely didn't -- or whether Assad used chlorine gas in 2018 (I don't know, and this
article doesn't help me decide).
The fact that Saddam was an evil dictator also doesn't answer the question of whether it
was desirable to remove him. A mature mind is able to simultaneously embrace the fact that
Saddam was a horrible butcher, and that removing him caused even worse disasters for Iraq.
The best explanation I ever saw of this was from an Iraqi woman named Yusra, who had hated
Saddam, but was nonetheless fleeing the Iraq the Americans had created: "In Saddam's time,
I knew that if I kept my mouth shut, if I did not say anything against him, I would be
safe. But now it is different. There are so many reasons why someone would want to kill me
now: because I am Shiite, because I have a Sunni son, because I work for the Americans,
because I drive, because I am a woman with a job, because . . . I don't wear my stupid
hejab." (Dexter Filkins, The Forever War , p. 326). The key to avoiding more
blunders like Iraq is not to convince the American people that Assad and Saddam are really
nice, misunderstood guys, but to understand that evil dictators are neither necessarily
threats to the USA, nor the worst of all possible calamities that could befall their
people.
I certainly agree with Mr. Ritter that Tareq Haddad should not be silenced or ignored.
The fact that Haddad's version is "Kremlin talking points" -- of course the Kremlin is
going to talk about anything that makes its ally Assad look good -- tells us nothing about
whether it's true or false.. The fact that the humanitarian organizations Syrian Civil
Defense and Syrian American Medical Association are anti-Assad -- as of course any
humanitarian organization would be -- also tells us nothing about whether their version is
true or false. Truth or falsehood is determined by, as Mr. Ritter says, "the relevance of
particles per billion, or engineering equations concerning the tensile strength of concrete
and steel." Show us what the real evidence is, rather than asking us again to fall into the
trap of assuming that the facts of reality are dictated by the political preferences of the
adversaries.
While I agree with many of the things you wrote, I would like to focus on this part
(because it's the only one I find somewhat objectionable. Meaning: deserving of a more
nuanced approach, not simply "false")
This is not the problem. Saddam was, in fact, an evil dictator. Assad, is in fact, a
butcher well worthy of "demonization."
Can you define "evil"?
Is a person "evil" based on his actions or his intentions? Or both?
Because if we judge by their actions, I'd say many US Presidents can be considered as
evil as Assad or Saddam, if not actually worse.
Bush Jr. started a war (based on a false premise) that not only led to the death of
hundreds of thousands of people, but also to the destabilization of a whole region of the
world, whose consequences we are witnessing to this very day.
Obama, together with Cameron and Sarkozy, helped remove the "evil dictator" Qaddafi,
plunging Libya into chaos and preparing the way for the international confrontation that is
escalating these very days.
I'm Italian and I can assure you that we have to deal on a daily basis with the tragedy of
poor desperate people drowning in the Mediterranean while trying to escape open slave
markets in Libya.
In 2001-2003 the US used Syria as a destination for its "extraordinary rendition +
torture" program of suspected terrorists. So, if the Assads are evil, how can we define
those people who decided to lean onto "evil" in order to be able to do something they
wouldn't be allowed to do at home?
Power structures are not about "evil" or "good", They are concerned with "interests" and
"self-perpetuation". And while they can be brutal and uncompromising (like in Saddam's Iraq
or Assad's Syria), they are not usually gratuitously so. At least, not completely.
For example, while I think no one can argue that the Syrian State is governed with an iron
fist by its power structure, the current war - that is entering its ninth year - has shown
that the Syrian government is confronted by an armed opposition that is at least as brutal
as the government is, but also much more fanatical and sectarian.
So, I guess my point is: we should refrain from implementing simplistic solutions in
order to solve complex problems that are the result of the layering of tens (if not
hundreds) of years of local power, social and cultural dynamics. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya
and Syria are proof enough that coming to a country "all guns blazing" and removing its
leadership doesn't solve the underlying issues that created the conditions in which those
"iron fisted" leaderships prospered. Regime change operations usually leave a country in
much worse conditions than it were when they started. Which can be considered an "evil" act
in itself.
""I have collected evidence of how they [the OPCW] suppressed the story in addition to
evidence from another case where info inconvenient to US govt was removed, though it was
factually correct." Haddad further noted that he had been threatened by Newsweek with legal
action if he sought to publish his findings elsewhere."
As usual Inspector Ritter, well done. Excuse me given the above in light of what has
been coming to light concerning powerful players in the establishment we are supposed to
trust, no less so than the media ---- at the moment I can only
laugh and laugh loud . . . Newsweek is threatening legal action against one of its, now
former employees, because of a news story. My how the worm has turned . . .a medium such as
Newsweek, a vanguard of freedom of the press and free speech, wants to prosecute one of
their to prevent the same.
Laughing.
Oy veh!
It is nice that what appeared skeptical from the beginning is has begun eating its way
out of the opaque paper bag of needless intervention.
Haddad's new sources emerged after the publication of the OPCW's final report on the
Douma incident in July 2019. That document concluded that chlorine had been used as a
weapon at Douma, likely viachlorine canisters dropped from aircraft -- making the Syrian
government solely responsible and legitimizing the U.S.-led aerial attacks.
The link is to the July 2018 OPCW Interim report and not to the March 2019 Final Report,
which is here:
Apart from that, Wikileaks has just released four more documents that prove that:
1) The toxicologists consulted by the original Fact Finding Mission in June of 2018 were
convinced that the symptoms the alleged victims were showing in videos and pictures were
not compatible with chlorine poisoning.
2) The OPCW management replaced all members of the original FFM sent to Douma except for a
paramedic once the first reports began coming in and they realized the inspectors were very
skeptical about the Western narrative of a chemical attack happening in the first
place.
That is: the OPCW management hand-picked a different team, likely with the intent of
getting the kind of report they were looking for.
We have a state media. It just does not belong to our state. It is an Israel Pravda
impressed to propagandized a conquered province.How sad and scary. .
The real scandal is that the US has committed blatant treason in Syria by supporting Al
Qaeda. This truth must be downplayed at all costs, and the OPCW cover-up is a minor detail
compared to covering up treason. Despite our efforts, Syria and its allies have defeated AQ
everywhere except Idlib, and are now preparing the final assault to liberate Idlib. True to
form, Western propaganda now
whips up View
Hide
Evidence has been building for some time that the OPCW cooked the books in its
investigation of alleged chemical weapons use in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7, 2018.
..."
"... OPCW cooked the books ..." means what? The term cooking the books is based in an
old secondary definition of the word cook, which is to present something that has been
altered in an underhanded way. By the mid-1800s the term cooking the books had come into
use to mean manipulating financial records in order to deceive.
The common man or woman understand the meaning to be: lie, fabricate and falsify.
Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and
to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."
"Politics and the English Language" (1946) is an essay by George Orwell
Mr. Ritter is, or, at least once, was better than that ... political language.
"... For its part, Newsweek, through a spokesperson, told a reporter, "The writer
[Haddad] pitched a conspiracy theory rather than an idea for objective reporting. Newsweek
editors rejected the pitch. ..."
[ then ]
"The Free Press" John Swinton on the Free Press
One night, probably in 1880, John Swinton, then the preeminent New York journalist, was the
guest of honour at a banquet given him by the leaders of his craft. Someone who knew
neither the press nor Swinton offered a toast to the independent press. Swinton outraged
his colleagues by replying:
"There is no such thing, at this date of the world's history, in America, as an independent
press. You know it and I know it.
There is not one of you who dares to write your honest opinions, and if you did, you know
beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid weekly for keeping my honest
opinion out of the paper I am connected with.
Others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things, and any of you who would be so
foolish as to write honest opinions would be out on the streets looking for another job. If
I allowed my honest opinions to appear in one issue of my paper, before twenty-four hours
my occupation would be gone.
The business of the journalists is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to
vilify, to fawn at the feet of mammon, and to sell his country and his race for his daily
bread. You know it and I know it, and what folly is this toasting an independent press?
We are the tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are the jumping jacks, they
pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the
property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes."
(Source: Labor's Untold Story, by Richard O. Boyer and Herbert M. Morais, published by
United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, NY, 1955/1979.)
[ now ]
The press is a gang of cruel faggots. Journalism is not a profession or a trade. It is a
cheap catch-all for fuckoffs and misfits -- a false doorway to the backside of life, a
filthy piss-ridden little hole nailed off by the building inspector, but just deep enough
for a wino to curl up from the sidewalk and masturbate like a chimp in a zoo-cage.
Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
"... The writer [Haddad] pitched a conspiracy theory ..."
the pejorative phrase "conspiracy theory" casts the tin foil cap on the depersonalized and
diminished a human being as "... The writer. ..."
Last, but not least, "... The current director general, Fernando Arias, defended the
work of his organization, declaring, "While some of these diverse views continue to
circulate in some public discussion forums, I would like to reiterate that I stand by the
independent, professional conclusion [of the investigation]."..."
José Bustani, the retired Brazilian diplomat and former head of the Organization
for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons recalled John Bolton saying, referring to the
then-vice president of the United States Dick Chaney.
"We can't accept your management style."
Bolton continued, according to Bustani's recollections:
"You have 24 hours to leave the organization, and if you don't comply with this decision
by Washington, we have ways to retaliate against you."
There was a pause.
"We know where your kids live. You have two sons in New York."
In early 2002, a year before the invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration was putting
intense pressure on Bustani to quit as director-general of the OPCW -- despite the fact
that he had been unanimously re-elected to head the 145-nation body just two years earlier.
His transgression? Negotiating with Saddam Hussein's Iraq to allow OPCW weapons inspectors
to make unannounced visits to that country -- thereby undermining Washington's rationale
for regime change.
Mr. Ritter, of course, has no knowledge or understanding of Iraq or "cooked books" on
weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
US media is so ridiculous and pathetic; former and current Communist nations have been
feeling sorry for everyday Americans for years. Little do they know many of us have learned
to 20/20 see through the psychopathy...and glance "their stories" as a person would have
viewed the National Enquirer 30 years ago.
I'm pretty sure the National Enquirer is much more honest in it's reporting today vs.
MSN.
"... Imagine millions of government employees paid for by America's tax payer class, involved in covert operations undermining nation states for the benefit of war mongering shadow overlords counting on more never ending chaos feeding their hunger for power. ..."
"... This isn't Orwell's 1984, this Team America on opioids. ..."
"... Senior OPCW official had orders from US/ the Donald. Remember that the Donald bombed Syria based on this fake report , after a false flag done by Al Qaeda's artistic branch, the White Helmets. ..."
"... Pray, do tell where are the consequences for these literal demons that engaged in war crimes? It is quite clear: as long as you are a member of the establishment, you can do whatever the f*ck you want. ..."
"... Third rate script, third rate actors and crooked investigators. TPTB seem to have a plan worked out. Their problem now is that we, the hoi-polloi, have seen it all before, many times, and we can now recognise ******** when it's used to try to influence us. ..."
"... If this is not lamentable enough, the OPCW – whose final report came to more than a hundred pages and which even issued an easy-to-read precis version for journalists – now slams shut its steel doors in the hope of preventing even more information reaching the press. ..."
"... Instead of these pieces concentrating on the whistleblower how about putting a little heat on the 50 lying bastards who initiated the coverup? ..."
"... The destruction of the countries of the Middle East for the sake of a dwarf with giant ambitions is the most stupid thing the United States has done over the past 30 years in its foreign policy. And yes, all the wars in the Middle East were grounded in lies. And the Americans paid for it all from start to finish. When Americans realize that they need to defend their national interests, and not other people's national interests, maybe something in the Middle East will change for the better. True, I am afraid that with the hight level of stupidity and shortsightedness that is common among Americans, the United States is more likely to be destroyed faster. No offense. ..."
"... And I propose to remember the Syrian Christians who were destroyed by the Saudi Wahhabis, hired by the CIA with the money of American taxpayers and at the request of Israel. Until the Americans begin to investigate the activities of the CIA (and this activity causes the United States only harm), the responsibility for this genocide (you heard right) will be on the American nation. It turns out that in the Middle East you are primarily destroying Christians. How interesting, why such zeal. ..."
"... According to whistleblower testimony and leaked documents, OPCW officials raised alarm about the suppression of critical findings that undermine the allegation that the Syrian government committed a chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma in April 2018. Haddad's editors at Newsweek rejected his attempts to cover the story. "If I don't find another position in journalism because of this, I'm perfectly happy to accept that consequence," Haddad says. "It's not desirable. But there is no way I could have continued in that job knowing that I couldn't report something like this." ..."
"... New leaks continue to expose a cover-up by the OPCW – the world's top chemical weapons watchdog – over a critical event in Syria. Documents, emails, and testimony from OPCW officials have raised major doubts about the allegation that the Syrian government committed a chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma in April 2018. The leaked OPCW information has been released in pieces by Wikileaks. The latest documents contain a number of significant revelations – including that that about 20 OPCW officials voiced concerns that their scientific findings and on-the-ground evidence was suppressed and excluded. ..."
Wikileaks has released their fourth set of leaks from the OPCW's Douma investigation,
revealing new details about the alleged deletion of important information regarding the
fact-finding mission.
RELEASE: OPCW-Douma Docs 4. Four leaked documents from the OPCW reveal that toxicologists
ruled out deaths from chlorine exposure and a senior official ordered the deletion of the
dissenting engineering report from OPCW's internal repository of documents. https://t.co/ndK4sRikNk
"One of the documents is an e-mail exchange dated 27 and 28 February between members of the
fact finding mission (FFM) deployed to Douma and the senior officials of the OPCW. It includes
an e-mail from Sebastien Braha, Chief of Cabinet at the OPCW , where he instructs that an
engineering report from Ian Henderson should be removed from the secure registry of the
organisation," WikiLeaks writes. Included in the email is the following directive:
" Please get this document out of DRA [Documents Registry Archive] And please remove all
traces, if any, of its delivery/storage/whatever in DRA.'"
According to Wikileaks, the main finding of Henderson, who inspected the sites in Douma, was
that two of the cylinders were most likely manually placed at the site, rather than
dropped.
"The main finding of Henderson, who inspected the sites in Douma and two cylinders that were
found on the site of the alleged attack, was that they were more likely manually placed there
than dropped from a plane or helicopter from considerable heights. His findings were omitted
from the official final OPCW report on the Douma incident," the Wikileaks report said.
It must be remembered that the U.S. launched an attack on Damascus, Syria on April 14, 2018
over alleged chemical weapons usage by pro-Assad forces at Douma.
Another document released Friday is minutes from a meeting on 6 June 2018 where four staff
members of the OPCW had discussions with "three Toxicologists/Clinical pharmacologists, one
bioanalytical and toxicological chemist" (all specialists in chemical weapons, according to the
minutes).
Minutes from an OPCW meeting with toxicologists specialized in chemical weapons: "the
experts were conclusive in their statements that there was
no correlation between symptoms and chlorine exposure". https://t.co/j5Jgjiz8UY pic.twitter.com/vgPaTtsdQN
The purpose of this meeting was two-fold. The first objective was "to solicit expert advice
on the value of exhuming suspected victims of the alleged chemical attack in Douma on 7 April
2018". According to the minutes, the OPCW team was advised by the experts that there would be
little use in conducting exhumations. The second point was "To elicit expert opinions from the
forensic toxicologists regarding the observed and reported symptoms of the alleged
victims."
More specifically, " whether the symptoms observed in victims were consistent with exposure
to chlorine or other reactive chlorine gas."
According to the minutes leaked Friday: "With respect to the consistency of the observed and
reported symptoms of the alleged victims with possible exposure to chlorine gas or similar, the
experts were conclusive in their statements that there was no correlation between symptoms and
chlorine exposure ."
The OPCW team members wrote that the key "take-away message" from the meeting was "that the
symptoms observed were inconsistent with exposure to chlorine and no other obvious candidate
chemical causing the symptoms could be identified".
The isisrahell have such long hand to pull the plug any stories implicating their crime in
progress otherwise they can put out some bs spins as bombshell reporting about US lies in
Afghanistan war on their wapo for public for those who read it was nothing important revealed
except being a misdirected na
If you want to pay off that student loan you're going to print what they tell you to
print. You're going to inject kids with what they tell you to inject them with. You're going
to think what they tell you to think or you're going to spend your days in a Prole bar
drinking Blatz.
yes, an attack was launched, 50 missiles I believe, after loud warnings that it was
coming, and none of them actually hit anything significant ... this is the way the game is
played .... the good news is that the missiles cost $50 million, and now they will have to be
replaced, by the Pentagon, first borrowing the money through the US Treasury offerings, and
then paying for them from new money printed by the Federal Reserve. capische?
That`s the way it`s always been, it`s the eternal war of good against evil.
And when one evil enemy is defeated, it`s necessary to create a new evil enemy, how else
can the Establishment Elite make money from war, death and destruction.
It's really very awkward & telling how ***** these bunch of western nations are
looking tough on taking out poor defenceless country like Syria on ******** & at the
satried to ease real kickass Russian as you described when they launch the attacks
I kind wish the US & their Zionist clown launch such huge attacks on Iran based on
false flag
I really wanted these evil aggressive powers to taste what it is like to get bombed back
even one they used to throw on multiple weaker nations freely with nothing to fear as
retribution etc
This organisations are all set up in Europe and US run by the filthiest filth on earth who
still think they have God given right to imperial rule over the world.
Your military-industrial-intelligence complex at work, creating justification for more
funding, like always - and who cares if people die as a result? Like Soros said, if they
didn't do it, someone else would. (do I need /sarc?).
They don't like to be shown to be in charge, just to be in charge. And if you think this
is a function of the current admin, you've been slow in the head and deaf and blind for quite
some time.
I've watched since Eisenhower, and "it's always something". Doesn't matter what color the
clown in chief's tie is.
Imagine millions of government employees paid for by America's tax payer class, involved
in covert operations undermining nation states for the benefit of war mongering shadow
overlords counting on more never ending chaos feeding their hunger for power.
This isn't Orwell's 1984, this Team America on opioids.
Senior OPCW official had orders from US/ the Donald. Remember that the Donald bombed Syria based on this fake report , after a false flag done
by Al Qaeda's artistic branch, the White Helmets.
Pray, do tell where are the consequences for these literal demons that engaged in war
crimes? It is quite clear: as long as you are a member of the establishment, you can do
whatever the f*ck you want. Why do we even follow the law, then? Given the precedent that is
being set, we might as well not have any.
Well, they are looking forward to using all those Israeli weapons, er, uh, products, that
local law enforcement has purchased...so watch out for Co-Intel Pro elicitation going
forward....?
Everybody knows the Golem (USA) does Isn'treal's bidding in Syria and elsewhere in the
Near East. Hopefully they keep hammering in the fact that this "gas attack" was an obvious
set-up to use as a pretext (flimsy itself on the face of it) to brutalize Assad and Syria on
behalf of Isn'treal.
The whole thing is built on ******* lies. Worst part about it is, nothing will happen.
Only official news is to believed. You see it and it is a lie. they tell you to believe
it. A lot of people casually believe whatever is spoken on TV. They become teachers and are
taught in college what is right and wrong. We only have a few years before all the brain dead
are in charge and robotically following the message like zombies with no brain
Third rate script, third rate actors and crooked investigators. TPTB seem to have a plan worked out. Their problem now is that we, the hoi-polloi, have
seen it all before, many times, and we can now recognise ******** when it's used to try to
influence us.
It is difficult to underestimate the seriousness of this manipulative act by the OPCW.
In a response to the conservative author Peter Hitchens, who also writes for the Mail on
Sunday – he is of course the brother of the late Christopher Hitchens – the
OPCW admits that its so-called technical secretariat "is conducting an internal
investigation about the unauthorised [sic] release of the document".
Then it adds: "At this time, there is no further public information on this matter and
the OPCW is unable to accommodate [sic] requests for interviews". It's a tactic that until
now seems to have worked: not a single news media which reported the OPCW's official
conclusions has followed up the story of the report which the OPCW suppressed.
And you bet the OPCW is not going to "accommodate" interviews. For here is an
institution investigating a war crime in a conflict which has cost hundreds of thousands of
lives – yet its only response to an enquiry about the engineers' "secret" assessment
is to concentrate on its own witch-hunt for the source of the document it wished to keep
secret from the world.
If this is not lamentable enough, the OPCW – whose final report came to more than
a hundred pages and which even issued an easy-to-read precis version for journalists
– now slams shut its steel doors in the hope of preventing even more information
reaching the press.
The destruction of the countries of the Middle East for the sake of a dwarf with giant
ambitions is the most stupid thing the United States has done over the past 30 years in its
foreign policy. And yes, all the wars in the Middle East were grounded in lies. And the
Americans paid for it all from start to finish. When Americans realize that they need to
defend their national interests, and not other people's national interests, maybe something
in the Middle East will change for the better. True, I am afraid that with the hight level of
stupidity and shortsightedness that is common among Americans, the United States is more
likely to be destroyed faster. No offense.
And I propose to remember the Syrian Christians who were destroyed by the Saudi Wahhabis,
hired by the CIA with the money of American taxpayers and at the request of Israel. Until the
Americans begin to investigate the activities of the CIA (and this activity causes the United
States only harm), the responsibility for this genocide (you heard right) will be on the
American nation. It turns out that in the Middle East you are primarily destroying
Christians. How interesting, why such zeal.
According to whistleblower testimony and leaked documents, OPCW officials raised alarm
about the suppression of critical findings that undermine the allegation that the Syrian
government committed a chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma in April 2018. Haddad's
editors at Newsweek rejected his attempts to cover the story. "If I don't find another
position in journalism because of this, I'm perfectly happy to accept that consequence,"
Haddad says. "It's not desirable. But there is no way I could have continued in that job
knowing that I couldn't report something like this."
New leaks continue to expose a cover-up by the OPCW – the world's top chemical
weapons watchdog – over a critical event in Syria. Documents, emails, and testimony
from OPCW officials have raised major doubts about the allegation that the Syrian government
committed a chemical weapons attack in the city of Douma in April 2018. The leaked OPCW
information has been released in pieces by Wikileaks. The latest documents contain a number
of significant revelations – including that that about 20 OPCW officials
voiced concerns that their scientific findings and on-the-ground evidence was suppressed and
excluded.
This is, without a doubt, a major global scandal: the OPCW, under reported US pressure,
suppressing vital evidence about allegations of chemical weapons. But that very fact exposes
another global scandal: with the exception of small outlets like The Grayzone, the mass media
has widely ignored or whitewashed this story. And this widespread censorship of the OPCW
scandal has just led one journalist to resign. Up until recently, Tareq Haddad was a reporter
at Newsweek. But in early December, Tareq announced that he had quit his position after
Newsweek refused to publish his story about the OPCW cover up over Syria.
O nce in a blue moon an indispensable book comes out making a clear case for sanity in what
is now a post-MAD world. That's the responsibility carried by " The (Real)
Revolution in Military Affairs ," by Andrei Martyanov (Clarity Press), arguably the most
important book of 2019.
Martyanov is the total package -- and he comes with extra special attributes as a top-flight
Russian military analyst, born in Baku in those Back in the U.S.S.R. days, living and working
in the U.S., and writing and blogging in English.
Right from the start, Martyanov wastes no time destroying not only Fukuyama's and
Huntington's ravings but especially Graham Allison's childish and meaningless Thucydides Trap
argument -- as if the power equation between the U.S. and China in the 21stcentury could be
easily interpreted in parallel to Athens and Sparta slouching towards the Peloponnesian War
over 2,400 years ago. What next? Xi Jinping as the new Genghis Khan?
(By the way, the best current essay on Thucydides is in Italian, by Luciano Canfora ("
Tucidide: La Menzogna, La Colpa, L'Esilio" ). No Trap. Martyanov visibly relishes defining the
Trap as a "figment of the imagination" of people who "have a very vague understanding of real
warfare in the 21st century." No wonder Xi explicitly said the Trap does not exist.)
Martyanov had already detailed in his splendid, previous book, "Losing Military Supremacy:
The Myopia of American Strategic Planning," how "American lack of historic experience with
continental warfare" ended up "planting the seeds of the ultimate destruction of the American
military mythology of the 20thand 21stcenturies which is foundational to the American decline,
due to hubris and detachment of reality." Throughout the book, he unceasingly provides solid
evidence about the kind of lethality waiting for U.S. forces in a possible, future war against
real armies (not the Taliban or Saddam Hussein's), air forces, air defenses and naval
power.
Do the Math
One of the key takeaways is the failure of U.S. mathematical models: and readers of the book
do need to digest quite a few mathematical equations. The key point is that this failure led
the U.S. "on a continuous downward spiral of diminishing military capabilities against the
nation [Russia] she thought she defeated in the Cold War."
In the U.S., Revolution in Military
Affairs (RMA) was introduced by the late Andrew Marshall, a.k.a. Yoda, the former head of
Net Assessment at the Pentagon and the de facto inventor of the "pivot to Asia" concept. Yet
Martyanov tells us that RMA actually started as MTR (Military-Technological Revolution),
introduced by Soviet military theoreticians back in the 1970s.
One of the staples of RMA concerns nations capable of producing land-attack cruise missiles,
a.k.a. TLAMs. As it stands, only the U.S., Russia, China and France can do it. And there are
only two global systems providing satellite guidance to cruise missiles: the American GPS and
the Russian GLONASS. Neither China's BeiDou nor the European Galileo qualify – yet
– as global GPS systems.
Then there's Net-Centric Warfare (NCW). The term itself was coined by the late Admiral
Arthur Cebrowski in 1998 in an
article he co-wrote with John Garstka's titled, "Network-Centric Warfare – Its Origin and
Future."
Deploying his mathematical equations, Martyanov soon tells us that "the era of subsonic
anti-shipping missiles is over." NATO, that brain-dead organism (copyright Emmanuel Macron)
now has to face the supersonic Russian P-800 Onyx and the Kalibr-class M54 in a "highly hostile
Electronic Warfare environment." Every developed modern military today applies Net-Centric Warfare
(NCW), developed by the Pentagon in the 1990s.
Rendering of a future combat systems network. (soldiersmediacenter/Flickr, CC BY 2.0,
Wikimedia Commons)
Martyanov
mentions in his new book something that I learned on my visit to Donbass in March 2015: how
NCW principles, "based on Russia's C4ISR capabilities made available by the Russian military to
numerically inferior armed forces of the Donbass Republics (LDNR), were used to devastating
effect both at the battles of Ilovaisk and Debaltsevo, when attacking the cumbersome Soviet-era
Ukrainian Armed Forces military."
No Escape From the Kinzhal
Martyanov provides ample information on Russia's latest missile – the hypersonic
Mach-10 aero-ballistic Kinzhal, recently tested in the Arctic.
Crucially, as he explains, "no existing anti-missile defense in the U.S. Navy is capable of
shooting [it] down even in the case of the detection of this missile." Kinzhal has a range of
2,000 km, which leaves its carriers, MiG-31K and TU-22M3M, "invulnerable to the only defense a
U.S. Carrier Battle Group, a main pillar of U.S. naval power, can mount – carrier fighter
aircraft." These fighters simply don't have the range.
The Kinzhal was one of the weapons announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin's
game-changing March
1, 2018 speech at the Federal Assembly. That's the day, Martyanov stresses, when the real
RMA arrived, and "changed completely the face of peer-peer warfare, competition and global
power balance dramatically."
Top Pentagon officials such as General
John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs, have admitted on the record there are "no
existing countermeasures" against, for instance, the hypersonic, Mach 27 glide vehicle Avangard
(which renders anti-ballistic missile systems useless), telling the U.S. Senate Armed Services
Committee the only way out would be "a nuclear deterrent." There are also no existing
counter-measures against anti-shipping missiles such as the Zircon and Kinzhal.
Any military analyst knows very well how the Kinzhal destroyed a land target the size of a
Toyota Corolla in Syria after being launched 1,000 km away in adverse weather conditions. The
corollary is the stuff of NATO nightmares: NATO's command and control installations in Europe
are de facto indefensible.
Martyanov gets straight to the point: "The introduction of hypersonic weapons surely pours
some serious cold water on the American obsession with securing the North American continent
from retaliatory strikes."
Kh-47M2 Kinzhal; 2018 Moscow Victory Day Parade. (Kremilin via Wikimedia Commons)
Martyanov is thus unforgiving on U.S. policymakers who "lack the necessary tool-kit for
grasping the unfolding geostrategic reality in which the real revolution in military affairs
had dramatically downgraded the always inflated American military capabilities and continues to
redefine U.S. geopolitical status away from its self-declared hegemony."
And it gets worse: "Such weapons ensure a guaranteed retaliation [Martyanov's italics] on
the U.S. proper." Even the existing Russian nuclear deterrents – and to a lesser degree
Chinese, as paraded recently -- "are capable of overcoming the existing U.S. anti-ballistic
systems and destroying the United States," no matter what crude propaganda the Pentagon is
peddling.
In February 2019, Moscow announced the completion of tests of a nuclear-powered engine for
the Petrel cruise missile. This is a subsonic cruise missile with nuclear propulsion that can
remain in air for quite a long time, covering intercontinental distances, and able to attack
from the most unexpected directions. Martyanov mischievously characterizes the Petrel as "a
vengeance weapon in case some among American decision-makers who may help precipitate a new
world war might try to hide from the effects of what they have unleashed in the relative safety
of the Southern Hemisphere."
Hybrid War Gone Berserk
A section of the book expands on China's military progress, and the fruits of the
Russia-China strategic partnership, such as Beijing buying $3 billion-worth of S-400 Triumph
anti-aircraft missiles -- "ideally suited to deal with the exact type of strike assets the
United States would use in case of a conventional conflict with China."
Beijing parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the People's Republic, October 2019.
(YouTube screenshot)
Because of the timing, the analysis does not even take into consideration the arsenal
presented in early October at the Beijing parade celebrating the 70thanniversary of the
People's Republic.
That includes, among other things, the "carrier-killer" DF-21D, designed to hit warships at
sea at a range of up to 1,500 km; the intermediate range "Guam Killer" DF-26; the DF-17
hypersonic missile; and the long-range submarine-launched and ship-launched YJ-18A anti-ship
cruise missiles. Not to mention the DF-41 ICBM – the backbone of China's nuclear
deterrent, capable of reaching the U.S. mainland carrying multiple warheads.
Martyanov could not escape addressing the RAND Corporation, whose reason to exist is to
relentlessly push for more money for the Pentagon – blaming Russia for "hybrid war" (an
American invention) even as it moans about the U.S.'s incapacity of defeating Russia in each
and every war game. RAND's war games pitting the U.S. and allies against Russia and China
invariably ended in a "catastrophe" for the "finest fighting force in the world."
Martyanov also addresses the S-500s, capable of reaching AWACS planes and possibly even
capable of intercepting hypersonic non-ballistic targets. The S-500 and its latest middle-range
state of the art air-defense system S-350 Vityaz will be operational in 2020.
His key takeway: "There is no parity between Russia and the United States in such fields as
air-defense, hypersonic weapons and, in general, missile development, to name just a few fields
– the United States lags behind in these fields, not just in years but in generations
[italics mine]."
All across the Global South, scores of nations are very much aware that the U.S. economic
"order" – rather disorder – is on the brink of collapse. In contrast, a
cooperative, connected, rule-based, foreign relations between sovereign nations model is being
advanced in Eurasia – symbolized by the merging of the New Silk Roads, or Belt and Road
Initiative (BRI), the Eurasia Economic Union (EAEU), the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
(SCO), the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the NDB (the BRICS bank).
The key guarantors of the new model are Russia and China. And Beijing and Moscow harbor no
illusion whatsoever about the toxic dynamics in Washington. My recent conversations with top
analysts in Kazakhstan last month and in Moscow last week once again stressed the futility of
negotiating with people described – with overlapping shades of sarcasm – as
exceptionalist fanatics. Russia, China and many corners of Eurasia have figured out there are
no possible, meaningful deals with a nation bent on breaking every deal.
Indispensable?
No: Vulnerable
Martyanov cannot but evoke Putin's speech to the Federal Assembly in February 2019, after
the unilateral Washington abandonment of the INF treaty, clearing the way for U.S. deployment
of intermediate and close range missiles stationed in Europe and pointed at Russia:
"Russia will be forced to create and deploy those types of weapons against those regions
from where we will face a direct threat, but also against those regions hosting the centers
where decisions are taken on using those missile systems threatening us."
Translation: American Invulnerability is over – for good.
In the short term, things can always get worse. At his traditional, year-end presser in
Moscow, lasting almost four and a half hours, Putin stated that Russia is more than ready to
"simply renew the existing New START agreement", which is bound to expire in early 2021: "They
[the U.S.] can send us the agreement tomorrow, or we can sign and send it to Washington." And
yet, "so far our proposals have been left unanswered. If the New START ceases to exist, nothing
in the world will hold back an arms race. I believe this is bad."
"Bad" is quite the euphemism. Martyanov prefers to stress how "most of the American elites,
at least for now, still reside in a state of Orwellian cognitive dissonance" even as the real
RMA "blew the myth of American conventional invincibility out of the water."
Martyanov is one of the very few analysts – always from different parts of Eurasia --
who have warned about the danger of the U.S. "accidentally stumbling" into a war against
Russia, China, or both which is impossible to be won conventionally, "let alone through the
nightmare of a global nuclear catastrophe."
Is that enough to instill at least a modicum of sense into those who lord over that massive
cash cow, the industrial-military-security complex? Don't count on it.
* * *
Pepe Escobar, a veteran Brazilian journalist, is the correspondent-at-large for Hong
Kong-based Asia Times . His latest book is
"
2030 ." Follow him on Facebook .
Looks like both Douma and Skripals have the same authors and were carefully pre-planned false
flag operations.
Notable quotes:
"... "The convincing evidence of irregular behaviour in the OPCW investigation of the alleged Douma chemical attack confirms doubts and suspicions I already had. I could make no sense of what I was reading in the international press. Even official reports of investigations seemed incoherent at best. The picture is certainly clearer now, although very disturbing" ..."
"... "I have always expected the OPCW to be a true paradigm of multilateralism. My hope is that the concerns expressed publicly by the Panel, in its joint consensus statement, will catalyse a process by which the Organisation can be resurrected to become the independent and non-discriminatory body it used to be." ..."
"... Click this hyperlink to read a BBC article dated five days before the Douma incident, describing how the Syrian government "appears poised to regain control" of the town and how Jaysh al-Islam fighters were already evacuating. The battle was won. Assad would have stood absolutely nothing to gain from tempting a retaliation from western powers (which could have been far more severe than it ended up being) all to drop a couple of cylinders of chlorine gas, which incidentally is a highly ineffective weapon that ordinarily takes a very long time to kill. ..."
"... "The jihadists and the various opposition groups who've been fighting against Assad have much greater motivation to launch a chemical weapons attack and make it look like Assad was responsible," the ex-SAS and Parachute Regiment commander added. "Their motivation being that they want to keep the Americans involved in the war -- following Trump saying the US was going to leave Syria for other people to sort out." ..."
"... Admiral Lord West made similar comments on the BBC around the same time, prompting BBC host Annita McVeigh to flip into frantic narrative management mode suggesting that he's "muddying the waters" during an "information war with Russia". ..."
"... "If I were advising some of the Islamist groups, many of whom are worse than Daesh," West said, "I would say look, we've got to wait until there's another attack by Assad's forces, particularly if they've got a helicopter overhead or something like that and they're dropping barrel bombs, and we set off some chlorine. Because we'll get the next attack from the allies. And there's no doubt that if we believe he's done a chemical attack we should do that. And those attacks will get bigger, and it's the only way they've got, actually, of stopping the inevitable victory of Assad." ..."
There have been many US military interventions that were based on lies. This is not a
conspiracy theory. It is not some kooky blogger's opinion. It is an extensively documented and indisputable fact .
Nothing has ever been done to address this extensively documented and indisputable fact. No
laws were ever changed. No war crimes tribunals were ever held. No policies or procedures were
ever revised. No one was ever even fired. No changes were implemented to prevent the Iraq
deception from happening again, and, when it happened again, no changes were implemented to
prevent the
Libya deception from happening again.
When you make a mistake, you take measures afterward to ensure that you never make the same
mistake again. When you do something on purpose, and you intend on doing it again, you do not
take any such measures.
I don't claim to know exactly who would have been involved in such a staging and to what
extent. It is technically possible, as the UK's Admiral Lord West speculated at the time , that it was perpetrated
independently by the vicious
al-Qaeda-linked Jaysh al-Islam forces who'd been occupying Douma, a last-ditch attempt to
provoke a western military response that might save them from the brink of defeat at the hands
of the surging Syrian Arab Army. Jaysh al-Islam has
an established record of deliberately massacring civilians , and of using civilians as
military leverage by locking them in
cages on rooftops in strategic Douma locations to prevent airstrikes. The narrative management operation known as
the White Helmets
would also have been involved to some extent, and it's very possible that Saudi Arabia,
who backs Jaysh al-Islam , was involved as well.
Any number of other allied intelligence agencies could have also been involved to some
degree (perhaps with the more expanded goal of ensuring continued US military commitment in
Syria during an administration that is vocally opposed to it), and it's unknown if anyone
involved would have had direct contact with any part of any US government agency regarding any
of this. All we know for sure is that there's a growing mountain of evidence that the Syrian
government was not involved, and that this raises extremely important questions about (A) who
really killed those civilians in Douma and (B) how seriously any future demands for military
action should be taken from the US power alliance.
That mountain of evidence includes the following 12 items. Taken individually they are
reason enough to be skeptical of the narratives that are being promoted by a government with a
known history of using lies, propaganda and false flags to advance preexisting military
agendas. Taken together, and looked at with intellectual honesty, they are enough to obliterate
anyone's trust in what we've been told about Douma.
1. A leaked OPCW Engineering
Assessment concluded that the gas cylinders on the scene were manually placed there.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2l4X3XImy4w
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is a purportedly neutral and
international watchdog group dedicated to eliminating the use of chemical weapons around the
world. In May of this year, a leaked internal OPCW document labeled " Engineering Assessment
of Two Cylinders Observed at the Douma Incident " was
published by the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. The Engineering Assessment
was signed by a South African ballistics expert named Ian Henderson, whose name is seen listed
in expert leadership positions on OPCW documents from as far back as 1998 and as
recently as
2018 , and its authenticity was quickly confirmed by the OPCW in a statement sent to
multiple journalists that it was "conducting an internal investigation about the
unauthorised release of the document in question."
Henderson ran some experiments and found no scientifically grounded theory for how the
cylinders could possibly have been dropped vertically from the air while being found in the
condition and locations that they were found in, concluding instead that they were manually
placed on the scene. This is a huge difference, since the Assad coalition was the only side
with aircraft and Jaysh al-Islam were the only forces on the ground.
"The dimensions, characteristics and appearance of the cylinders, and the surrounding scene
of the incidents, were inconsistent with what would have been expected in the case of either
cylinder being delivered from an aircraft," Henderson wrote. "In each case the alternative
hypothesis produced the only plausible explanation for observations at the scene."
"In summary, observations at the scene of the two locations, together with subsequent
analysis, suggest that there is a higher probability that both cylinders were manually placed
at those two locations rather than being delivered from aircraft," Henderson concludes.
This is unsurprising, since the hypothetical physics of the empire's airdrop narrative make
no sense to anyone with any understanding of how material objects move. To get a simple
explanation of this, watch the breakdown in this three-minute animation . For a more in-depth look,
check out this long Twitter thread
by Climate Audit's Stephen McIntyre.
The existence of Henderson's report was kept secret from the public by the OPCW, which might
make more sense after we get through #2 on this list.
2. US officials reportedly
pressured the OPCW to find evidence of Assad's guilt.
Journalist Jonathan Steele met with second OPCW whistleblower, who detailed the doctoring
of the report on Douma to conform to the phony US/NATO version of events.
In addition to whoever leaked the Henderson report in May, a second whistleblower going by
the pseudonym of "Alex" emerged in October
to give a presentation before the whistleblower's advocacy group Courage Foundation
exposing far more plot holes in the official Douma narrative. This same whistleblower also
spoke with award-winning British journalist Jonathan Steele, who
published a bombshell report on Alex's revelations in CounterPunch last month.
Among the most stunning revelations in Steele's article was Alex's report that US officials
attempted to pressure OPCW inspectors during the Organisation's drafting of its Interim Report
on their Douma investigation in July 2018, and that this intercession was facilitated by an
OPCW official named Bob Fairweather.
"On July 4 there was another intervention," Steele writes. "Fairweather, the chef de
cabinet, invited several members of the drafting team to his office. There they found three US
officials who were cursorily introduced without making clear which US agencies they
represented. The Americans told them emphatically that the Syrian regime had conducted a gas
attack, and that the two cylinders found on the roof and upper floor of the building contained
170 kilograms of chlorine. The inspectors left Fairweather's office, feeling that the
invitation to the Americans to address them was unacceptable pressure and a violation of the
OPCW's declared principles of independence and impartiality."
It's unknown what forces were at play that enabled the US government to insert itself into
into an ostensibly impartial OPCW investigation with the help of an OPCW official, but it
wouldn't be the first time the US government leveraged the Organisation into facilitating
preexisting regime change agendas against a disobedient Middle Eastern nation. In 2002
Mother Jones
reported that the US government, spearheaded by John Bolton, had used the threat of
withdrawing its disproportionately high percentage of funding from the Organisation if it
didn't oust its then-Director General Jose Bustani. The popular Bustani, who'd previously been
unanimously re-elected to his position, had been hurting the case for war with his successful
negotiations with Saddam Hussein's Iraq. In March 2018, after Bolton was selected as Trump's
National Security Advisor, The Intercept
revealed that the campaign to remove Bustani had also included Bolton personally
threatening his children.
Bolton was operating at the highest levels of the Trump White House throughout the entire
duration of the OPCW's Douma investigation. He was Trump's National Security Advisor from April
9, 2018 to September 10, 2019. The OPCW's Fact-Finding mission didn't arrive in Syria
until April 14 2018 and didn't begin its investigation in Douma until several days after
that, with its final report being released in March of 2019.
3. Levels of chlorinated
organic chemicals didn't indicate any chlorine gas attack took place.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/ojItF6MGL-0
"The main point is that chlorine gas degrades rapidly in the air,"
Jonathan Steele told Tucker Carlson last month detailing what was told to him by Alex. "So
coming in two weeks later, you wouldn't find anything. What you would find is that the gas
contaminates or affects other chemicals in the natural environment. So-called chlorinated
organic chemicals [COCs]. The difficulty is they exist anyway in the natural environment and
water. So the crucial thing is the levels: were there higher levels of chlorinated organic
chemicals found after the alleged gas attack than there would have been in the normal
environment?"
"When they got back to the Netherlands, to The Hague where the OPCW has its headquarters,
samples were sent off to designated laboratories, then there was a weird silence developed,"
Steele continued. "Nobody told the inspectors what the results of the analysis was. It was only
by chance that the inspector found out through accident earlier the results would come in and
there were no differences at all. There were no higher levels of chlorinated organic chemicals
in the areas where the alleged attack had happened where there is some suspicious cylinders had
been found by opposition activists. So it didn't seem possible that there could have been a gas
attack because the levels were just the same as in the natural environment."
"[Alex] got sight of the results which indicated that the levels of COCs were much lower
than what would be expected in environmental samples," Steele
reported in CounterPunch . "They were comparable to and even lower than those given in the
World Health Organisation's guidelines on recommended permitted levels of trichlorophenol and
other COCs in drinking water. The redacted version of the report made no mention of the
findings."
"Had they been included, the public would have seen that the levels of COCs found were no
higher than you would expect in any household environment", Alex told Steele.
This inconvenient fact was omitted from both the OPCW's Interim Report in July 2018 and its
Final Report in March 2019.
4. Many signs and symptoms of alleged chlorine gas poisoning
weren't consistent with chlorine gas poisoning.
"It is not possible to precisely link the cause of the signs and symptoms to a specific
chemical", but it was definitely chlorine because we said so. No you can't see the evidence,
just trust us. pic.twitter.com/2KguY4Lbyu
The OPCW's
Final Report on Douma in March 2019 assures us that the team found "reasonable grounds that
the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon took place. This toxic chemical contained reactive
chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine." A leaked internal OPCW
email , featuring an inspector voicing objections to the aforementioned Bob Fairweather
over vital information being omitted from the developing Interim Report on Douma, contradicts
this assurance, saying observed symptoms weren't consistent with chlorine gas poisoning.
"In this case the confidence in the identity of chlorine or any choking agent is drawn into
question precisely because of the inconsistency with the reported and observed symptoms," the
email reads. "The inconsistency was not only noted by the FFM [Fact-Finding Mission] team but
strongly noted by three toxicologists with expertise in exposure to CW [Chemical Weapons]
agents."
So the OPCW's investigative team as well as three toxicologists said what was observed
didn't match chlorine gas poisoning symptoms. This information was, of course, hidden from us
by the OPCW.
A leaked first draft of
the Interim Report on Douma, before OPCW officials started cutting out chunks which didn't suit
the US narrative, gives more detail. Here are some excerpts (emphases mine):
"Some of the signs and symptoms described by witnesses and noted in photos and video
recordings taken by witnesses, of the alleged victims are not consistent with exposure to
chlorine-containing choking or blood agents such as chlorine gas, phosgene or cyanogen
chloride. Specifically, the rapid onset of heavy buccal and nasal frothing in many victims, as
well as the colour of the secretions, is not indicative of intoxication from such
chemicals."
"The large number of decedents in the one location (allegedly 40 to 45), most of whom were
seen in videos and photos strewn on the floor of the apartments away from open windows, and
within a few meters of an escape to un-poisoned or less toxic air, is at odds with intoxication
by chlorine-based choking or blood agents , even at high concentrations."
"The inconsistency between the presence of a putative chlorine-containing toxic chocking or
blood agent on the one hand and the testimonies of alleged witnesses and symptoms observed from
video footage and photographs, on the other, cannot be rationalised. The team considered two
possible explanations for the incongruity:
a. The victims were exposed to another highly toxic chemical agent that gave rise to the
symptoms observed and has so far gone undetected.
b. The fatalities resulted from a non-chemical-related incident ."
5. A doctor in Douma
told journalist Robert Fisk that there was no gas poisoning.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/jNIp1lZwJts
Shortly after the Douma incident a video was circulated online and
redistributed on news media around the world featuring people being hosed down with water in a
hospital and an infant receiving a respiratory treatment. A doctor who worked in the hospital
Assim Rahaibani
gave the following account to journalist Robert Fisk days after the incident, saying those
in the video were actually just suffering from hypoxia due to dust inhaled after a conventional
bombing:
"I was with my family in the basement of my home three hundred metres from here on the
night but all the doctors know what happened. There was a lot of shelling [by government
forces] and aircraft were always over Douma at night -- but on this night, there was wind and
huge dust clouds began to come into the basements and cellars where people lived. People
began to arrive here suffering from hypoxia, oxygen loss. Then someone at the door, a 'White
Helmet', shouted 'Gas!', and a panic began. People started throwing water over each other.
Yes, the video was filmed here, it is genuine, but what you see are people suffering from
hypoxia -- not gas poisoning."
Lest anyone accuse Fisk of having any special loyalties to the Syrian government, in this
same report he says it "is indeed a ruthless dictatorship."
6. A BBC reporter said he has
proof that the hospital scene was staged.
After almost 6 months of investigations, i can prove without a doubt that the #Douma
Hospital scene was staged. No fatalities occurred in the hospital.
All the #WH , activists and
people i spoke to are either in #Idlib or #EuphratesShield
areas.
Only one person was in #Damascus .
The BBC, another establishment that can hardly be accused of Assad loyalism, saw its Syria
producer Riam Dalati claiming earlier this year that he had proof beyond a doubt the
aforementioned hospital scene was staged. While holding to the establishment line that the
attack did happen, Dalati expressed uncertainty as to what if any chemical would have been used
and said "everything else around the attack was manufactured for maximum effect." Emphases
mine:
"The ATTACK DID HAPPEN, Sarin wasn't used, but we'll have to wait for OPCW to prove Chlorine
or otherwise," Dalati tweeted . However, everything
else around the attack was manufactured for maximum effect . After almost 6 months of
investigations, i can prove without a doubt that the Douma Hospital scene was staged ."
"No fatalities occurred in the hospital," Dalati continued. "All the White Helmets,
activists and people i spoke to are either in Idlib or Euphrates Shield areas. Only one person
was in Damascus. Russia and at least one NATO country knew about what happened in the hospital.
Documents were sent. However, no one knew what really happened at the flats apart from
activists manipulating the scene there . This is why Russia focused solely on discrediting the
hospital scene."
In other words, Russia knew that these "activists" were staging the scene for the news
media, and understandably focused on discrediting their work.
"I can tell you that Jaysh al-Islam ruled Douma with an iron fist," Dalati added . "They
coopted activists, doctors and humanitarians with fear and intimidation."
Dalati
set his account to private for an extended period after these extremely controversial
statements got him a flood of attention, but the thread is up on Twitter as of this writing (
here's an archive
in case they vanish again).
7. More evidence the Douma scene was knowingly staged for
media.
Pro-rebel activists appear to have staged "Last Hug" photo. It went viral claiming to show
young victims of the Douma gas attack in their "last embrace".
Victims can be clearly seen on 2 separate floors in aftermath footage. Placed in position at
collection/identification point. pic.twitter.com/9kyGQEtO8p
Riam Dalati also tweeted evidence after the
attack that people had staged the corpses of two children to make it appear as though they died
hugging each other for the purpose of emotional manipulation. If you've got a strong stomach
(seriously think hard about whether this is something you want in your head before diving in),
Stephen McIntyre also compiled some disturbing
proof of dead infants being physically placed on top of other corpses in between video
shoots of the Douma incident's aftermath.
Whoever was positioning these bodies for the cameras clearly had a goal of generating an
emotional response from the outside world. Which would be precisely the goal of staging a false
chemical weapons attack.
8. Witness testimony at The Hague.
It seems the UK govt launched strikes on #Syria - bringing us
into potential conflict with nuclear-armed Russia-in response to a CW attack that witnesses
(speaking at The Hague), say didn't happen. If that's not a resigning offence, then what on
earth is? https://t.co/TMitqbvAQ6
Seventeen Syrian civilians
, including medical personnel and some of the "victims" seen in the aforementioned hospital
footage, spoke at the OPCW headquarters in The Hague saying that no chemical weapons attack
took place. RT reports :
"There were people unknown to us who were filming the emergency care, they were filming
the chaos taking place inside, and were filming people being doused with water. The
instruments they used to douse them with water were originally used to clean the floors
actually," Ahmad Kashoi, an administrator of the emergency ward, recalled. "That happened for
about an hour, we provided help to them and sent them home. No one has died. No one suffered
from chemical exposure."
The briefing was boycotted by the
US and 16 of its allies and was smeared as an unconscionable Russian hoax by media outlets
ranging from
Sky News to
Al Jazeera to
The Guardian to
The Intercept , apparently for no other reason than that what these Syrians were saying
didn't match the unsubstantiated claims being promoted by the political/media class of the
US-centralized empire. If you want to just listen to what the Syrians themselves say and make
up your own mind, RT has an English translation video here :
https://www.youtube.com/embed/NVnfUeZ3lp4
9. The first OPCW Director General finds the
glaring irregularities and omissions from the OPCW's Douma report "very disturbing".
After the aforementioned Courage Foundation presentation given by Alex this past October,
the aforementioned former OPCW Director General Jose Bustani (the one whose kids John Bolton
threatened) had this to say :
"The convincing evidence of irregular behaviour in the OPCW investigation of the alleged
Douma chemical attack confirms doubts and suspicions I already had. I could make no sense of
what I was reading in the international press. Even official reports of investigations seemed
incoherent at best. The picture is certainly clearer now, although very disturbing"
"I have always expected the OPCW to be a true paradigm of multilateralism. My hope is that
the concerns expressed publicly by the Panel, in its joint consensus statement, will catalyse a
process by which the Organisation can be resurrected to become the independent and
non-discriminatory body it used to be."
10. This OAN reporter literally just walking
around asking people in Douma what they saw.
12. Common sense: Assad stood nothing to
gain from launching a chemical attack, while Jaysh al-Islam fighters stood everything to gain
by faking one.
This is the initial reason why critical thinkers were so skeptical of the establishment
Douma narrative: from the very beginning, it made no sense at all.
Click this
hyperlink to read a BBC article dated five days before the Douma incident, describing how
the Syrian government "appears poised to regain control" of the town and how Jaysh al-Islam
fighters were already evacuating. The battle was won. Assad would have stood absolutely nothing
to gain from tempting a retaliation from western powers (which could have been far more severe
than it ended up being) all to drop a couple of cylinders of chlorine gas, which incidentally
is a
highly ineffective weapon that ordinarily takes a very long time to kill.
Jaysh al-Islam (and whoever else they may have been working with), on the other hand, would
have stood everything to gain by murdering a few of the civilians they had been holding captive
in the town they'd invaded in the hopes that western forces would become their airforce for a
bit and hold off the Syrian Arab Army from reclaiming Douma.
"Why would Assad use chemical weapons at this time? He's won the war," Major General
Jonathan Shaw
told The Mail on Sunday at the time. "That's not just my opinion, it is shared by senior
commanders in the US military. There is no rationale behind Assad's involvement whatsoever.
He's convinced the rebels to leave occupied areas in buses. He's gained their territory. So why
would he be bothering gassing them?"
"The jihadists and the various opposition groups who've been fighting against Assad have
much greater motivation to launch a chemical weapons attack and make it look like Assad was
responsible," the ex-SAS and Parachute Regiment commander added. "Their motivation being that
they want to keep the Americans involved in the war -- following Trump saying the US was going
to leave Syria for other people to sort out."
"President Assad is in the process of winning this civil war, and he was about to take over
Douma, all that area," West said. "He'd had a long, long, long slog slowly capturing that area
of the city, and there just before he goes in and takes it all over, apparently he decides to
have a chemical attack. It just doesn't ring true. It seems extraordinary, because clearly he
would know that there's likely to be a response from the allies. What benefit is there for his
military? Most of the rebel fighters, this disparate group of Islamists, had withdrawn, there
were a few women and children left around. What benefit was there militarily in doing what he
did? I find that extraordinary."
"Whereas we know that in the past some of the Islamo groups have used chemicals, and of
course there'd be huge benefit in them labeling an attack as coming from Assad, because they
would guess quite rightly that there would be a response from the US as there was last time,
and possibly from the UK and France," West added.
"If I were advising some of the Islamist groups, many of whom are worse than Daesh," West
said, "I would say look, we've got to wait until there's another attack by Assad's forces,
particularly if they've got a helicopter overhead or something like that and they're dropping
barrel bombs, and we set off some chlorine. Because we'll get the next attack from the allies.
And there's no doubt that if we believe he's done a chemical attack we should do that. And
those attacks will get bigger, and it's the only way they've got, actually, of stopping the
inevitable victory of Assad."
These are not Assad sympathizers or Kremlin assets saying this. These are not a bunch of
hippie dippie anti-imperialists. These are lifelong military men, thinking in military terms,
describing what they were seeing. And what they were seeing is the thing that a false flag
is.
The @OPCW
concealing that #Douma was likely
staged is a big story.
But perhaps a bigger story is this: if staged, how did the victims (mostly children) die?
And what role if any in their deaths did US UK backed #WhiteHelmets
'rescuers' who appear to have staged the attack play? https://t.co/BDY1lSqfmz
This isn't just some idle philosophical question. People died. A massive war crime occurred
and the more minutes tick by before a legitimate investigation is launched -- with full
transparency and accountability this time -- the less available evidence there will be. Which
is why establishment narrative managers on Syria go full dead-weight
when asked if they support a full criminal investigation into what happened. They don't
actually believe it will go their way, and rightly so.
Meanwhile the illegal occupation of Syria drags on, perhaps until Trump can be replaced with
a more compliant puppet, and we're all basically just sitting around waiting to be deceived
again.
"... One key, yet often overlooked, player behind the push to prevent a full U.S. troop withdrawal in Syria in order to "keep the oil" was current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield ..."
"... Over the course of his long diplomatic career, Satterfield has been known to the U.S. government as an Israeli intelligence asset embedded in the U.S. State Department. Indeed, Satterfield was named as a major player in what is now known as the AIPAC espionage scandal, also known as the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal, although he was oddly never charged for his role after the intervention of his superiors at the State Department in the George W. Bush administration. ..."
"... WINEP's close association with AIPAC, which has spied on the U.S. on behalf of Israel several times in the past with no consequence, combined with Jeffrey's long-time acquaintance with key U.S. figures in Iraq, such as McGurk, provided an ideal opening for Israel in Iraq. Following the implementation of Jeffrey's plan, Israeli imports of KRG oil constituted 77 percent of Israel's total oil imports during the KRG's occupation of Kirkuk. ..."
"... the role played by the U.S. Israel lobby in this capacity, particularly in terms of orchestrating oil sale agreements for Israel's benefit, is hardly exclusive to Iraq and can accurately be described as a repeated pattern of behavior. ..."
The outsized role of U.S. Israel lobby operatives in abetting the theft of Syrian and Iraqi oil reveals how this
powerful lobby also facilitates more covert aspects of U.S.-Israeli cooperation and the implementation of policies that
favor Israel.
Kirkuk, Iraq
--
"We want to bring our soldiers home. But we did leave soldiers
because we're keeping the oil," President Trump stated on November 3, before adding, "I like oil. We're keeping the
oil."
Though he had promised a withdrawal of U.S. troops from their illegal occupation of Syria, Trump shocked many with
his blunt admission that troops were being left behind to prevent Syrian oil resources from being developed by the
Syrian government and, instead, kept in the hands of whomever the U.S. deemed fit to control them, in this case, the
U.S.-backed Kurdish-majority militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Though Trump himself received all of the credit -- and the scorn -- for this controversial new policy, what has been
left out of the media coverage is the fact that key players in the U.S.' pro-Israel lobby played a major role in its
creation with the purpose of selling Syrian oil to the state of Israel. While recent developments in the Syrian conflict
may have hindered such a plan from becoming reality, it nonetheless offers a telling example of the covert role often
played by the U.S.' pro-Israel lobby in shaping key elements of U.S. foreign policy and closed-door deals with major
regional implications.
Indeed, the Israel lobby-led effort to have the U.S. facilitate the sale of Syrian oil to Israel is not an isolated
incident given that, just a few years ago, other individuals connected to the same pro-Israel lobby groups and Zionist
neoconservatives manipulated both U.S. policy and Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in order to allow Iraqi oil
to be sold to Israel without the approval of the Iraqi government. These designs, not unlike those that continue to
unfold in Syria, were in service to longstanding neoconservative and Zionist efforts to balkanize Iraq by strengthening
the KRG and weakening Baghdad.
After the occupation of Iraq's Nineveh Governorate by ISIS (June 2014-October 2015), the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) took advantage of the Iraqi military's retreat and, amidst the chaos, illegally seized Kirkuk on June
12. Their claim to the city was supported by both the U.S. and Israel and, later, the U.S.-led coalition targeting ISIS.
This gave the KRG control, not only of Iraq's export pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan port, but also to Iraq's largest oil
fields.
Israel imported massive amounts of oil from the Kurds during this period, all without the consent of Baghdad. Israel
was also the
largest customer of oil
sold by ISIS, who used Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk to sell oil in areas of Iraq and Syria
under its control. To do this in ISIS-controlled territories of Iraq, the oil was sent first to the Kurdish city of
Zakho near the Turkey border and then into Turkey, deceptively labeled as oil that originated from Iraqi Kurdistan. ISIS
did nothing to impede the KRG's own oil exports even though they easily could have given that the Kirkuk-Ceyhan export
pipeline passed through areas that ISIS had occupied for years.
In retrospect, and following
revelations from Wikileaks
and new information regarding the background of relevant actors, it has been revealed
that much of the covert maneuvering behind the scenes that enabled this scenario intimately involved the United States'
powerful pro-Israel lobby. Now, with a similar scenario unfolding in Syria, efforts by the U.S.' Israel lobby to
manipulate U.S. foreign policy in order to shift the flow of hydrocarbons for Israel's benefit can instead be seen as a
pattern of behavior, not an isolated incident.
"Keep the oil" for Israel
After recent shifts in the Trump administration in its Syria policy, U.S. troops have controversially been kept in
Syria to "
keep
the oil
," with U.S. military officials subsequently claiming that doing so was "a subset of the counter-ISIS
mission." However, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper
later claimed
that another factor behind U.S. insistence on guarding Syrian oil fields was to prevent the extraction
and subsequent sale of Syrian oil by either the Syrian government or Russia.
One key, yet often overlooked, player behind the push to prevent a full U.S. troop withdrawal in Syria in order to
"keep the oil" was current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, David Satterfield. Satterfield was previously the assistant
secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, where he yielded great influence over U.S. policy in both Iraq and Syria
and worked closely with Brett McGurk, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran and later special
presidential envoy for the U.S.-led "anti-ISIS" coalition.
Over the course of his long diplomatic career, Satterfield has been known to the U.S. government as an Israeli
intelligence asset embedded in the U.S. State Department. Indeed, Satterfield was named as a major player in what is now
known as the AIPAC espionage scandal, also known as the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal, although he was oddly never
charged for his role after the intervention of his superiors at the State Department in the George W. Bush
administration.
David
Satterfield, left, arrives in Baghdad with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, right, and Joey Hood, May 7, 2019. Mandel
Ngan | AP
In 2005, federal prosecutors cited a U.S. government official as
having illegally passed
classified information
to Steve Rosen, then working for AIPAC, who then passed that information to the Israeli
government. That classified information included intelligence on Iran and the nature of U.S.-Israeli intelligence
sharing. Subsequent media reports from the
New York Times
and other outlets revealed that this government
official was none other than David Satterfield, who was then serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near
East Affairs.
Charges against Rosen, as well as his co-conspirator and fellow AIPAC employee Keith Weissman, were dropped in 2009
and no charges were levied against Satterfield after State Department officials shockingly claimed that Satterfield had
"acted within his authority" in leaking classified information to an individual working to advance the interests of a
foreign government. Richard Armitage, a neoconservative ally with
a long history
of ties to CIA covert operations in the Middle East and elsewhere,
has since claimed
that he was one of Satterfield's main defenders in conversations with the FBI during this time
when he was serving as Deputy Secretary of State.
The other government official named in the indictment, former Pentagon official Lawrence Franklin, was not so lucky
and was charged under the Espionage Act in 2006. Satterfield, instead of being censured for his role in leaking
sensitive information to a foreign government, was subsequently promoted in 2006 to serve as the Coordinator for Iraq
and Senior Adviser to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In addition to his history of leaking classified information to AIPAC, Satterfield also has a longstanding
relationship with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a controversial spin-off of AIPAC also known by its
acronym WINEP. WINEP's website has long listed Satterfield as
one of its experts
and Satterfield has spoken at several WINEP events and policy forums, including several
after his involvement
with the AIPAC espionage scandal became public knowledge. However, despite his longstanding
and controversial ties to the U.S. pro-Israel lobby, Satterfield's current relationship with some elements of that
lobby, such as the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA), is complicated at best.
While Satterfield's role in yet another reversal of a promised withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria has largely
escaped media scrutiny, another individual with deep ties to the Israel lobby and Syrian "rebel" groups has also been
ignored by the media, despite his outsized role in taking advantage of this new U.S. policy for Israel's benefit.
US Israel Lobby secures deal with Kurds
Earlier this year, well before Trump's new Syria policy of "keeping the oil" had officially taken shape, another
individual with deep ties to the U.S. Israel lobby secured a lucrative agreement with U.S.-backed Kurdish groups in
Syria.
An official document
issued earlier this year by the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political arm of the
Kurdish majority and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a New Jersey-based company,
founded and run
by U.S.-Israeli dual citizen Mordechai "Motti" Kahana, was given control of the oil in territory held by the SDC.
Per the document, the SDC formally accepted the offer from Kahana's company -- Global Development Corporation (GDC) --
to represent SDC in all matters pertaining to the sale of oil extracted in territory it controls and also grants GDC
"the right to explore and develop oil that is located in areas we govern."
The
SDC's formal acceptance of Global Development Corporation's offer to develop Syrian oil fields. Source |
Al-Akhbar
The document also states that the amount of oil then being produced in SDC-controlled areas was 125,000 barrels per
day and that they anticipated that this would increase to 400,000 barrels per day and that this oil is considered a
foreign asset under the control of the United States by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
After the document was made public by the Lebanese outlet
Al-Akhbar
, the SDC claimed that it was a forgery,
even though Kahana had
separately
confirmed
its contents and shared the letter itself to the
Los Angeles Times
as recently as a few weeks
ago. Kahana previously attempted to distance himself from the effort and
told the Israeli newspaper
Israel Hayom
in July that he had made the offer to the SDC as means to prevent
the "Assad regime" of Syria from obtaining revenue from the sale of Syrian oil.
The Kurds currently hold 11 oil wells in an area controlled by the [Syrian] Democratic Forces. The overwhelming
majority of Syrian oil is in that area. I don't want this oil reaching Iran, or the Assad regime."
At the time, Kahana also stated that "the moment the Trump administration gives its approval, we can begin to export
this oil at fair prices."
Given that Kahana has openly confirmed that he is representing the SDC's oil business shortly after Trump's adoption
of the controversial "keep the oil policy," it seems plausible that Kahana has now received the approval needed for his
company to export the oil on behalf of the SDC. Several media reports
have speculated
that, if Kahana's efforts go forward unimpeded, the Syrian oil will be sold to Israel.
However, considering Turkey's aversion to engaging in any activities that may benefit the PKK-SDF – there are
considerable obstacles to Kahana's plans. While the SDF -- along with assistance from U.S. troops -- still controls
several oil fields in Syria, experts assert that they can only realistically sell the oil to the Syrian government. Not
even the Iraqi Kurds are a candidate, considering Baghdad's firm control over the Iraq-Syria border and the KRG's
weakened state after its failed independence bid in late 2017.
Regardless, Kahana's involvement in this affair is significant for a few reasons. First, Kahana has been a key player
in the promotion and funding of radical groups in Syria and has even been
caught hiring
so-called "rebels" to kidnap Syrian Jews and take them to Israel against their will. It was Kahana,
for instance, who financed and orchestrated the now infamous trip of the late Senator John McCain to Syria, where he met
with Syrian "rebels" including Khalid al-Hamad – a "moderate" rebel who gained notoriety after a video of him eating the
heart of a Syrian Army soldier
went viral online
. McCain had also
admitted meeting
with ISIS members, though it is unclear if he did so on this trip or another trip to Syria.
In addition, Kahana was also the mastermind behind the "Caesar" controversy, whereby a Syrian using the pseudonym
"Caesar" was brought to the U.S. by Kahana and went on to make claims regarding torture and other crimes allegedly
committed by the Assad-led government Syria, claims which were
later discredited
by independent analysts. He was also
very involved
in Israel's failed efforts to establish a "safe zone" in Southern Syria as a means of
covertly expanding Israel's territory
from the occupied Golan Heights and into Quneitra.
Notably, Kahana has deep ties -- not just to efforts to overthrow the Syrian government -- but also to U.S. Israel
lobby, including the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) where Satterfield is as an expert. For instance,
Kahana was a key player in
a 2013 symposium
organized by WINEP along with Syrian opposition groups intimately involved in the arming of so-called "rebels." One of
the other participants in the symposium alongside Kahana was Mouaz Moustafa, director of the "Syrian Emergency Task
Force" who assisted Kahana in bringing McCain to Syria in 2013. Moustafa
was
listed
as a WINEP expert on the organization's website but was later mysteriously deleted.
Kahana is also intimately involved with the Israeli American Council (IAC), a pro-Israel lobby organization, as
a team member
of its national conference. IAC was co-founded and is chaired by
Adam Milstein
, a multimillionaire and convicted felon who is also on the boards of AIPAC, StandWithUs, Birthright
and other prominent pro-Israel lobby organizations. One of IAC's top donors is Sheldon Adelson, who is also the top
donor to President Trump as well as the entire Republican Party.
Though the machinations of both Kahana and Satterfield to guide U.S. policy in order to manipulate the flow of
Syria's hydrocarbons for Israel's benefit may seem shocking to some, this same tactic of pro-Israel lobbyists using the
Kurds to illegally sell a country's oil to Israel was developed a few years prior, not in Syria, but Iraq. Notably, the
individuals responsible for that policy in Iraq shared connections to several of the same pro-Israel lobby organizations
as both Satterfield and Kahana, suggesting that their recent efforts in Syria are not an isolated event, but a pattern.
War against ISIS is a war for oil
In
an email
dated June 15, 2014, James Franklin Jeffrey (former Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey and current U.S. Special
Representative for Syria) revealed to Stephen Hadley, a former George Bush administration advisor then working at the
government-funded United States Institute of Peace, his intent to advise the KRG in order to sustain Kirkuk's oil
production. The plan, as Jeffery described it, was to supply both the Kurdistan province with oil and allow the export
of oil via Kirkuk-Ceyhan to Israel, robbing Iraq of its oil and strengthening the country's Kurdish region along with
its regional government's bid for autonomy.
Jeffrey,
whose hawkish views on Iran and Syria are well-known
, mentioned that Brett McGurk, the U.S.' main negotiator between
Baghdad and the KRG, was acting as his liaison with the KRG. McGurk, who had served in various capacities in Iraq under
both Bush and Obama, was then also serving Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran. A year later, he would
be made the special presidential envoy for the U.S.-led "anti-ISIS" coalition and, as previously mentioned, worked
closely with David Satterfield.
James
Jeffrey, left, meets with Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud Barzani, April 8, 2011, at an airport in
Irbil, Iraq. Chip Somodevilla | AP
Jeffrey was then a private citizen not currently employed by the government and was used as a non-governmental
channel in the pursuit of the plans described in the leaked emails published by WikiLeaks. Jeffrey's behind-the-scenes
activities with regards to the KRG's oil exports were done clandestinely, largely because he was then employed by a
prominent arm of the U.S.' pro-Israel lobby.
At the time of the email, Jeffrey was serving
as a
distinguished fellow
(2013-2018) at WINEP. As previously mentioned, WINEP is a pro-Israel foreign policy think-tank
that espouses neoconservative views and was created in 1985 by researchers
that had hastily left AIPAC to escape investigations
against the organization that were related to some of its
members conducting espionage on behalf of Israel. AIPAC, the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, is the largest
registered Israel lobbyist organization in the US (albeit registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act would
be more suitable), and, in addition to the 1985 incident that led to WINEP's creation, has had members indicted for
espionage against the U.S. on Israel's behalf.
WINEP's launch was funded by former President of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Barbara Weinberg, who is its
founding president and constant Chairman Emerita. Nicknamed 'Barbi', she is the wife of the late Lawrence Weinberg who
was President of AIPAC from 1976-81 and who JJ Goldberg, author of the 1997 book
Jewish Power,
referred to as
one of a select few individuals
who essentially dominated AIPAC regardless of its elected leadership.
Co-founder alongside Weinberg was Martin
Indyk. Indyk, U.S. Ambassador to Israel (1995-97) and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1997-99),
led the AIPAC research time that formed WINEP to escape the aforementioned investigations.
WINEP
has
historically
received funding from
donors
who donate
to causes of special interest for Zionism and Israel. Among its trustees are extremely prominent names in political
Zionism and funders of other Israel Lobby organizations, such as
Charles and Edgar Bronfman
and
the Chernicks
.
Its
membership
remains dominated by individuals who have spent their careers promoting Israeli interests in the U.S.
WINEP has become more well-known, and arguably more controversial, in recent years after its research director
famously called for false-flag attacks to trigger a U.S. war with Iran in 2012, statements well-aligned with
longstanding attempts by the Israel Lobby
to bring about such a war.
A worthy partner in crime
Stephen Hadley, another private citizen who Jeffrey evidently considered as a partner in his covert dealings
discussed in the emails, also has his own past of involvement with Israel-specific intrigues and meddling.
During the G.W. Bush administration, Hadley tagged along with
neoconservatives
in their numerous creations of fake intelligence and efforts to incriminate Iraq for possessing
chemical and nuclear weapons. Hadley was one of the promoters from within the U.S. government of the false claim that
9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta met with Iraqi officials in Prague.
What this particular claim had in common with the
'Iraq meets Atta in Prague'
disinformation, and other famous lies against Iraq fabricated and circulated by the
dense neocon network, was its source: Israel and pro-Israel partisans.
The distribution
network
of these now long-debunked claims was none other than the neoconservatives who act a veritable Israeli fifth
column that has long sought to promote Israeli foreign policy objectives as being in the interest of the United States.
In this, Hadley played his part by helping to ensure that the United States was railroaded into a war that had long been
promoted by both Israeli and American neoconservatives, particularly Richard Perle -- an advisor to WINEP -- who had been
promoting regime change in Iraq
for Israel's explicit benefit
for decades.
In short, for covert intrigues to serve Israel that would likely be met with protest if pitched to the government for
implementation as policy, Hadley's resume was impressive.
Israeli interests pursued through covert channels
Given his employment at WINEP during this time, Jeffrey's intent to advise the KRG to sustain Kirkuk's oil production
despite the seizure of the Baiji oil refinery by ISIS is somewhat suspect, especially since it required that 100,000
barrels per day pass through ISIS-controlled territory unimpeded.
Jeffrey's email from June 14, therefore, demonstrated that he had foreknowledge that ISIS would not disturb the KRG
as long as the Kurds redirected oil that was intended originally for Baiji to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline,
facilitating its export and later sale to Israel.
Notably, up until its liberation in mid-2015 by the Iraqi government and aligned Shia paramilitaries,
ISIS kept the refinery running
and, only upon their retreat, destroyed the facility.
One would normally expect ISIS to be opposed to such collusion given that the KRG, while a beneficiary of the
ISIS-Baghdad conflict, was not an ally of ISIS. Thus, a foreign power
with strategic ties to ISIS
used its
close ties to the KRG
and assurances that it was on-board for the oil trade, to deliver a credible guarantee that
ISIS would 'cooperate' and that a boom in production and exports was in the cards.
This foreign power -- acting as a guarantor for the ISIS-KRG understanding vis-a-vis the illegal oil economy,
represented by Jeffrey and clearly not on good terms with Iraq's government -- was quite clearly Israel.
Israel
established considerable financial support
as well as the provision of armaments to other extremist terrorist groups
active near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Southern Syria when war first broke out in Syria
in 2011. At least four of these extremist groups were led by individuals
with direct ties to Israeli intelligence
. These same groups, sometimes promoted as 'moderates' by some media, were
actively fighting Syria's government – an enemy of Israel and ally of Iran – before ISIS existed and
eagerly partnered with ISIS
when it expanded its campaign into Syria.
Israel has also long promoted the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, with Israel having provided Iraq's Kurds with
weapons, training and teams of Mossad advisers
as far back as the 1960s
. More recently,
Israel was the only state
to support the KRG independence referendum in September 2017 despite its futility, hinting
at the regard Israel holds for the KRG. Iraq's government subsequently militarily
defeated the KRG's push for statehood
and reclaimed Kirkuk's oil fields with assistance from the Shia paramilitaries
which were responsible for defeating ISIS in the area.
A
2014 map shows the areas under ISIS and Kurdish control at the time. Source |
Telegraph
This arrangement orchestrated by Jeffrey, served the long-time neoconservative-Israeli agenda of empowering the
Kurds,
selling Iraqi oil
to Israel and weakening Iraq's Baghdad-based government.
WINEP's close association with AIPAC,
which has spied on the U.S. on behalf of Israel
several times in the past with no consequence, combined with
Jeffrey's long-time acquaintance with key U.S. figures in Iraq, such as McGurk, provided an ideal opening for Israel in
Iraq. Following the implementation of Jeffrey's plan, Israeli imports of KRG oil constituted
77
percent of Israel's total oil imports
during the KRG's occupation of Kirkuk.
The WINEP connection to the KRG-Israel oil deal demonstrates the key role played by the U.S. pro-Israel Lobby, not
only in terms of sustaining U.S. financial aid to Israel and ratcheting up tensions with Israel's adversaries but also
in facilitating the more covert aspects of U.S.-Israeli cooperation and the implementation of policies that favor
Israel.
Yet the role played by the U.S. Israel lobby in this capacity, particularly in terms of orchestrating oil sale
agreements for Israel's benefit, is hardly exclusive to Iraq and can accurately be described as a repeated pattern of
behavior.
caucus99percent
free-range politics, organic community
Trump is stealing Syria's oil for the Saudis
gjohnsit
on Fri, 12/20/2019 - 4:28pm
President Trump recently said the quiet part
out loud
.
"We may have to fight for the oil. It's O.K.," he said. "Maybe somebody else wants the oil, in
which case they have a hell of a fight. But there's massive amounts of oil." The United States,
he added, should be able to take some of Syria's oil. "What I intend to do, perhaps, is make a
deal with an ExxonMobil or one of our great companies to go in there and do it properly," he
said. The goal would be to "spread out the wealth."
At the very least this amounts to pillaging, but then respect for the law isn't on Trump agenda.
Trump is "protecting" Syria's oil in the
exact
same way that the mob "protects" a
small businessman from arson.
Not
kind of
the same way. EXACTLY the same way.
Trump comment US intends to keep the oil in
Syria. Guard with US armored forces. Bring in US oil companies to modernize the field. WHAT ARE
WE BECOMING.... PIRATES? If ISIS is defeated we lack Congressional authority to stay. The oil
belongs to Syria.
https://t.co/Leko5s1hXF
So what "great companies" would be willing "to go in there" and "spread out the wealth?"
That company turned out to be
ARAMCO
.
Sources have disclosed that the Saudi Arabian Oil Company, commonly referred to as Aramco, has
sent a delegation of experts to discuss
investment opportunities in the oil fields and
wells in the Eastern Syrian city of Deir Ez-Zor.
According to the oppositionist news site Deir Ezzor 24, Aramco "started implementing
practical steps in this field, where a group of the company arrived in an official mission to
al-Omar oil field in the eastern Deir Ezzor countryside."
There is no legal means to do this. This is the outright theft of resources.
And it keeps getting worse.
It is believed that the
investments will be made through contracts signed between Aramco
and the US government
, whose armed forces have steadily been increasing their military
presence in terms of manpower and equipment around the oil fields.
That is trafficking in the sale of stolen property, but it gets even worse than that.
The Kurdish Syrian Defence Forces (formerly known as the YPG) currently control most of the
country's oil fields and have shifted towards an alliance with the Syrian government after
losing American protection in the north-east of the country in the wake of Trump's "withdrawal"
and ensuing Turkish offensive dubbed "Operation Peace Spring" to clear the area of Kurdish
militias
So we can't even pretend to be doing this for the benefit of the local population, our regional
allies, or any other justification except naked theft.
Trump should be in jail for this.
"I think in this case we are not talking about an operation associated with a huge share of
risk, but, on the contrary, about a well-thought-out operation."
- Professor RSUH Grigory Kosach
The Pentagon is enthusiastically cooperating in this blatant violation of international law.
US troops have
returned
to six out of 16 bases in Syria that had been previously abandoned during the October
withdrawal.
What's more, our military is
settling in
for the long haul.
Barely two months after US President Donald Trump's demagogic announcement that he was pulling
US troops out of northeastern Syria to fulfill his campaign promise to bring a halt to
Washington's "endless wars," the senior civilian and uniformed Pentagon chiefs told a House
panel Wednesday that
there is no foreseeable end to the American presence there.
...
Esper went even further, insisting that US military forces had to remain in Syria not so much to
counter any existing military force, but rather an "ideology".
"I think the defeat, if you will, will be hard because it's an ideology," Esper told the
House panel after repeated questions regarding US strategy in Syria.
"It's hard to
foresee anytime soon we would stamp it out,"
he added.
Everyone that somehow finds a way to defend Trump based on his so-called aversion to foreign
wars needs to take a good, hard look at this. Because THIS is 100% Trump's doing.
US-led forces have blown up three oil tankers in Syria as the United States increases
its pressure on Syria by thwarting the oil trade between the PKK/YPG and the Assad
regime, according to local sources quoted by several media sources.
The YPG are our Kurdish allies that the warmongers were so concerned about just a few
months ago. We "care" about them, right up until they want to sell oil to the Assad
regime. Then they deserve death.
That's OUR oil.
I think the powerful foreign policy cabal in Washington have him by the balls and give
them a squeeze when he gets off point.
One day he is pulling out. The next day he says
he staying in to "protect" the oil fields. The third day he sends US forces back in so he
can sell the oil so that the Syrians don't "steal" it.
What's going to happen on the fourth day when a half dozen American soldiers get
eviscerated by a roadside bomb while on patrol?
but just like congress won't make him withdraw troops from Yemen and stop supporting the
Saudis, they are in complete agreement with him doing that.
Israel bought Syria's oil from ISIS all during Obama's tenure as he watched them take
it out through Turkey.
But it's Russian aggression that is causing all the problems in the Middle East right?
And Iran's too. Why we can't make deals for resources instead of spending gawd only knows
how much money. But then the defense companies wouldn't get all of our money now would
they? We pay for the defense companies CEOs large bonuses and salaries. Great gig!
Regarding your last sentence: this is the great truth that Washington's world hegemonists would have you forget. Taking into
account the untapped vast resources of Canada and Alaska and its expansive offshore economic zones extending deep into the Atlantic,
the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico and the Arctic Ocean, the North American anglosphere could be entirely self-sufficient and do
quite nicely on its own for hundreds of years to come, it just wouldn't be the sole tyrannical state presumably ruling the entire
planet.
Why, it might even entertain the idea of actually cooperating with other regional powers like Russia, China, the EU, India,
Iran, Turkey, the Middle East, greater central Asia, Latin America and even Africa to everyone's benefit, rather than bullying
them all because god ordained us to be the boss of all humans.
America's major malfunction is its lack of historical roots compared to the other societies mentioned. All those places had
thousands of years to refine their sundry cultures and international relationships, certainly through trial and error and many
horrible setbacks, most notably wars, famines, pestilence, genocide and human bondage which people did not have the foresight
to nip in the bud. They learned by their mistakes and some, like the great world wars, were doozies.
The United States, and some of its closest homologues like Canada, Australia, Brazil and Argentina, were thrown together very
rapidly as part of developing colonial empires. It was created through the brute actions of a handful of megalomaniacal oligarchs
of their day. What worked to suppress vast tracts of aboriginal homelands, often through genocide and virtual extinction of the
native populations, was so effective that it was institutionalized in the form of slavery and reckless exploitation of the local
environment. These "great leaders," "pioneers" and "founding fathers" were not about to give up a set of principles -- no matter
how sick and immoral -- which they knew to "work" and accrued to them great power and riches. They preferred to label it "American
exceptionalism" and force it upon the whole rest of the world, including long established regional powers -- cultures going back
to antiquity -- and not just conveniently sketched "burdens of the white man."
No, ancient cultures like China, India, Persia and so forth could obviously be improved for all concerned merely by allowing
a handful of Western Europeans to own all their property and run all their affairs. That grand plan fell apart for most of the
European powers in the aftermath of World War Two, but Washington has held tough and never given up its designs of micromanaging
and exploiting the whole planet. It too is soon to learn its lesson and lose its empire. Either that or it will take the world
down in flames as it tries to cling to all that it never really owned or deserved. The most tragic (or maybe just amusing) part
is that Washington still had most of the world believing its bullshit about exceptionalism and indispensability until it decided
it had to emulate every tyrannical empire that ever collapsed before it.
Realist , April 30, 2019 at 02:08
"ex·tor·tion /ik?stôrSH(?)n/ noun The practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats."
"Racketeering refers to crimes committed through extortion or coercion. A racketeer attempts to obtain money or property from
another person, usually through intimidation or force. The term is typically associated with organized crime."
I see. So, American foreign policy, as applied to both its alleged enemies and presumed allies, essentially amounts to an exercise
in organised crime. So much for due process, free trade, peaceful co-existence, magical rainbows and other such hypocritical platitudes
dispensed for domestic consumption in place of the heavy-handed threats routinely delivered to Washington's targets.
That's quite in keeping with the employment of war crimes as standard "tactics, techniques and procedures" on the battlefield
which was recently admitted to us by Senator Jim Molan on the "60 Minutes" news show facsimile and discussed in one of yesterday's
forums on this blog.
Afghanistan was promised a carpet of gold or a carpet of bombs as incentive to bend to our will (and that of Unocal which,
unlike Nordstream, was a pipeline Washington wanted built). Iraq was promised and delivered "shock and awe" after a secretary
of state had declared the mass starvation of that country's children as well worth the effort. They still can't find all the pieces
left of the Libyan state. Syria was told it would be stiffed on any American contribution to its rebuilding for the effrontery
of actually beating back the American-recruited, trained and financed ISIS terrorist brigades. Now it's being deliberately starved
of both its energy and food requirements by American embargoes on its own resources! North Korea was promised utter annihilation
by Yankee nukes before Kim's summit with our great leader unless it submitted totally to his will, or more likely that of Pompous
Pompeo, the man who pulls his strings. Venezuela is treated to cyber-hacked power outages and shortages of food, medicines, its
own gold bullion, income from its own international petroleum sales and, probably because someone in Washington thinks it's funny,
even toilet paper. All they have to do to get relief is kick out the president they elected and replace him with Washington's
chosen puppet! Yep, freedom and democracy blah, blah, blah. And don't even ask what the kids in Yemen got for Christmas from Uncle
Sam this year. (He probably stole their socks.) A real American patriot will laughingly take Iran to task for ever believing in
the first place that Washington could be negotiated with in good faith. All they had to do was ask the Native Americans (or the
Russians) how the Yanks keep their word and honor their treaties. It was their own fault they were taken for suckers.
Information from local sources said that US army helicopters have already transported the gold bullions under cover of darkness
on Sunday [February 24th], before transporting them to the United States.
The sources said that tens of tons that Daesh had been keeping in their last hotbed in al-Baghouz area in Deir Ezzor countryside
have been handed to the Americans, adding up to other tons of gold that Americans have found in other hideouts for Daesh, making
the total amount of gold taken by the Americans to the US around 50 tons, leaving only scraps for the SDF [Kurdish] militias that
serve them [the US operation].
Recently, sources said that the area where Daesh leaders and members have barricaded themselves in, contains around 40 tons
of gold and tens of millions of dollars.
Allegedly, "US occupation forces in the Syrian al-Jazeera area made a deal with Daesh terrorists, by which Washington gets tens
of tons of gold that the terror organization had stolen, in exchange for providing safe passage for the terrorists and their leaders
from the areas in Deir Ezzor where they are located."
ISIS was financing its operations largely by the theft of oil from the oil wells in the Deir Ezzor area, Syria's oil-producing
region, and they transported and sold this stolen oil via their allied forces, through Turkey, which was one of those US allies trying
to overthrow Syria's secular Government
and install a Sunni fundamentalist regime that would be ruled from Riyadh (i.e., controlled by the Saud family) . This gold is
the property of the Syrian Government, which owns all that oil and the oil wells, which ISIS had captured (stolen), and then sold.
Thus, this gold is from sale of that stolen black-market oil, which was Syria's property.
The US Government evidently thinks that the public are fools, idiots. America's allies seem to be constantly amazed at how successful
that approach turns out to be.
Jihadists were recruited from throughout the world to fight against Syria's secular Government. Whereas ISIS was funded mainly
by black-market sales of oil from conquered areas, the Al-Qaeda-led groups were mainly funded by the Sauds and other Arab royal families
and their retinues, the rest of their aristocracy. On 13 December 2013, BBC headlined
"Guide to the Syrian rebels" and opened "There are
believed to be as many as 1,000 armed opposition groups in Syria, commanding an estimated 100,000 fighters." Except in the Kurdish
areas in Syria's northeast, almost all of those fighters were being led by Al Qaeda's Syrian Branch, al-Nusra. Britain's Center on
Religion & Politics headlined on 21 December 2015,
"Ideology
and Objectives of the Syrian Rebellion" and reported: "If ISIS is defeated, there are at least 65,000 fighters belonging to other
Salafi-jihadi groups ready to take its place." Almost all of those 65,000 were trained and are led by Syria's Al Qaeda (Nusra), which
was protected by
the US
In September 2016 a UK official
"FINAL REPORT OF THE TASK
FORCE ON COMBATING TERRORIST AND FOREIGN FIGHTER TRAVEL" asserted that, "Over 25,000 foreign fighters have traveled to the battlefield
to enlist with Islamist terrorist groups, including at least 4,500 Westerners. More than 250 individuals from the United States have
also joined." Even just 25,000 (that official lowest estimate) was a sizable US proxy-army of religious fanatics to overthrow Syria's
Government.
On 26 November 2015, the first of Russia's videos of Russia's bombing ISIS oil trucks headed into Turkey was bannered at a US
military website
"Russia Airstrike on ISIS Oil Tankers" , and exactly a month later, on 26 December 2015, Britain's Daily Express headlined
"WATCH: Russian fighter jets smash ISIS oil tankers after spotting 12,000 at Turkish border" . This article, reporting around
twelve thousand ISIS oil-tanker trucks heading into Turkey, opened: "The latest video, released by the Russian defence ministry,
shows the tankers bunched together as they make their way along the road. They are then blasted by the fighter jet." The US military
had nothing comparable to offer to its 'news'-media. Britain's Financial Times headlined on 14 October 2015,
"Isis Inc: how oil fuels the jihadi terrorists" . Only America's allies were
involved in this commerce with ISIS -- no nation that supported Syria's Government was participating in this black market of stolen
Syrian goods. So, it's now clear that a lot of that stolen oil was sold for gold as Syria's enemy-nations' means of buying that oil
from ISIS. They'd purchase it from ISIS, but not from Syria's Government, the actual owner.
An estimated 20,000-40,000 barrels of oil are produced daily in ISIS controlled territory generating $1-1.5 million daily profit
for the terrorist organization. The oil is extracted from Dir A-Zur in Syria and two fields in Iraq and transported to the Kurdish
city of Zakhu in a triangle of land near the borders of Syria, Iraq and Turkey. Israeli and Turkish mediators come to the city
and when prices are agreed, the oil is smuggled to the Turkish city of Silop marked as originating from Kurdish regions of Iraq
and sold for $15-18 per barrel (WTI and Brent Crude currently sell for $41 and $45 per barrel) to the Israeli mediator, a man
in his 50s with dual Greek-Israeli citizenship known as Dr. Farid. He transports the oil via several Turkish ports and then onto
other ports, with Israel among the main destinations.
The US had done the same thing when it took over Ukraine by
a brutal coup in February 2014
: It grabbed the gold. Iskra News in Russian
reported, on 7 March 2014 , that "At 2 a.m. this morning ... an unmarked transport plane was on the runway at Borosipol Airport"
near Kiev in the west, and that, "According to airport staff, before the plane came to the airport, four trucks and two Volkswagen
minibuses arrived, all the truck license plates missing." This was as translated by Michel Chossudovsky at Global Research headlining
on 14 March,
"Ukraine's Gold Reserves Secretly Flown Out and Confiscated by the New York Federal Reserve?" in which he noted that, when asked,
"A spokesman for the New York Fed said simply, 'Any inquiry regarding gold accounts should be directed to the account holder.'" The
load was said to be "more than 40 heavy boxes." Chossudovsky noted that, "The National Bank of Ukraine (Central Bank) estimated Ukraine's
gold reserves in February to be worth $1.8 billion dollars." It was allegedly 36 tons. The US, according to Victoria Nuland (
Obama's detail-person
overseeing the coup ) had invested around $5 billion in the coup. Was her installed Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk
cleaning out the nation's gold reserves in order to strip the nation so that the nation's steep indebtedness for Russian gas would
never be repaid to Russia's oligarchs? Or was he doing it as a payoff for Nuland's having installed him? Or both? In any case: Russia
was being squeezed by this fascist
Ukrainian-American ploy.
The Syria operation was about oil, gold, and guns. However, most of America's support was to Al-Qaeda-led jihadists, not to ISIS-jihadists.
As the great independent investigative journalist Dilyana
Gaytandzhieva reported on 2 July 2017 :
"In December of last year while reporting on the battle of Aleppo as a correspondent for Bulgarian media I found and filmed
9 underground warehouses full of heavy weapons with Bulgaria as their country of origin. They were used by Al Nusra Front (Al
Qaeda affiliate in Syria designated as a terrorist organization by the UN)."
Furthermore, On
8 March 2013, Richard Spenser of Britain's Telegraph reported that Croatia's Jutarnji List newspaper had reported that "3,000
tons of weapons dating back to the former Yugoslavia have been sent in 75 planeloads from Zagreb airport to the rebels, largely via
Jordan since November. The airlift of dated but effective Yugoslav-made weapons meets key concerns of the West, and especially Turkey
and the United States, who want the rebels to be better armed to drive out the Assad regime."
Also, a September 2014 study by Conflict Armaments Research (CAR), titled
"Islamic State Weapons
in Iraq and Syria" , reported that not only east-European, but even US-made, weapons were being "captured from Islamic State
forces" by Kurds who were working for the Americans, and that this was very puzzling and disturbing to those Kurds, who were risking
their lives to fight against those jihadists.
In December 2017, CAR headlined
"Weapons of the Islamic State"
and reported that "this materiel was rapidly captured by IS forces, only to be deployed by the group against international coalition
forces." The assumption made there was that the transfer of weapons to ISIS was all unintentional.
That report ignored contrary evidence, which I summed up on 2 September 2017 headlining
"Russian TV
Reports US Secretly Backing ISIS in Syria" , and reporting there also from the Turkish Government an admission that the US was
working with Turkey to funnel surviving members of Iraq's ISIS into the Deir Ezzor part of Syria to help defeat Syria's Government
in that crucial oil-producing region. Moreover, at least one member of the 'rebels' that the US was training at Al Tanf on Syria's
Jordanian border had quit because his American trainers were secretly diverting some of their weapons to ISIS. Furthermore: why hadn't
the US bombed Syrian ISIS before Russia entered the Syrian war on 30 September 2015? America talked lots about its supposed effort
against ISIS, but why did US wait till 16 November 2015 before taking action,
"'Get Out Of Your Trucks And Run Away': US Gives ISIS 45 Minute Warning On Oil Tanker Strikes" ?
So, regardless of whether the US Government uses jihadists as its proxy-forces, or uses fascists as its proxy-forces, it grabs
the gold -- and grabs the oil, and takes whatever else it can.
This is today's form of imperialism.
Grab what you can, and run. And call it 'fighting for freedom and democracy and human rights and against corruption'. And the
imperial regime's allies watch in amazement, as they take their respective cuts of the loot. That's the deal, and they call it 'fighting
for freedom and democracy and human rights and against corruption around the world'. That's the way it works. International gangland.
That's the reality, while most of the public think it's instead really "fighting for freedom and democracy and human rights and against
corruption around the world." For example, as
RT reported on Sunday , March 3rd,
about John Bolton's effort at regime-change in Venezuela, Bolton said: "I'd like to see as broad a coalition as we can put together
to replace Maduro, to replace the whole corrupt regime,' Bolton told CNN's Jake Tapper." Trump's regime wants to bring clean and
democratic government to the poor Venezuelans, just like Bush's did to the Iraqis, and Obama's did to the Libyans and to the Syrians
and to the Ukrainians. And Trump, who pretends to oppose Obama's regime-change policies, alternately expands them and shrinks them.
Though he's slightly different from Obama on domestic policies, he never, as the US President, condemns any of his predecessors'
many coups and invasions, all of which were disasters for everybody except America's and allies' billionaires. They're all in on
the take.
The American public were suckered into destroying Iraq in 2003, Libya in 2011, Syria in 2011-now, and so many other countries,
and still haven't learned anything, other than to keep trusting the allegations of this lying and psychopathically vicious and super-aggressive
Government and of its stenographic 'news'-media. When is enough finally enough ? Never? If not never, then when ? Or do most people
never learn? Or maybe they don't really care. Perhaps that's the problem.
Back on 21 December 2018, one of the US regime's top 'news'-media, the Washington Post, had headlined
"Retreating ISIS army smuggled a fortune in cash and gold out of Iraq and Syria" and reported that "the Islamic State is sitting
on a mountain of stolen cash and gold that its leaders stashed away to finance terrorist operations." So, it's not as if there hadn't
been prior reason to believe that some day some of the gold would be found after America's defeat in Syria. Maybe they just hadn't
expected this to happen quite so soon. But the regime will find ways to hoodwink its public, in the future, just as it has in the
past. Unless the public wises-up (if that's even possible).
The USA 'lost' in Syria, the opposing coalition incl. Iran and Russia couldn't be faced off successfully.
Destroying Afgh., Iraq, Lybia, - all 'failures' in the sense of not garnering 'advantage' for the USA as a territory, a Federated
Nation, its citizens, its trade, boosting hopeful expansion, etc. One aim rarely mentioned is keeping allies on board, e.g. Sarkozy's
France, to invade Lybia. In France many say it was Sark I who did DE-ss-troy! Lybia.
The word *failure* is based on the acceptance of a stated aim reminiscent of old-style-colonialism: grab resources, exploit
super-cheap labor, control the natives, mine, exploit, shunt the goods / profits to home base.
If the aim is to stop rivals breathing, blast them back to the Stone Age, the success is good but relative. (see Iraq.) Private
GloboCorps (e.g. Glencore.. ) are in charge behind the curtain, many Gvmts are just stooges for them in the sense of unawoved
partnerships, the one feeding into the other, in a kind of desperado death spiral.
I have always been struck by the fact that Oil Projects / Management in Iraq, even wiki gives lists that shows major movers
and profiteers are not USA oil cos. / interests, but China, Malaysia, many others.
In any case withdrawal from Syria was a surprising and bold move on the Part of the Trump. You can criticizes Trump for not doing
more but before that he bahvaves as a typical neocon, or a typical Republican presidents (which are the same things). And he started
on this path just two month after inauguration bombing Syria under false pretences. So this is something
I think the reason of change is that Trump intuitively realized the voters are abandoning him in droves and the sizable faction
of his voters who voted for him because of his promises to end foreign wars iether already defected or is ready to defect. So this is
a move designed to keep them.
Notable quotes:
"... "America shouldn't be doing the fighting for every nation on earth, not being reimbursed in many cases at all. If they want us to do the fighting, they also have to pay a price," Trump said. ..."
President Trump's big announcement to pull US troops out of Syria and Afghanistan is now emerging less as a peace move, and more
a rationalization of American military power in the Middle East. In a surprise visit to US forces in Iraq this week, Trump
said he had no intention of withdrawing the troops in that country, who have been there for nearly 15 years since GW Bush invaded
back in 2003.
Hinting at private discussions with commanders in Iraq, Trump boasted that US forces would in the future launch attacks from there
into Syria if and when needed. Presumably that rapid force deployment would apply to other countries in the region, including Afghanistan.
In other words, in typical business-style transactional thinking, Trump sees the pullout from Syria and Afghanistan as a cost-cutting
exercise for US imperialism. Regarding Syria, he has bragged about Turkey being assigned, purportedly, to "finish off" terror
groups. That's Trump subcontracting out US interests.
Critics and supporters of Trump are confounded. After his Syria and Afghanistan pullout call, domestic critics and NATO allies
have accused him of walking from the alleged "fight against terrorism" and of ceding strategic ground to US adversaries Russia
and Iran.
Meanwhile, Trump's supporters have viewed his decision in more benign light, cheering the president for "sticking it to"
the deep state and military establishment, assuming he's delivering on electoral promises to end overseas wars.
However, neither view gets what is going on. Trump is not scaling back US military power; he is rationalizing it like a cost-benefit
analysis, as perhaps only a real-estate-wheeler-dealer-turned president would appreciate. Trump is not snubbing US militarism or
NATO allies, nor is he letting loose an inner peace spirit. He is as committed to projecting American military as ruthlessly and
as recklessly as any other past occupant of the White House. The difference is Trump wants to do it on the cheap.
Here's what he said to reporters on Air Force One before touching down in Iraq:
"The United States cannot continue to be the policeman of the world. It's not fair when the burden is all on us, the United
States We are spread out all over the world. We are in countries most people haven't even heard about. Frankly, it's ridiculous."
He added: "We're no longer the suckers, folks."
Laughably, Trump's griping about US forces "spread all over the world" unwittingly demonstrates the insatiable, monstrous
nature of American militarism. But Trump paints this vice as a virtue, which, he complains, Washington gets no thanks for from the
150-plus countries around the globe that its forces are present in.
As US troops greeted him in Iraq, the president made explicit how the new American militarism would henceforth operate.
"America shouldn't be doing the fighting for every nation on earth, not being reimbursed in many cases at all. If they want
us to do the fighting, they also have to pay a price," Trump said.
This reiterates a big bugbear for this president in which he views US allies and client regimes as "not pulling their weight"
in terms of military deployment. Trump has been browbeating European NATO members to cough up more on military budgets, and he has
berated the Saudis
and other Gulf Arab regimes to pay more for American interventions.
Notably, however, Trump has never questioned the largesse that US taxpayers fork out every year to Israel in the form of nearly
$4 billion in military aid. To be sure, that money is not a gift because much of it goes back to the Pentagon from sales of fighter
jets and missile systems.
The long-held notion that the US has served as the "world's policeman" is, of course, a travesty.
Since WWII, all presidents and the Washington establishment have constantly harped on, with self-righteousness, about America's
mythical role as guarantor of global security.
Dozens of illegal wars on almost every continent and millions of civilian deaths attest to the real, heinous conduct of American
militarism as a weapon to secure US corporate capitalism.
But with US economic power in historic decline amid a national debt now over $22 trillion, Washington can no longer afford its
imperialist conduct in the traditional mode of direct US military invasions and occupations.
Perhaps, it takes a cost-cutting, raw-toothed capitalist like Trump to best understand the historic predicament, even if only
superficially.
This gives away the real calculation behind his troop pullout from Syria and Afghanistan. Iraq is going to serve as a new regional
hub for force projection on a demand-and-supply basis. In addition, more of the dirty work can be contracted out to Washington's
clients like Turkey, Israel and Saudi Arabia, who will be buying even more US weaponry to prop the military-industrial complex.
This would explain why Trump made his hurried, unexpected visit to Iraq this week. Significantly, he
said
: "A lot of people are going to come around to my way of thinking", regarding his decision on withdrawing forces from Syria
and Afghanistan.
Since his troop pullout plan announced on December 19, there has been serious pushback from senior Pentagon figures, hawkish Republicans
and Democrats, and the anti-Trump media. The atmosphere is almost seditious against the president. Trump flying off to Iraq on Christmas
night was
reportedly his first visit to troops in an overseas combat zone since becoming president two years ago.
What Trump seemed to be doing was reassuring the Pentagon and corporate America that he is not going all soft and dovish. Not
at all. He is letting them know that he is aiming for a leaner, meaner US military power, which can save money on the number of foreign
bases by using rapid reaction forces out of places like Iraq, as well as by subcontracting operations out to regional clients.
Thus, Trump is not coming clean out of any supposed principle when he cuts back US forces overseas. He is merely applying his
knack for screwing down costs and doing things on the cheap as a capitalist tycoon overseeing US militarism.
During past decades when American capitalism was relatively robust, US politicians and media could indulge in the fantasy of their
military forces going around the world in large-scale formations to selflessly "defend freedom and democracy."
Today, US capitalism is broke. It simply can't sustain its global military empire. Enter Donald Trump with his "business solutions."
But in doing so, this president, with his cheap utilitarianism and transactional exploitative mindset, lets the cat out of the
bag. As he says, the US cannot be the world's policeman. Countries are henceforth going to have to pay for "our protection."
Inadvertently, Trump is showing up US power for what it really is: a global thug running a protection racket.
It's always been the case. Except now it's in your face. Trump is no Smedley Butler, the former Marine general who in the 1930s
condemned US militarism as a Mafia operation. This president is stupidly revealing the racket, while still thinking it is something
virtuous.
Finian Cunningham (born 1963) has written extensively on international affairs, with articles published in several languages.
Originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, he is a Master's graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor
for the Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. For over 20 years he worked
as an editor and writer in major news media organizations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. Now a freelance journalist
based in East Africa, his columns appear on RT, Sputnik, Strategic Culture Foundation and Press TV.
dnm1136
Once again, Cunningham has hit the nail on the head. Trump mistakenly conflates fear with respect. In reality, around the world,
the US is feared but generally not respected.
My guess is that the same was true about Trump as a businessman, i.e., he was not respected, only feared due to his willingness
to pursue his "deals" by any means that "worked" for him, legal or illegal, moral or immoral, seemingly gracious or mean-spirited.
William Smith
Complaining how the US gets no thanks for its foreign intervention. Kind of like a rapist claiming he should be thanked for
"pleasuring" his victim. Precisely the same sentiment expressed by those who believe the American Indians should thank the Whites
for "civilising" them.
Phoebe S,
"Washington gets no thanks for from the 150-plus countries around the globe that its forces are present in."
That might mean they don't want you there. Just saying.
ProRussiaPole
None of these wars are working out for the US strategically. All they do is sow chaos. They seem to not be gaining anything,
and are just preventing others from gaining anything as well.
Ernie For -> ProRussiaPole
i am a huge Putin fan, so is big Don. Please change your source of info Jerome, Trump is one man against Billions of people
and dollars in corruption. He has achieved more in the USA in 2 years than all 5 previous parasites together.
Truthbetold69
It could be a change for a better direction. Time will tell. 'If you do what you've always been doing, you'll get what you've
always been getting.'
"... The destruction of Syria and Libya created massive refugee flows which have proved that the European Union was totally unprepared to deal with such a major issue. On top of that, the latest years, we have witnessed a rapid rise of various terrorist attacks in Western soil, also as a result of the devastating wars in Syria and Libya. ..."
"... Whenever they wanted to blame someone for some serious terrorist attacks, they had a scapegoat ready for them, even if they had evidence that Libya was not behind these attacks. When Gaddafi falsely admitted that he had weapons of mass destruction in order to gain some relief from the Western sanctions, they presented him as a responsible leader who, was ready to cooperate. Of course, his last role was to play again the 'bad guy' who had to be removed. ..."
"... Despite the rise of Donald Trump in power, the neoliberal forces will push further for the expansion of the neoliberal doctrine in the rival field of the Sino-Russian alliance. ..."
"... We see, however, that the Western alliances are entering a period of severe crisis. The US has failed to control the situation in Middle East and Libya. The ruthless neo-colonialists will not hesitate to confront Russia and China directly, if they see that they continue to lose control in the global geopolitical arena. The accumulation of military presence of NATO next to the Russian borders, as well as, the accumulation of military presence of the US in Asia-Pacific, show that this is an undeniable fact. ..."
The start of current decade revealed the most ruthless face of a global neo-colonialism. From Syria and Libya to Europe and Latin
America, the old colonial powers of the West tried to rebound against an oncoming rival bloc led by Russia and China, which starts
to threaten their global domination.
Inside a multi-polar, complex terrain of geopolitical games, the big players start to abandon the old-fashioned, inefficient direct
wars. They use today other, various methods like
brutal proxy
wars , economic wars, financial and constitutional coups, provocative operations, 'color revolutions', etc. In this highly
complex and unstable situation, when even traditional allies turn against each other as the global balances change rapidly, the forces
unleashed are absolutely destructive. Inevitably, the results are more than evident.
Proxy Wars - Syria/Libya
After the US invasion in Iraq, the gates of hell had opened in the Middle East. Obama continued the Bush legacy of US endless
interventions, but he had to change tactics because a direct war would be inefficient, costly and extremely unpopular to the American
people and the rest of the world.
The result, however, appeared to be equally (if not more) devastating with the failed US invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US
had lost total control of the armed groups directly linked with the ISIS terrorists, failed to topple Assad, and, moreover, instead
of eliminating the Russian and Iranian influence in the region, actually managed to increase it. As a result, the US and its allies
failed to secure their geopolitical interests around the various pipeline games.
In addition, the US sees Turkey, one of its most important ally, changing direction dangerously, away from the Western bloc. Probably
the strongest indication for this, is that Turkey, Iran and Russia decided very recently to proceed in an agreement on Syria without
the presence of the US.
Yet, the list of US failures does not end here. The destruction of Syria and Libya created massive refugee flows which have
proved that the European Union was totally unprepared to deal with such a major issue. On top of that, the latest years, we have
witnessed a rapid rise of various terrorist attacks in Western soil, also as a result of the devastating wars in Syria and Libya.
Evidence from
WikiLeaks has shown that the old colonial powers have started a new round of ruthless competition on Libya's resources.
The usual story propagated by the Western media, about another tyrant who had to be removed, has now completely collapsed. They don't
care neither to topple an 'authoritarian' regime, nor to spread Democracy. All they care about is to secure each country's resources
for their big companies.
The Gaddafi case is quite interesting because it shows that
the Western
hypocrites were using him according to their interests .
Whenever they wanted to blame someone for some serious terrorist attacks, they had a scapegoat ready for them, even if they
had evidence that Libya was not behind these attacks. When Gaddafi falsely admitted that he had weapons of mass destruction in order
to gain some relief from the Western sanctions, they presented him as a responsible leader who, was ready to cooperate. Of course,
his last role was to play again the 'bad guy' who had to be removed.
Economic Wars, Financial Coups – Greece/Eurozone
It would be unthinkable for the neo-colonialists to conduct proxy wars inside European soil, especially against countries which
belong to Western institutions like NATO, EU, eurozone, etc. The wave of the US-made major economic crisis hit Greece and Europe
at the start of the decade, almost simultaneously with the eruption of the Arab Spring revolutionary wave and the subsequent disaster
in Middle East and Libya.
Greece was the easy victim for the global neoliberal dictatorship to impose catastrophic measures in favor of the plutocracy.
The Greek experiment enters its seventh year and the plan is to be used as a model for the whole eurozone. Greece has become also
the model for the looting of public property, as happened in the past with the East Germany and the
Treuhand Operation
after the fall of the Berlin Wall.
While Greece was the major victim of an economic war, Germany used its economic power and control of the European Central Bank
to impose unprecedented austerity, sado-monetarism and neoliberal destruction through silent financial coups in
Ireland ,
Italy and
Cyprus . The Greek political establishment collapsed with the rise of SYRIZA in power, and the ECB was forced to proceed
in an open financial coup against
Greece when the current PM, Alexis Tsipras, decided to conduct a referendum on the catastrophic measures imposed by the ECB, IMF
and the European Commission, through which the Greek people clearly rejected these measures, despite the propaganda of terror inside
and outside Greece. Due to the direct threat from Mario Draghi and the ECB, who actually threatened to cut liquidity sinking Greece
into a financial chaos, Tsipras finally forced to retreat, signing another catastrophic memorandum.
Through similar financial and political pressure, the Brussels bureaufascists and the German sado-monetarists along with the IMF
economic hitmen, imposed neoliberal disaster to other eurozone countries like Portugal, Spain etc. It is remarkable that even the
second eurozone economy, France,
rushed to
impose anti-labor measures midst terrorist attacks, succumbing to a - pre-designed by the elites - neo-Feudalism, under
the 'Socialist' François Hollande, despite the intense protests in many French cities.
Germany would never let the United States to lead the neo-colonization in Europe, as it tries (again) to become a major power
with its own sphere of influence, expanding throughout eurozone and beyond. As the situation in Europe becomes more and more critical
with the ongoing economic and refugee crisis and the rise of the Far-Right and the nationalists, the economic war mostly between
the US and the German big capital, creates an even more complicated situation.
The decline of the US-German relations has been exposed initially with the
NSA interceptions
scandal , yet, progressively, the big picture came on surface, revealing a
transatlantic
economic war between banking and corporate giants. In times of huge multilevel crises, the big capital always intensifies
its efforts to eliminate competitors too. As a consequence, the US has seen another key ally, Germany, trying to gain a certain degree
of independence in order to form its own agenda, separate from the US interests.
Note that, both Germany and Turkey are medium powers that, historically, always trying to expand and create their own spheres
of influence, seeking independence from the traditional big powers.
A wave of neoliberal onslaught shakes currently Latin America. While in Argentina, Mauricio Macri allegedly took the power normally,
the constitutional
coup against Dilma Rousseff in Brazil, as well as, the
usual actions
of the Right opposition in Venezuela against Nicolás Maduro with the help of the US finger, are far more obvious.
The special weight of these three countries in Latin America is extremely important for the US imperialism to regain ground in the
global geopolitical arena. Especially the last ten to fifteen years, each of them developed increasingly autonomous policies away
from the US close custody, under Leftist governments, and this was something that alarmed the US imperialism components.
Brazil appears to be the most important among the three, not only due to its size, but also as a member of the BRICS, the team
of fast growing economies who threaten the US and generally the Western global dominance. The constitutional coup against Rousseff
was rather a sloppy action and reveals the anxiety of the US establishment to regain control through puppet regimes. This is a well-known
situation from the past through which the establishment attempts to secure absolute dominance in the US backyard.
The importance of Venezuela due to its oil reserves is also significant. When Maduro tried to approach Russia in order to strengthen
the economic cooperation between the two countries, he must had set the alarm for the neocons in the US. Venezuela could find an
alternative in Russia and BRICS, in order to breathe from the multiple economic war that was set off by the US. It is characteristic
that the economic war against Russia by the US and the Saudis, by keeping the oil prices in historically low levels, had significant
impact on the Venezuelan economy too. It is also known that the US organizations are funding the opposition since Chávez era, in
order to proceed in provocative operations that could overthrow the Leftist governments.
The case of Venezuela is really interesting. The US imperialists were fiercely trying to overthrow the Leftist governments since
Chávez administration. They found now a weaker president, Nicolás Maduro - who certainly does not have the strength and personality
of Hugo Chávez - to achieve their goal.
The Western media mouthpieces are doing their job, which is propaganda as usual. The recipe is known. You present the half truth,
with a big overdose of exaggeration.
The establishment
parrots are demonizing Socialism , but they won't ever tell you about the money that the US is spending, feeding the
Right-Wing groups and opposition to proceed in provocative operations, in order to create instability. They won't tell you about
the financial war conducted through the oil prices, manipulated by the Saudis, the close US ally.
Regarding Argentina, former president, Cristina Kirchner, had also made some important moves towards the stronger cooperation
with Russia, which was something unacceptable for Washington's hawks. Not only for geopolitical reasons, but also because Argentina
could escape from the vulture funds that sucking its blood since its default. This would give the country an alternative to the neoliberal
monopoly of destruction. The US big banks and corporations would never accept such a perspective because the debt-enslaved Argentina
is a golden opportunity for a new round of huge profits. It's
happening right
now in eurozone's debt colony, Greece.
'Color Revolutions' - Ukraine
The events in Ukraine have shown that, the big capital has no hesitation to ally even with the neo-nazis, in order to impose the
new world order. This is not something new of course. The connection of Hitler with the German economic oligarchs, but also with
other major Western companies, before and during the WWII, is well known.
The most terrifying of all however, is not that the West has silenced in front of the decrees of the new Ukrainian leadership,
through which is targeting the minorities, but the fact that the West allied with the neo-nazis, while according to some information
has also funded their actions as well as other extreme nationalist groups during the riots in Kiev.
Plenty of indications show that US organizations have 'put their finger' on Ukraine. A
video , for
example, concerning the situation in Ukraine has been directed by Ben Moses (creator of the movie "Good Morning, Vietnam"), who is
connected with American government executives and organizations like National Endowment for Democracy, funded by the US Congress.
This video shows a beautiful young female Ukrainian who characterizes the government of the country as "dictatorship" and praise
some protesters with the neo-nazi symbols of the fascist Ukranian party Svoboda on them.
The same organizations are behind 'color revolutions' elsewhere, as well as, provocative operations against Leftist governments
in Venezuela and other countries.
Ukraine is the perfect place to provoke Putin and tight the noose around Russia. Of course the huge hypocrisy of the West can
also be identified in the case of Crimea. While in other cases, the Western officials were 'screaming' for the right of self-determination
(like Kosovo, for example), after they destroyed Yugoslavia in a bloodbath, they can't recognize the will of the majority of Crimeans
to join Russia.
The war will become wilder
The Western neo-colonial powers are trying to counterattack against the geopolitical upgrade of Russia and the Chinese economic
expansionism.
Despite the rise of Donald Trump in power, the neoliberal forces will push further for the expansion of the neoliberal doctrine
in the rival field of the Sino-Russian alliance. Besides, Trump has already shown his hostile feelings against China, despite
his friendly approach to Russia and Putin.
We see, however, that the Western alliances are entering a period of severe crisis. The US has failed to control the situation
in Middle East and Libya. The ruthless neo-colonialists will not hesitate to confront Russia and China directly, if they see that
they continue to lose control in the global geopolitical arena. The accumulation of military presence of NATO next to the Russian
borders, as well as, the accumulation of military presence of the US in Asia-Pacific, show that this is an undeniable fact.
The USA state of continuous war has been a bipartisan phenomenon starting with Truman in Korea and proceeding with Vietnam, Lebanon,Somalia,
Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and now Syria. It doesn't take a genius to realize that these limited, never ending wars are expensive
was to enrich MIC and Wall Street banksters
The one thing your accurate analysis leaves out is that the goal of US wars is never what the media spouts for its Wall Street
masters. The goal of any war is the redistribution of taxpayer money into the bank accounts of MIC shareholders and executives,
create more enemies to be fought in future wars, and to provide a rationalization for the continued primacy of the military class
in US politics and culture.
Occasionally a country may be sitting on a bunch of oil, and also be threatening to move away from the petrodollar or talking
about allowing an "adversary" to build a pipeline across their land.
Otherwise war is a racket unto itself. "Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable,
and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind. "
― George Orwell
Also we've always been at war with Oceania .or whatever that quote said.
"... One of the most revealing and absurd responses to rejections of forever war is the ridiculous dodge that the U.S. isn't really at war when it uses force and kills people in multiple foreign countries: ..."
"... The distinction between "real war" and the constant U.S. involvement in hostilities overseas is a phony one. The war is very real to the civilian bystanders who die in U.S. airstrikes, and it is very real to the soldiers and Marines still getting shot at and blown up in Afghanistan. This is not an "antidote to war," but rather the routinization of warfare. ..."
"... The routinization and normalization of endless, unauthorized war is one of the most harmful legacies of the Obama administration. ..."
"... When the Obama administration wanted political and legal cover for the illegal Libyan war in 2011, they came up with a preposterous claim that U.S. forces weren't engaged in hostilities because there was no real risk to them from the Libyan government's forces. According to Harold Koh, who was the one responsible for promoting this nonsense, U.S. forces weren't engaged in hostilities even when they were carrying out a sustained bombing campaign for months. That lie has served as a basis for redefining what counts as involvement in hostilities so that the president and the Pentagon can pretend that the U.S. military isn't engaged in hostilities even when it clearly is. When the only thing that gets counted as a "real war" is a major deployment of hundreds of thousands of troops, that allows for a lot of unaccountable warmaking that has been conveniently reinvented as something else. ..."
One of the most revealing and absurd responses to
rejections of forever war
is the ridiculous dodge that the U.S. isn't really at war when it uses force and kills people in multiple foreign countries:
Just like @POTUS , who put a limited op of NE
#Syria under heading of "endless
war," this op-ed has "drone strikes & Special Ops raids" in indictment of US-at-war. In fact, those actions are antidote to war.
Their misguided critique is insult to real war. https://t.co/DCLS9IDKSw
War has become so normalized over the last twenty years that the constant use of military force gets discounted as something other
than "real war." We have seen this war denialism on display several times in the last year. As more presidential candidates and analysts
have started rejecting endless war, the war's
defenders have often
chosen to
pretend
that the U.S. isn't at war at all. The distinction between "real war" and the constant U.S. involvement in hostilities overseas is
a phony one. The war is very real to the civilian bystanders who die in U.S. airstrikes, and it is very real to the soldiers and
Marines still getting shot at and blown up in Afghanistan. This is not an "antidote to war," but rather the routinization of warfare.
Because Obama is relatively less aggressive and reckless than his hawkish opponents (a very low bar to clear), he is frequently
given a pass on these issues, and we are treated to misleading stories about his supposed "realism" and "restraint." Insofar as
he has been a president who normalized and routinized open-ended and unnecessary foreign wars, he has shown that neither of those
terms should be used to describe his foreign policy. Even though I know all too well that the president that follows him will
be even worse, the next president will have a freer hand to conduct a more aggressive and dangerous foreign policy in part because
of illegal wars Obama has waged during his time in office.
The attempt to define war so that it never includes what the U.S. military happens to be doing when it uses force abroad has been
going on for quite a while. When the Obama administration wanted political and legal cover for the illegal Libyan war in 2011, they
came up with a preposterous claim that U.S. forces weren't engaged in hostilities because there was no real risk to them from the
Libyan government's forces. According to Harold Koh, who was the one responsible for promoting this nonsense, U.S. forces weren't
engaged in hostilities even when they were carrying out a sustained bombing campaign for months. That lie has served as a basis for
redefining what counts as involvement in hostilities so that the president and the Pentagon can pretend that the U.S. military isn't
engaged in hostilities even when it clearly is. When the only thing that
gets counted as a "real war" is a major deployment
of hundreds of thousands of troops, that allows for a lot of unaccountable warmaking that has been conveniently reinvented as something
else.
It isn't just physical war that results in active service body bags but our aggression has alreay cost lives on the home front
and there is every reason to believe it will do so again.
We were not isolationists prior to 9/11/2001, Al Qaeda had already attacked but we were distracted bombing Serbia, expanding
NATO, and trying to connect Al Qaeda attacks to Iran. We were just attacked by a Saudi officer we were training on our soil to
use the Saudis against Iran.
It remains to be seen what our economic warfare against Iran, Venezuela, Syria, Yemen, and our continued use of Afghanistan
as a bombing platform will cost us. We think we are being clever by using our Treasury Dept and low intensity warfare to minimize
direct immediate casualties but how long can that last.
This article confirms what the last Real Commander-in-Chief, General/President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned about when he retired
58 years ago.
His wise Council based on his Supreme Military-Political experience has been ignored.
The MSM, Propagandists for the Military-Industrial Complex, won't remind the American People.
Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could,
with time and as required, make swords as well.
But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments
industry of vast proportions.
Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on
military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total
influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government.
We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the
very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought,
by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for
granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military
machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
The psychological contortionism required to deny that we are at war amazes me. US military forces are killing people in other
countries – but it's not war? Because we can manufacture comforting euphemisms like "police action" or "preventive action" or
"drone strike," it's not war? Because it's smaller scale than a "real" war like WWII?
Cancer is cancer. A small cancer is still a cancer. Arguing that it's not cancer because it's not metastatic stage IV is, well,
the most polite term is sophistry. More accurate terms aren't printable.
Afghan war demonstrated that the USA got into the trap, the Catch 22 situation: it can't
stop following an expensive and self-destructive positive feedback loop of threat inflation
and larger and large expenditures on MIC, because there is no countervailing force for the
MIC since WWII ended. Financial oligarchy is aligned with MIC.
This is the same suicidal grip of MIC on the country that was one of the key factors
in the collapse of the USSR means that in this key area the USA does not have two party
system, It is a Uniparty: a singe War party with two superficially different factions.
Feeding and care MIC is No.1 task for both. Ordinary Americans wellbeing does matter much
for either party. New generation of Americans is punished with crushing debt and low paying
jobs. They do not care that people over 50 who lost their jobs are essentially thrown out
like a garbage.
"41 Million people in the US suffer from hunger and lack of food security"–US Dept.
of Agriculture. FDR addressed the needs of this faction of the population when he delivered
his One-Third of a Nation speech for his 2nd Inaugural. About four years later, FDR expanded
on that issue in his Four Freedoms speech: 1.Freedom of speech; 2.Freedom of worship;
3.Freedom from want; 4.Freedom from fear.
Items 3 and 4 are probably unachievable under neoliberalism. And fear is artificially
instilled to unite the nation against the external scapegoat much like in Orwell 1984.
Currently this is Russia, later probably will be China. With regular minutes of hate replaced
by Rachel Maddow show ;-)
Derailing Tulsi had shown that in the USA any politician, who try to challenge MIC, will
be instantly attacked by MIC lapdogs in MSM and neutered in no time.
One interesting tidbit from Fiona Hill testimony is that neocons who dominate the USA
foreign policy establishment make their living off threat inflation. They literally are
bought by MIC, which indirectly finance Brookings institution, Atlantic Council and similar
think tanks. And this isn't cheap cynicism. It is simply a fact. Rephrasing Samuel Johnson's
famous quote, we can say, "MIC lobbyism (which often is presented as patriotism) is the last
refuge of scoundrels."
"... The FFM was headed by Malik Ellahi , who served as head of the OPCW's government relations and political affairs branch. The appointment of someone lacking both technical and operational experience suggests that Ellahi's primary role was political. Under his leadership, the FFM established a close working relationship with the anti-Assad Syrian opposition, including the White Helmets and SAMS. ..."
"... Once the FFM wrapped up its investigation in Douma, however, it became apparent to Fairweather that it had a problem. There were serious questions about whether chlorine had, in fact, been used as a weapon. The solution, brokered by Fairweather, was to release an interim report that ruled out sarin altogether, but left the door open regarding chlorine. ..."
"... Braha did this by dispatching OPCW inspectors to Turkey in September 2018 to interview new witnesses identified by the White Helmets, and by commissioning new engineering studies that better explained the presence of the two chlorine cannisters found in Douma. By March, Braha had assembled enough information to enable the technical directorate to issue its final report. Almost immediately, dissent appeared in the ranks of the OPCW. An engineering report that contradicted the findings published by Braha was leaked , setting off a firestorm of controversy derived from its conclusion that the chlorine cannisters found in Douma had most likely been staged by the White Helmets. ..."
"... The OPCW, while eventually acknowledging that the leaked report was genuine, explained its exclusion from the final report on the grounds that it attributed blame, something the FFM was not mandated to do. According to the OPCW , the engineering report in question had been submitted to the investigation and identification team, a newly created body within the OPCW mandated to make such determinations. Moreover, Director General Arias stood by the report's conclusion that it had "reasonable grounds" to believe "that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place on 7 April 2018." ..."
"... The OPCW's credibility as an investigative body has been brought into question through these leaks, as has its independent character. If an organization like the OPCW can be used at will by the U.S., the United Kingdom and France to trigger military attacks intended to support regime-change activities in member states, then it no longer serves a useful purpose to the international community it ostensibly serves. ..."
A spate of leaks from within the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (
OPCW ), the international inspectorate
created for the purpose of implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention, has raised serious
questions about the institution's integrity, objectivity and credibility. The leaks address
issues pertaining to the OPCW investigation into allegations that the Syrian government used
chemical weapons to attack civilians in the Damascus suburb of Douma on April 7, 2018. These
allegations, which originated from such anti-Assad organizations as the Syrian Civil Defense
(the so-called White Helmets )
and the Syrian American Medical Society ( SAMS ), were immediately embraced as credible by the OPCW, and
were used by the United States, France and the United Kingdom
to justify punitive military strikes against facilities inside Syria assessed by these
nations as having been involved in chemical weapons-related activities before the OPCW
initiated any on-site investigation.
The Douma incident was initially described by the White Helmets, SAMS and the U.S., U.K. and
French governments as involving both sarin nerve agent and chlorine gas. However, this
narrative was altered when OPCW inspectors released, on July 6, 2018, interim
findings of their investigation that found no evidence of the use of sarin. The focus of
the investigation quickly shifted to a pair of chlorine cylinders claimed by the White Helmets
to have been dropped onto apartment buildings in Douma by the Syrian Air Force, resulting in
the release of a cloud of chlorine gas that killed dozens of Syrian civilians. In March, the
OPCW released its final report on
the Douma incident , noting that it had "reasonable grounds" to believe "that the use of a
toxic chemical as a weapon has taken place on 7 April 2018," that "this toxic chemical
contained reactive chlorine" and that "the toxic chemical was likely molecular chlorine."
Much has been written about the OPCW inspection process in Syria, and particularly the
methodology used by the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), an inspection body created by the OPCW in
2014 "to establish facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals, reportedly
chlorine, for hostile purposes in the Syrian Arab Republic." The FFM was created under the
direction of Ahmet
Üzümcü , a career Turkish diplomat with extensive experience in
multinational organizations, including service as Turkey's ambassador to NATO.
Üzümcü was the OPCW's third director general, having been selected from a field
of seven candidates by its executive council to replace Argentine diplomat Rogelio Pfirter.
Pfirter had held the position since being nominated to replace the OPCW's first director
general, José Maurício Bustani. Bustani's tenure was marred by controversy that
saw the OPCW transition away from its intended role as an independent implementor of the
Chemical Weapons Convention to that of a tool of unilateral U.S. policy, a role that continues
to mar the OPCW's work in Syria today, especially when it comes to its investigation of the
alleged use by the Syrian government of chemical weapons against civilians in Douma in April
2018.
Bustani was removed from his position in 2002, following an
unprecedented campaign led by John Bolton, who at the time was serving as the
undersecretary of state for Arms Control and International Security Affairs in the U.S. State
Department. What was Bustani's crime? In 2001, he had dared to enter negotiations with the
government of Iraq to secure that nation's entry into the OPCW, thereby setting the stage for
OPCW inspectors to visit Iraq and bring its chemical weapons capability under OPCW control. As
director general, there was nothing untoward about Bustani's action. But Iraq circa 2001 was
not a typical recruitment target. In the aftermath of the Gulf War in 1991, the U.N. Security
Council had passed a resolution under Chapter VII requiring Iraq's weapons of mass destruction
(WMD), including its chemical weapons capability, to be "removed, destroyed or rendered
harmless" under the supervision of inspectors working on behalf of the United Nations Special
Commission, or UNSCOM.
The pursuit of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction led to a series of confrontations with Iraq
that culminated in inspectors being ordered out of the country by the U.S. in 1998, prior to a
72-hour aerial attack -- Operation Desert Fox. Iraq refused to allow UNSCOM inspectors to
return, rightfully claiming that the U.S. had infiltrated the ranks of the inspectors and was
using the inspection process to spy on Iraqi leadership for the purposes of facilitating regime
change. The lack of inspectors in Iraq allowed the U.S. and others to engage in wild
speculation regarding Iraqi rearmament activities, including in the field of chemical weapons.
This speculation was used to fuel a call for military action against Iraq, citing the threat of
a reconstituted WMD capability as the justification. Bustani sought to defuse this situation by
bringing Iraq into the OPCW, an act that, if completed, would have derailed the U.S. case for
military intervention in Iraq. Bolton's intervention
included threats to Bustani and his family, as well as threats to withhold U.S. dues to the OPCW accounting
for some 22% of that organization's budget; had the latter threat been implemented, it would
have resulted in OPCW's disbandment.
Bustani's departure marked the end of the OPCW as an independent organization. Pfirter,
Bolton's hand-picked replacement, vowed to keep the OPCW out of Iraq. In an
interview with U.S. media shortly after his appointment, Pfirter noted that while all
nations should be encouraged to join the OPCW, "We should be very aware that there are United
Nations resolutions in effect" that precluded Iraqi membership "at the expense" of its
obligations to the Security Council. Under the threat of military action, Iraq allowed UNMOVIC
inspectors to return in 2002; by February 2003, no WMD had been found , a result that did
not meet with U.S. satisfaction. In March 2003, UNMOVIC inspectors were withdrawn from Iraq
under orders of the U.S., paving the way for the subsequent invasion and occupation of that
nation that same month (the CIA later concluded that
Iraq had been disarmed of its weapons of mass destruction by the summer of 1991).
Under Pfirter's leadership, the OPCW became a compliant tool of U.S. foreign policy
objectives. By completely subordinating OPCW operations through the constant threat of fiscal
ruin, the U.S. engaged in a continuous quid pro quo arrangement, trading the financial solvency
of an ostensible multilateral organization for complicity in operating as a de facto extension
of American unilateral policy. Bolton's actions in 2002 put the OPCW and its employees on
notice: Cross the U.S., and you will pay a terminal price.
When Üzümcü took over the OPCW's reins in 2010, the organization was very
much the model of multinational consensus, which, in the case of any multilateral organization
in which the U.S. plays a critical role, meant that nothing transpired without the express
approval of the U.S. and its European NATO allies, in particular the United Kingdom and France.
Shortly after he took office, Üzümcü was joined by Robert Fairweather , a
career British diplomat who served as Üzümcü's chief of Cabinet. (While
Üzümcü was the ostensible head of the OPCW, the daily task of managing the
functioning of the OPCW was that of the chief of Cabinet. In short, nothing transpired within
the OPCW without Fairweather's knowledge and concurrence.)
Üzümcü and Fairweather's tenure at the OPCW was dominated by Syria, where,
since 2011, the government of President Bashar Assad had been engaged in a full-scale conflict
with a foreign-funded and -equipped insurgency whose purpose was regime change. By 2013,
allegations emerged from both the Syrian government and rebel forces concerning the use of
chemical weapons by the other side. In August 2013, the OPCW dispatched an inspection team into
Syria as part of a U.N.-led effort, which included specialists from the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the U.N. itself, to investigate allegations that sarin had been used in
attack on civilians in the town of Ghouta. While the mission found conclusive evidence that sarin nerve agent had been
used , it did not assign blame for the attack.
Despite the lack of causality, the U.S. and its NATO allies quickly assigned blame for the
sarin attacks on the Syrian government. To forestall U.S. military action against Syria, the
Russian
government helped broker a deal whereby the U.S. agreed to refrain from undertaking
military action if the Syrian government joined the OPCW and subjected the totality of its
chemical weapons stockpile to elimination. In October 2013, the OPCW-U.N. Joint Mission , created
under the authority of U.N. Security Council resolution 2118 (2103), began the process of
identifying, cataloging, removing and destroying Syria's chemical weapons. This process was
completed in September 2014 (in December 2013, the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its
disarmament work in Syria).
If the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons was an example of the OPCW at its best, what
followed was a case study of just the opposite. In May 2014, the OPCW created the Fact-Finding Mission, or FFM ,
charged with establishing "facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals,
reportedly chlorine, for hostile purposes in the Syrian Arab Republic." The FFM was headed
by Malik Ellahi ,
who served as head of the OPCW's government relations and political affairs branch. The
appointment of someone lacking both technical and operational experience suggests that Ellahi's
primary role was political. Under his leadership, the FFM established a close working
relationship with the anti-Assad Syrian opposition, including the White Helmets and
SAMS.
In 2015, responsibility for coordinating the work of the FFM with the anti-Assad opposition
was transferred to a British inspector named Len Phillips (another element of the FFM, led by a
different inspector, was responsible for coordinating with the Syrian government). Phillips
developed a close working relationship with the White Helmets and SAMS and played a key role in
OPCW's investigation of the April 2017 chemical incident in Khan Shaykhun. By April 2018, the
FFM had undergone a leadership transition, with Phillips
replaced by a Tunisian inspector named Sami Barrek . It was Barrek who led the FFM into
Syria in April 2018 to investigate allegations of chemical weapons use at Douma. Like Phillips,
Barrek maintained a close working relationship with the White Helmets and SAMS.
Once the FFM wrapped up its investigation in Douma, however, it became apparent to
Fairweather that it had a problem. There were serious questions about whether chlorine had, in
fact, been used as a weapon. The solution, brokered by Fairweather, was to release an interim
report that ruled out sarin altogether, but left the door open regarding chlorine. This
report was released on July 6, 2018. Later that month, both Üzümcü and
Fairweather were gone, replaced by a Spaniard named Fernando
Arias and a French diplomat named Sébastien
Braha . It would be up to them to clean up the Douma situation.
The situation Braha inherited from Fairweather was unenviable.
According to an unnamed OPCW official who spoke with the media after the fact, two days
prior to the publication of the interim report, on July 4, 2018, Fairweather had been paid a
visit by a trio of U.S. officials, who indicated to Fairweather and the members of the FFM
responsible for writing the report that it was the U.S. position that the chlorine cannisters
in question had been used to dispense chlorine gas at Douma, an assertion that could not be
backed up by the evidence. Despite this, the message that Fairweather left with the OPCW
personnel was that there had to be a "smoking gun." It was now Braha's job to manufacture
one.
Braha did this by dispatching OPCW inspectors to Turkey in September 2018 to interview
new witnesses identified by the White Helmets, and by commissioning new engineering studies
that better explained the presence of the two chlorine cannisters found in Douma. By March,
Braha had assembled enough information to enable the technical directorate to issue its final
report. Almost immediately, dissent appeared in the ranks of the OPCW. An engineering report
that contradicted the findings published by Braha
was leaked , setting off a firestorm of controversy derived from its conclusion that the
chlorine cannisters found in Douma had most likely been staged by the White Helmets.
The OPCW, while eventually acknowledging that the leaked report was genuine, explained
its exclusion from the final report on the grounds that it attributed blame, something the FFM
was not mandated to do.
According to the OPCW , the engineering report in question had been submitted to the
investigation and identification team, a newly created body within the OPCW mandated to make
such determinations. Moreover, Director General Arias stood by the report's conclusion that it
had "reasonable grounds" to believe "that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon has taken
place on 7 April 2018."
Arias' explanation came under attack in November, when WikiLeaks published an email sent
by a member of the FFM team that had participated in the Douma investigation. In this email,
which was sent on June 22, 2018, and addressed to Robert Fairweather, the author noted that,
when it came to the Douma incident, "[p]urposely singling out chlorine gas as one of the
possibilities is disingenuous." The author of the email, who had participated in drafting the
original interim report, noted that the original text had emphasized that there was
insufficient evidence to support this conclusion, and that the new text represented "a major
deviation from the original report." Moreover, the author took umbrage at the new report's
conclusions, which claimed to be "based on the high levels of various chlorinated organic
derivatives detected in environmental samples." According to email's author "They were, in most
cases, present only in parts per billion range, as low as 1-2 ppb, which is essentially trace
quantities." In short, the OPCW had cooked the books, manufacturing evidence from thin air that
it then used to draw conclusions that sustained the U.S. position that chlorine gas had been
used by the Syrian government at Douma.
Arias, while not addressing the specifics of the allegations set forth in the leaked email,
recently declared that it is "the nature of any thorough inquiry for individuals in a team
to express subjective views," noting that "I stand by the independent, professional conclusion"
presented by the OPCW about the Douma incident. This explanation, however, does not fly in the
face of the evidence.
The OPCW's credibility as an investigative body has been brought into question through
these leaks, as has its independent character. If an organization like the OPCW can be used at
will by the U.S., the United Kingdom and France to trigger military attacks intended to support
regime-change activities in member states, then it no longer serves a useful purpose to the
international community it ostensibly serves.
To survive as a credible entity, the OPCW must open itself to a full-scale audit of its
activities in Syria by an independent authority with inspector general-like investigatory
powers. Anything short of this leaves the OPCW, an organization that was awarded the Nobel
Peace Prize for its contributions to world peace, permanently stained by the reality that it is
little more than a lap dog of the United States, used to promote the very conflicts it was
designed to prevent.
The Washington Post , through
documents released through the Freedom of Information Act, has published a long
investigation into Afghanistan. Journalists have collected over 400 testimonies from American
diplomats, NATO generals and other NATO personnel, that show that reports about Afghanistan
were falsified to deceive the public about the real situation on the ground .
After the tampering with and falsification of the report of the Organization for the Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) , we are witnessing another event that will certainly discomfit those
who have hitherto relied on the official reports of the Pentagon, the US State Department and
international organizations like the OPCW for the last word.
There are very deliberate reasons for such disinformation campaigns. In the case of the
OPCW, as I
wrote some time back, the aim was to paint the Syrian government as the fiend and the
al-Qaeda- and Daesh-linked "moderate rebels" as the innocent souls, thereby likely justifying a
responsibility-to-protect armed intervention by the likes of the US, the UK and France. In such
circumstances, the standing and status of the reporting organization (like the OPCW) is
commandeered to validate Western propaganda that is duly disseminated through the
corporate-controlled mainstream media.
In this particular case, various Western capitals colluded with the OPCW to lay the
groundwork for the removal of Assad and his replacement with the al-Nusra Front as well as the
very same al-Qaeda- and Daesh-linked armed opposition officially responsible for the 9/11
attacks.
As if the massaging of the OPCW reports were not enough in themselves to provoke
international outrage, this dossier serves to give aid and comfort to jihadi groups supported by the Pentagon
who are known to be responsible for the worst human-rights abuses, as seen in Syria and Iraq in
the last 6 years.
False or carefully manipulated reports paint a picture vastly different from the reality on
the ground. The United States has never really declared war on Islamic terrorism, its
proclamations of a "War on Terror" notwithstanding. In reality, it has simply used this
justification to occupy or destabilize strategically important areas of the world in the
interests of maintaining US hegemony, intending in so doing to hobble the energy policies and
national security of rival countries like China, Iran and the Russian Federation.
The Post investigation lays bare how the US strategy had failed since its inception, the
data doctored to represent a reality very different from that on the ground. The inability of
the United States to clean up Afghanistan is blamed by the Post on incorrect military planning
and incorrect political choices. While this could certainly be the case, the Post's real
purpose in its investigation is to harm Trump, even as it reveals the Pentagon's efforts to
continue its regional presence for grand geopolitical goals by hiding inconvenient truths.
The real issue lies in the built-in mendacity of the bureaucratic and military apparatus of
the United States. No general has ever gone on TV to say that the US presence in Iraq is needed
to support any war against Iran; or that Afghanistan is a great point of entry for the
destabilization of Eurasia, because this very heart of the Heartland is crucial to the
Sino-Russian transcontinental integration projects like the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and
the Belt and Road Initiative. In the same vein, the overthrow of the Syrian government would
have ensured Israel a greater capacity to expand its interests in the Middle East, as well as
to weaken Iran's main regional ally.
The Post investigation lays bare the hypocrisy of the military-industrial complex as well as
the prevailing political establishments of Europe and the United States. These parties are not
interested in human rights, the wellbeing of civilians or justice in general. Their only goal
is to try and maintain their global hegemony indefinitely by preventing any other powers from
being able to realize their potential and thereby pose a threat to Atlanticist preeminence.
The war in Iraq was launched to destabilize the Middle East, China's energy-supply basin
crucial to fueling her future growth. The war in Syria served the purpose of further
dismantling the Middle East to favor Saudi Arabia and Israel, the West's main strategic allies
in the Persian Gulf. The war in Afghanistan was to slow down the Eurasian integration of China
and Russia. And the war in Ukraine was for the purposes of generating chaos and destruction on
Russia's border, with the initial hope of wresting the very strategically area of Crimea from
Russia.
The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, and this has been on full display in
recent times. Almost all of Washington's recent strategic objectives have ended up producing
results worse than the status quo ante. In Iraq there is the type of strong cooperation between
Baghdad and Tehran reminiscent of the time prior to 1979. Through Hezbollah, Iran has
strengthened its position in Syria in defense of Damascus. Moscow has found itself playing the
role of crucial decider in the Middle East (and soon in North Africa), until only a few years
ago the sole prerogative of Washington. Turkey's problems with NATO, coupled with Tel Aviv's
open relation with Moscow are both a prime example of Washington's diminishing influence in the
region and Moscow's corresponding increase in influence.
The situation in Afghanistan is not very different, with a general recognition that peace is
the only option for the region being reflected in the talks between the Afghans, the Taliban,
the Russians, Chinese, Indians and Pakistanis. Beijing and Moscow have well known for over a
decade the real intent behind Washington's presence in the country, endeavoring to blunt its
impact.
The Post investigation only further increases the public's war weariness, the war in
Afghanistan now having lasted 18 years, the longest war in US history. Jeff Bezos, the owner of
the Post , is a bitter opponent of Trump and wants the president to come clean on the
Afghanistan debacle by admitting that the troops cannot be withdrawn. Needless to say,
admitting such would not help Trump's strategy for the 2020 election. Trump cannot afford to
humiliate the US military, given that it, along with the US dollar, is his main weapon of
"diplomacy". Were it to be revealed that some illiterate peasants holed up in caves and armed
with AK-47s some 40 years ago are responsible for successfully keeping the most powerful army
in history at bay, all of Washington's propaganda, disseminated by a compliant media, will
cease to be of any effect. Such a revelation would also humiliate military personnel, an
otherwise dependable demographic Trump cannot afford to alienate.
The Washington Post performed a service to the country by shedding light on the
disinformation used to sustain endless war. But the Post's intentions are also political,
seeking to undermine Trump's electoral chances by damaging Trump's military credentials as well
as his standing amongst military personnel. What Washington's elite and the Post do not know,
or perhaps prefer to ignore, is that such media investigations directed against political
opponents actually end up doing irreparable damage to the political and military prestige of
the United States.
In other words, when journalist do their job, the military industrial complex finds it
difficult to lie its way through wars and failures , but when a country relies on Hollywood to
sustain its make-believe world, as well as on journalists on the CIA payroll, on compliant
publishers and on censored news, then any such revelations of forbidden truths threaten to
bring the whole facade crashing down. Tags Politics
It is believed that the investments will be made through contracts signed between Aramco
and the US government, whose armed forces have steadily been increasing
their military presence in terms of manpower and equipment around the oil fields. Despite
initially claiming to
scale back troops from Syria, US President Donald Trump announced in October that
America had " secured " and
taken control of the oil in the Middle East.
The sad reality is that the Washington Post, New York Times and most of the mainstream TV
and radio media are worse liars and better propagandists for the US Military-Industrial
Complex than Pravda was for the Soviet Communist Party. There is no and never was an fair and
balanced journalism. There's even no professional journalism!
My Russian opponents and Latin friends now laugh that I don't believe anything coming from
US media today and I'm hoarding hard and untraceable assets just like they do in the Eastern
Bloc, Middle East and Cuba. The 21st Century might yet be the century of dictators and their
storm troopers who learned their lessons from Hitler and Stalin.
If populism and Trump don't survive the coup it'll be pretty grim times for the non-elites
in America. The revenge from the weirdos and the leftist globalist Marxists will definitely
start US Civil War 2.
Yes and thank you for stating fundamental and obvious truths ..
on the other hand ,
"The Washington Post performed a service to the country by shedding light on the
disinformation used to sustain endless war. But the Post's intentions are also political,
seeking to undermine Trump's electoral chances by damaging Trump's military credentials as
well as his standing amongst military personnel. What Washington's elite and the Post do not
know, or perhaps prefer to ignore, is that such media investigations directed against
political opponents actually end up doing irreparable damage to the political and military
prestige of the United States."
The Washington Compost May well have an ax to grind with and motive for publishing
newfound truthiness, it's a miracle ! I fail to see however, just how Trump takes credit in
the bull **** fog, of the longest running war, motivations department.
other than that ...
And so in closing, I would be more inclined to believe sir, propagandizing, the
propaganda, with such an opinion, is just another kin to, let's say, the impeachment farce in
example. Or in the words of "The father of modern day marketing", an obvious attempt at
further shaping public opinion, for the masses, an opinion that grows more weary, more
suspicious, more distrustful, and divergent from government and their various mouth pieces,
by the day.
Stating obvious points such as you have, and blowing it with flawed analysis, is not a
good look ..
Washington Compost, has a much more simple, damaging ,and nefarious agenda.
Truth is being revealed, regarding the mountain of year on year lies, spoon fed to the
bewildered, inflamed, dispassionate, and cowed citizenry, as the bull **** gets harder to
peddle, more impossible to digest whole.
And is happening with or without the post, and likewise, various other "main stream" mouth
pieces and government hacks (in the interests of national security, of course.)
"... The outsized role of U.S. Israel lobby operatives in abetting the theft of Syrian and Iraqi oil reveals how this powerful lobby also facilitates more covert aspects of U.S.-Israeli cooperation and the implementation of policies that favor Israel. ..."
"... Israel imported massive amounts of oil from the Kurds during this period, all without the consent of Baghdad. Israel was also the largest customer of oil sold by ISIS, who used Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk to sell oil in areas of Iraq and Syria under its control. To do this in ISIS-controlled territories of Iraq, the oil was sent first to the Kurdish city of Zakho near the Turkey border and then into Turkey, deceptively labeled as oil that originated from Iraqi Kurdistan. ISIS did nothing to impede the KRG's own oil exports even though they easily could have given that the Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline passed through areas that ISIS had occupied for years ..."
"... This arrangement orchestrated by Jeffrey, served the long-time neoconservative-Israeli agenda of empowering the Kurds, selling Iraqi oil to Israel and weakening Iraq's Baghdad-based government. ..."
"... The WINEP connection to the KRG-Israel oil deal demonstrates the key role played by the U.S. pro-Israel Lobby, not only in terms of sustaining U.S. financial aid to Israel and ratcheting up tensions with Israel's adversaries but also in facilitating the more covert aspects of U.S.-Israeli cooperation and the implementation of policies that favor Israel. ..."
"... Yet the role played by the U.S. Israel lobby in this capacity, particularly in terms of orchestrating oil sale agreements for Israel's benefit, is hardly exclusive to Iraq and can accurately be described as a repeated pattern of behavior. ..."
The outsized role of U.S. Israel lobby operatives in abetting the theft of Syrian and
Iraqi oil reveals how this powerful lobby also facilitates more covert aspects of U.S.-Israeli
cooperation and the implementation of policies that favor Israel.
Kirkuk, Iraq -- "We want to bring our soldiers home. But we did leave soldiers
because we're keeping the oil," President Trump stated on November 3, before adding, "I like
oil. We're keeping the oil."
Though he had promised a withdrawal of U.S. troops from their illegal occupation of Syria,
Trump shocked many with his blunt admission that troops were being left behind to prevent
Syrian oil resources from being developed by the Syrian government and, instead, kept in the
hands of whomever the U.S. deemed fit to control them, in this case, the U.S.-backed
Kurdish-majority militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Though Trump himself received all of the credit -- and the scorn -- for this controversial
new policy, what has been left out of the media coverage is the fact that key players in the
U.S.' pro-Israel lobby played a major role in its creation with the purpose of selling Syrian
oil to the state of Israel. While recent developments in the Syrian conflict may have hindered
such a plan from becoming reality, it nonetheless offers a telling example of the covert role
often played by the U.S.' pro-Israel lobby in shaping key elements of U.S. foreign policy and
closed-door deals with major regional implications.
Indeed, the Israel lobby-led effort to have the U.S. facilitate the sale of Syrian oil to
Israel is not an isolated incident given that, just a few years ago, other individuals
connected to the same pro-Israel lobby groups and Zionist neoconservatives manipulated both
U.S. policy and Iraq's Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in order to allow Iraqi oil to be sold
to Israel without the approval of the Iraqi government. These designs, not unlike those that
continue to unfold in Syria, were in service to longstanding neoconservative and Zionist
efforts to balkanize Iraq by strengthening the KRG and weakening Baghdad.
After the occupation of Iraq's Nineveh Governorate by ISIS (June 2014-October 2015), the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) took advantage of the Iraqi military's retreat and, amidst
the chaos, illegally seized Kirkuk on June 12. Their claim to the city was supported by both
the U.S. and Israel and, later, the U.S.-led coalition targeting ISIS. This gave the KRG
control, not only of Iraq's export pipeline to Turkey's Ceyhan port, but also to Iraq's largest
oil fields.
Israel imported massive amounts of oil from the Kurds during this period, all without the
consent of Baghdad. Israel was also the
largest customer of oil sold by ISIS, who used Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk to sell oil in
areas of Iraq and Syria under its control. To do this in ISIS-controlled territories of Iraq,
the oil was sent first to the Kurdish city of Zakho near the Turkey border and then into
Turkey, deceptively labeled as oil that originated from Iraqi Kurdistan. ISIS did nothing to
impede the KRG's own oil exports even though they easily could have given that the
Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline passed through areas that ISIS had occupied for years.
In retrospect, and following revelations from
Wikileaks and new information regarding the background of relevant actors, it has been
revealed that much of the covert maneuvering behind the scenes that enabled this scenario
intimately involved the United States' powerful pro-Israel lobby. Now, with a similar scenario
unfolding in Syria, efforts by the U.S.' Israel lobby to manipulate U.S. foreign policy in
order to shift the flow of hydrocarbons for Israel's benefit can instead be seen as a pattern
of behavior, not an isolated incident.
"Keep the oil" for Israel
After recent shifts in the Trump administration in its Syria policy, U.S. troops have
controversially been kept in Syria to " keep the
oil ," with U.S. military officials subsequently claiming that doing so was "a subset of
the counter-ISIS mission." However, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper later
claimed that another factor behind U.S. insistence on guarding Syrian oil fields was to
prevent the extraction and subsequent sale of Syrian oil by either the Syrian government or
Russia.
One key, yet often overlooked, player behind the push to prevent a full U.S. troop
withdrawal in Syria in order to "keep the oil" was current U.S. ambassador to Turkey, David
Satterfield. Satterfield was previously the assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern
Affairs, where he yielded great influence over U.S. policy in both Iraq and Syria and worked
closely with Brett McGurk, the former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iraq and Iran and
later special presidential envoy for the U.S.-led "anti-ISIS" coalition.
Over the course of his long diplomatic career, Satterfield has been known to the U.S.
government as an Israeli intelligence asset embedded in the U.S. State Department. Indeed,
Satterfield was named as a major player in what is now known as the AIPAC espionage scandal,
also known as the Lawrence Franklin espionage scandal, although he was oddly never charged for
his role after the intervention of his superiors at the State Department in the George W. Bush
administration.
David Satterfield, left, arrives in Baghdad with Secretary of State Mike
Pompeo, right, and Joey Hood, May 7, 2019. Mandel Ngan | AP
In 2005, federal prosecutors cited a U.S. government official as having illegally passed classified
information to Steve Rosen, then working for AIPAC, who then passed that information to the
Israeli government. That classified information included intelligence on Iran and the nature of
U.S.-Israeli intelligence sharing. Subsequent media reports from the New York Times and
other outlets revealed that this government official was none other than David Satterfield, who
was then serving as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs.
Charges against Rosen, as well as his co-conspirator and fellow AIPAC employee Keith
Weissman, were dropped in 2009 and no charges were levied against Satterfield after State
Department officials shockingly claimed that Satterfield had "acted within his authority" in
leaking classified information to an individual working to advance the interests of a foreign
government. Richard Armitage, a neoconservative ally with
a long history of ties to CIA covert operations in the Middle East and elsewhere,
has since claimed that he was one of Satterfield's main defenders in conversations with the
FBI during this time when he was serving as Deputy Secretary of State.
The other government official named in the indictment, former Pentagon official Lawrence
Franklin, was not so lucky and was charged under the Espionage Act in 2006. Satterfield,
instead of being censured for his role in leaking sensitive information to a foreign
government, was subsequently promoted in 2006 to serve as the Coordinator for Iraq and Senior
Adviser to then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In addition to his history of leaking classified information to AIPAC, Satterfield also has
a longstanding relationship with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a controversial
spin-off of AIPAC also known by its acronym WINEP. WINEP's website has long listed Satterfield
as one of its experts and
Satterfield has spoken at several WINEP events and policy forums, including several
after his involvement with the AIPAC espionage scandal became public knowledge. However,
despite his longstanding and controversial ties to the U.S. pro-Israel lobby, Satterfield's
current relationship with some elements of that lobby, such as the Zionist Organization of
America (ZOA), is complicated at best.
While Satterfield's role in yet another reversal of a promised withdrawal of U.S. troops
from Syria has largely escaped media scrutiny, another individual with deep ties to the Israel
lobby and Syrian "rebel" groups has also been ignored by the media, despite his outsized role
in taking advantage of this new U.S. policy for Israel's benefit.
US Israel Lobby secures deal with Kurds
Earlier this year, well before Trump's new Syria policy of "keeping the oil" had officially
taken shape, another individual with deep ties to the U.S. Israel lobby secured a lucrative
agreement with U.S.-backed Kurdish groups in Syria. An official
document issued earlier this year by the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political arm
of the Kurdish majority and U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a New Jersey-based
company, founded
and run by U.S.-Israeli dual citizen Mordechai "Motti" Kahana, was given control of the oil
in territory held by the SDC.
Per the document, the SDC formally accepted the offer from Kahana's company -- Global
Development Corporation (GDC) -- to represent SDC in all matters pertaining to the sale of oil
extracted in territory it controls and also grants GDC "the right to explore and develop oil
that is located in areas we govern."
The SDC's formal acceptance of Global Development
Corporation's offer to develop Syrian oil fields. Source | Al-Akhbar
The document also states that the amount of oil then being produced in SDC-controlled areas
was 125,000 barrels per day and that they anticipated that this would increase to 400,000
barrels per day and that this oil is considered a foreign asset under the control of the United
States by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
After the document was made public by the Lebanese outlet Al-Akhbar , the SDC claimed
that it was a forgery, even though Kahana had separately confirmed its contents
and shared the letter itself to the Los Angeles Times as recently as a few weeks ago.
Kahana previously attempted to distance himself from the effort and
told the Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom in July that he had made the offer to the
SDC as means to prevent the "Assad regime" of Syria from obtaining revenue from the sale of
Syrian oil.
The Kurds currently hold 11 oil wells in an area controlled by the [Syrian] Democratic
Forces. The overwhelming majority of Syrian oil is in that area. I don't want this oil
reaching Iran, or the Assad regime."
At the time, Kahana also stated that "the moment the Trump administration gives its
approval, we can begin to export this oil at fair prices."
Given that Kahana has openly confirmed that he is representing the SDC's oil business
shortly after Trump's adoption of the controversial "keep the oil policy," it seems plausible
that Kahana has now received the approval needed for his company to export the oil on behalf of
the SDC. Several media reports have
speculated that, if Kahana's efforts go forward unimpeded, the Syrian oil will be sold to
Israel.
However, considering Turkey's aversion to engaging in any activities that may benefit the
PKK-SDF – there are considerable obstacles to Kahana's plans. While the SDF -- along with
assistance from U.S. troops -- still controls several oil fields in Syria, experts assert that
they can only realistically sell the oil to the Syrian government. Not even the Iraqi Kurds are
a candidate, considering Baghdad's firm control over the Iraq-Syria border and the KRG's
weakened state after its failed independence bid in late 2017.
Regardless, Kahana's involvement in this affair is significant for a few reasons. First,
Kahana has been a key player in the promotion and funding of radical groups in Syria and has
even been
caught hiring so-called "rebels" to kidnap Syrian Jews and take them to Israel against
their will. It was Kahana, for instance, who financed and orchestrated the now infamous trip of
the late Senator John McCain to Syria, where he met with Syrian "rebels" including Khalid
al-Hamad – a "moderate" rebel who gained notoriety after a video of him eating the heart
of a Syrian Army soldier
went viral online . McCain had also admitted
meeting with ISIS members, though it is unclear if he did so on this trip or another trip
to Syria.
In addition, Kahana was also the mastermind behind the "Caesar" controversy, whereby a
Syrian using the pseudonym "Caesar" was brought to the U.S. by Kahana and went on to make
claims regarding torture and other crimes allegedly committed by the Assad-led government
Syria, claims which were
later discredited by independent analysts. He was also very involved in
Israel's failed efforts to establish a "safe zone" in Southern Syria as a means of covertly
expanding Israel's territory from the occupied Golan Heights and into Quneitra.
Notably, Kahana has deep ties -- not just to efforts to overthrow the Syrian government --
but also to U.S. Israel lobby, including the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP)
where Satterfield is as an expert. For instance, Kahana was a key player in a 2013 symposium organized by WINEP
along with Syrian opposition groups intimately involved in the arming of so-called "rebels."
One of the other participants in the symposium alongside Kahana was Mouaz Moustafa, director of
the "Syrian Emergency Task Force" who assisted Kahana in bringing McCain to Syria in 2013.
Moustafa was listed as a WINEP expert
on the organization's website but was later mysteriously deleted.
Kahana is also intimately involved with the Israeli American Council (IAC), a pro-Israel
lobby organization, as a team
member of its national conference. IAC was co-founded and is chaired by Adam Milstein , a
multimillionaire and convicted felon who is also on the boards of AIPAC, StandWithUs,
Birthright and other prominent pro-Israel lobby organizations. One of IAC's top donors is
Sheldon Adelson, who is also the top donor to President Trump as well as the entire Republican
Party.
Though the machinations of both Kahana and Satterfield to guide U.S. policy in order to
manipulate the flow of Syria's hydrocarbons for Israel's benefit may seem shocking to some,
this same tactic of pro-Israel lobbyists using the Kurds to illegally sell a country's oil to
Israel was developed a few years prior, not in Syria, but Iraq. Notably, the individuals
responsible for that policy in Iraq shared connections to several of the same pro-Israel lobby
organizations as both Satterfield and Kahana, suggesting that their recent efforts in Syria are
not an isolated event, but a pattern.
War against ISIS is a war for oil
In an email dated
June 15, 2014, James Franklin Jeffrey (former Ambassador to Iraq and Turkey and current U.S.
Special Representative for Syria) revealed to Stephen Hadley, a former George Bush
administration advisor then working at the government-funded United States Institute of Peace,
his intent to advise the KRG in order to sustain Kirkuk's oil production. The plan, as Jeffery
described it, was to supply both the Kurdistan province with oil and allow the export of oil
via Kirkuk-Ceyhan to Israel, robbing Iraq of its oil and strengthening the country's Kurdish
region along with its regional government's bid for autonomy.
Jeffrey, whose hawkish views on Iran and Syria
are well-known , mentioned that Brett McGurk, the U.S.' main negotiator between Baghdad and
the KRG, was acting as his liaison with the KRG. McGurk, who had served in various capacities
in Iraq under both Bush and Obama, was then also serving Deputy Assistant Secretary of State
for Iraq and Iran. A year later, he would be made the special presidential envoy for the
U.S.-led "anti-ISIS" coalition and, as previously mentioned, worked closely with David
Satterfield.
James Jeffrey, left, meets with Kurdish Regional Government President Massoud
Barzani, April 8, 2011, at an airport in Irbil, Iraq. Chip Somodevilla | AP
Jeffrey was then a private citizen not currently employed by the government and was used as
a non-governmental channel in the pursuit of the plans described in the leaked emails published
by WikiLeaks. Jeffrey's behind-the-scenes activities with regards to the KRG's oil exports were
done clandestinely, largely because he was then employed by a prominent arm of the U.S.'
pro-Israel lobby.
At the time of the email, Jeffrey was serving as a distinguished fellow
(2013-2018) at WINEP. As previously mentioned, WINEP is a pro-Israel foreign policy think-tank
that espouses neoconservative views and was created in 1985 by researchers that
had hastily left AIPAC to escape investigations against the organization that were related
to some of its members conducting espionage on behalf of Israel. AIPAC, the American Israeli
Public Affairs Committee, is the largest registered Israel lobbyist organization in the US
(albeit registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act would be more suitable), and, in
addition to the 1985 incident that led to WINEP's creation, has had members indicted for
espionage against the U.S. on Israel's behalf.
WINEP's launch was funded by former President of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles,
Barbara Weinberg, who is its founding president and constant Chairman Emerita. Nicknamed
'Barbi', she is the wife of the late Lawrence Weinberg who was President of AIPAC from 1976-81
and who JJ Goldberg, author of the 1997 book Jewish Power, referred to as one of a
select few individuals
who essentially dominated AIPAC regardless of its elected leadership. Co-founder alongside
Weinberg was Martin Indyk. Indyk, U.S. Ambassador to Israel (1995-97) and Assistant Secretary
of State for Near Eastern Affairs (1997-99), led the AIPAC research time that formed WINEP to
escape the aforementioned investigations.
WINEP has
historically received funding from donors who donate to causes of special
interest for Zionism and Israel. Among its trustees are extremely prominent names in political
Zionism and funders of other Israel Lobby organizations, such as
Charles and Edgar Bronfman and the Chernicks .
Its
membership remains dominated by individuals who have spent their careers promoting Israeli
interests in the U.S.
WINEP has become more well-known, and arguably more controversial, in recent years after its
research director famously called for false-flag attacks to trigger a U.S. war with Iran in
2012, statements well-aligned with longstanding
attempts by the Israel Lobby to bring about such a war.
A worthy partner in crime
Stephen Hadley, another private citizen who Jeffrey evidently considered as a partner in his
covert dealings discussed in the emails, also has his own past of involvement with
Israel-specific intrigues and meddling.
During the G.W. Bush administration, Hadley tagged along with neoconservatives in
their numerous creations of fake intelligence and efforts to incriminate Iraq for possessing
chemical and nuclear weapons. Hadley was one of the promoters from within the U.S. government
of the false claim that 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta met with Iraqi officials in Prague.
What this particular claim had in common with the 'Iraq meets Atta in
Prague' disinformation, and other famous lies against Iraq fabricated and circulated by the
dense neocon network, was its source: Israel and pro-Israel partisans.
The distribution
network of these now long-debunked claims was none other than the neoconservatives who act
a veritable Israeli fifth column that has long sought to promote Israeli foreign policy
objectives as being in the interest of the United States. In this, Hadley played his part by
helping to ensure that the United States was railroaded into a war that had long been promoted
by both Israeli and American neoconservatives, particularly Richard Perle -- an advisor to
WINEP -- who had been promoting regime change in Iraq for Israel's
explicit benefit for decades.
In short, for covert intrigues to serve Israel that would likely be met with protest if
pitched to the government for implementation as policy, Hadley's resume was impressive.
Israeli interests pursued through covert channels
Given his employment at WINEP during this time, Jeffrey's intent to advise the KRG to
sustain Kirkuk's oil production despite the seizure of the Baiji oil refinery by ISIS is
somewhat suspect, especially since it required that 100,000 barrels per day pass through
ISIS-controlled territory unimpeded.
Jeffrey's email from June 14, therefore, demonstrated that he had foreknowledge that ISIS
would not disturb the KRG as long as the Kurds redirected oil that was intended originally for
Baiji to the Kirkuk-Ceyhan export pipeline, facilitating its export and later sale to
Israel.
Notably, up until its liberation in mid-2015 by the Iraqi government and aligned Shia
paramilitaries,
ISIS kept the refinery running and, only upon their retreat, destroyed the facility.
One would normally expect ISIS to be opposed to such collusion given that the KRG, while a
beneficiary of the ISIS-Baghdad conflict, was not an ally of ISIS. Thus, a foreign power
with strategic ties to
ISIS used its
close ties to the KRG and assurances that it was on-board for the oil trade, to deliver a
credible guarantee that ISIS would 'cooperate' and that a boom in production and exports was in
the cards.
This foreign power -- acting as a guarantor for the ISIS-KRG understanding vis-a-vis the
illegal oil economy, represented by Jeffrey and clearly not on good terms with Iraq's
government -- was quite clearly Israel.
Israel
established considerable financial support as well as the provision of armaments to other
extremist terrorist groups active near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights
and Southern Syria when war first broke out in Syria in 2011. At least four of these extremist
groups were led by individuals
with direct ties to Israeli intelligence . These same groups, sometimes promoted as
'moderates' by some media, were actively fighting Syria's government – an enemy of Israel
and ally of Iran – before ISIS existed and
eagerly partnered with ISIS when it expanded its campaign into Syria.
Israel has also long promoted the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, with Israel having
provided Iraq's Kurds with weapons, training and teams of Mossad advisers as
far back as the 1960s . More recently, Israel
was the only state to support the KRG independence referendum in September 2017 despite its
futility, hinting at the regard Israel holds for the KRG. Iraq's government subsequently
militarily defeated
the KRG's push for statehood and reclaimed Kirkuk's oil fields with assistance from the
Shia paramilitaries which were responsible for defeating ISIS in the area.
A 2014 map shows
the areas under ISIS and Kurdish control at the time. Source | Telegraph
This arrangement orchestrated by Jeffrey, served the long-time neoconservative-Israeli
agenda of empowering the Kurds, selling
Iraqi oil to Israel and weakening Iraq's Baghdad-based government.
WINEP's close association with AIPAC, which
has spied on the U.S. on behalf of Israel several times in the past with no consequence,
combined with Jeffrey's long-time acquaintance with key U.S. figures in Iraq, such as McGurk,
provided an ideal opening for Israel in Iraq. Following the implementation of Jeffrey's plan,
Israeli imports of KRG oil constituted 77 percent of Israel's total
oil imports during the KRG's occupation of Kirkuk.
The WINEP connection to the KRG-Israel oil deal demonstrates the key role played by the U.S.
pro-Israel Lobby, not only in terms of sustaining U.S. financial aid to Israel and ratcheting
up tensions with Israel's adversaries but also in facilitating the more covert aspects of
U.S.-Israeli cooperation and the implementation of policies that favor Israel.
Yet the role played by the U.S. Israel lobby in this capacity, particularly in terms of
orchestrating oil sale agreements for Israel's benefit, is hardly exclusive to Iraq and can
accurately be described as a repeated pattern of behavior.
Agha Hussain is an independent researcher based in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. He specialized
in Middle Eastern affairs and history and is an editorial contributor to Eurasia Future,
Regional Rapport and other news outlets.
Whitney Webb is a MintPress News journalist based in Chile. She has contributed to
several independent media outlets including Global Research, EcoWatch, the Ron Paul Institute
and 21st Century Wire, among others. She has made several radio and television appearances and
is the 2019 winner of the Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism.
From my understanding the west's relationship with the Turks is strategic. Having western
armies in Turkey, as well as nukes, and Turkeys military alliance against the Russians helps
contain Russia, helps reduce their influence in the middle east, and helps shield Israel, and
the gulf from the Russians.
For America to recognize that any major Muslim nation has inflicted a mass murder on non
Muslims like the Armenians and Christians throughout the middle east, and south eastern
Europe would open up A floodgate of knowledge, and end the censorship of the media
perpetually pretending that muslims cannot be racist, and allow Israel to better defend
itself with the truth about Muslim intentions and treatment of Jews in the present, and allow
the Europeans to defend themselves from conquest, and allow the Americans the possibility of
avoiding much of the hardship of having a large Muslim minority in the first place. Even the
Gulf Nations would have the opportunity to defend themselves with the truth about Islam if
they wanted to.
It is difficult to measure the strategic value of things like containing the Russians, and
the price of losing influence over the gulf's oil business. But I believe in general, that
the opportunities opened by knowledge are far more valuable than some improved situation on
the grand chessboard. By definition the loss of wealth from even the gulf oil would translate
into less than the potential value of knowledge.
There is the possibility of peoples free will. They make take freedom to discuss non white
racism, hatred of whites, discrimination in general in society against whites and Jews, and
they may throw it away, and cower in fear some more. But I do not think that is the
situation. Israelis are not able to give speeches on college campuses in Europe, Canada and
even most of America. The white women of the west have been poisoned by this knowledge of
inequality and fear of the violence and ostracization they will face for standing for their
own people, or far less, and being accused of being A racist. The price for their biological
emotions is counted in millions of unformed families.
Frankly, its to hard a test for most white women, who get pressured into dating non
whites, in order to prove they're not racist, with all of its consequences, and its years of
abuse. If white men remain tall and strong, white women, both Jewish and gentile will still
be conquered by the schools, and cut down in massive numbers.
Far better to die on some battlefield by the millions, then in the bedrooms by the
hundreds of millions.
The legitimacy of the schools and the universities are destroyed, the official reason to
go, is to signal that you are A traitor to your people. The police, and courts are on life
support, the military is directionless, the politicians have nothing meaningful to say.
I consider it a blessing that Trump has the option of exposing the Armenian massacre at
the hands of the Muslims. I hope its effect is as far reaching as I imagine and hope. I
believe it is overwhelmingly in the best interests of both our people, and according to the
discourse I believe its time has come. I may be mistaken, even though I am not clear how.
What additional knowledge could be attained in these matters? I pray for the wisdom of our
leaders, and to the awesome power of G-d. In Him I trust.
"... But perhaps most shocking of all were the actions of a senior OPCW official whose name is known to The Mail on Sunday and who is known to some of the organisation's staff as 'Voldemort'. ..."
"... Mr Henderson tried to get his research included in the final report, but when it became clear it would be excluded, he lodged a copy in a secure registry, known as the Documents Registry Archive (DRA). ..."
"... This is normal practice for such confidential material, but when 'Voldemort' heard about it, he sent an email to subordinates saying: 'Please get this document out of DRA And please remove all traces, if any, of its delivery/storage/whatever in DRA'. ..."
"... This practice of editors telling journalists what to write, with what angle and with headlines already assigned is completely backwards and is the cause of numerous problems. How can journalists find genuine newsworthy developments if what to write has already been scripted for them? ..."
A journalist describes why he resigned when his outlet suppressed his reporting about
manipulations within the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
Leaks from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) prove that the
OPCW management ignored or manipulated reports its Fact Finding Mission had written about the
April 2018 Douma incident in Syria.
...
The OPCW management ignored that the technical, chemical and medical analysis of its own
specialists exculpated the Syrian government from the allegation that it poisoned some 40
people in Douma by dropping Chlorine canisters from a helicopter.
The new documents
published by Wikileaks include the original Interim Report written by members of the
Fact Finding Mission of the OPCW who were on the grounds in Douma to investigate that case. The
original Interim Report was suppressed by the OPCW management and a rewritten Interim Report
and manipulated Final Report were published. They made it look as if the Syrian government was
guilty of a chemical attack.
WikiLeaks is also releasing the original preliminary report for the first time along with the
redacted version (that was released by the OPCW) for comparison. Additionally, we are
publishing a detailed comparison of the original interim report with the redacted interim
report and the final report along with relevant comments from a member of the original fact
finding mission. These documents should help clarify the series of changes that the report
went through, which skewed the facts and introduced bias according to statements made by the
members of the FFM.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a senior official at the Organisation for Prohibition of
Chemical Weapons (OPCW) demanded the 'removal of all traces' of a document which undermined
claims that gas cylinders had been dropped from the air -- a key element of the 'evidence'
that the Syrian regime was responsible.
...
The original interim report also mentioned for the first time doubts about the origin of the
cylinders, saying: 'The FFM [Fact-Finding Mission] team is unable to provide satisfactory
explanations for the relatively moderate damage to the cylinders allegedly dropped from an
unknown height, compared to the destruction caused to the rebar-reinforced roofs.
The videos from the Douma incident showed the undamaged pressure vessel 'sleeping' on a
bed.
Those who said 'Assad did it' never explained this. A highly pressurized cylinder was
allegedly dropped from a helicopter flying at considerable height to escape the 'rebels' air
defenses. It then allegedly crashed through a re-enforced concrete roof, bounced off the floor
and landed on the bed. How did the cylinder end up with having nearly no damage to itself? My
learned engineering 'feel' on this says that any pressurized vessel dropped from more than 500
meters (1,640 ft) height would either have ruptured on impact, or it would have bounced off (vid) and not
penetrate through the roof. It would have been severely damaged. This is the primary reason why
I never considered the alleged Douma 'chemical attack' to be a truthful story. There are many
additional facts and indications (see out previous reports linked at the end) that make it
obvious that the Douma incident was staged.
Hitchens also reports of more shenanigans at the OPCW. The impact analysis of the cylinder
by the FFM engineering member Ian Henderson,
published by Wikileaks , was not only suppressed by the OPCW management but
eradicated from its records:
But perhaps most shocking of all were the actions of a senior OPCW official whose name is
known to The Mail on Sunday and who is known to some of the organisation's staff as
'Voldemort'.
Mr Henderson tried to get his research included in the final report, but when it
became clear it would be excluded, he lodged a copy in a secure registry, known as the
Documents Registry Archive (DRA).
This is normal practice for such confidential material, but when 'Voldemort' heard
about it, he sent an email to subordinates saying: 'Please get this document out of DRA And
please remove all traces, if any, of its delivery/storage/whatever in DRA'.
Next to the Mail on Sunday the Italian newspaper la Repubblica is the only
other 'western' mainstream outlet that reported on the manipulated OPCW reports. The author of
its
two pieces says that the OPCW is blocking all requests for comments:
3. unfortunately, @OPCW has NOT provided any clarification. Throughout the last 18 years
of our journalistic profession, we've worked on another important international agency:
@iaeaorg, they have always been cooperative. We find the lack of clarifications by @OPCW
unacceptable
Other mainstream media have been silent on the OPCW fraud.
A journalist at Newsweek , Tareq Haddad, wrote and tried to publish a piece about the
OPCW manipulations. The piece was suppressed by the editors of Newsweek . Haddad, who
resigned in protest, now published a recommendable long-read which explains what happened:
The piece is remarkable for what it provides on the working process in today's media.
Discussing a different piece he wrote for Newsweek Haddad writes:
[This] raises another serious problem at the publication: editors tell journalists what to
report .
This article was assigned to me by Alfred on Newsweek's internal messaging system, as is
commonplace for editors to do, and I felt obliged to report the story, although I had
concerns and it is not one I personally would have chosen to do. I raised these concerns with
Alfred -- whose background is in video editing, not journalism -- but instead of ditching the
story, a new angle was suggested and a new headline was provided too. Feeling that I couldn't
challenge his authority any further without being rude, I proceeded as best as I could,
...
... This practice of editors telling journalists what to write, with what angle and with
headlines already assigned is completely backwards and is the cause of numerous problems. How
can journalists find genuine newsworthy developments if what to write has already been
scripted for them?
I spoke to several Newsweek journalists about this very problem prior to my departure and
they shared the same concerns.
In the description of my working process - How Moon of
Alabama Is Made - I explained that finding the headline to a piece is one of the very
last steps before publishing it:
Then follow the last three tasks - find a headline, write a summarizing intro sentence and
formulate the end.
That is simply because serious reporting or analysis of issues can not assume a certain
outcome. There are always new aspects to a story which develop only while it is researched and
written. To start the writing process with an already assigned headline is not journalism. It
is stenography.
Tareq Haddad explains the 'External Control of the Media Narrative' by reflecting on the
'so-called' foreign affairs editor of Newsweek , Dimi Reider:
I glanced at his resume and was honored to be working with such an accomplished foreign
affairs journalist. I had genuinely hoped to build a closer relationship to him.
That was why I was so bewildered when he flatly refused to publish the OPCW revelations.
Surely any editor worth their salt would see this as big? Of course, I understood that the
implications of such a piece would be substantial and not easy to report -- it was the
strongest evidence of lies about Syria to date -- but surely most educated people could see
this coming? Other evidence was growing by the day.
But no. As the earlier messages showed, there was no desire to report these revelations,
regardless of how strong the evidence appeared to be. Dimi was simply happy to defer to
Bellingcat -- a clearly dubious organization as others have taken the time to address, such
as here and here --
instead of allowing journalists who are more than capable of doing their own research to do
their job.
It was this realization that made me start to question Dimi. When I looked a little
deeper, he was the missing piece.
It turns out that Dimi Reider is a creature trained by the Council of Foreign
Relations , the Wall Street's
Think Tank , and was the founder and editor of a magazine funded by the Rockefeller
Brother's Fund. He is a member of the insider club.
This conflict of interests may be known to other journalists in the trade, but I will repeat:
this is unacceptable to me.
The U.S. government, in an ugly alliance with those the profit the most from war, has its
tentacles in every part of the media -- imposters, with ties to the U.S. State Department,
sit in newsrooms all over the world. Editors, with no apparent connections to the member's
club, have done nothing to resist. Together, they filter out what can or cannot be reported.
Inconvenient stories are completely blocked. As a result, journalism is quickly dying.
America is regressing because it lacks the truth.
Those words are true and they are the very reason why Tareq Haddad will never again be able
to work as a journalist in a mainstream 'western' news outlet. Those 'journalists' are not
supposed to reveal the truth. It is on us blogger minions to reveal it.
(This is a Moon of Alabama fundraiser week. Please consider to support our
work .)
Previous Moon of Alabama coverage of the Douma incident and its
aftermath:
"He told me I had 24 hours to resign," said José Bustani, who was director
general of the agency, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in The Hague.
"And if I didn't I would have to face the consequences." (Quote is from NYT.)
Bustani sued for illegal dismissal via the ILO, and won. (Salary, damages, etc.)
I guess that was the beginning and the end of any genuine attempts at impartial
assessment! The very first director was booted by Bolton who is the 'he' in the quote
above
"...Obama did sign H.R. 4310 into law, also passing the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of
2012. But the bill did not make it legal for independent, private-sector media outlets to
present outright false information to the public. Instead, it allowed government-sponsored
news like Voice of American to be broadcast in the United States. It removed restrictions
on U.S.-generated news from being presented to American audiences.'''"
Oki doki so what about those < cough > "independent, private-sector media outlets"
that are blatant 'governement funded fronts' that only 'claim' to be our independent,
private-sector media...
I think it should have been seen as a thirty year campaign and the same with Iraq and Libya.
The northern Ireland campaign took 30 years and many people are as bitter as they ever were
much of it secondhand from younger people who weren't even alive during the conflict. The
idea of a quick war is a very big mistake I think and flawed short-term thinking.
The West and the USA in particular have always taken the stand that their ideology is the
only right one. That they have a right to interfere in the interns, affairs of other
countries but their own internal affairs are sacrosanct.
So - USA, with UK support decided that Saddam Hussein had to be removed. They moved in to
do so - they killed Saddam but had no plan to return the country to a functioning nation.
Instead they facilitated the unleashing of internal wars and have now left the citizens of
that country in utter turmoil.
& then went and repeated the exercise n Libya.
Decades ago, Britain decided that Palestinians could be thrown out of their homes to make
way for the creation of Israel and laid the foundation for the Middle-East turmoil that has
caused untold misery and suffering. They followed that up with throwing out the Chagosians
out of their homes and making them homeless. Invited Caribbean's to the 'Mother Country' to
serve their erstwhile lords, ladies, masters and mistresses only to then drive to despair the
children and grandchildren of the invitees who had contributed to the 'Mother Country' for
decades.
We are 18 years into an illegal invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. We are the invaders,
the terrorists. The Taliban are fighting for their country, they may use brutal methods but
so did the French, Dutch, Russian freedom fighters during the Nazi invasions. America's
puppet regime in Afghanistan is reminiscent of the Quislings of WW2. And to use drones to
kill Afghans and to say it is progress that there is more transparency is the height of
hubris. All it does is show the corrosive effect of unfettered power in America and it's
military. Why do we tolerate this inhuman action on another country's society? America is by
far the greatest contributor to the rise in terrorism in the world and if not somehow stopped
the greatest threat to world peace. It keeps on invading country after country with it's MSM
propaganda machine claiming it is spreading Democracy throughout the globe. Thank you America
!
OPCW investigated the April 7th 2018 incident in Douma Syria and reported that: "chlorine, or
another reactive chlorine-containing chemical, was likely released".
An internal OPCW Email in response however said that the report: "is highly misleading and
not supported by the facts".
London based author and journalist Peter Hitchens has closely followed the Syrian conflict
and Douma incident. He's recently visited the OPCW whistleblower and now discusses with Rico
Brouwer in café Weltschmerz what actually happened in Douma and what's at stake with
this misleading OPCW report not only in Syria but also with our governments, the
international rule of law and the validity of the OPCW.
mao@21 says 'London based author and journalist Peter Hitchins has closely followed the
Syrian conflict...' and posts a video from a Dutch interrogator that had me interested until
Mr. Hitchens blandly spouted a derogatory spiel about Assad that is the main source of all
'Assad must go' poppycockery from the west as if it were indeed fact. If he is going to base
actual verifiable information upon such a shaky foundation, I would warn folk who proceed
further to either accept this poster's message or that of Mr. Hitchins - beware of the
underlying falsehoods when you do so.
This video is highly suspect, in my view. I do believe there is merit to the claim that
the Douma incident was fabricated. I don't believe Mr. Hitchins is the one to elaborate on
that claim.
Juliana: count your blessings. Hitchens is a right wing columnist for the very right wing
Daily Mail. Most of the time he simply pours out Tory propaganda but occasionally, like Peter
Oborne and Jonathan Steele, his impatience with the crude propaganda of the warmongers leads
to explosions in which truths are bared. This is one such occasion. And I'm grateful for it.
None of the MSM writers is reliable-they would be unemployed if they were- but while the
Heirloom media still exists let's praise them when they tell the truth and denounce them when
they tell lies.
Hitchens, incidentally and in case you didn't know, is the younger brother of Christopher
Hitchens and, like him, a former member of the International Socialist group which at the
time and before calling itself the Socialist Workers Party ( a name which its founder Tony
Cliff had long admired) described itself as Luxemburgist. The brothers were
renegades-Christopher becoming a neo-con and Peter a Tory.
Thank you, bevin, but to me the misinformation on Assad is more damaging even than the
correction of the record on the Douma attack. I will be happy to be corrected on that. Given
that the country of Syria is to be put back on its feet eventually, it seems the lies spread
about it prior to now as far as the legitimacy of the presidency ought not to be
countenanced. That's taking the long view, not being grateful for small favors that may be
hiding a hidden agenda.
I will give Mr. Hitchins credit for prefacing his interview with garbage; perhaps that
will draw some into reassessing the entirety of the propaganda they have been subject to. If
this was not true, how about looking at the prior stuff? But I'm afraid the underlying
message is - I'm telling the truth about this incident, so I must be also correct on the
prior stuff. And that simply won't wash.
"... Haddad added that he is now seeking legal advice and looking into the possibility of whistleblower protections for himself, and said at the very least he will publish the information he has while omitting anything that could subject him to legal retaliation from his former employer. ..."
"... Newsweek has long been a reliable guard dog and attack dog for the US-centralized empire, with examples of stories that its editors did permit to go to print including an article by an actual, current military intelligence officer explaining why US prosecution of Julian Assange is a good thing, fawning puff pieces on the White Helmets , and despicable smear jobs on Tulsi Gabbard . ..."
"... Newsweek also recently published an article attacking Tucker Carlson for publicizing the OPCW scandal, basing its criticisms on a bogus Bellingcat article I debunked shortly after its publication . ..."
"Yesterday I resigned from Newsweek after my attempts to publish newsworthy revelations
about the leaked OPCW letter were refused for no valid reason," journalist Tareq Haddad
reported today via Twitter .
"I have collected evidence of how they suppressed the story in addition to evidence from
another case where info inconvenient to US government was removed, though it was factually
correct," Haddad said.
"I plan on publishing these details in full shortly. However, after asking my editors for
comment, as is journalistic practice, I received an email reminding me of confidentiality
clauses in my contract. I.e. I was threatened with legal action."
Haddad added that he is now
seeking legal advice and looking into the possibility of whistleblower protections for himself,
and said at the very least he will publish the information he has while omitting anything that
could subject him to legal retaliation from his former employer.
"I could have kept silent and kept my job, but I would not have been able to continue with
a clean conscience," Haddad said .
"I will have some instability now but the truth is more important."
This is the first direct insider report we're getting on the mass media's conspiracy of
silence on the OPCW scandal that I wrote
about just the other day . In how many other newsrooms is this exact same sort of
suppression happening, including threats of legal action, to journalists who don't have the
courage or ability to leave and speak out? There is no logical reason to assume that Haddad is
the only one encountering such roadblocks from mass media editors; he's just the only one going
public about it.
The ubiquitous propagandistic tactic of fake news by omission distorts the public's
worldview just as much as it would if mass media outlets were publishing bogus stories whole
cloth every day, only if they were doing that it would be much easier to pin them down on their
lies, hold them accountable, and discredit them.
A
recent FAIR article by Alan MacLeod documents how the Hong Kong demonstrations are pushed
front and center in mainstream consciousness despite the fact that to this day not one
protester has been killed by security forces, while far more deadly violence is being directed
at huge protests in empire-aligned nations like Haiti, Chile and Ecuador which have been almost
completely ignored by these same outlets.
This deliberate omission causes a distorted worldview
in casual and mainstream news media consumers in which protests are only happening in nations
that are outside the
US-centralized power alliance . We see the same kind of deliberate distortion-by-omission
with the way mass media continually pushes the
narrative
that Donald Trump is "soft on Russia", while remaining completely silent on the overwhelming
mountain of evidence to the contrary .
The time is now for everyone with a platform to start banging the drum about the OPCW
scandal, because we're seeing more and more signs that the deluge of leaks hemorrhaging from
that organisation is only going to increase. Mainstream propagandists aren't going to cover it,
so if larger alternative media outlets want to avoid being lumped in with them and discredited
in the same sweep it would be wise to start talking about this thing today. It's only going to
get more and more awkward for everyone who chose to remain silent, and more and more validating
for those who spoke out.
The remote site in eastern Afghanistan where the U.S. military dropped its largest
non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat earlier this month bears signs of the weapon's
power, but little evidence of how much material and human damage it inflicted.
Reuters photos and video footage - some of the first images from journalists allowed to
get close to the site - reveal a scarred mountainside, burned trees and some ruined
mud-brick structures.
They did not offer any clues as to the number of casualties or their identities.
Since the GBU-43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb was dropped on a fortified tunnel
complex used by suspected Islamic State fighters in Nangarhar province, access to the
site has been controlled by U.S. forces who are battling the militant group alongside
Afghan troops.
The U.S. military has said that ongoing fighting had prevented media or
independent investigators from visiting the site, and Afghan soldiers said special forces
from both countries were still engaging the enemy in the area.
A Reuters witness viewed the site from several hundred yards (meters) away, because of
what troops he was accompanying said were continued threats in the area. (snip)
Within a few hundred feet of the apparent blast site, leaves remained intact on trees,
belying initial expectations that the explosion may have sent a destructive blast wave for
up to a mile.
As The OPCW Is Accused Of False Reporting U.S. Propaganda Jumps To Its Help
An international organization published two false reports and got caught in the act. But as
the false reports are in the U.S. interests a U.S. sponsored propaganda organization is send
out to muddle the issue. As that effort comes under fire the New York Times jumps in to
give the cover-up effort some extra help.
Under U.S. pressure the OPCW management modified or suppressed the findings of its own
scientists to make it look as if the Syrian government had been responsible for the alleged
chemical incident in April 2018 in Douma.
The public attention to the OPCW's fakery lead to the questioning of
other assertions the OPCW had previously made. With the OPCW under fire someone had come to
its help.
To save the propaganda value of the OPCW reports the U.S. financed Bellingcat
propaganda organization
jumped in to save the OPCW's bacon . Bellingcat founder " suck my balls " Elliot
Higgins claimed that the OPCW reports satisfied the concerns the OPCW scientist had voiced.
That assertion is now further propagated by a New York Times piece which, under the
pretense of reporting about open source analysis, boosts
Bellingcat and its defense of the OPCW :
The blogger Eliot Higgins made waves early in the decade by covering the war in Syria from a
laptop in his apartment in Leicester, England, while caring for his infant daughter. In 2014,
he founded Bellingcat, an open-source news outlet that has grown to include roughly a dozen
staff members, with an office in The Hague. Mr. Higgins attributed his skill not to any
special knowledge of international conflicts or digital data, but to the hours he had spent
playing video games , which, he said, gave him the idea that any mystery can be cracked.
...
Bellingcat journalists have spread the word about their techniques in seminars attended by
journalists and law-enforcement officials. Along with grants from groups like the Open
Society Foundations, founded by George Soros, the seminars are a significant source of
revenue for Bellingcat, a nonprofit organization.
It seems that the New York Times forgot to mention an important monetary source for
Bellingcat . Here is a current screenshot of Bellingcat'sAbout page :
Porticus, Adessium, Pax for Peace and the Postcode Lottery are all Dutch organizations. Then
there is the notorious Soros organization the New York Times mentioned. But why did the
NYT forgot to tell its readers that Bellingcat is financed by the National
Endowment for Democracy which itself is to nearly 100% funded by the U.S. government?
Could that be because the NED, which spends U.S.government money on more than 1.600 U.S. government paid
Non-Government Organizations,
is a Trojan horse , a cover for the CIA?
Spurred by Watergate – the Church committee of the Senate, the Pike committee of the
House, and the Rockefeller Commission, created by the president, were all busy investigating
the CIA. Seemingly every other day there was a new headline about the discovery of some awful
thing, even criminal conduct, the CIA had been mixed up in for years.
...
What was done was to shift many of these awful things to a new organization, with a nice
sounding name – The National Endowment for Democracy. The idea was that the NED would
do somewhat overtly what the CIA had been doing covertly for decades, and thus, hopefully,
eliminate the stigma associated with CIA covert activities.
...
"We should not have to do this kind of work covertly," said Carl Gershman in 1986, while he
was president of the Endowment. "It would be terrible for democratic groups around the world
to be seen as subsidized by the C.I.A. We saw that in the 60's, and that's why it has been
discontinued. We have not had the capability of doing this, and that's why the endowment was
created."
And Allen Weinstein, who helped draft the legislation establishing NED, declared in 1991:
"A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA."
In effect, the CIA has been laundering money through NED.
The fact that the NED is doing the CIA's work is likely the reason why the NYT puff
piece about Bellingcat forgets to mention its payments and also why it
jumps to Bellingcat's and the OPCW's help:
Some journalists and activists hostile to what they characterize as Bellingcat's pro-Western
narratives have criticized some of its coverage of the war in Syria.
At issue is an April 7, 2018, attack on Douma, Syria. Bellingcat reported, based on an
analysis of six open-source videos, that it was "highly likely" that Douma civilians had died
because of chemical weapons. In March, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical
Weapons reported that there were "reasonable grounds" to say that chemical weapons had been
used in the attack.
Critics of Bellingcat have pointed to an email from an investigator with the organization,
saying that it raised questions about the findings. WikiLeaks published the email on Nov. 23.
In a response, Bellingcat defended its reporting, saying the final report on Douma from the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons reflected the concerns of the
investigator whose email was published by WikiLeaks.
By playing video games Elliot Higgins learned to identify chemical attacks in dubious video
sequences published by terrorist affiliates. If true it is an admirable capability. Still his
assertion that the OPCW report "reflected the concerns of the investigator" who criticized it
is, a as Caitlin Johnstone
demonstrates , utterly false:
Bellingcat simply ignores this absolutely central aspect of the email, as well as the
whistleblower's point about the symptoms of victims not matching chlorine gas poisoning.
"In this case the confidence in the identity of chlorine or any choking agent is drawn
into question precisely because of the inconsistency with the reported and observed
symptoms," the whistleblower writes in the email. "The inconsistency was not only noted by
the [Fact Finding Mission] team but strongly noted by three toxicologists with expertise in
exposure to [Chemical Weapons] agents."
Bellingcat says nothing about these revelations in the email, and says nothing about the
fact that the OPCW excluded them from both its Interim Report in July 2018 and its Final
Report in March 2019, the latter of which actually asserted the exact opposite
saying there was "reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic chemical as a weapon took
place. This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine. The toxic chemical was likely
molecular chlorine."
Bellingcat completely ignores all of these points, ...
In its defense of the OPCW report Bellingcat
wrote :
[A] comparison of the points raised in the letter against the final Douma report makes it
amply clear that the OPCW not only addressed these points, but even changed the conclusion of
an earlier report to reflect the concerns of said employee.
Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens
did not concur with that paragraph:
Apart from the words 'a', and 'the', everything in the above paragraph is, to put it
politely, mistaken. Bellingcat have been so anxious to trash the leak from the OPCW that they
have (as many did when the attack was first released) rushed to judgment without waiting for
the facts. More is known by the whistleblowers of the OPCW than has yet been released ...
Caitlin and Peter should play more video games. I have read in the NYT that they are
the true path to learning and to the factual assessment of alleged chemical attacks.
On April 7 2018 terrorists of the Jaish al Islam group ruled in Douma. They killed 40
civilians. The bodies were shown in videos along with chlorine gas canisters to pretend that
the Syrian government had killed those people. The OPCW's fact finding team analyzed the
evidence and found that the canisters had not been dropped from the air but where manually
placed. The symptoms the victims showed were inconsistent with a chlorine attack and
chlorinated substances were only found in extremely low concentrations. There were absolutely
no "reasonable grounds" to say that chemical weapons had been used in the attack.
But the OPCW management, under U.S. pressure and despite the protests by its own scientists,
put out a report that said the opposite. As the manipulation came to light the U.S. funded
Bellingcat made a perfunctory attempt to muddle the issue. Thus another propaganda
organization, the New York Times , had to jump in to save Bellingcat and the
false OPCW claims.
It is not going to help. There will soon be more evidence that the OPCW management published
two false reports on Douma, and likely even more on other issue. There will be a public
recognition that the OPCW failed.
Posted by b on December 2, 2019 at 16:43 UTC |
Permalink
It is "highly likely" that "responsible" outlets like Bellingcat will peddle "widely
disproven conspiracy theories" to keep the cash coming from governments of the "free world"
to preserve "democracy".
This is a great journalistic job!! The NYT and its readers (we should call... believers?)
live in an alternate state of reality! This is horrible!! As horrible as what has been living
Julian Assange (or Chelsea Manning) these last 8 years.
It is essential that mainstream "institutions" like the New York Times be exposed for what
they are: CIA and US government propaganda outlets!!
Maybe some independent outlets should make a regular report, a regular monitoring, of the
real "fake news" such mainstream "monuments" like the NYT go on publishing and dissiminating
on a daily basis without the wider public's knowledge. That's what journalists like you are
doing on a regular basis.
For what the NYT has become now (but in a recent Mint Press article,
Alan Macleod illustrates how the lies/propaganda of the NYT span over so many decades,
since the coup against Pinochet in Chile in 1973 in any case), the NYT can disappear,but
people like you are essential for a real information of the public.
Thanks again. Keep up the good work!!
I had no idea about Elliot "suck my balls" Higgins until going to your link b......I live a
sheltered life....grin
Assuredly this man is an impeccable source for truth in our world. How could one think of
challenging his findings...and of course he should be a regular source for the
NYT...../snark
If this soap opera was not affecting so many lives, it would be fun to watch
The blogger Eliot Higgins made waves early in the decade by covering the war in Syria from a
laptop in his apartment in Leicester, England, while caring for his infant daughter. In 2014,
he founded Bellingcat, an open-source news outlet that has grown to include roughly a dozen
staff members, with an office in The Hague. Mr. Higgins attributed his skill not to any special
knowledge of international conflicts or digital data, but to the hours he had spent playing
video games , which, he said, gave him the idea that any mystery can be cracked.
...
Bellingcat journalists have spread the word about their techniques in seminars attended by
journalists and law-enforcement officials. Along with grants from groups like the Open Society
Foundations, founded by George Soros, the seminars are a significant source of revenue for
Bellingcat, a nonprofit organization.
"... "The 'chemical incident' has likely been faked. It suspiciously happened just a few days after U.S. President Trump had announced the he wanted the U.S. military to leave Syria. A year earlier a similar incident was claimed to have happened after a similar announcement by Trump. The U.S. had responded to the 2017 incident by bombing an empty Syrian airfield." ..."
"... Once the dust, smoke, and the fog of war had cleared, it became apparent that this, was yet again a choreographed move, same as the missiles on Shayrat airfield. ..."
"... I may well be wrong, as I do not go along with group think here, but this strike seems a preemptive move by Trump to prevent a push for for US military action in Syria that will take us to WWIII. ..."
OT but very relevant to the Skripal/Douma incidents.
The Guardian has an
article today headlined
" The taboo on chemical weapons has lasted a century – it must be preserved " which is a bare-faced lie as the Guardian
should know because the British used chemical weapons against the Russian in August, 1919, less than a century ago, and the Japanese,
among America's closest allies used them against the Chinese in World War 2.
The strongest case for Churchill as a chemical warfare enthusiast involves Russia, and was made by Giles Milton in The Guardian
on 1 September 2013, which prompted this article. Milton wrote that in 1919, scientists at the governmental laboratories at
Porton in Wiltshire developed a far more devastating weapon: the top secret "M Device," an exploding shell containing
a highly toxic gas called diphenylaminechloroarsine [DM].
The man in charge of developing it, Major General Charles Foulkes, called it "the most effective chemical weapon ever devised."
Trials at Porton suggested that it was indeed a terrible new weapon. Uncontrollable vomiting, coughing up blood and
instant, crippling fatigue were the most common reactions. The overall head of chemical warfare production, Sir Keith Price,
was convinced its use would lead to the rapid collapse of the Bolshevik regime. "If you got home only once with the gas you
would find no more Bolshies this side of Vologda."
A staggering 50,000 M Devices were shipped to Russia: British aerial attacks using them began on 27 August 1919 .Bolshevik
soldiers were seen fleeing in panic as the green chemical gas drifted towards them. Those caught in the cloud vomited blood,
then collapsed unconscious. The attacks continued throughout September on many Bolshevik-held villages .But the weapons proved
less effective than Churchill had hoped, partly because of the damp autumn weather. By September, the attacks were halted then
stopped.
"The 'chemical incident' has likely been faked. It suspiciously happened just a few days after U.S. President Trump had announced
the he wanted the U.S. military to leave Syria. A year earlier a similar incident was claimed to have happened after a similar
announcement by Trump. The U.S. had responded to the 2017 incident by bombing an empty Syrian airfield."
Watching reports coming out of Syria in real time, I thought it was a genuine strike.
Same as I thought the JK build up was the real thing and also the 59 missiles a year ago.
Once the dust, smoke, and the fog of war had cleared, it became apparent that this, was yet again a choreographed move,
same as the missiles on Shayrat airfield.
I may well be wrong, as I do not go along with group think here, but this strike seems a preemptive move by Trump to prevent
a push for for US military action in Syria that will take us to WWIII.
"... "There can be no doubt in the international community's mind that Syria has retained chemical weapons in violation of its agreement and its statement that it had removed them all. There is no longer any doubt ," Mattis told reporters. ..."
"... there's absolutely No Doubt that the Outlaw US Empire's mouthpieces are lying yet again. ..."
"... Perhaps the more disturbing alternative is Mattis is fully aware of everything surrounding the run up to the 2003 Iraq war and is thinking to himself: "Declaring there is no doubt worked last time..." ..."
"... The particular genius of our oppressors has been to erode the public's collective memory. With a dumbed-down educational system, a 24-hour propaganda, and an utterly vacuous popular culture, we are deprived of precisely that faculty on which following Burke's admonition depends. With our "post-literate" reliance on the Internet, it's a wonder any of us can remember what happened last week. ..."
"... If the Syrians used them, then clearly they have them. Did the Syrians use them? The US does not recognize that as a valid question. That is where Mattis goes astray. It is a valid question. We were fooled by false flag use before. There are signs it may have happened again. It is not clear enough to be sure, but it is not clear enough to be sure the other way either. ..."
"... That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history. ~Aldous Huxley ..."
"There can be no doubt in the international community's mind that Syria has retained chemical weapons in violation of its
agreement and its statement that it had removed them all. There is no longer any doubt ," Mattis told reporters.
Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction. There is no doubt he is amassing them
to use against our friends, against our allies, and against us. And there is no doubt that his aggressive regional ambitions will
lead him into future confrontations with his neighbors ...
"Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it."
And there's absolutely No Doubt that the Outlaw US Empire's mouthpieces are lying yet again. Makes me even more curious
as to what Putin said to Tillerson, as both Putin's and Lavrov's remarks about the global situation are blunter and more accusatory
than ever before. Given the info provided by Lavrov at the press conference following the meeting of their Foreign Ministers Astana,
I must assume the SCO nations are on the same page regarding the entire International Situation. In June in Astana, the SCO Summit
will admit India and Pakistan as full members and begin the process to enroll Iran. Here, again, is the link to that press release,
http://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/-/asset_publisher/cKNonkJE02Bw/content/id/2734712
Perhaps the more disturbing alternative is Mattis is fully aware of everything surrounding the run up to the 2003 Iraq war
and is thinking to himself: "Declaring there is no doubt worked last time..."
The particular genius of our oppressors has been to erode the public's collective memory. With a dumbed-down educational system,
a 24-hour propaganda, and an utterly vacuous popular culture, we are deprived of precisely that faculty on which following Burke's
admonition depends. With our "post-literate" reliance on the Internet, it's a wonder any of us can remember what happened last
week.
If the Syrians used them, then clearly they have them. Did the Syrians use them? The US does not recognize that as a valid
question. That is where Mattis goes astray. It is a valid question. We were fooled by false flag use before. There are signs it
may have happened again. It is not clear enough to be sure, but it is not clear enough to be sure the other way either.
Therefore, Mattis is wrong to conclude anything either way. However, given the official position of the US, he can hardly
say anything different in public.
We ought to be looking at this very closely, but we vetoed such a close look by the international body that would do it. That
would put into question the missile strikes we launched based on assumptions.
Pepe Escobar evokes T.S. Eliot's Hollow Men in his latest enumeration of Russia & China's strategic relationship. Oh, and
I forgot to mention in #1 that BRICS also stands with Russia regarding all events Syria and Ukraine; and despite many efforts
to destabilize it, BRICS still stands in solidarity and continues its work to economically counter the Outlaw US Empire, which
Pepe also reminds us about,
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201704211052866086-washington-terrified-of-russia-china/
Why would insignificant village be intentionally "gassed by Assad" while he has an absolute upper hand on the field? - is the
question nobody in the Western media asks, nor has an answer to it.
Bio-chem weapons would be last resort to use on the battlefield in a desperate situation - was an original thought of making
and having them.
Me and probably all of us here have no doubt that it is just a false flag perpetrated, oversaturated and pathetically served
to us to validate continuation to oust Assad for Saudi's concessions, oil and money. Pure con and a rather amateurish one.
As expected, no doubt. :)
Which state is Iran's greatest enemy? - Israel .. Where was the statement made? .. Who are the greatest financial political contributors
in America? Res Ipsa Loquitur.
The importance of Mattis's pronouncement, as well as some "
tilling of the soil " in the prestige press, is that another false flag attack is coming. The Hillary-McCain directive to
take out Syrian airfields is going to be implemented.
@1 karlof1
Talking Lavrov, talking history... The comprehensive history lesson Lavrov delivers to Tillerson is worth watching a number of
times. It is an absolute shut down, in Tillersons face...rolling straight off the tongue. Tillerson: 'trust us, we are sure, beyond doubt, Assad has chemical weapons' Lavrov: 'here have this 5 minute history lesson you
cabbage. '
SmoothieX12 Difference this time is Syria has Russian backing and the BRICS [almost half the population of the World].Russia knows
Syria is the key to the Middle East, if Syria fell, Hezbollah could not resist the head choppers from the North and East and attacks
from the aparthied state from the South. Iran would then be exposed and attacked financially and militarily. Of course its a huge
gamble, will those nutcases in Washington take it? These are existential stakes for many states in the region.
Assad's recent announcement about wanting to buy more Russian air defense systems comes close to addmiting that the Russians
will not be defending Syrian airspace.
To paraphrase tRump:
...the submarines, even more powerful than the carriers...
So, all the assets are in place. We're starting to see the accusation swarm against Assad occur at a rate that's too fast to
refute individual charges against the Syrian president.
Don't be surprised if the decapitation strikes against Syria and N.Korea happen simultaneously.
@18 This probably won't appear in the MSM so I'll post it here...
"Emmanuel Macron fears this as well. The 39-year-old presidential candidate – an unknown quantity here just two years ago–
is campaigning for the Jewish vote, keenly aware of the threat. But when France goes to the polls on Sunday, its Jews will face
a unique choice: To vote in the spirit of Jewish Americans, prioritizing principles of welfare and liberal democratic values,
or in the Israeli posture, with security first in mind.
Macron is betting on the former, appealing to Jewish community values shared with the French Republic of liberty, equality
and fraternity.
"He knows there is a real danger from a double extremism – from the far-Right with Marine Le Pen, and from the far-Left," said
Gilles Taieb, a prominent member of the French Jewish community who joined Macron's En Marche! campaign in August. "He understands
the specific needs of the Jewish community.""
Assad's recent announcement about wanting to buy more Russian air defense systems comes close to addmiting that the Russians
will not be defending Syrian airspace.
This is rather a confusing (in BBC's or NYT vein) statement, since Russia, through a number of her high ranking representatives
openly stated that she will upgrade Syria's AD. Syria IS NOT going to buy them, since has very little precious money, but what
Syria is doing already is letting a truck load of Russia's extracting and construction companies on her market. Google Translate
will do the job (link is in Russian)
Iran would then be exposed and attacked financially and militarily.
I have a different opinion about this dynamics and I will not be surprised if Iran "suddenly" will become a full member of
ODKB. At least for a little while.
Fog of war warning and all, but Assad definitely mentioned price as a factor in getting New AD systems in a sputniknews interview.
Of course, mechanism of what in Russian is called vzaimoraschety (mutual "payments" or "coverage") is always established. The
price of military technology may be compensated through other means, such as contractual preferences or any other privileges.
I think Russia's oil companies will be quite happy and so will be weapons' manufacturers. Come to think about it--they already
are.
The question of Russian air defence missiles to Syria should not even be asked, Israel has nuclear weapons, the US don't care,
the US supplies Israel with the latest OFFENSIVE weaponry and aircraft [f35, f16 ect]plus Iron Dome. It would be the height of
folly for Russia not to give Syria the means to defend themselves.
Just as an FYI, I'm unable to access this site when I use a VPN server based in Canada, however VPN servers located elsewhere
connect without issue. Anyone else experience this?
what's the sound of one mad dog jarhead barking? if it sounds off in the media echo-chamber, does it make a noise? it only echoes
in the tnc msm. every american knows he's howling at the moon. it may well be that there's plenty of energy among those clipping
coupons on american war bonds for more war, and no energy among those who fruitlessly opposed empire in the face of those same
coupon-clippers.
its all-war, all-the-time with tee-rump just as it was with obama, bush, and clinton before him. people who are surprised at
this are no more acute than those who might salute the flag the mad dogs have again run up the flag pole.
it would be exceptionally keen if all those cruise missiles unleashed on syria and/or north korea not only turned around, but
struck their origin. wouldn't that be the end?
The American public has to be the most ignorant and gullible group of ass-hats on the planet, if they fall for this BS being shoveled
at them again. God-almighty this crap gets old!!!
All for the sake of global hegemony, and more wealth for the Trumps of the world.
First of all, I don't know how you can tell those speeches are the same though I heard them both mention WMDs. But here's the
kicker, that's not the Canadian PM, not on that date, he was the Leader of the Opposition at that time. Harper became PM later.
Jean Chretien was the PM and he kept Canada out of Iraq. End of story.
b cites Edmund Burke "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it."
There is also this little ditty:
"If at first you don't succeed try and try and try again. Never stop trying."
It works very well for TPTB who hold the sheeples are too dumbed down and will never recall moving lips.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
@ Perimetr 16
Israel needs to take the other side of the Golan - that's where the oil bubbles bigly. Ask Genie HQ NJ and while at it check
out their Board of Directors, Strategic Advisory Board. Hint, it's the gang and No One dares to spank
[Alert: page may load slowly but a worthy wait].
So forget about it. The op word is Strategic
Israel can strike Syria with 10 MOABs per second 24hr/7 and lips will be festiviously sealed tighter than a crabs rear-end.
A long essay by Robert Kennedy Jr Feb 2016:
"[W]e may want to look beyond the convenient explanations of religion and ideology and focus on the more complex rationales
of history and oil, which mostly point the finger of blame for terrorism back at the champions of militarism, imperialism and
petroleum here on our own shores," Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., intoned in an April editorial for
Ecowatch
thanks b... waiting for the exceptional empire to collapse.. not holding my breathe here.. the same game is being played and the
same folks are hoping for the same results.. they are already getting them when it comes to money thrown into war and prep for
war.. they are winning regardless if they can convince everyone to go deeper..
@17 wwinsti.. could be a head fake... no one knows for sure other then assad and russia.. welcome to the world of endless speculation..
@28 ia... this canuck is not having any issues accessing moa.. who nose.. maybe trudeau and freeland have set up a firewall to
protect us from a different perspective then the 'rah, rah, rah - war 24/7 we support twitter mans agenda'..
The verdict on the chemical attack was swift and certain. When it comes to the recent bus bombing, somehow it is so different:
We are investigating, but I don't have any specific ... But we think it's exaggerated . Inqury on Syria. Security Council Stakeout, 21 April, 2017
Those people have no shame. They are not going to investigate the Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack. All the want is the flight
plans from the Syrian government to finish their "work".
"No doubt" is not a statement about an objective reality out there (in country x); it is a statement about the subjective reality
in the mind of the speaker (observer). A cunning ploy to speak a non-falsehood (about the mental conditioning of speaker and audience)
that is merely opinion implying it is fact about a situation lacking empirical evidence.
This hype is getting so tedious.
The WMD crap from The International (Christian Colonial) Community isn't about 'manufacturing consent'. It's about manufacturing
CONSENSUS within the Christian Colonial Community itself. The Jew-controlled MSM takes care of the brainwashing. We already know
that bribed politicians are paid to disregard the Will Of The People.
"Those people have no shame. They are not going to investigate the Khan Sheikhoun chemical attack."
They're just plugging stuff into the dossier so that historians will be able to look back and see how reasonable and restrained
the U.S. was before deciding to bomb the crap out of Assad and his country.
Here's how they can do that : They say " Look , we admit that proving guilt absolutely is next to impossible in these events
, and that we may have been a bit hasty in bombing Syria's airfield before the investigation was done. We'll even concede the
odds in Assad's favor , say 3:1 , or only a 25% chance he was guilty for any given sarin attack , even though we're pretty sure
he's been the culprit. Just know this , when we're sure - let's set a higher standard here and say 90% certainty - when we're
sure about his culpability for just one use of sarin , big or small , that's our red line, after that he gets the full Gaddafi
, no questions asked. OK ? Understand ? "
Everyone nods , probably including some here. When there's any uncertainty , which there always is , he gives Assad the benefit
of the doubt , and then requires a higher threshold to hold him accountable. You can't get more reasonable than that.
Well , maybe somewhat predictably , false-flag activity picks up - two sarin attacks per month over the following two months
, always with the typical doubts about who dunnit. The U.S. keeps their word , with no significant escalation. With the next event
, as soon as sarin is confirmed but well before we think we know who was guilty , the U.S. announces breach of the red line and
launches a full-scale attack on Assad and his partners , demanding that he step down immediately or watch as his country is turned
to rubble. Why ?
Counting the three sarin attacks to date , and the five more that follow , the probability that the rebels committed all eight
attacks is .75^8 , or 10%. That means there's a 90% chance that Assad was responsible for at least one attack - i.e. , he crossed
the red line.
That's why the false-flags will continue , and why a regime-change war with Syria is inevitable , and why the buy-in by the
public when it happens will be nearly unanimous.
That could just as easily be interpreted as Russia planning to intervene while claiming that "Syrian" air defenses have shot
down US aircraft/tomohawaks. I certainly don't know for sure that Russia has actually decided to take it to that level. Perhaps
the Russians will never do that, or perhaps they themselves have not yet decided but want to keep that option open to them if
later they do. At any rate, there is no advantage at all to reassuring the Americans that they will NOT intervene. It is best
to keep Mattis and McMaster guessing just like we are.
I do not know to what degree US planners are confident of easily overcoming serious air defenses. They probably feel that if
they defeat the S400s then US military dominance will remain unchallenged for a very long time. I'm not sure if they've gamed
the opposite outcome. If "Syria" shoots down a few F22s or 35s the US is in deep trouble and any victory (to the extent bringing
jihadists to power can be called a victory) would be a Pyrhic one.
Well, fuck! Here we go again; U.S. is blitzing the international airways with propaganda and lies.
Zieg heil, zeig heil, herr Trump...
You bloody, rotten, bastard!
Karlof1 and Harrylaw: talking about BRICS'support to Russia, never trust Brazil. After Lula and Rousseff,the right-wing president
Michel Temer has transformed the country in just another latin american lackey of Trump...
Of course, there's no way to predict the outcomes of certain actions or read minds of any of the various actors involved with
this sarin drama, but the events in Syria since Sept. 2015 or even Sept. 2001 do allow us to lean our interpretations a certain
way, don't you think?
At the end of the day, an increasingly desperate USA has available 4 Ohio class submarines that carry just short of 200 cruise
missiles each. They are, with some quibbling, decapitation weapon systems designed to overwhelm nearly any defense. I can't see
the US not making use of such a capacity if they are as hell bent on regime change as they claim.
Because the strike on Syrian territory was against International law
http://www.dw.com/en/us-missile-strike-on-syria-a-violation-of-international-law/a-38389950
Putin has to make up his mind, if the US strike Syria again or repeatedly without harming Russial personnel or assets and
without a military response, Russia should sue for peace and get the hell out of Syria, thereby acknowledging that the US are
the only Nation that can decide the fate of Nations with regard to International affairs. In other words the unanimous agreement
of the 5 veto wielding members of the UNSC will no longer be applicable and article 2 of the UN Charter is null and void.
Article 2. [3] UN Charter All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international
peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.
[4] All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity
or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.
Are you the NEW York Times commentator. I really enjoy your comments their. I hardly drop by NYT however this week you were
the only sane poster on North Korea. Your a jem keep it up. In fact I think cut and pasted you comment onto a Australian paper.
Bravo.
Yes, the US has an enormous amount of cruise missiles. But judging by the damage done by the last 60 tomohawaks, it does not
have enough to destroy Syrian air power with tomohawaks alone. In past invasions, they were used to destroy radars so that the
subsequent air campaign can be conducted without contending with air defenses. They are not an end in and of themselves. In this
case, that isn't possible unless the US plans on attacking Russian forces on both land and sea directly. The US is so far extremely
reluctant to kill any Russian personnel and that is not likely to change. And this reluctance is not because of good sportsmanship.
Add to that, the Russians have shut down the deconfliction line. It means the US can't warn the Russians to get out of the
way during the next attack. In other words, the Russians are prepared to be human shields to protect Syria. That does not scream
"we are backing down" to me. There are also indications that US and allied sortie rates over Syria have dropped in number quite
substantially since communication has been shut down.
While I agree the US is absolutely determined to destroy Syria, it is not at all clear that Russia plans to step aside while
the US does it.
OT but LA, SF, NYC all experience power outages at the same and only RT makes the connection while MSM oblivious. Meanwhile exercises
for an EMZ attack over a major US city ongoing. Strange
Peter AU @52. Sorry Peter I was being a little sarcastic. I think it has already been established that any US attack on Syria
must be countered in the first instance by Syrian forces, since Russia was invited into Syria to help put down terrorism, it might
not be in Russia's interest or anybody's [unless their forces are hit] to start WW3. Hence my point about arming Syria up the
same way the US does with Israel and Saudi Arabia.All 5 veto wielding powers are of course above International law for all time,
so that if the other members of the Security Council propose a Resolution condemning US aggression, the US simply uses its veto
and that Resolution goes down the memory hole. Here is an excellent article on the veto..
http://www.david-morrison.org.uk/iraq/ags-legal-advice.pdf
"Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it" does not appear in the complete 12-volume set of Works of Edmund Burke,
and Bartlett's books of quotations have never included it, but the allegation nowadays is common that Burke said this, because
many writers say things that are false. Anyone who trusts a mere allegation, like gossip, is not reliable and cannot be trusted
in what that person alleges, because falsehoods mix in with truths for any such person. The person isn't necessarily fabricating,
not necessarily intentionally falsifying; the person just doesn't care whether what he or she alleges to be true IS true. Any
such person is untrustworthy to cite on anything.
Furthermore, that alleged Burke-quotation doesn't even sound like Burke's writing-style, which was a very distinctive style.
So, anyone who has actually read Burke would suspect that this apocryphal statement from him was probably never said by him. Only
pretentious people would allege that Burke said it -- people who pretend to have read Burke.
@54 lysander, 'In other words, the Russians are prepared to be human shields to protect Syria.'
i don't think that's the message sent or that it's indicative of the action to be taken in the event of another us attack on
syria. as it stood pre-tee-rump-attack the us could call the russians and 'warn' them that the cruise missiles were theirs ...
now they can no longer do that, and the russians have made a point of stating that an attacking aircraft/missile - and the originating
vessel/station - are going to be shot down/taken down ... that the russians will not waste time in trying to figure out just whose
attacking missiles/aircraft they are destroying.
i think it will be a cold day in hell before the russians 'sacrifice' themselves to make a point.
Eric Zuesse | Apr 22, 2017 7:15:46 AM | 59
"Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it"
This from, of all places, Yahoo answers (blech); however it is referenced;
CITES: George Santayana, The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress: Reason in Common Sense 284 (2nd ed., Charles Scribner's
Sons, New York, New York 1924 (originally published 1905 Charles Scribner's Sons)(appears in chapter XII, "Flux and Constancy
in Human Nature")). George Santayana, The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress 82 (one-volume edition, Charles Scribner's
Sons, New York, New York 1954)(appears in Book I, Reason in Common Sense, chapter 10, "Flux and Constancy in Human Nature").
This information was found at: http://members.aol.com/Santayana/gsguestbook.htm
``Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it,'' said Penton, echoing philosopher George Santayana's famous admonition.
All this lies, fake news, psyop by US, NATO and MSM is possibly just because they rule the world. They refuse any other views,
parties, nations questioning their wars and propaganda. Its quite scary when you think about it.
Like, is there ANYONE condemning this in the MSM nowadays? No one.
Every journalist (MSM) from Germany, to US, to Spain, to Portugal, to Columbia, to Sweden, to South Korea etc, all western MSM
peddle this same propaganda for the american empire and their endless wars.
1984?
@ 60, I don't think sacrifice is the word I would use. The US understands that killing openly Russian soldiers soldiers (vs indirectly
by arming terrorist proxies) would mean Russian retaliation. And therefore will not do it.
@ 60, I don't think sacrifice is the word I would use. The US understands that killing openly Russian soldiers soldiers (vs indirectly
by arming terrorist proxies) would mean Russian retaliation. And therefore will not do it.
well, we're real impressed that you've memorized all 12 volumes of Edmund Burke, but for those of us who haven't, Google does
credit him with this remark. a simple oversight, perhaps? so thanks for the lesson(even if you haven't cleared anything up), and
the mini diatribe, teach, even though your scholarly footnotes have fuck all to do with b's intent.
"no doubt"
Did they get this from Bush's speech to congress in March, 2003?
"Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some
of the most lethal weapons ever devised."
Real intelligence left all kinds of doubt especially from the family members of Iraqi scientists who went into Iraq to ask. They
risked their lives for this and were ignored.
"we assess" - recent prepeated mantra from USG declarations. I'm waiting for The Donald or his CIA minion to declare Syrian
WMDs to be a "slam dunk." I think Cheney used to say "we have it on good authority." The rule for most politicians and media is
if their lips move they're lying.
Perhaps after another coalition of the willing has destroyed Syria will the US president joke about searching for WMDs like Bush
did. An insult to us all.
The Oxford Concise Dictionary of Quotations has the quote "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" made
by George Santayana (1863 - 1952) in The Life of Reason (1905) vol. 1, ch. 12
Oxford is fairly reliable sourcing for such questions, FWIW. As far as the western world and history another quote comes to
mind from Dante Alighiere (1265-1321) that translates: Abandon all hope, you who enter! [with regard to history].
We need a Jon Stewart style montage of all these people saying "no doubt" followed by the group No Doubt saying it. (like he did
with the GOP/FNC meme of "It's A Trap")
"Counting the three sarin attacks to date , and the five more that follow , the probability that the rebels committed all eight
attacks is .75^8 , or 10%. That means there's a 90% chance that Assad was responsible for at least one attack - i.e. , he crossed
the red line."
I understand that this was presented as an incorrect reasoning, but perhaps not all readers here see the mistakes. First, probability
is used to describe random events and not historical events. The post that you see here could be written by Piotr Berman, an identifiable
individual, or by an impostor. In itself the claim that it was written by Piotr Berman is true or false, it does not have probability.
However, from the point of view of a reader, it is but one of a large number of comments posted on internet so one can apply some
guessed estimates, like "10% of comments signed with uniquely identifiable names are written by impostors". This of course begs
the question how we arrive at such estimates etc. In short, the probability assigned to a single sarin attack is an exhalation
from someones terminal end of the digestive system and quite hazardous if used.
However, even if we form an abstract model in which a chemical attack is randomly perpetrated by X with probability p and not
by X with probability 1-p, and we have 8 attacks, the probability that X perpetrated at least one attack is anywhere between 0
and 1. The formula (1-p)^8 applies only if the events are independent. For example, if X possesses the means to perpetrate an
attack with probability q, then the probability that it perpetrated any of many attacks is never larger than q.
That said, probabilities have their place in war strategy. If a false flag attack has a random effect on a key decision maker,
that repeating it many times may increase the probability that a desired decision will be made. And Trump's and Obama's behavior
has (and had) a degree of randomness.
You're correct about the technical probability considerations , of course , but I think the real-life effect of each new false-flag
may fall closer to the line drawn by the bad model than by the good. I think all parties involved know that each new false-flag
has an incremental impact driving us closer to war ,in addition to the random one you mention , at least as long as there remains
considerable doubt about the true culprit with each new event.
From Khan al-Assal to Ghouta to Khan Sheikhoun we've moved closer and closer to the real "red line". For the anti-Assad camp
, the false-flag strategy is still working and they'll keep it up , though I'm sure they're getting impatient. For the Assad side
, gaining territory has the opposite effect , moving us away from the red line. Had Assad and Putin doubled-down on battlefield
intensity after Aleppo and made further gains , rather than pausing as they did , I think they'd be in much better shape today.
The usage of "there can be no doubt" is a bit different from what we could learn in English classes. First, "doubt" is a kind
of thought-weed that is at times harmless, and at times seriously detrimental and thus subjected to eradication efforts. "There
is no doubt" declares the success of the eradication campaign while "There can be no doubt" is more like "There should not be
any doubt", i.e. an exhortation to continue and expand eradication campaign. Usually the large fields of major agribusiness companies
are well tended with copious amounts of herbicides, while on the edges, meadows, smaller organically tended fields etc. the weeds
can survive and in isolated places they can even thrive.
From that point of view excessive consumption of, say, NYT or TV news can make people positive for "symptoms of sarin or sarin-like
chemicals" like Roundup when we take swabs from their mucosal surfaces and analyze with sensitive instruments. Smaller but proudly
"mainstream" publications like New Yorker have no doubt either (in this case it is easy, because New Yorker is very compartmentalized,
few individuals are allowed to write on the topic, this way they can keep doubt from showing without mass use of chemicals). The
Nation has some articles written by doubt-free persons (like Katha Pollit) but doubt levels are significant -- kept down mostly
by small number of articles on Syria. And Counterpunch is a weed in itself.
How about this: The US is prime Nazi country/regime, and the Zionist state is modeled after the US, or the European racism.
The settler states are known for its unprecedented violence. Unfortunately, still the phenomenon of extermination is connected
with Germany and not the US.
One of many U.S. state laws that Nazis examined was this from Maryland:
"All marriages between a white person and a Negro, or between a white person and a person of Negro descent, to the third generation,
inclusive, or between a white person and a member of the Malay race or between a Negro and a member of the Malay race, or between
a person of Negro descent to the third generation, inclusive, and a member of the Malay race . . . [skipping over many variations]
. . . are forever prohibited . . . punished by imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than eighteen months nor more
than ten years."
@78 bp. 'From that point of view excessive consumption of, say, NYT or TV news can make people positive for "symptoms of sarin
or sarin-like chemicals" like Roundup when we take swabs from their mucosal surfaces and analyze with sensitive instruments.'
very nice piotr berman. the metaphor is so well drawn, and in the following cases as well. One has a malady, here, a malady.
One feels a malady.
the dysfunctions all swell from a common source, into a slum of bloom. the wigs despoiling the Satan ear.
Yes, I was apprehensive at first, but the new regime toed BRICS's lines, participated in its functions as usual, and has tried
to use it in its national interest. Brazil's internal contradictions don't allow it to abandon its one big success story. And
as I stated, BRICS policy declarations are all in line with Russia and China's in every area.
While many of the big brains go to Wall St. to front guess Mr. Market, there are others, "no doubt", that build geopolitical
dashboards, models and simulations for the elite to monitor all the countries/governments/militaries/public.
In spite of their visibility of their universe, they are losing control and know it. The absurdity of the ongoing global debt
situation is a tell.
All countries have evolving relationships with both the US and China as well as within the various groups of nations. China
is talking growth and the US/private finance is talking austerity. It is not if but a matter of when growth wins out and global
finance is put under public control.
That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history. ~Aldous Huxley
Afghan officials have said nearly 100 militants and no civilians were killed, but the remoteness of the area, the presence
of Islamic State fighters, and, more recently, American security forces, has left those claims unverified.
British elite is capable to commit any crimes imaginable perusing its goals.
Notable quotes:
"... "The 'chemical incident' has likely been faked. It suspiciously happened just a few days after U.S. President Trump had announced the he wanted the U.S. military to leave Syria. A year earlier a similar incident was claimed to have happened after a similar announcement by Trump. The U.S. had responded to the 2017 incident by bombing an empty Syrian airfield." ..."
OT but very relevant to the Skripal/Douma incidents.
The Guardian has an
article today headlined
" The taboo on chemical weapons has lasted a century – it must be preserved " which is a bare-faced lie as the Guardian
should know because the British used chemical weapons against the Russian in August, 1919, less than a century ago, and the Japanese,
among America's closest allies used them against the Chinese in World War 2.
The strongest case for Churchill as a chemical warfare enthusiast involves Russia, and was made by Giles Milton in The Guardian
on 1 September 2013, which prompted this article. Milton wrote that in 1919, scientists at the governmental laboratories at
Porton in Wiltshire developed a far more devastating weapon: the top secret "M Device," an exploding shell containing
a highly toxic gas called diphenylaminechloroarsine [DM].
The man in charge of developing it, Major General Charles Foulkes, called it "the most effective chemical weapon ever devised."
Trials at Porton suggested that it was indeed a terrible new weapon. Uncontrollable vomiting, coughing up blood and
instant, crippling fatigue were the most common reactions. The overall head of chemical warfare production, Sir Keith Price,
was convinced its use would lead to the rapid collapse of the Bolshevik regime. "If you got home only once with the gas you
would find no more Bolshies this side of Vologda."
A staggering 50,000 M Devices were shipped to Russia: British aerial attacks using them began on 27 August 1919 .Bolshevik
soldiers were seen fleeing in panic as the green chemical gas drifted towards them. Those caught in the cloud vomited blood,
then collapsed unconscious. The attacks continued throughout September on many Bolshevik-held villages. But the weapons proved
less effective than Churchill had hoped, partly because of the damp autumn weather. By September, the attacks were halted then
stopped.
"The 'chemical incident' has likely been faked. It suspiciously happened just a few days after U.S. President Trump had
announced the he wanted the U.S. military to leave Syria. A year earlier a similar incident was claimed to have happened after
a similar announcement by Trump. The U.S. had responded to the 2017 incident by bombing an empty Syrian airfield."
Watching reports coming out of Syria in real time, I thought it was a genuine strike. Same as I thought the JK build up was
the real thing and also the 59 missiles a year ago. Once the dust, smoke, and the fog of war had cleared, it became apparent that
this, was yet again a choreographed move, same as the missiles on Shayrat airfield.
I may well be wrong, as I do not go along with group think here, but this strike seems a preemptive move by Trump to prevent
a push for for US military action in Syria that will take us to WWIII.
"... Authored by Peter Hitchens via The Mail On Sunday blog, ..."
"... I stood outside the safe house, in a road I cannot name, in a major European city I cannot identify, not sure what I might find inside. I had no way of being sure. ..."
"... In decades of journalism I have received quite a few leaks ..."
"... But I've never seen one like this. It scared me. ..."
"... If bodies such as the OPCW cannot be trusted, then World War Three could one day be started by a falsehood. ..."
I stood outside the safe house, in a road I cannot name, in a major European city I cannot
identify, not sure what I might find inside. I had no way of being sure.
I had travelled a long distance by train to an address I had been given over an encrypted email.
I was nervous that the meeting might be some sort of trap.
Leaks from inside arms
verification organisations are very sensitive matters. Powerful people mind about them.
I wasn't sure whether to be afraid of being followed, or to be worried about who might be waiting behind
the anonymous door on a dark afternoon, far from home. I took all the amateurish precautions that I could
think of.
As it happened, it was not a trap. Now, on carefully selected neutral ground, I was to meet a person
who would confirm suspicions that had been growing in my mind over several years – that there is something
rotten in the way that chemical weapons inspections are being conducted and reported. And that the world
could be hurried into war on the basis of such inspections.
Inside the safe house, I was greeted by a serious, patient expert, a non-political scientist
whose priority had until now always been to do the hard, gritty work of verification
– travelling
to the scenes of alleged horrors, sifting and searching for hard evidence of what had really happened.
But this entirely honourable occupation had slowly turned sour.
The whiff of political interference had begun as a faint unpleasant smell in the air and grown
until it was an intolerable stench.
Formerly easy-going superiors had turned into tricky bureaucrats.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had become so important that it could
no longer be allowed to do its job properly.
Too many of the big powers that sponsor and finance it were breathing down its neck, wanting certain
results, whether the facts justified them or not.
My source calmly showed me various pieces of evidence that they were who they said they were,
and knew what they claimed to know, making it clear that they worked for the OPCW and knew its inner workings.
They then revealed a document to me.
This was the email of protest, sent to senior OPCW officials, saying that a report on the alleged Syrian
poison gas attack in Douma, in April 2018, had been savagely censored so as to alter its meaning.
In decades of journalism I have received quite a few leaks
:
leaks
over luxurious, expensive lunches with Cabinet Ministers, anonymous leaks that just turned up in envelopes,
leaks from union officials and employers, diplomats and academics.
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But I've never seen one like this. It scared me.
If it was true, then
something hugely dishonest and dangerous was going on, in a place where absolute integrity was vital.
If bodies such as the OPCW cannot be trusted, then World War Three could one day be
started by a falsehood.
Last week I reported on the first episode in this story. Within days the OPCW had confirmed that the
email I leaked was authentic.
Nobody followed me home or threatened me. A few silly people on social media told blatant lies about
me, insinuating that I was somehow a Russian patsy or a defender of the disgusting Syrian regime that
I have been attacking in print for nearly 20 years. That was what I had expected.
But there is much more to come.
And, as it grows harder for everyone to ignore this
enormous, dangerous story,
I suspect I shall be looking over my shoulder rather more than usual.
"... The White Helmets' leadership is driven by a pro-interventionist agenda conceived by the Western governments and public relations groups that back them. Anyone who visits the group's website -- which is operated by an opposition-funded PR company known as the Syria Campaign -- will be immediately directed to a request to sign a petition for a no-fly zone to "stop the bombs" in Syria. These sorts of communiques highlight the dual role the White Helmets play as a civil defense organization saving lives while lobbying for a US military campaign that will almost inevitably result in the collapse of Syria's government. ..."
"... While members of the White Helmets have been implicated in atrocities carried out by jihadist rebel groups, the names of many of the firms that supposedly monitor and evaluate their work have been kept secret by USAID on unspecified security grounds. ..."
"... That "Russia will "never be America's friend" is not disputed. What is missing is that "US and Russia cannot afford to be enemies". Nixon understood all of that 30 years ago. ..."
"... I agree that the uncritical and unwavering acceptance of the notion of Assad's chemical attacks on his people is ignorant and dangerous. It shows a true lack of imagination among the jihadis and their supporters. Not one of these attacks have been convincingly attributed to Assad's forces. To the contrary, the propaganda put out by the jihadis appears blatantly staged and bogus. The sooner we're out of Syria, the better. And the sooner Trump realizes unwavering support of the current Israeli regime is a cost center, the better. ..."
The dominant propaganda meme of the day, as already noted by Colonel Lang, is that Bashar al Assad unleashed chemical weapons
on "innocent women and children" in rebel held territory and that Russia and Iran, along with Syria, are responsible. We MUST take
action (or so we are told emphatically by morons pretending to be news anchors on the various cable outlets). Few media outlets are
willing to report that this information is not only uncorroborated but originates with established liars and rebel partisans--i .e.,
the White Helmets. Oh, and did you know that the White Helmets are funded largely by the Governments of the UK and the United States?
It is critical to keep the source of funds in mind if you are to understand the true nature of these Islamic scam artists. Ironically,
Max Blumenthal, son of the infamous Sid, has been a leader in exposing these fraudsters.
Blumenthal wrote, more than three years ago, that :
The White Helmets' leadership is driven by a pro-interventionist agenda conceived by the Western governments and public relations
groups that back them. Anyone who visits the group's website -- which
is operated by an opposition-funded PR company known as
the Syria Campaign -- will be immediately directed to a request to sign a petition for a no-fly zone to "stop the bombs" in Syria.
These sorts of communiques highlight the dual role the White Helmets play as a civil defense organization saving lives while lobbying
for a US military campaign that will almost inevitably result in the collapse of Syria's government. . . .
The White Helmets were founded in collaboration with USAID's Office of Transitional Initiatives -- the wing that has promoted
regime change around the world -- and have been provided with $23 million in funding from the department. USAID supplies the White
Helmets through Chemonics, a for-profit contractor based in Washington DC that has become notorious for wasteful aid imbroglios from
Haiti to Afghanistan.
While members of the White Helmets have been implicated in atrocities carried out by jihadist rebel groups, the names of many
of the firms that supposedly monitor and evaluate their work have been kept secret by USAID on unspecified security grounds.
Nikki Haley: "Russia will "never be America's friend." Moscow can try to behave "like a regular country," but the US will "slap
them when we need to," Haley said." ... "Everybody likes to listen to the words. I'm going to tell you – look at the actions,"
Haley urged. "We expelled 60 Russian diplomats/spies, we have armed Ukraine so that they can defend themselves..."
https://www.rt.com/usa/423422-us-russia-stalemate-haley/
The UK has the pottery-boy Gavin Williamson as a Sec. of Defence
and the US has a waste-management Nikki Haley as an US envoy to the United Nations. They both are ignoramuses and the eager ziocon
tools.
That "Russia will "never be America's friend" is not disputed. What is missing is that "US and Russia cannot afford to be
enemies". Nixon understood all of that 30 years ago.
I think Colonel is absolutely right, all signs are, that everybody on both sides are getting ready for a war, how big, and who
will participate, nobody knows yet would it be 2 oceans and 3 continents war or just concentrated on Eurasia? Unfortunately, I
think DJT' canoe has sunken in the swamp he said he will drain, or IMO he didn't even know what he is talking about, or is dealing
with.
I agree that the uncritical and unwavering acceptance of the notion of Assad's chemical attacks on his people is ignorant
and dangerous. It shows a true lack of imagination among the jihadis and their supporters. Not one of these attacks have been
convincingly attributed to Assad's forces. To the contrary, the propaganda put out by the jihadis appears blatantly staged and
bogus. The sooner we're out of Syria, the better. And the sooner Trump realizes unwavering support of the current Israeli regime
is a cost center, the better.
Thank you for reopening comments. I missed my tribe of non-conformists thinkers and all the various viewpoints. :-)
The insanity and distortion of reality and facts is getting extreme. Unfortunately tribalism with it's baggage of historical
grievances, partisan loyalties, and mob mentalities are growing as our society returns to default human social behaviour while
loyalty to the binding myths and ideas of the constitution and the founding of our republic fade. Truth is a casualty. Facts don't
matter. Conformity to whatever tribal identity selected is the norm. Science show that there is a real decline in the higher brain
functions when mobs form.
If the Russians don't respond in some discrete but substantive way, their presence, efforts and international prestige will
have vanished by tomorrow morning.
Your "grasp" of air-defense issues, including suggestion of shooting down aircraft in Lebanon's (international) airspace, among
many other things clearly shows an armchair "strategist" (no offense, I am one myself) who played, unlike me--I don't play video
games, too much video-games and thinks that he knows better than say Russian General Staff. Indeed, what do they know, really--what
a bunch of amateurs who do not follow your highly professional suggestion.
The Russian Defense Ministry is now saying that 8 missiles were fired at the Syrian T4 airfield and airbase from Israeli airplanes
flying inside Lebanon. The report says that 5 of the missiles were knocked down by antiaircraft / missile defense systems and
that 3 of them hit the area of the airfield--
israel to the rescue... they have to protect isis! and where would they be without regular support from the usa / uk.... white
helmets are a pale imitation of israel at this point..
"...a large number of supposedly intelligent Republicans and Democrats..."
There's no such thing any more. Both parties chased their intelligent leaders out a long time ago. Indeed, this is a repeat
of the Cuban Missile Crisis with a bunch of emotional ten-year-olds in charge.
Slightly OT, but in poking around the SCL/Cambridge Analytica web of intrigue, I found this tantalizing Wikipedia account of Vincent
Tchenguiz, the largest shareholder in CA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vincent_Tchenguiz
Some people are truly not fit to walk on this earth.
This is getting more and more ridiculous. From the ludicrous novichok caper that May and Boris have made into a Monty Python
skit to the yet another theatrical chemical attack performance starring the perennial Syrian villain, Animal Assad and the increasingly
heated rhetoric emanating from DC, London, Beijing and Moscow. Of course with all the bugles and trumpets blowing from the hysterical
media with the Borg agenda trying to cajole a highly skeptical public.
What do you make of all this? Is the Borg getting really desperate that their gig may be up? That their deceit and duplicity
will be uncovered.
We have Brennan, Holder, Yates busy tweeting along with Trump. There is McCabe and his GoFundMe. We have Comey's book tour
and even Loretta Lynch is to hit the airwaves. All to spin tales that less people believe unless of course you are a card carrying
partisan. Then there is Sessions making announcements of US Attorneys investigating and possibly convening grand juries and supervising
document production to Congress around the conspiracy at the highest levels of law enforcement & intelligence in the Obama administration.
Is this Reality TV at it's best putting Jerry Springer to shame??
"If the Russians don't respond... their international prestige will have vanished..."
-- What are you implying -- that only deception, perfidy, and bullying deserve "prestige?" Would not it be great if the decent
people have finally explained the "prestigious" Nikki Haley that she is an ignoramus and warmonger? And how about sending Gavin
Williamson to his familiar proper place where he could resume selling the fine pottery and ceramic countertops instead of being
a mockery to his current post of Sec of Defence?
What is so prestigious about the opportunistic Theresa May and Boris Johnson, whose incompetent actions have been highly damaging
to the UK reputation? And guess that the criminal (but very pious) Tony Blair fits the definition of "prestige."
There are people whose response is indeed important from the perspective of decency and competence and patriotism – these people
are the US brass in the highest echelons of the US military. Do they serve the interests of the US or the interests of Israel?
The question is very simple. The answer is yes or no.
If the Russians don't respond in some discrete but substantive way, their presence, efforts and international prestige will
have vanished by tomorrow morning.
"His master's voice (or how an obedient dog goes to war)":
http://thesaker.is/his-masters-voice-or-how-an-obedient-dog-goes-to-war/
"Israeli officials: the "U.S. must strike in Syria" because "Assad is the angel of death, and the world would be better without
him."
Ziomedia is willing to report the Skripal nonsense with a straight face After all, if the Russians could use "Novichok and buckwheat"
in the UK, why would they not use chemical weapons in Syria? And, no, the fact that neither the Russians nor the Syrians actually
have any chemical weapons (both were fully disarmed and certified as such) makes absolutely no difference! "
And what country does not want to declare her chemical weapon? –
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/175032
"The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) on Tuesday called on Israel to renounce chemical
weapons and join the convention banning them just like Syria did."
"...Owen Matthews' article at The Spectator betrays the kind of factual sloppiness that is typical of the pundit-political-business
classes in the West today."
-- In this case it is more than sloppiness: Owen Matthews is an opportunist loaded with the tribal grievances against Russia:
http://www.greanvillepost.com/2017/11/02/re-visiting-russian-counter-propaganda-methods/
"... in his book "Stalin's Children" Matthews clearly takes sides with, endorses and, possibly, even covers up for his Trotskyist
Commissar grandfather and that makes him a fair target for criticism"
The constant repetitive referral to "Obama's red line" has been effective in shaping a preferred response to these alleged attacks.
Contrary to today's conventional wisdom, Obama did not "fail" to enforce his own line - the administration through its own State
Department was quite prepared to rain bombs down on Damascus, but faced political opposition from Congress (as did Cameron's UK
government fail to achieve support for the bombing in its Parliament). Congressional opposition was sparked by robust opposition
from citizens/ constituents in the form of communications directed to their Congressional offices. This was all reported by the
mainstream media at the time, yet a false recounting is predominant today. The "unrelenting information operation" is not possible
without the witting collaboration of the supposed "free" media. The ownership and editorial staff of such are as fully responsible
for this frightening state of affairs as anyone else.
The SOHR has some pretty solid reporting on what is going on in Douma. They make no mention of any use of chemical weapons in
Douma, but instead attribute the deaths to suffocation resulting from the destruction of cellars containing civilians:
And with the death of more citizens, it has increased to 96 at least including 27 children and 16 woman, the number of persons
who have been killed since Friday, and the death toll is expected to rise because there are some people in critical situation,
where reliable sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that some of the casualties and wounded suffocated as a result of
the demolition of home basements due to the heavy and intense shelling on Douma city, and the trusted sources confirmed to
the Syrian Observatory of Rights that the number of injuries today has exceeds 500, including tens of children and tens of
women, where more than 70 of them have suffered suffocation as a result of the demolition of home basements over them due
to the heavy and intense shelling on the last area beyond the regime forces' control in the Eastern Ghouta , which is the
stronghold of Jaysh al-Islam, and the Syrian Observatory published hours ago that 11 people at least including 5 children had
suffocated, after bombardment by a warplane on an area near the old cemetery at the northern outskirts of Douma city in the
Eastern Ghouta, also the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published that violent clashes taking place between the regime
forces and their allied militiamen of Syrian and non-Syrian nationalities against Jaish Al-Islam in areas in the vicinity of
Douma area, where the regime forces continue their attempts to achieve more advancement in the area after they managed today
morning to advance in the farms of Douma from the direction of Al-Raihan area. The regime forces managed to advance in 50 farms
in the area following series of ongoing ground and aerial shelling of the regime forces and their warplanes and helicopters,
which target the city and its vicinity.
"Murder in the Sun Morgue" by Dr. Denis O'Brien (neuropharmacology expert):
"The primary conclusion of this study, based on a pharmacological analysis of the video and photographic evidence, is that
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."
Thank you for this, Publius Tacitus -- and to you, Colonel Lang, re-opening the comments section here at SST.
I think it's notable that Owen Matthews' article at The Spectator betrays the kind of factual sloppiness that is typical of
the pundit-political-business classes in the West today. For of course, "Arsenal of Democracy" is a phrase associated not with
Truman but with Franklin Roosevelt.
I was the working-class scholarship kid at one of the elite educational institutions that forms a feeder-conduit to these echelons
of media, political, and economic power, and one thing I have remarked is the utter mediocrity and laziness of so many members
of our ruling class. As Corey Robin found out when he had an exchange with Chelsea Clinton over Hannah Arendt, and I discovered
as an undergrad and in grad school, many of them simply never did the reading. They relied then, and still do today, on group-think
and sheep-like intellectual conformity, which, of course, is then magnificently (and munificently!) rewarded. I also discovered
that even when they did read something, it made no impression on them, not in any real way, they failed to keep the lessons taught
thereby in their head once it was no longer needed for an exam or a paper.
To be led by fools such as these into a world war -- and why? -- is lunacy. That's why I'm grateful for places like this Committee
to keep the home-fires of sanity burning. Thanks again, and let's hope that peace prevails, against the devoutly-hoped wishes
of the Borg.
OPCW Manufactured A Pretext For War By Suppressing Its Own
Scientists' Research
Leaks from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
provide that the OPCW management ignored or manipulated reports its Fact Finding Mission
had written about the April 2018 Douma incident in Syria.
The OPCW management ignored that the technical, chemical and medical analysis of its own
specialists exculpated the Syrian government from the allegation that it poisoned some 40
people in Douma by dropping Chlorine canisters from a helicopter.
The OPCW scientific staff found that dropping the canisters could not have created the
damage that was found. Those canisters must have been placed by hand. The amount of chlorinated
organic chemicals found at the two scenes was very low and it is very unlikely that they are
the result of a reaction with chlorine gas. The medical symptoms of the casualties as was seen
in various videos at the time of the incident were inconsistent with death by chlorine
inhalation.
The OPCW management twisted the interim
and the final OPCW
report on the incident to make it look as if the Syrian government was guilty of dropping
chlorine canisters. The detailed internal technical analysis was ignored. It was replaced by
external analysis from unknown sources who claimed the opposite of what the OPCW engineers and
chemists had found. The wording of the report suggests that high level of chlorinated organic
chemicals were found without giving the very low concentrations (in parts per billions) that
were actually found. The internal medical analysis was eliminated from the official report.
OPCW emails and
documents were leaked and whistleblowers came forward to speak with
journalists and
international lawyers . Veteran journalist Jonathan Steele, who has spoken with the
whistleblowers, wrote an
excellent piece on the issues. In the Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens picked
up the issue and moved it forward:
The 'citizen journalists' of the U.S. government financed Bellingcat propaganda shop
made a
laughable attempt to refute the claims the whistleblower made. Caitlin Johnstone
took it apart .
Bellingcat: However, a comparison of the points raised in the letter against the final Douma report
makes it amply clear that the OPCW not only addressed these points, but even changed the
conclusion of an earlier report to reflect the concerns of said employee.
PH:
Apart from the words 'a', and 'the', everything in the above paragraph is, to put it
politely, mistaken. Bellingcat have been so anxious to trash the leak from the OPCW that they
have (as many did when the attack was first released) rushed to judgment without waiting for
the facts. More is known by the whistleblowers of the OPCW than has yet been released , but
verification procedures have slowed down its release. More documents will, I expect, shortly
come to light.
One, which I have seen, is very interesting. It is a memorandum of protest, written many
months after the e-mail of protest published at the weekend. This was sent to the OPCW
Director-General Fernando Arias (there is some doubt about whether it ever reached him) by an
OPCW investigator (one of those who actually visited Douma), on 14th March 2019. It has
reached me through hitherto reliable sources. This is nearly two weeks *after* the release of
the 'final' report (on Friday 1st March 2019) which is supposed to have resolved the doubts
of the dissenters.
In his discussion of the issue Hitchens also mentions this blog:
[The OPCW report claim] 'Various chlorinated organic chemicals were found in samples from
Locations 2 and 4, along with residues of explosive. These results are reported in Annex 3.
Work by the team to establish the significance of these results is ongoing.' resulted in
some quite remarkable media reports. These are explored here:
Bellingcat and its supporters may not like the source, and I do not much like it myself ,
but it is a unique record, as far as I know, of the initial media response to the issue of
the July 6 report. I have in fact checked its claims with Reuters and the BBC and they do not
dispute what it says, though they say they later corrected the output.
It is sad, Peter, that you don't like this blog much but I am afraid I can do nothing about
it.
A few hours ago Hitchens published another piece: In defense of journalism - 'Citizen
journalists' are no such thing . In it he again takes on Bellingcat and other such
'citizen journalist' and 'researchers' to then reveal that he himself now talked to an OPCW
whistleblower:
Luckily for me I have had the backing of people who know deep down that journalism must take
risks to be any good. Someone had to say 'yes' to me when I headed off at short notice a few
days ago, on my complicated way to a safe house somewhere in a major city on the European
continent.
Someone had to fork out for my train fares and my cheap station hotels. Someone had to
have the guts to let me tell my story about what I found when I got there -- which was an
honest man in turmoil. His job was to tell the truth and he was being prevented from doing
so. So I could help him. In four decades of journalism, I have seldom felt closer to the Holy
Grail, truth that had to be told, and truth that would shake power. Here it was. A pretext
for war had been manufactured by suppression of research.
The "pretext for war" can not refer to
the missile strike F-UK-US launched on April 16 2018, 8 days after the Douma incident and
before any OPCW inspectors had visited the site.
Hitchens must refer to an upcoming war that was supposed to be based on the now disgraced
OPCW report.
There is indeed a possible path to war.
The original agreement for OPCW investigations in Syria stipulated that the OPCW would
report the results of investigations to a Joint Investigative Mechanism
(JIM) at the United Nations where the Security Council would then attribute guilt to either
side of the conflict. The U.S. tried to use the JIM process to attribute dubious chemical
incidents in Syria to the government. Russia vetoed those attempts. The U.S. then decided to
circumvent the UN process.
In 2018 the U.S. and its proxies manipulated the OPCW statute and
added the task of identifying the guilty party of chemical incidents to the OPCW's
agenda:
[The decision] also calls upon the [OPCW] Secretariat to put in place arrangements " to
identify the perpetrators of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Arab Republic by
identifying and reporting on all information potentially relevant to the origin of those
chemical weapons in those instances in which the OPCW Fact-Finding Mission determines or has
determined that use or likely use occurred, and cases for which the OPCW-UN Joint
Investigative Mechanism has not issued a report".
The decision further affirmed that whenever chemical weapons use occurs on the territory
of a State Party, "those who were the perpetrators, organisers, sponsors or otherwise
involved should be identified" and it underscored "the added value of the Secretariat
conducting an independent investigation of an alleged use of chemical weapons with a view to
facilitating universal attribution of all chemical weapons attacks".
The manipulated OPCW report, which omitted the OPCW scientists' findings, will now be the
basic document which the new OPCW attribution group, the Investigation and Identification Team,
will use to find the Syrian government guilty. That guilty verdict can then be used to publicly
justify a war on Syria without further UN Security Council interference.
This is what Hitchens means when he writes that "A pretext for war had been manufactured by
suppression of research."
Russia, China and several other governments have protested against the change in the OPCW
statute. The Russian statement to this years Chemical Weapon Convention (CWC) conference
says :
The decision to vest the OPCW Technical Secretariat with functions to identify parties
responsible for the use of chemical weapons adopted in June 2018 at the CSP-SS-4 in
contradiction of the Convention is illegitimate. This innovation forced on the OPCW goes
beyond the scope of the CWC and the Organization, the decision itself was adopted in
violation of the Convention, and its implementation is nothing other than an interference
with the exclusive competence of the UN Security Council.
As a clearly foreseeable result of this questionable decision, fundamental problems with
its realization ensued, namely, the lack of transparency and accountability of the
"attribution" mechanism, which is the Investigation and Identification Team, to the OPCW
governing bodies. The States Parties have yet to learn about the terms of reference of this
entity, its operating conditions, its criteria for selection of "incidents"to investigate or
sources and modalities of its financing.
The OPCW scientists found serious evidence that the Syrian government can NOT be guilty of
the Douma incident. Under U.S. pressure the OPCW management suppressed its scientists'
technical reports or replaced them with those from "external experts" to make it look as if the
Syrian government caused the incident. The new attribution group at the OPCW will use that
manipulated report to find Syria guilty of causing the incident. The U.S. and others could then
use that guilty verdict as pretext to launch a war.
We only learned of this plan because courageous scientists and engineers at the OPCW do not
want to see their organization abused to find pretexts to wage wars on the innocent. They came
forward and told the public what it needs to know. They deserve our gratitude.
---
Previous Moon of Alabama coverage of the Douma incident and its aftermath:
Oh dear, why does Peter Hitchens dislike Moon of Alabama? Methinks there is some envy behind
the dislike, that MoA can find, research and publish real, credible information and news
without being subjected to interference, or being able to publish such news only on the
condition that one covers puff pieces first or accepts being relegated to the back of the
queue of news articles for the day.
Thanks, b, and thanks to those with integrity at OPCW! What's missing from this report is the
tie-in with BigLie Media's role in the attempt to manufacture a reason for war. Then also
there's the entity responsible for changing the OPCW Statute--yes, I know b named the
macro-entities, but within them resides one or several individuals who came up with the plan
and its verbiage. They need to be outed and removed from whatever government positions they
hold ASAP. Another question needing to be asked and answered: What did Trump know about all
this and when did he know it? And what was planned to occur if NATO got the "authorization"
it tried to manipulate? Did they really desire to destroy themselves by making war on Russia
via Syria?!?!
I must also say I'm shocked that anyone at OPCW would think Peter Hitchens a reliable
person to confide in. IMO, we really lucked-out.
Remember the individual labs will also have records of the CloC concentrations omitted from
the final report and thus represent an additional potential leak source.
WOW.
What a Christmas present to you Bernhard. You actually made an impact, that could potentially
have prevented a major escalation into open war.
What better gain could there be for your work!
And yes, Hitchens may not like your blog, or may he not dare to say so. What matters is,
that Bellingcat and his NATO paymasters must be crying and screaming at you.. Beautiful.
And this development just shows, what can be possible if one would combine true citizen
journalism with the resources and reach of MSM. If one could combine the best of both, one
could truely shake the corrupted, brainwashed powers that be, and force policy changes on
even the most important issues.
A ray of hope.
What if forgot: Please Bernhard, take now extra care. Bellingcat will now target you even
harder. And the first laughable attempt to dox you (which i watched on Twitter years ago,
which was pretty hilariously incompetent, as BC mostly is) will not be the last.
Now you truly got in their way, and they will already plan how to retaliate...
If we can help you, please ask!
Kudos and thanks to b for his leadership in this failing propaganda effort
Let me repeat ben's comment #10
"
Another brick in the wall of proof, that the power of organised $ almost always conquers
truth.
Until that paradigm changes, humanity can not progress.
"
If/when you get into an inter-myth (left/right) discussion with with others I encourage
you to stop and ask them whether they support global private finance. I suspect you will find
agreement on this issue and will further chip away at the manufactured left/right meme that
is a cover for the reality of top/bottom madness that is such a threat to our species
evolving.
Hitchens has been doing similar things, and getting them published in the Mail, for a while
now. It is not unlike the Tucker Carlson phenomenon in the US.
These guys are watching the wheels come off the imperial juggernaut. Perhaps even more
significant is the fact that others at these very right wing media sources realise that, to
save some of their credibility they have to hedge their bets and allow some of their
journalists to practise their profession.
Meanwhile, at the New Yorker (circulation declining rapidly) Seymour Hersh, who was like b
one of the first on this story, cannot find room for all the hagiography by the MI6 Press
Department.
As to Hitchens' ritualistic disassociation from MoA, who would have it any other way?
This is a war crime, plain and simple, but there will be no justice forthcoming. May the
bastards in (primarily) the US and the UK who perpetrated this rot in hell.
kudos to you b.. you do excellent work... peter hitchens knows this too, even if he doesn't
have the guts or character to openly admit it.. people speaking truth to power are very hard
to find in the media these days...people correctly seek out alternative media, as the msm has
become a cesspool..
kudos to the opcw whistleblowers as well..without them, this wouldn't be seeing the light
of day.. this con job the usa-uk and ''coalition'' are trying to pull off, rewriting the opcw
mandate needs to be confronted..their deception and lies are ongoing... until more in the msm
step up to the plate - like peter hitchens, and especially jonathan steele, the msm will
continue to be a conveyor of lies and bullshite only... moa is a rare exception in the realm
of news, even if it is classified as alternative news..
i hope this path to war they are exploring here has a huge light shined on it.. these so
called journalists can all rot in hell if they can't see beyond their paycheck..
"yes, I know b named the macro-entities, but within them resides one or several
individuals who came up with the plan and its verbiage. They need to be outed and removed
from whatever government positions they hold ASAP."
A bit strange...these several individuals were acting on instructions from their several
governments.
To understand how brave these OPCW scientists are in their efforts to save their integrity,
just watch how whistleblower Julian Assange is tortured and killed blatantly in the open for
everyone to watch. My highest esteem for them, Assange, and also b, who doesn't stop
publishing these crimes!
Here is a key direct war propaganda-quote from the concluding paragraph of the OPCW's
so-called ... "evaluation and analysis of all the information gathered":
[The investigations by the OPCW "provide reasonable grounds that the use of a toxic
chemical as a weapon took place. This toxic chemical contained reactive chlorine.The toxic
chemical was likely molecular chlorine."
This is yet another attempt to energize Obama's 2013 'declaration': that a "red line"
would be crossed by use of chemical weapons in Syria. From the Washington Post, 2013:
"Because of our concern about the deteriorating situation in Syria, the president has made it
clear that the use of chemical weapons -- or transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups
-- is a red line for the United States of America. The Obama administration has communicated
that message publicly and privately to governments around the world, including the Assad
regime."
Once the evocative 'red line" terminology had been used, all those who wanted more US
military involvement in Syria were motivated to make the red line appear to have been
crossed. The presstitute media began to frequently insert and magnify references and
accusations re Assad and chemical weapons.
Given that the war waged against Syria has been a war of aggression, with multiple
perpetrators, consider some of the defining characteristics of wars of aggression: From
Nuremberg:
.. (a) Crimes against peace: Namely, planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war
of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances, or
participation in a common plan or conspiracy for the accomplishment of any of the
foregoing;
.. (b) War crimes: Namely, violations of the laws or customs of war. Such violations shall
include, but not be limited to, murder, ill-treatment, or deportation to slave labour or for
any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory, murder or ill treatment
of prisoners of war or persons on the seas, killing of hostages, plunder of public or private
property, wanton destruction of cities, towns, or villages, or devastation not justified by
military
necessity ....
Meaningful use above of the word "preparation" and the phrase "participation in a
conspiracy" in regards to wars of aggression includes mental/attitudinal preparation. The
corrupt managers of the OPCW, too, are thus by definition war criminals. They have much
company.
Thanks for noting the contradiction in my comment! However, there are times when planners
come up with ideas they weren't directed to generate. The question was probably broad: How
can we get Obama's Red Line to be seen as crossed by Syria? then the specific mechanism
manufactured.
Thanks to Robert Snefjella @18 showing how those planners are genuine War Criminals. Which
brings up an interesting question: Is the Federal government that runs the Evil Outlaw US
Empire a War Criminal or are specific members of that government War Criminals. Leading to
the next question: The governments of Italy, Germany and Japan were completely destroyed,
their national constitutions rewritten and new institutions then established as a result of
their perpetrating War Crimes: Should the Federal government of the USA likewise be
destroyed, a new constitution written followed by the generation of new institutions? And if
so, then what of the individual State governments; don't they also share the guilt of their
parent the Federal government? How can it be held that the 50 individual states are innocent
while the Federal government's guilty? I know that the Nuremburg Principles say it's the duty
of all citizens to resist and attempt to thwart/prevent attempted War Crimes, but I don't
believe there's a statute in the US Code that addresses those Principles; although,
constitutionally IMO those Principles do apply.
Manufacturing a pretext for the U.S.
missile strike on Syria in April 2018 is nowhere near the biggest of OPCW's crimes. The
OPCW is an accessory , both before and after the fact to the crime of
mass murder.
It should now be clear to everyone that Syrian "rebels" gassed thousands of hostages in
cellars, most likely with chlorine gas, and then paraded the victims in White Helmets
snuff videos. OPCW conspired in this crime in both encouraging the terrorists to more murder
and by protecting them afterward by assigning blame to Assad and the Syrian government.
The worst of these massacres happened in Ghouta in August
2013 when 2000 civilian hostages (rebel claim) were gassed to death by rebels and their
pre-White Helmets "civil defence". The OPCW was there to cover up the crime and to fabricate
evidence to assign blame to Syria.
We have been documenting
these crimes and hoaxes at A Closer Look On Syria from December 2012. OPCW was used
from the beginning to manufacture consent for war. See for example:
Of course, the OPCW is already there! I highly suggest Caitlin Johnstone's article b
linked be read, which can be
found here .
We should expand on Petri's number of people involved in this crime to include all the
paid disinformation artists noted in Caitlin's essay at minimum. What becomes very clear in
all this is the total collusion with OPCW upper level management--those whom the
whistleblowers and their allies within OPCW petitioned--in these crimes as Petri contends.
Until they are visibly replaced, nothing issued by OPCW has any credence.
Well done b. Hours later... still no mention at democracy now but lots of odd news and
even a landslide in Kenya. No mention of the 'democracy never' strategies of the USA and its
paid minions. Here is a story that is a free kick at the war machine and silence throughout.
Sad.
OPCW has shown to be a pure political entity, used at will by few regimes in the UN to
promote their agenda, b has done a tremendous job to humanity to bring the truth to the
public worldwide. Syrians have paid the price for UN leaders support to global terrorism for
too long. It must stop now.
At the risk of derailing this thread by going to a meta level, so perhaps just read and weep,
the corruption of the OPCW is precisely normal, in this sense: The challenge: find one high
profile institution in 'the west' that is not corrupt. And here I can bring to mind a long
list of institutions that have given clear signs of being corrupt, while of course all the
time posturing as dignified protectors of their solemn nominal mission statement. I'm hard
put to find institutional exemplars of courage and integrity.
The rot seems to be most apparent at the head, but surely many many minor minions
contribute. I refuse to bow to the contention that this general corruption is the human
condition; I've met too many good and gutsy little people.
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"... The worst of these massacres happened in Ghouta in August 2013 when 2000 civilian hostages (rebel claim) were gassed to death by rebels and their pre-White Helmets "civil defence". The OPCW was there to cover up the crime and to fabricate evidence to assign blame to Syria. ..."
Manufacturing a pretext for the U.S.
missile strike on Syria in April 2018 is nowhere near the biggest of OPCW's crimes. The
OPCW is an accessory , both before and after the fact to the crime of
mass murder.
It should now be clear to everyone that Syrian "rebels" gassed thousands of hostages in
cellars, most likely with chlorine gas, and then paraded the victims in White Helmets
snuff videos. OPCW conspired in this crime in both encouraging the terrorists to more murder
and by protecting them afterward by assigning blame to Assad and the Syrian government.
The worst of these massacres happened in Ghouta in August
2013 when 2000 civilian hostages (rebel claim) were gassed to death by rebels and their
pre-White Helmets "civil defence". The OPCW was there to cover up the crime and to fabricate
evidence to assign blame to Syria.
We have been documenting
these crimes and hoaxes at A Closer Look On Syria from December 2012. OPCW was used
from the beginning to manufacture consent for war. See for example:
Of course, the OPCW is already there! I highly suggest Caitlin Johnstone's article b
linked be read, which can be
found here .
We should expand on Petri's number of people involved in this crime to include all the
paid disinformation artists noted in Caitlin's essay at minimum. What becomes very clear in
all this is the total collusion with OPCW upper level management--those whom the
whistleblowers and their allies within OPCW petitioned--in these crimes as Petri contends.
Until they are visibly replaced, nothing issued by OPCW has any credence.
OPCW has shown to be a pure political entity, used at will by few regimes in the UN to
promote their agenda, b has done a tremendous job to humanity to bring the truth to the
public worldwide. Syrians have paid the price for UN leaders support to global terrorism for
too long. It must stop now.
A mainstream media and academic expert this week issued a rare admission : that pretty much
everything the establishment has fed the public on Syria is false or distorted; but it remains
that after tragic eight-year long war is slowly coming to a close, new indisputable facts are
coming to light. " Truth did not matter at all," he admits after years of providing commentary
for mainstream publications.
In a lengthy thread on Twitter, counter-terrorism author and
assistant professor of political science and public policy at Northeastern University Max
Abrahms exposed how he saw the 'narrative managers' at work from the inside of the
establishment think tank world and media. As his own research came to uncover and document the
truth of what was happening in Syria, "the media would excise me and the research from their
stories" he revealed. His work in the early years of the war
appeared in The New York Times and other major outlets, however, he was increasingly
censored and pushed out of a number of platforms for speaking inconvenient truths.
Below is his full commentary , written in the
wake of the new OPCW leaks which the mainstream is still trying hard to ignore.
Every day there are new revelations that the "rebels" were in cahoots not only with Al Qaeda
but also ISIS and official reports of Assad using chemical weapons were doctored according to
the reports' own authors.
Were you ever skeptical that Assad was authorizing chemical weapons attacks when they were
the one thing that put his winning the war at risk?
Authors of the official reports linking him to chemical weapons usage have now supplied
evidence that their own reports were doctored .
When I was interviewed about Syria's military using chemical weapons, I expressed skepticism
as Assad bucked the political science literature by engaging in the one conduct that would
reverse his hard-fought victory.
But the media would excise me and the research from their stories.
The #1 story should be that authors of the official reports linking Assad to WMD usage have
supplied evidence that they were doctored in defiance of the scientific evidence and exploited
to push regime change in Damascus, which risked creating the Islamic State war with Russia.
Until you get how you were duped into supporting regime change in Syria you'll get duped
into supporting other costly ventures to the local population , international stability and our
counterterrorism efforts.
The mainstream narrative of the Syria conflict has imploded.
Every day there are new revelations that the "rebels" were in cahoots not only with Al
Qaeda but also ISIS & official reports of Assad using chemical weapons were doctored
according to the reports' own authors.
The story of doctored WMD reports and Al Qaeda-led rebels must be told.
What happened in
Syria is the American political establishment decided that the ends justify the means. Truth
did not matter at all. We were told Assad must go based on WMD reports their own authors say
were doctored to support "rebels" who were Al-Qaeda-led and helping ISIS.
Watch this interview and determine yourself whether you find trustworthy the official report
linking Assad to the chlorine attack which was sold in the
sold in the media as casus belli
for toppling Assad and has now been exposed by the fact-finders themselves as doctored.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/SMSyLg1E49M
If you think politicians, think tanks and media got a lot wrong in the Iraq war wait until
you hear about the Syria war.
If you cheered for another regime change war then it doesn't matter whether the casus belli
lacks evidence. The media is unmoved that multiple scientists who made up the official
investigation doubt that the Syrian military was behind the attacks or the use of chlorine at
all.
This is how they roll out new deep state Mockingbird Media clones.
The older completely discredited clones are replaced with new ones who pretend to have
been right there with us all along.
Look at Obama. One solitary vote among so many regarding Iraq and he gained the anti-war
vote and a Nobel Prize. Then he went about personally making the kill orders by drone,
allowing the wicked witch to overthrow Syria and sodomize their leader with a bayonet. Then
on to Syria, various African countries, etc.
I'm sure this *** has written lots on returning the Golan Heights to Syria, returning the
West Bank to the Palestinians, renouncing foreign aid to Israel, etc. Right? Not.
The mendacity of 'the system' can be infuriating when you and your work is targeted.
What I see today is not any different in any way from what my elders told me about the
Third Reich and what I heard from East Berlin and the Soviet Union under Stalin and
successors. I grew up in West Berlin and we did meet people, heard things.
Heil Hegemon - and Heil to all its lackeys! Heil!!!
Ron Paul was trying to tell everyone right from the git-go that the Syrian gas attacks
were a false flag, and the evidence and logic supported a false flag operation. Even more
annoying, the 100 or so Tomahawk missiles cost US taxpayers about a $million each. But maybe
the missiles were getting old, and the military needed some practice shots.
Steele is credible. I believe that the OPCW doctored the reports upon instructions. The
narrative management on Syria has totally destroyed the trust in the western governments and
has demonstrated that the US, the UK and the EU are not behaving any better than China or
Russia.
Someone needs to make an argument as to why we should believe any of these guys. I mean,
after you have been proven liars so many times, should we not throw the rotten tomatoes?
America will tell any lie, commit any atrocity, on behalf of its military industrial
complex, bankster, Zionist elite, while manufacturing consent for its evil by its corrupt
complicit Mainstream Media. Is that even news?
It doesn't matter Max, we already knew all this news about Syria was fake. When they were
trying to fulfill an agenda, which was to overthrow Syria for the sake of Israel, since Syria
is part of this fictitious promised land, their lies help support this agenda. Just like the
Zionist attacks on the world trade center and the pentagon with remote controlled airplanes
and pre-planted controlled demolition explosives. They were followed up with a bunch of lies
to the entire world telling us it was a handful of Muslims who have never flown jumbo jets
before. And they performed top gun maneuvers with these jumbo jets and breached perhaps the
greatest air defense system in the world with only primitive box cutters. I totally believe
the US and Israel covertly created ISIS. And the support funds came from the Zionist
controlled printing presses, and from the pentagon budget that was unaccounted for. But
unfortunately, most Americans still drink the Kool-aid. They continue to believe their lies.
And because of this, they will keep doing what they are doing.
Here's Jeffrey Epstein's BFF and Mossad handler Ehud Barak pinning the israeli 9/11 false
flag on the Osama bin Laden donkey within hours of the attack.
A chief architect of 9-11, Ehud Barak, interviewed on BBC an hour after attacks
That was a sloppy *** false flag too. The "agencies" are getting lazy because they own the
press and Americans are incredibly dumbed down on foreign policy. The got away with 2 planes
collapsing 3 WTC buildings so maybe they figure why bother even making it look
convincing.
Since it follows a pattern, it's not even just Syria. The US regime is a state sponsor of
terrorism, by their own definition, and go into countries and create chaos and revolution,
attempting regime change, creating a crisis they then use as "justification" for escalating
into open conflict against the victim. Accuse the victim nation of crimes, blanketing the
world in propaganda to delude the masses. Try to focus their attention on a single bad guy in
their narrative, a "brutal dictator" or whatnot. Attack by proxy and directly, sanction,
bomb, etc until the victim is left unable to produce for their own needs, making them
dependent, and then going in to apply the chains of debt to the victim to pay the empire to
rebuild what they destroyed. Everyone gets rich, increased resources from theft, testing of
weapons systems, dominion over the new vassal nation, etc, while the victim is
subjugated.
The "memo" Wesley Clark refers to came directly from zionist war criminal Paul Wolfowitz
who was whispering in the ear of Donald Rumsfeld the whole way.
Wolfowitz is perhaps better known not for writing the Wolfowitz Doctrine but for
co-authoring Rebuilding America's Defenses, a report released in September 2000 by Zionist
neocon think tank PNAC (The Project for a New American Century). The PNAC membership list is
a "Who's Who" of American Zionist New World Order conspirators – in addition to
Wolfowitz the list includes **** Cheney Donald Rumsfeld, Robert Kagan, I. Lewis (Scooter)
Libby, Richard Perle, Doug Feith and many others.
"The mainstream narrative of the Syria conflict has imploded."
"Every day there are new revelations that the "rebels" were in cahoots not only with Al
Qaeda but also ISIS & official reports of Assad using chemical weapons were doctored
according to the reports' own authors."
Bless you for trying, but you would do less damage by quietly withdrawing. You just look
silly. USA spent 4+ years fighting ISIS, during which time ISIS spread across the middle
East. Russia stepped in with 40 aircraft, funded through their normal air force training
program, and destroyed ISIS in 9 months.
Either Russians are superhuman warriors, or the west was lying when it claimed to be
fighting ISIS. Which is it?
"... The polarizing Fox host dismantled the official Western media narrative in a seven-minute segment that included an interview with the Guardian correspondent who personally witnessed the second whistleblower present evidence to the agency. ..."
"... "America almost attacked a country and killed untold thousands of people over an attack that may never have happened in the first place – that powerful people may very well have been lying about," Carlson told his audience, replaying footage of his show from the days following the attack to show he'd always been suspicious it had happened as reported. ..."
Fox News host Tucker Carlson has crossed an MSM Rubicon and questioned the Douma "gas
attack" fraud on air, bringing up the OPCW whistleblower. Then he "rooted for Russia" over
Ukraine. Was it a "betrayal," or epic truth-trolling?
Carlson boldly went where no mainstream TV host had gone before, unpacking the
explosive story of April 2018's Douma "chemical weapons attack." While the "attack" was
attributed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by an altered report from the Organization for
the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, two whistleblowers within the group accused it of
omitting evidence to craft a misleading narrative – a fact that has never crossed the
lips of US media until Monday night.
Must Watch @TuckerCarlson Segment Tonight: New Evidence Shows Syria's Assad May Have
Been Falsely Blamed for 2018 Chemical Attack"We've been lied to, we've been manipulated, we
knew it at the time." pic.twitter.com/vKw6YnphcT
-- The Columbia Bugle (@ColumbiaBugle) November 26, 2019
The polarizing Fox host dismantled the official Western media narrative in a
seven-minute segment that included an interview with the Guardian correspondent who
personally witnessed the second whistleblower present evidence to the agency.
"America almost attacked a country and killed untold thousands of people over an attack
that may never have happened in the first place – that powerful people may very well
have been lying about," Carlson told his audience, replaying footage of his show from the
days following the attack to show he'd always been suspicious it had happened as
reported.
Carlson is politically astute and media smart. He would not make such statements unless he
was sure they would not be excessively damaging, advance his message and boost his
popularity. A real risk is Fox News pulling the plug though.
Fortuitous indeed that I was not eating or drinking anything when he mentioned Samantha Power
and 'stupid decisions'; otherwise, there would have been a pressure-diffused spray of it
everywhere. He did indeed let it all hang out – I continue to marvel at his
transformation. Who would ever have imagined? I would once have liked to hear of him being
roasted alive over a slow fire, back when he was snarking and smirking his way through
defenses of the Bush administrations ham-fisted policy strangulation. Well, by God, whatever
it takes, and hero biscuits to the medium. Rock on, Tucker.
"... The alleged attack in Douma came as Assad was consolidating control of the areas around Damascus and shortly after Trump had announced that US troops deployed to control the eastern half of Syria would soon be leaving. The purported Syrian government gas attack was seized on as a casus belli . ..."
"... Saturday's WikiLeaks release makes clear that the OPCW report published in July 2018 was shaped to conform with the public allegations made by the US, UK and France. British Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens, in an article based on the WikiLeaks release, noted that the doctoring of the OPCW fact-finders' report "appears to be the worst instance of 'sexing-up' in support of war since the invasion of Iraq and Tony Blair's doctored dossiers." ..."
"... The investigator who authored the memo, and who remains anonymous, sent the email to OPCW Chief of Cabinet Robert Fairweather and his deputy, Aamir Shouket, on June 22, 2018, to raise "grave concern" about details that had been excluded from or changed in the soon-to-be-published redacted report on the agency's investigation into the alleged gas attack. He wrote that the redacted report had strayed so far from the evidence collected that it "no longer reflects the work of the team." ..."
"... Last May, an unpublished report authored by ballistics expert Ian Henderson, who led the OPCW's engineer sub-team in Douma, was leaked . In it, Henderson raised serious questions about the claim that the attack was carried out by chlorine cylinders dropped from the air, a claim that implicated Assad's forces. Instead, Henderson's report concluded it was more likely that the two cylinders examined by investigators had been placed in their positions, implying that the purported attack had been staged by the Islamist forces that controlled the area at the time of the incident. ..."
"... In the course of the more than eight-year regime-change operation in Syria, during which the US and its allies have used various Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militias as their proxy forces, one CIA-sponsored provocation after another has been used in an (unsuccessful) attempt to stampede US public opinion behind the war. In 2013, a chemical gas attack in Eastern Ghouta was blamed on Assad and used to justify the preparation of massive US air strikes, which were called off at the last minute by Obama. This incident was later exposed by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh as the work of US-backed rebels acting with the support of Turkey. ..."
"... The pseudo-left groups that have lined up behind the criminal US war in Syria and pushed for an even bigger bloodbath stand exposed. The now defunct International Socialist Organization, which dissolved into the Democratic Party earlier this year, used its Socialist Worker publication to promote the CIA-backed opposition and denounce anyone who opposed the US intervention as a stooge of the bourgeois Assad government and "imperialist" Russia and Iran. ..."
On Saturday, WikiLeaks published an internal email written by
a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) fact-finding mission to Syria that exposes the far-reaching
effort to suppress and distort evidence in order to claim that the government of Bashar al-Assad was responsible for the alleged
April 7, 2018, gas attack in Douma, a suburb of Damascus then held by CIA-backed Islamist "rebel" forces.
The revelation once again makes clear the lying character of the campaign to justify the US regime-change operation in Syria,
which has turned large sections of the country into a wasteland, killing hundreds of thousands of people and turning millions more
into refugees.
The alleged attack in which as many as 49 people were reportedly killed was seized on by the governments of the United States,
Britain and France to justify the launching of air and missile strikes just one week later against Syrian government forces. The
attacks took place just hours before an OPCW fact-finding team was due to arrive in Syria to begin an investigation. The assault
brought the US and its allies to the brink of open war not just against Syria, but also against the Assad government's allies Iran
and Russia.
The alleged attack in Douma came as Assad was consolidating control of the areas around Damascus and shortly after Trump had announced
that US troops deployed to control the eastern half of Syria would soon be leaving. The purported Syrian government gas attack was
seized on as a casus belli .
The U.S. launched an attack on Damascus, Syria on April 14, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump announced airstrikes in retaliation
for the country's alleged use of chemical weapons. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
On April 8, one day after the alleged chemical attack and before any investigation had been carried out, Trump tweeted that there
had been a "mindless CHEMICAL attack" by the "Animal Assad" backed by Russia and Iran, and that there would be a "big price to pay."
Under the guidance of Trump's newly appointed national security advisor, John Bolton, military options were drawn up to attack Syria.
The air and missile strikes were launched on April 13, US time.
Saturday's WikiLeaks release makes clear that the OPCW report published in July 2018 was shaped to conform with the public allegations
made by the US, UK and France. British Mail on Sunday columnist Peter Hitchens, in an article based on the WikiLeaks release,
noted that the doctoring of the OPCW fact-finders' report "appears to be the worst instance of 'sexing-up' in support of war since
the invasion of Iraq and Tony Blair's doctored dossiers."
The investigator who authored the memo, and who remains anonymous, sent the email to OPCW Chief of Cabinet Robert Fairweather
and his deputy, Aamir Shouket, on June 22, 2018, to raise "grave concern" about details that had been excluded from or changed in
the soon-to-be-published redacted report on the agency's investigation into the alleged gas attack. He wrote that the redacted report
had strayed so far from the evidence collected that it "no longer reflects the work of the team."
The email highlights statements that misrepresent the evidence collected in the on-the-spot investigation, including the assertion
that the team had found "sufficient evidence at this time to determine that chlorine, or another reactive chlorine-containing chemical,
was likely released from cylinders." This was simply not the case. As the whistle-blower explained, while samples were recovered
that had been in contact with one or more chemicals containing a reactive chlorine atom, they could have come from multiple sources,
including household bleach. Moreover, there was insufficient evidence to show that the cylinders supposedly dropped onto Douma by
Syrian helicopters were the source of a chemical release.
Another claim in the official report, that "high levels" of chlorinate organic derivatives were detected at the site of the alleged
attack, was also false. According to the investigator, these chemicals were found in trace amounts as a low as 1–2 parts per billion.
The release of the email by WikiLeaks is only the latest episode in the unraveling of the official account, which began to come
apart almost as soon as the alleged gas attack was trumpeted in the bourgeois press, accompanied by unverified video footage of children
apparently suffering in a hospital.
Already in October 2018, the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media published the results of its
investigation into the incident, which found
that given the evidence presented by the OPCW, it was impossible to determine if a chemical attack had in fact taken place. Initial
claims by the US and France that nerve agent had been used had been dismissed out of hand by the OPCW.
Last May, an unpublished report authored by ballistics expert Ian Henderson, who led the OPCW's engineer sub-team in Douma, was
leaked . In it, Henderson raised serious
questions about the claim that the attack was carried out by chlorine cylinders dropped from the air, a claim that implicated Assad's
forces. Instead, Henderson's report concluded it was more likely that the two cylinders examined by investigators had been placed
in their positions, implying that the purported attack had been staged by the Islamist forces that controlled the area at the time
of the incident.
Last week, Jonathan Steele, former senior foreign correspondent for the Guardian ,
reported in Counterpunch on a briefing by an OPCW whistleblower known as Alex, who relayed an incident in July 2018 in
which dissenting experts were told in no uncertain terms at a meeting with three unidentified American officials that Syria was responsible
for the alleged chlorine gas attack in Douma.
The final OPCW report published in March of this year omits any quantitative analysis of the low levels of chlorinated organic
chemicals uncovered by investigators, undercutting the official claims of a chemical gas attack.
The annual conference of the OPCW begins today in The Hague, where the whistleblower who spoke to Steele hopes to raise concerns
about the Douma investigation, though there are no indications that the organizers will allow such a discussion.
In the course of the more than eight-year regime-change operation in Syria, during which the US and its allies have used various
Al Qaeda-linked Islamist militias as their proxy forces, one CIA-sponsored provocation after another has been used in an (unsuccessful)
attempt to stampede US public opinion behind the war. In 2013, a chemical gas attack in Eastern Ghouta was blamed on Assad and used
to justify the preparation of massive US air strikes, which were called off at the last minute by Obama. This incident was later
exposed by investigative reporter Seymour Hersh as the work of US-backed rebels acting with the support of Turkey.
The pseudo-left groups that have lined up behind the criminal US war in Syria and pushed for an even bigger bloodbath stand exposed.
The now defunct International Socialist Organization, which dissolved into the Democratic Party earlier this year, used its Socialist
Worker publication to promote the CIA-backed opposition and denounce anyone who opposed the US intervention as a stooge of the
bourgeois Assad government and "imperialist" Russia and Iran.
WikiLeak's critical role in bringing the investigator's damning email to light makes clear once again why its founder and publisher,
Julian Assange, is rotting away in England's maximum security Belmarsh prison, facing extradition to the United States and 175 years
in prison for exposing American war crimes in the Middle East. The US intelligence agencies and the entire political establishment,
Democrats and Republicans alike, intend with their persecution of Assange, condemned by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture
Nils Melzer as a form of torture, to put a permanent clamp on information about the crimes of US imperialism.
The US government, with its immense resources and vast intelligence apparatus, has not yet succeeded in shutting down one of the
most crucial resources in bringing before the public the truth about the operations of US and world imperialism. It is up to the
international working class, as a vital part of its struggle to defend its democratic and social rights, to come to the defense of
Assange as well as Chelsea Manning and demand their immediate release from prison and the dropping of all charges against them.
"There is a division in the US, whether this is genuine or not I do not know, but the US
seems divided between the warmongers team and the 'let get this clean up' team, I understand
the Dem party, CIA and part of the Pentagon favor more conflict with Syria, and clearly there
is anther group trying to get out of this mess, I see Trump playing all sides, but he is
trying, once more, to leave. The oil thing is BS, the US is pumping very low amount fo oil,
Russia said USD 30MM and recently the US says USD 40MM, which most of it is sold to the Syrian
Gov thru the SDC, the US is clearly trying to keep the SDC with some sort of money, a way for
them to pay the US for goods shipped to them weapons, it is that simple."
So, the looted oil is used to pay for weapons that were once freely provided it appears, and
then goes to the Syrian government. What a convoluted mess. Do please visit the site to read
all of Canthama's news and commentary!
From the point of view of election promise of detente with Russia, Trump clearly betrayed them. He was a neocon puppet
from the beginning to the end, His policy was not that different from hypothetical policy of Hillary administration.
Notable quotes:
"... Caitlin Johnstone discredits a CNN listicle on Trump's "softness" towards Moscow. In fact, she writes, the U.S. president has actually been consistently reckless towards Moscow, with zero resistance from either party. ..."
"... It would be understandable if you were unaware that Trump has been escalating tensions with Moscow more than any other president since the fall of the Berlin Wall; it's a fact that neither of America's two mainstream political factions care about, so it tends to get lost in the shuffle. Trump's opposition is interested in painting him as a sycophantic Kremlin crony, and his supporters are interested in painting him as an antiwar hero of the people, but he is neither ..."
"... Anyone who has not read Orwell's 1984 should do so sooner rather than later. The official control of narrative in the novel is what we are presently drowning in. To watch it work so spectacularly is beyond depressing. ..."
"... The complete corruption of Western MSM is the reason many of us regularly read Caitlin and Consortium, all desperately trying to get some sort of a reality-check in an otherwise "Orwellian" media environment. ..."
"... The simple truth here is that in regard to the military (read 'military complex', which includes the deep state and shadow government [intelligence agencies] every president is a puppet. ..."
"... The coup in Ukraine was a major provocation to Russia, but was also a repeat of the Americans' rape and pillaging of Russia under Yeltsin, Clinton's puppet. The per capita median income of Ukrainians has dropped in half from 2013, despite pumping $billions in from the US. ..."
"... Failing impeachment, from the attempts by the Clinton Campaign, to the Congressional sanctions on Russia, to sabotage of Syria withdrawal to the Mueller hoax, to the State Dept hawks protests on Ukraine, the effort to prevent Trump from following through on his campaign promise has been the primary goal of the intelligence community. It is instructive to note that the phone call that has led to the current impeachment inquiry was made on July 26, the day following Robert Mueller's clownish testimony before Congress, effectively ending that line of impeachment. ..."
"... Also note that although the phone call was made in July, nothing was said about it until after John Bolton was fired in September, 2 months later. ..."
Caitlin Johnstone discredits a CNN listicle on Trump's "softness" towards Moscow. In fact,
she writes, the U.S. president has actually been consistently reckless towards Moscow, with
zero resistance from either party.
CNN has published a fascinatingly manipulative and falsehood-laden article titled "
25 times Trump
was soft on Russia ," in which a lot of strained effort is poured into building the case
that the U.S. president is suspiciously loyal to the nation against which he has spent his
administration escalating dangerous new cold war aggressions.
The items within the CNN article consist mostly of times in which Trump said some words or
failed to say other words; "Trump has repeatedly praised Putin," "Trump refused to say Putin is
a killer," "Trump denied that Russia interfered in 2016," "Trump made light of Russian
hacking," etc. It also includes the
completely false but oft-repeated narrative
that "Trump's team softened the GOP platform on Ukraine", as well as the utterly ridiculous and thoroughly
invalidated claim that "Since intervening in Syria in 2015, the Russian military has
focused its airstrikes on anti-government rebels, not ISIS."
CNN's 25 items are made up almost entirely of narrative and words; Trump said a nice thing
about Putin, Trump said offending things to NATO allies, Trump thought about visiting Putin in
Russia, etc. In contrast, the 25 items which I am about to list do not consist of narrative at
all, but rather the actual movement of actual concrete objects which can easily lead to an
altercation from which there may be no re-emerging. These items show that when you ignore the
words and narrative spin and look at what this administration has actually been doing ,
it's clear to anyone with a shred of intellectual honesty that, far from being "soft" on
Russia, Trump has actually been consistently reckless in the one area where a US president must
absolutely always maintain a steady hand. And he's been doing so with zero resistance from
either party.
It would be understandable if you were unaware that Trump has been escalating tensions with
Moscow more than any other president since the fall of the Berlin Wall; it's a fact that
neither of America's two mainstream political factions care about, so it tends to get lost in
the shuffle. Trump's opposition is interested in painting him as a sycophantic Kremlin crony,
and his supporters are interested in painting him as an antiwar hero of the people, but he is
neither. Observe:
1. Implementing a Nuclear Posture Review with a more aggressive stance
toward Russia
Last year Trump's Department of Defense rolled out a Nuclear Posture Review which
CNN itself called "its toughest line yet against Russia's resurgent nuclear forces."
"In its newly released Nuclear Posture Review, the Defense Department has focused much of
its multibillion nuclear effort on an updated nuclear deterrence focused on Russia," CNN
reported last year.
This revision of nuclear policy includes the new implementation of
"low-yield" nuclear weapons , which, because they are designed to be more "usable" than
conventional nuclear ordinances,
have been called "the most dangerous weapon ever" by critics of this insane policy. These
weapons, which can remove some of the inhibitions that mutually assured destruction would
normally give military commanders, have already been rolled off the assembly line.
2.
Arming Ukraine
Lost in the gibberish about Trump temporarily withholding military aide to supposedly
pressure a Ukrainian government who was never even aware of being
pressured is the fact that arming Ukraine against Russia is an entirely new policy that was
introduced by
the Trump administration in the first place. Even the Obama administration, which was
plenty hawkish toward Russia in its own right, refused to implement this extremely provocative escalation
against Moscow. It was not until Obama was replaced with the worst Putin puppet of all time
that this policy was put in place.
3. Bombing Syria
Another escalation Trump took against Russia which Obama wasn't hawkish enough to also do
was bombing the Syrian government, a longtime ally of Moscow. These airstrikes in April 2017 and
April 2018 were perpetrated in retaliation for chemical weapons use allegations that there
is
no legitimate reason to trust at this point.
4. Staging coup attempts in
Venezuela
Venezuela, another Russian ally, has been the subject of relentless coup attempts
from the Trump administration which persist unsuccessfully to this very day .
Trump's attempts to topple the Venezuelan government have been so violent and aggressive that
the starvation sanctions which he has implemented are believed to have
killed tens of thousands of Venezuelan civilians .
"Signals coming from certain capitals indicating the possibility of external military
interference look particularly disquieting," the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "We warn
against such reckless actions, which threaten catastrophic consequences."
5. Withdrawing
from the INF treaty
For a president who's "soft" on Russia, Trump has sure been eager to keep postures between
the two nations extremely aggressive in nature. This administration has withdrawn from the 1987
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, prompting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to
declare that
"the world lost an invaluable brake on nuclear war." It appears entirely possible that Trump
will continue to adhere to the John Bolton school of nuclear weapons treaties until they all
lie in tatters, with the administration strongly criticizing the crucial New START
Treaty which expires in early 2021.
Some particularly demented Russiagaters try to argue that Trump withdrawing from these
treaties benefits Russia in some way. These people either (A) believe that treaties only go one
way, (B) believe that a nation with an economy the size of South
Korea can compete with the U.S. in an arms race, (C) believe that Russians are immune to
nuclear radiation, or (D) all of the above. Withdrawing from these treaties benefits no one but
the military-industrial complex.
6. Ending the Open Skies Treaty
"The Trump administration has taken steps toward leaving a nearly three-decade-old agreement
designed to reduce the risk of war between Russia and the West by allowing both sides to
conduct reconnaissance flights over one another's territories," The Wall Street Journalreported last month , adding that the
administration has alleged that "Russia has interfered with American monitoring flights while
using its missions to gather intelligence in the US."
Again, if you subscribe to the bizarre belief that withdrawing from this treaty benefits
Russia, please think harder. Or ask the Russians themselves how they feel about it:
"US plans to withdraw from the Open Skies Treaty lower the threshold for the use of nuclear
weapons and multiply the risks for the whole world, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai
Patrushev said," Sputnik
reports .
"All this negatively affects the predictability of the military-strategic situation and
lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, which drastically increases the risks for
the whole humanity," Patrushev said.
"In general, it is becoming apparent that Washington intends to use its technological
leadership in order to maintain strategic dominance in the information space by actually
pursuing a policy of imposing its conditions on states that are lagging behind in digital
development," he added.
7. Selling Patriot missiles to Poland
"Poland signed the largest arms procurement deal in its history on Wednesday, agreeing with
the United States to buy Raytheon Co's Patriot missile defense system for $4.75 billion in a
major step to modernize its forces against a bolder Russia," Reuters
reported last year .
8. Occupying Syrian oil fields
The Trump administration has been open about
the fact that it is not only maintaining a military presence in Syria to control the
nation's oil, but that it is doing so in order to deprive the
nation's government of that financial resource. Syria's ally Russia strongly opposes this,
accusing the Trump administration of nothing short of "international state banditry".
"In a statement, Russia's defense ministry said Washington had no mandate under
international or US law to increase its military presence in Syria and said its plan was not
motivated by genuine security concerns in the region," Reutersreported last
month.
"Therefore Washington's current actions – capturing and maintaining military control
over oil fields in eastern Syria – is, simply put, international state banditry,"
Russia's defense ministry said.
9. Killing Russians in Syria
Reports have placed Russian casualties anywhere between a handful and
hundreds , but whatever the exact number the U.S. military is known to have killed Russian
citizens as part of the Trump administration's ongoing Syria occupation in an altercation last
year.
exact number the U.S. military is known to have killed Russian citizens as part of the Trump
administration's ongoing Syria occupation in an altercation last year.
10. Tanks in
Estonia
Within weeks of taking office,
Trump was already sending Abrams battle tanks, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and other
military hardware right up to Russia's border as part of a NATO operation.
"Atlantic Resolve is a demonstration of continued US commitment to collective security
through a series of actions designed to reassure NATO allies and partners of America's
dedication to enduring peace and stability in the region in light of the Russian intervention
in Ukraine," the Defense Department said in a statement.
11. War ships in the Black
Sea
12. Sanctions
Trump approved new sanctions against Russia on August 2017. CNN reports the following:
"US President Donald Trump approved fresh sanctions on Russia Wednesday after Congress
showed overwhelming bipartisan support for the new measures," CNN reported at
the time . "Congress passed the bill last week in response to Russia's interference in the
2016 US election, as well as its human rights violations, annexation of Crimea and military
operations in eastern Ukraine. The bill's passage drew ire from Moscow -- which responded by
stripping 755 staff members and two properties from US missions in the country -- all but
crushing any hope for the reset in US-Russian relations that Trump and Russian President
Vladimir Putin had called for."
"A full-fledged trade war has been declared on Russia," said Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in
response.
13. More sanctions
"The United States imposed sanctions on five Russian individuals on Wednesday, including the
leader of the Republic of Chechnya, for alleged human rights abuses and involvement in criminal
conspiracies, a sign that the Trump administration is ratcheting up pressure on Russia," The
New York Timesreported in December
2017 .
14. Still more sanctions
"Trump just hit Russian oligarchs with the most aggressive sanctions yet," reads
a Vice headline from April of last year.
"The sanctions target seven oligarchs and 12 companies under their ownership or control, 17
senior Russian government officials, and a state-owned Russian weapons trading company and its
subsidiary, a Russian bank," Vice reports. "While the move is aimed, in part, at Russia's role
in the U.S. 2016 election, senior U.S. government officials also stressed that the new measures
seek to penalize Russia's recent bout of international troublemaking more broadly, including
its support for Syrian President Bashar Assad and military activity in eastern
Ukraine."
"The Trump administration on Thursday imposed new sanctions on a dozen individuals and
entities in response to Russia's annexation of Crimea," The Hill
reported in November of last year. "The group includes a company linked to Bank Rossiya and
Russian businessman Yuri Kovalchuk and others accused of operating in Crimea, which the U.S.
says Russia seized illegally in 2014."
17. Oh hey, more sanctions
"Today, the United States continues to take action in response to Russian attempts to
influence US democratic processes by imposing sanctions on four entities and seven individuals
associated with the Internet Research Agency and its financier, Yevgeniy Prigozhin. This action
increases pressure on Prigozhin by targeting his luxury assets, including three aircraft and a
vessel," reads
a statement by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from September of this year.
18.
Secondary sanctions
Secondary
sanctions are economic sanctions in which a third party is punished for breaching the
primary sanctions of the sanctioning body. The U.S. has leveled sanctions against both
China and
Turkey for
purchasing Russian S-400 air defense missiles, and it is
threatening to do so to India as well.
19. Forcing Russian media to register as
foreign agents
Both RT and
Sputnik have been forced to register as "foreign agents" by the Trump administration. This
classification forced the outlets to post a disclaimer on content, to report their activities
and funding sources to the Department of Justice twice a year, and could arguably place an unrealistic
burden on all their social media activities as it submits to DOJ micromanagement.
20.
Throwing out Russian diplomats
The Trump administration joined some 20 other nations in casting out scores of
Russian diplomats as an immediate response to the Skripal poisoning incident in the
U.K.
21. Training Polish and Latvian fighters "to resist Russian aggression"
"US Army Special Forces soldiers completed the first irregular and unconventional warfare
training iteration for members of the Polish Territorial Defense Forces and Latvian
Zemmessardze as a part of the Ridge Runner program in West Virginia, according to service
officials," Army Times
reported this past July.
"U.S. special operations forces have been training more with allies from the Baltic states
and other Eastern European nations in the wake of the annexation of Crimea by the Russian
Federation in 2014," Army Times writes. "A low-level conflict continues to simmer in
eastern Ukraine's Donbas region between Russian-backed separatists and government forces to
this day. The conflict spurred the Baltics into action, as Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
embraced the concepts of total defense and unconventional warfare, combining active-duty,
national guard and reserve-styled forces to each take on different missions to resist Russian
aggression and even occupation."
22. Refusal to recognize Crimea as part of the Russian
Federation
Key point: Trump agreed to send more forces to Poland to defend it against Russia.
What Happened: U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to deploy approximately 1,000 additional
U.S. troops to Poland during a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda on the sidelines of
the U.N. General Assembly in New York City, Reuters reported Sept. 23.
Why It Matters: The deal, which formalizes the United States' commitment to protecting
Poland from Russia, provides a diplomatic victory to Duda and his governing Law and Justice
ahead of November elections. The additional U.S. troops will likely prompt a reactive
military buildup from Moscow in places like neighboring Kaliningrad and, potentially,
Belarus.
24. Withdrawing from the Iran deal
Russia has been consistently opposed to Trump's destruction of the JCPOA. In a statement
after Trump killed the deal, the Russian Foreign Ministry said
it was "deeply disappointed by the decision of US President Donald Trump to unilaterally refuse
to carry out commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action", adding that this
administration's actions were "trampling on the norms of international law".
25.
Attacking Russian gas interests
Trump has been threatening Germany with sanctions and troop withdrawal if it continues to
support a gas pipeline from Russia called Nord Stream 2.
"Echoing previous threats about German support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Trump said
he's looking at sanctions to block the project he's warned would leave Berlin 'captive' to
Moscow," Bloomberg
reports . "The US also hopes to export its own liquefied natural gas to Germany."
"We're protecting Germany from Russia, and Russia is getting billions and billions of
dollars in money from Germany" for its gas, Trump told the press.
I could have kept going, but that's my 25. The only reason anyone still believes Trump is
anything other than insanely hawkish toward Russia is because it doesn't benefit anyone's
partisanship or profit margins to call it like it really is. The facts are right here as plain
as can be, but there's a difference between facts and narrative. If they wanted to, the
political/media class could very easily use the facts I just laid out to weave the narrative
that this president is imperiling us all with dangerous new cold war provocations, but that's
how different narrative is from fact; there's almost no connection. Instead they use a light
sprinkling of fact to weave a narrative that has very little to do with reality. And meanwhile
the insane escalations continue.
In a cold war, it only takes one miscommunication or one defective piece of equipment to set
off a chain of events that can obliterate all life on earth. The more things escalate, the
greater the probability of that happening. We're rolling the dice on Armageddon every single
day, and with every escalation the number we need to beat gets a bit harder.
We should not be rolling the dice on this. This is very, very wrong, and the U.S. and Russia
should stop and establish detente immediately. The fact that outlets like CNN would rather
diddle made-up Russiagate narratives than point to this obvious fact with truthful reporting is
in and of itself sufficient to discredit them all forever.
Our historians here seem to be forgetting the brutal takeover of Ukraine by the USSR in
the 50's, in which millions of Ukrainians were shot, raped, beaten and starved out, while
"ethnic Russians" moved in and took over. Kruschev didn't "give" Crimea away, he simply
transferred the administration thereof to the Soviet Republic of "the" Ukraine (a term
Ukranians have always decried as a way to make it seem as if Ukraine had always been a part
of the USSR). The "ethnic Russians" wouldn't have been there at all if the Soviets hadn't put
them there. That argument is the same one Hitler used as his excuse to annex Poland, and Polk
used to annex Texas. It's true Russia's self-interest (and well-founded fears of foreign
betrayal) have been largely ignored, but it's also disingenuous to ignore their murderous
20th-century imperialism. Just because we're not the good guys doesn't mean they are
either.
anon4d2 , November 20, 2019 at 18:12
Perhaps you forgot that the USSR actions in eastern Europe after WWII were in direct
response to the murder of 20 million Russians in WWII by the Nazi forces, attacking through E
Europe just as Napoleon had done. All US casualties in all its wars are less than five
percent of that, and 95 percent of Nazi division-months were spent in the USSR. On that front
they had nearly all of the casualties and did nearly all of the fighting. No wonder they were
a bit uncomfortable afterward with leaving open the favorite attack route of the west. What
would the US have done if a hundred times its WWII casualties were caused by two invasions
through (for example) Mexico? Would we have left the door open? Such circumstances cannot be
ignored. Starting one's version of history after the world's greatest provocation cannot be
said to clarify the history.
Toby McCrossin , November 21, 2019 at 02:56
"Our historians here seem to be forgetting the brutal takeover of Ukraine by the USSR in
the 50's"
Nice alternative facts. Ukraine was one of the original constituent republics of the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922!
" Kruschev didn't "give" Crimea away"
Huh? Crimea had been part of Russia since 1783. You know you can check this stuff yourself
using Google, right?
"The "ethnic Russians" wouldn't have been there at all if the Soviets hadn't put them
there."
Right, so the Soviets put the Russians in Crimea in 1783, 139 years before it was in
existence. I guess the Soviets mastered time travel.
I know reading's hard and all but you might wanna try it some time.
Jon Anderholm , November 20, 2019 at 02:22
An essential article by Caitlin .. Thanks so much .
Sam F , November 19, 2019 at 22:56
Another excellent article by Caitlin Johnstone.
Jeff G. , November 19, 2019 at 19:59
Given the laws of cause and effect, our nuclear missiles might as well be considered to be
pointed straight at ourselves. Like shooting at one's image in a mirror or joining in a
mutual suicide pact. Sheer insanity.
ranney , November 19, 2019 at 17:26
WONDERFUL article, Caitlin. You are so right! I agree with Alan Ross, you deserve an award
for this, and I hope this gets passed around for a wide readership.
Antonio Costa , November 19, 2019 at 15:14
When elected POTUS you are elected, no matter the campaign rhetoric, to take the reins of
the imperial empire.
Trump did that willingly, in fact to a fault given his "big mouth". He's no more nor less
dangerous than his predecessors. And like them, his is a mass of rhetorical contradictions.
Policy is all that should really matters. It is our only means of identifying some truth.
Trump knows what most here know regarding US invasions and assassinations. What he thinks
about any leader is anyone's guess (including his). For him it's all deal making as if it's
his private Trump Towers Enterprises. But in the end he's playing the chief gangsta role of
his like. (If you've ever listened to Sinatra at the Sands (the full concert), you'll hear
how Trump has mimicked the popular gangsta singer to the last "love ya baby ").
The media is not free. It is an arm of the national security state, with occasional
outages of truth telling, all the more to tell the big lies. It's purpose is to pacify and
repress any rebellions. Since the end of Vietnam it has succeeded. And here we are, never
knowing truth from lie. (I think of Obama as deceitful to the max, while Trump just tells
transparent lies so you don't know when he's actually telling a profound truth.)
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to
believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people
from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally
important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the
mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the
State."
-- Joseph Goebbels (was a German Nazi politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda of Nazi
Germany from 1933 to 1945)
Mark Thomason , November 19, 2019 at 14:22
We can go one step further than to say that Trump was reckless toward Russia, "with zero
resistance from either party."
Both parties demanded it. They approved it as "Presidential" whenever he did it, and
attacked him for any effort to be less reckless. They'd done the same to Obama, but Trump
proved weaker and more malleable.
Jeff Harrison , November 19, 2019 at 14:14
Verra nice peroration. I have two objections. One, I doubt that the people of the Donbass
are Russian backed in the same sense that the "moderate" rebel scum in Syria is US backed
with weapons, intelligence, and training but the people of the Donbass are ethnic Russians.
With a steady stream of anti-Russian legislation coming out of Kiev, I imagine they're
looking for an out. Putin is trying to get it for them without starting a war with Ukraine.
The real question that Washington has yet to address is what are they going to do if the
people of Ukraine notice that since they signed on to the neo-liberal dictates of Washington
and Brussels they've become the poorest nation in Europe. I know that there are a number of
Ukrainians who think wistfully of the days when they were part of Mother Russia. But you
never know, the CIA is notorious for its subversion and the Ukrainians might prove to be
spectacularly stupid. After all, they weren't doing badly until they let the US and EU foment
a coup for them.
And, two, "We should not be rolling the dice on this. This is very, very wrong, and the
U.S. and Russia should stop and establish detente immediately." While I agree with the
sentiment, don't bring Russia into this. Everything that Russia has done has been a reaction
to what is usually an American violation of international law. Putin has been very clear that
he wants to back off this cold war but he has also been very clear that we started it and
we're going to have to be the ones to start backing off.
David Hamilton , November 20, 2019 at 02:11
I absolutely agree with your number two reaction to Caitlin's suggestion that Russia and
the U.S. should stop it and establish detente immediately. Everything Russia's leadership is
doing is a reaction to American imperial dares to defy their law violations. They exhibit
extreme and principled restraint to the Orwellian madness emanating from this place.
I think it is important that this be understood. Russians have been used and abused once
before by American largesse in the form of Clinton's puppet's assistance in the rape of the
former Soviet Union by the Harvard-sponsored project. That was the one during the nineties
that privatized national industries and created a dozen neoliberal oligarchs. The cost was a
huge increase in death rate that lowered life expectancy into the 50's from 70 years I think.
Cynical foreign policy, isn't it?
Lois Gagnon , November 19, 2019 at 13:16
Anyone who has not read Orwell's 1984 should do so sooner rather than later. The official
control of narrative in the novel is what we are presently drowning in. To watch it work so
spectacularly is beyond depressing.
Many thanks to Caitlin Johnstone, Consortium News and all the others pushing back against
this system of perception management. I keep repeating it because it rings true. It's like
waking up in the Twilight Zone.
John Neal Spangler , November 19, 2019 at 12:44
She is right. CNN. MSNBC, NYT, and Wapo totally irresponsible. Fox not much better. So
many anti-Russian bigots in US
Jimmy gates , November 19, 2019 at 12:37
Thank you Caitlin. The neoliberals and neocons both desperately want a greatly intensified
cold war with Russia, but want it started by Trump ( because he is personally an
outsider).
This gives the Democrat and Republican donors contracts for the war machine. Ever since
Clinton administration moved NATO to the Russian border, the process has worked for the
oligarchs who control all US policies, foreign and domestic.
The complete corruption of Western MSM is the reason many of us regularly read Caitlin and
Consortium, all desperately trying to get some sort of a reality-check in an otherwise
"Orwellian" media environment.
For anyone who has been waiting for the publication of reporter Udo Ulfkotte's best
selling book (in Germany), a book based on his experience as a well respected journalist
whose reporting was completely compromised by Western intelligence services and business
interests, it is finally available in an English language edition. The English language
edition has been quite obviously suppressed for the last several years and the book was
published in 9 languages BEFORE this English edition became available. It is a book that is
well worth reading to better understand why literally NOTHING written by MSM should be
believed at face value, ever:
See:
I would urge anyone interested in buying this book to get it directly from the publisher-
Progressive Press. Amazon and other mega monopolies are a big part of our problems. Take the
time to make a few extra clicks and boycott Jeff Bezos.
Noah Way , November 19, 2019 at 10:58
The simple truth here is that in regard to the military (read 'military complex', which
includes the deep state and shadow government [intelligence agencies] every president is a
puppet. Nobel Peace Prize winner oBOMBa bombed 7 countries, overthrew Ukraine's democratic
government, invaded Syria, armed terrorists as proxy armies, authorized drone assassinations,
and bombed a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
The last president to resist the military complex? JFK
Caitlin Johnstone's list points to growing tensions with Russia. Failure of the political
and media establishment to see this makes the task of avoiding world war three all the more
difficult. In the West the end of the Cold War was seen as the dawn of peace. But the Cold
War was the peace, a post-world war environment: we are now in a pre-world war
environment.
Jimmy gates , November 19, 2019 at 12:45
The Democratic Party members have not " missed" anything that Trump has done. They will
not impeach him on those grounds, because they too are guilty of complicity in those war
crimes.
As Pelosi said regarding impeaching GWB for the torture program or invasion of Iraq and
Afghanistan " it's off the table". Because she was complicit.
Lois Gagnon , November 19, 2019 at 13:23
Russia did not illegally annex Crimea. A referendum was held and 90% of the voters voted
to rejoin Russia. Most people in Crimea are ethnic Russians and speak Russian. They were
understandably scared to death of what their fate would be under the rule of the fascists the
US installed in Ukraine.
And frankly, Russia had every right to protect its only warm water port in Sevastopol that
would have been taken over by NATO if Crimea had remained part of Ukraine. Too many Americans
have been indoctrinated in the belief that Russia has no legitimate self interest to
defend.
michael , November 19, 2019 at 18:22
In addition to what Lois Gagnon points out, you have to realize that the re-patriation of
Crimea to Russia in March 2014 was the direct result of Obama, Biden, Nuland et al
overthrowing the democratically elected President of Ukraine, Yanukovych, in the Maidan coup
in February, 2014, and replacing him with a neoNAZI regime. Russian speech was outlawed,
which has been the language of the majority of Crimea since Catherine the Great.
The coup in Ukraine was a major provocation to Russia, but was also a repeat of the
Americans' rape and pillaging of Russia under Yeltsin, Clinton's puppet. The per capita
median income of Ukrainians has dropped in half from 2013, despite pumping $billions in from
the US.
Jeff G. , November 19, 2019 at 20:25
Crimeans have an absolute right of self-determination as a fundamental human right under
established international law, just as the Kosovars did when we were supporting the breakup
of Serbia when Clinton was president. Ethnic Russians voted in an overwhelming majority in a
free and fair plebiscite to rejoin Russia, which they had been part of for centuries, because
the neo-Nazi US coup government allied with Azov battalions in Kyiv terrified them and they
wanted nothing further to do with them. Crimea had every right to decide. Russia did nothing
to interfere, not a bullet was fired. Russia's troops were already stationed in Crimea by
treaty and did not invade. Russia warned NATO against the Kosovo precedent that it would come
back to bite them someday, and it was ignored. NATO is unhappy because it was denied an
illegitimate geostrategic advantage they thought they would gain. Crimea is happy, so what's
the problem?
DH Fabian , November 19, 2019 at 21:08
"We," who? Regardless, the issues you raise can't be understood outside of their
historical context, and Americans never try to understand the world within that historical
context.
anon , November 19, 2019 at 22:54
Crimea was part of Russia for roughly 200 years before the USSR premier (Kruschev?) gave
it to Ukraine, although its inhabitants were nearly all of Russian heritage and language,
like E Ukraine. So not surprising that they wanted to go back to being part of Russia.
dean 1000 , November 20, 2019 at 19:26
Couldn't agree more Lois Gagnon. Washington did an illegal coup. Russia did a legal
annexation.
btw – The Autonomous Republic of Sevastopol on SW Crimea is no longer the only
ice-free port of the Russian Navy. Kaliningrad (on the Baltic sea) has been part of Russia
since 1945. Its deep ice-free harbor is the home port of Russia's Baltic fleet according to
the 2012 world book DVD.
Good one Caitlin. Again
jdd , November 19, 2019 at 09:51
This article properly puts to rest the absurd notion that President Trump is a "tool of
Putin, " and correctly notes that it has created a potentially disastrous situation.
However,
let's put the blame squarely where it belongs: on the Anglo/American led forces arrayed
against Trump from the moment he announced his intention to run on a platform of "getting
along" with Russia and joining with Putin to defeat ISIS.
Failing impeachment, from the
attempts by the Clinton Campaign, to the Congressional sanctions on Russia, to sabotage of
Syria withdrawal to the Mueller hoax, to the State Dept hawks protests on Ukraine, the effort
to prevent Trump from following through on his campaign promise has been the primary goal of
the intelligence community. It is instructive to note that the phone call that has led to the
current impeachment inquiry was made on July 26, the day following Robert Mueller's clownish
testimony before Congress, effectively ending that line of impeachment.
Nick , November 19, 2019 at 16:50
Also note that although the phone call was made in July, nothing was said about it until
after John Bolton was fired in September, 2 months later.
Alan Ross , November 19, 2019 at 09:47
This article alone deserves an award for public service. And in a more sensibly run world
Caitlin Johnstone would have gotten at least fifty such awards for past articles.
Assad
Goes Red Pill In Interview: Epstein, Bin Laden & Baghdadi 'Liquidated' As "They Knew Vital Secrets"
by
Tyler Durden
Fri, 11/15/2019 - 17:25
0
SHARES
In a wide-ranging new interview with Russia's
Rossiya-24
television on Thursday, Syrian
President Bashar al-Assad addressed the death of White Helmets founder James Le Mesurier, who had
been found dead Nov. 11 after an apparent fall from a three story high balcony outside his Istanbul
office.
Le Mesurier was a former British military intelligence officer and founder of the controversial
White Helmets group which Assad has
previously dubbed
the
'rescue force for al-Qaeda' and his reported suicide under mysterious circumstances is
still subject of an ongoing Turkish investigation. In an
unusual
and rare conversation
for a head of state, Assad compared Le Mesurier's death to the murky
circumstances surrounding the deaths of
Jeffry Epstein, Osama bin Laden and ISIS leader Abu
Bakr al-Baghdadi
.
Assad said what connects these men are that
they "knew major secrets"
and were
thus
"liquidated" by "intelligence services"
--
most likely the CIA
, in
the now viral interview picked up by
Newsweek
and
other mainstream outlets.
"American billionaire Jeffrey Epstein was killed several weeks ago, they said he had committed
suicide in jail," Assad said during the
Russian broadcaster interview
.
"However, he was killed because
he knew a lot of vital secrets connected with very
important people in the British and American regimes
, and possibly in other countries as
well."
"And now the main founder of the White Helmets has been killed, he was an officer and he had
worked his whole life with NATO in Afghanistan, Kosovo, Iraq and Lebanon," he explained.
"Both of us know that they [representatives of the White Helmets] are naturally part of Al
Qaeda.
I believe that these people, as well as the previously liquidated bin Laden and
al-Baghdadi had been killed chiefly because they knew major secrets.
They turned into a
burden once they had played out their roles. A dire need to do away with them surfaced after they
had fulfilled their roles," Assad continued.
Concerning White Helmet's founder Le Mesurier's death, he pointed to the CIA or an allied
intelligence service,
such
as Turkey's MIT
:
"Of course, this is the work of the secret services. But which secret service? When we talk
about Western secret services in general, about Turkish and some other ones in our region,
these are not the secret services of sovereign states, rather these are departments of
the main intelligence agency – the CIA
."
"It is quite possible that Turkish intelligence agencies did the job upon the instructions of
foreign intelligence services," he qualified.
The Syrian president then
speculated that
, "Possibly,
the founder of the White Helmets had been working on his
memoirs and on the biography of his life, and this was unacceptable
. This is an
assumption, but a very serious one, since other options don't sound convincing to me at the
moment."
Though Assad has done major media interviews routinely over the past years related to the now
eight-year long war out of which which he's come out on top,
this latest has already
received the most visibility, and is currently going viral
--
likely given the
immense public suspicion and doubts surrounding Epstein's jail cell death.
Even Newsweek weighed in,
commenting
: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad waded into the conspiracy theories around Jeffery
Epstein's suicide, saying the financier and convicted sex offender was murdered as part of a
Western plot to eliminate high-profile people who knew too much."
Trump, for all his faults, tells the truth often. Give the man
his due. He did a lot of work to expose the corruption of the
MSM as simply propaganda for the deep state (aka "fake news").
That alone is a legacy more lasting than any president I can
think of in my lifetime.
Prince Andrew interview has the convenience of "I do not recall "
ever meeting the underage girls I have my arm around in multiple
photos. What hope of justice do the plebs have
The deep state IS A REGIME...they disregard the constitution,
have total disdain for American citizens an compromise EVERYONE
in their path for control. That's a totalitarian regime.
Sputnik is reporting that the US has spent $6.4 Trillion fighting wars that have killed
800,000 since Sept 11/01, that number is unbelievable, at least 1,500,000 dead in Iraq,
250,000 in Afghanistan, 750,000 in Syria.
The US military budget alone has averaged about 650 billion since then, plus the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan were funded separately (around 200 million a year), plus CIA/ blackbook
projects - 7 or 8 trillion is a more likely number.
When things get blown up, no one really knows what was actually bought and existed and
what was just a phantom piece of equipment War has always been the ideal cover for
corruption
The guy that ran White Helmets just fell off his balcony and died this morning. aged
43.
Clearly murder I'd say. Plenty of motivation on all sides. Mass PR attempt to clean his
image I'd imagine. TV could be hard to watch for a few days. They'll pin it on the Russians
(or Chinese might be more modern).
Oddly enough I was wondering about the HK demonstrator that died falling from a 3rd floor
parking lot "escaping from those violent HK police - how convenient.
I don't think Le Mesurier "died", from natural causes, for example. Someone threw him off the
balcony of his apartment. His wife said he'd taken a sleeping tablet, but that doesn't
usually lead to sleepwalking. More likely one of his (Syrian) associates came (thus let into
the apartment), and betraying him, did the dirty.
According to the RT.com and Sputnik news reports on James le Mesurier's death, his wife only
found out after the police knocked on the front door and informed her.
So how did the police know and who informed them of the incident?
James le Mesurier and his wife had been living in a house in Istanbul's Beyoglu district
not far from the British consulate. Several European nations and Russia maintain consulates
in that district which historically has housed generations of European ambassadors to Ottoman
Turkey / Republic of Turkey since the 1500s at least and was a cosmopolitan area where
diplomats from various nations and Ottoman representatives exchanged news, gossip and
information, discussed culture and politics, and of course spied on one another.
One should not rule out the possibility that James le Mesurier might have died
accidentally from a combination of sleeping tablets, anti-depressant medication (oh dear, the
poor fellow, I wonder why???), alcohol and feeling dizzy up on the balcony during the night.
Equally one should not rule out the possibility that he was done in by his own
perfidious-Albion side. Let's wait for the Turkish coroner's report.
According to a report in Spuntnik Spanish, his own wife stated that he had been taking
psycothropic drugs lately, along with sleeping pills and anti-depressants...really a bad
combination...
It could well be that he kept for himself some of the Captagon shipped in industrial
quantities through Turskish border for his and US coalition´s "jihadists" for them to
slaughter better the Syrians...
Of course, knowing the historical record of the MI6, that this man was using such a
combination of psychotropic substances, could well end in him confessing his role in the
Syrian destruction once the smoke beggins to clear and the end of war, with its War Crime
Tribunals, unfailingly, comes...
Whatever the reason, Good Ridance!
Because of him and his government, hundreds of thousands of innocent and patriotic people
have died, the SAR has been reduced to dust, and the hugest wave of refugees since WWII has
taken place and still in the move, whose effects are mainly suffered by neighboring countries
in the ME, and parts of Europe, not precisely UK...
In the end, UK, if you watch attentively, has never been really part of Europe, it remains
an island shoring up to the West... which has always had more to do with the US than with any
other European nation...Indeed through centuries an enemy of Old European Empires...an allien
entity to the EU.
If they got with it leaving the EU, well, Good Ridance too, as they have always acted as the
Troy Horse of the US here, dynamiting as they could, through the US satraps, like Thatcher in
the past, and now Johnson, what of the welfare state so deservedly the working masses who
fought the past great war pressured to award themselves....
In the end pirates join pirates...as always have been...
FWIW, for now, I am not assuming that Le Mesurier is in fact dead at all.
In the Epstein case, people were readily prepared to consider a third option to the much
publicized "suicide or suicided" question. Why not in this case?
FUKUS would certainly not like the possibility of Le Mesurier being questioned or even
held resposible for some of the atrocious acts objectively ascribable to the White Helmets
goons. After all, the initial media hype about these crooked 'angels' is bound to be
overtaken by documented facts in the long run. At some point in time, too many impertinent
questions will be asked.
Whereas most common helmet wearers are relatively faceless goons that can easily be
dismissed as individual rogue elements gone off script or simply gotten rid of along the way
by means of "management by drone", unfortunate jihadi infighting or simple sacrifice unto the
Syrian army, Le Mesurier himself has a far too high profile and far too many implicating
connections to the imperial nerve centers and therefore represents a serious liability to his
controllers.
His disappearance from the public view should be considered rather convenient for some
players, including the Turks, who are, incidentally, managing the stage of his alleged death.
Nor is his wife a neutral witness.
"... Blumenthal writes, "When Defense Secretary James Mattis cited 'social media' in place of scientific evidence of a chemical attack in Duma, he was referring to video shot by members of the White Helmets. Similarly, when State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert sought to explain why the US bombed Syria before inspectors from the OPCW could produce a report from the ground, she claimed , 'We have our own intelligence.' With little else to offer, she was likely referring to social media material published by members of the White Helmets. " ..."
"... Weeks after the Douma incident, Russian officials brought fifteen people to The Hague said to have been present, including 11-year-old Hassan Diab who was seen in a widely-distributed White Helmets video receiving "emergency treatment" in a local hospital after the alleged incident. ..."
"... Also speaking at The Hague was Halil al-Jaish, an emergency worker who treated people at the Douma hospital the day of the attack - who said that while some patients did come in for respiratory problems, they were attributed to heavy dust, present in the air after recent airstrikes, but that nobody showed signs of chemical warfare poisoning . ..."
"... USAID = State Dept wing of CIA specializing in infiltration, developing HUMINT, and espionage. Anything secret in a free Republic is certainly criminal and of no benefit to its citizens. ..."
A former British army officer and military contractor who
founded the shadowy 'White Helmets'
has been found dead
near his home in Istanbul
, days after he was accused by
Russia of being a spy with "connections to terrorist groups."
The body of 43-year-old James Le Mesurier was found Monday in
the Beyoglu district of the city, with state-run Anadolu news
agency reporting that he may have
fallen to his death
.
The White Helmets, a roughly 3,000 member NGO formally known as
the Syrian Civil Defense, was established in Turkey in "late 2012
- early 2013" Le Mesurier trained an initial group of 20 Syrians.
The group then received funding from Le Mesurier's
Netherlands-based non-profit group,
Mayday Rescue
- which is in turn funded by grants
from the
Dutch, British, Danish and German governments
.
According to reporter and author
Max Blumenthal
, the White Helmets received at least $55
million from the British Foreign Office and $23 million from the
Agency for International Development. They have also received
millions from Qatar, which has backed several extremist groups in
Syria including Al Qaeda.
The US has provided at least
$32 million
to
the group - around 1/3 of their
total
funding
- through a USAID scheme
orchestrated by the
Obama State Department and routed overseas
using a
Washington D.C. contractor participating in USAID's
Syria regional program
, Chemonics.
According to their website,
the White Helmets have
been directly funded by Mayday Rescue, and a company called
Chemonics, since 2014
.
Yet there's evidence that
both of those
organizations started supporting the White Helmets back in
early 2013, right around the time the White Helmets claim to
have formed as self-organized groups
.
Mayday Rescue, as we said, is funded by the
Dutch,
British, Danish and German governments
. And Chemonics?
They are a Washington, D.C. based contractor that was
awarded $128.5 million in January 2013
to
support "a peaceful transition to a democratic and stable
Syria" as part of USAID's Syria regional program.
At
least $32 million has been given directly to the White Helmets
as of February 2018
. -
TruthInMedia
Notably, the
Trump administration
cut US funding
to the White Helmets last May
, placing
them under "
active review
."
While the White Helmets tout themselves as 'first responders',
the group has been accused of staging multiple chemical attacks -
including an
April 7 incident in Duma
, Syria which the White House
used as a pretext to bomb Syrian government facilities and bases.
Blumenthal writes,
"When Defense Secretary James
Mattis
cited
'social
media' in place of scientific evidence of a chemical attack in
Duma, he was referring to video shot by members of the White
Helmets.
Similarly, when State Department spokesperson
Heather Nauert sought to explain why the US bombed Syria before
inspectors from the OPCW could produce a report from the ground,
she
claimed
,
'We have our own intelligence.' With little else to offer, she was
likely referring to social media material published by members of
the White Helmets.
"
Days before Mesurier's death,
Russian foreign ministry
spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed he was a "former agent of
Britain's MI6, who had been spotted all around the world."
Weeks after the Douma incident, Russian officials brought
fifteen people to The Hague said to have been present,
including 11-year-old Hassan Diab who was seen in a
widely-distributed White Helmets video receiving "emergency
treatment" in a local hospital after the alleged incident.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/HWaG3cQGURc
"We were at the basement and we heard people shouting
that we needed to go to a hospital. We went through a tunnel. At
the hospital they started pouring cold water on me,
" said
Diab, who was featured in the video which Russia's ambassador to
the Netherlands says was staged.
Others present during the filming of Diab's hospital "cleanup"
by the White Helmets include hospital administrator Ahmad Kashoi,
who runs the emergency ward.
"
There were people unknown to us who were filming
the emergency care, they were filming the chaos taking place
inside, and were filming people being doused with water
.
The instruments they used to douse them with water were
originally used to clean the floors actually," Ahmad Kashoi, an
administrator of the emergency ward, recalled. "
That
happened for about an hour
, we provided help to them
and sent them home. No one has died. No one suffered from
chemical exposure." -
RT
Also speaking at The Hague was Halil al-Jaish, an emergency
worker who treated people at the Douma hospital the day of the
attack - who said that while some patients did come in for
respiratory problems, they were attributed to heavy dust, present
in the air after recent airstrikes, but that
nobody showed
signs of chemical warfare poisoning
.
According to the governor's office in Istanbul, "comprehensive
administrative and judicial investigations" have been initiated
into Le Mesurier's death.
Perhaps he fell after an Assad operative spiked his tea with
polonium, affecting his equilibrium. Whatever the case, it
wouldn't surprise us if this becomes a pretext to 'liberate'
Syria.
I am not saddened by his departure he was responsible for allot of
death and mayhem. It was a brilliant bit of spy craft however, total
propaganda, well funded and supported by more than one intelligence
agency. I did laugh at the puppy event where white helmets were
filmed saving puppies in a war zone, so fake as to make one doubt
they were seriously expecting people to believe it.
The effort was
so convincing that Canada allowed 200 of these (POS) terrorists to
immigrate as war heroes, jumping the Que and going strait to
citizenship..
The USA however continues to ban them from entry but sends money
regularly.
He set up the White Helmets propaganda and false flag unit?
Well I
guess it's good he is dead then. The world can certainly struggle on
without more propaganda.
Leaping off a balcony....now that may be something more to it that
that. The recent news about the OPCW rigging the gas attack reports
by omitting key information because of instruction from the US.
Perhaps his conscience got to him, or maybe someone (MI6) bumped
him off.
Britain has always got money for exacerbating the conflicts.
No
money for housing and schools but for creating chaos and destruction
elsewhere.
NGOs are always sus because they are not accountable to anyone
except their money men. This one was even a FAKE NGO because they'd
received money from government fed orgs.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a flurry of deaths related to current
and former British and US intel operatives. So many intel agencies,
so many grudges. Who is to blame?
"Rescuers"
evacuate victims from the "affected area" without gas masks and
protective suits (remember the ways sarin penetrates the body, how
such suits look like), while the same child is used to shoot several
scenes.
In the first (C) Reuters photo, a man carries a "dead" girl out of
a dilapidated building.
In the second photo in a different storyline, she is already carried
by a woman - the "rescuer" of the White Helmets.
The white helmets are KNOWN to have false-flagged the Syria gas
attacks. Its amazing how well established this fact is when
combined how many cult members believe it is a mere theory.
anyone who has supported the isis white helmets, including the media,
should be executed for treason. fvck the mass arrests, i'm fine with
cabal demons getting knocked off one by one, just like this mesurier
fvcker
USAID = State Dept wing of CIA specializing in infiltration,
developing HUMINT, and espionage. Anything secret in a free
Republic is certainly criminal and of no benefit to its citizens.
The fallout from the September attack on Saudi Arabia's Aramco oil facilities is continuing
to reverberate throughout the Middle East, sidelining old enmities -- sometimes for new ones --
and re-drawing traditional alliances. While Turkey's recent invasion of northern Syria is
grabbing the headlines, the bigger story may be that major regional players are contemplating
some historic re-alignments.
After years of bitter rivalry, the Saudis and the Iranians are considering how they can dial
down their mutual animosity. The formerly powerful Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) of Persian
Gulf monarchs is atomizing because Saudi Arabia is losing its grip. And Washington's former
domination of the region appears to be in decline.
Some of these developments are long-standing, pre-dating the cruise missile and drone
assault that knocked out 50 percent of Saudi Arabia's oil production. But the double shock --
Turkey's lunge into Syria and the September missile attack -- is accelerating these
changes.
Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran
Khan , recently flew to Iran and then on to Saudi Arabia to lobby for détente
between Teheran and Riyadh and to head off any possibility of hostilities between the two
countries. "What should never happen is a war," Khan said, "because this will not just affect
the whole region this will cause poverty in the world. Oil prices will go up."
According to Khan, both sides have agreed to talk, although the Yemen War is a stumbling
block. But there are straws in the wind on that front, too. A partial
ceasefire seems to be holding, and there are back channel talks going on between the
Houthis and the Saudis.
The Saudi intervention in Yemen's civil war was supposed to last three months, but it has
dragged on for over four years. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was to supply the ground troops
and the Saudis the airpower. But the Saudi-UAE alliance has made little progress against the
battle-hardened Houthis, who have been strengthened by defections from the regular Yemeni
army.
Air wars without supporting ground troops are almost always a failure, and they are very
expensive. The drain on the Saudi treasury is significant, and the country's wealth is not
bottomless.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is trying to shift the
Saudi economy from its overreliance on petroleum, but he needs outside money to do that and
he is not getting it. The Yemen War -- which, according to the United Nations is the worst
humanitarian disaster on the planet -- and the Prince's involvement with the murder and
dismemberment of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, has spooked many investors.
Without outside investment, the Saudi's have to use their oil revenues, but the price per
barrel is below what the Kingdom needs to fulfill its budget goals, and world demand is falling
off. The Chinese economy is slowing -- the trade war with the US has had an impact -- and
European growth is sluggish. There is a whiff of recession in the air, and that's bad news for
oil producers.
Riyadh is also losing allies. The UAE is negotiating with the Houthis and withdrawing their
troops, in part because the Abu Dhabi has different goals in Yemen than Saudi Arabia, and
because in any dustup with Iran, the UAE would be ground zero. US generals are fond of calling
the UAE "little
Sparta" because of its well trained army, but the operational word for Abu Dhabi is
"little": the Emirate's army can muster 20,000 troops, Iran can field more than 800,000
soldiers.
Saudi Arabia's goals in Yemen are to support the government-in-exile of President Rabho
Mansour Hadi, control its southern border and challenge Iran's support of the Houthis. The UAE,
on the other hand, is less concerned with the Houthis but quite focused on backing the
anti-Hadi Southern Transitional Council, which is trying to re-create south Yemen as a separate
country. North and south Yemen were merged in 1990, largely as a result of Saudi pressure, and
it has never been a comfortable marriage.
Riyadh has also lost its
grip on the Gulf Cooperation Council. Oman, Kuwait, and Qatar continue to trade with Iran
in spite of efforts by the Saudis to isolate Teheran,
The UAE and Saudi Arabia recently hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin, who pressed for
the 22-member Arab League to re-admit
Syria. GCC member Bahrain has already re-established diplomatic relations with Damascus.
Putin is pushing for a multilateral
security umbrella for the Middle East, which includes China.
"While Russia is a reliable ally, the US is not," Middle East scholar
Mark Katz told the South Asia Journal . And while many in the region have no love
for Syria's Assad, "they respect Vladimir Putin for sticking by Russia's ally."
The Arab League -- with the exception of
Qatar -- denounced the Turkish invasion and called for a withdrawal of Ankara's troops.
Qatar is currently being blockaded by Saudi Arabia and the UAE for pursuing an independent
foreign policy and backing a different horse in the Libyan civil war. Turkey is Qatar's main
ally.
Russia's 10-point agreement with Turkey on Syria has generally gone down well with Arab
League members, largely because the Turks agreed to respect Damascus's sovereignty
and eventually withdraw all troops. Of course, "eventually" is a shifty word, especially
because Turkey's goals
are hardly clear.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to drive the Syrian Kurds away from the Turkish
border and move millions of Syrian refugees into a strip of land some 19 miles deep and 275
miles wide. The Kurds may move out, but the Russian and Syrian military -- filling in the
vacuum left by President Trump's withdrawal of American forces -- have blocked the Turks from
holding more than the border and one deep enclave, certainly not one big enough to house
millions of refugees.
Erdogan's invasion is popular at home -- nationalism plays well with the Turkish population
and most Turks are unhappy with the Syrian refugees -- but for how long? The Turkish economy is
in trouble and invasions cost a lot of money. Ankara is using proxies for much of the fighting,
but without lots of Turkish support those proxies are no match for the Kurds -- let alone the
Syrian and Russian military.
That would mainly mean airpower, and Turkish airpower is restrained by the threat of Syrian
anti-aircraft and
Russian fighters , not to mention the fact that the Americans still control the airspace.
The Russians have deployed their latest fifth-generation stealth fighter, the SU-57, and a
number of MiG-29s and SU-27s, not planes the Turks would wish to tangle with. The Russians also
have their new mobile S-400 anti-aircraft system, and the Syrians have the older, but still
effective, S-300s.
In short, things could get really messy if Turkey decided to push their proxies or their
army into areas occupied by Russian or Syrian troops. There are reports of clashes in Syria's northeast and
casualties among the Kurds and Syrian Army, but a serious attempt to push the Russians and the
Syrians out seems questionable.
The goal of resettling refugees is unlikely to go anywhere. It will cost some
$53 billion to build an infrastructure and move two million refugees into Syria, money that
Turkey doesn't have. The European Union has made it clear it won't offer a nickel, and the UN
can't step in because the invasion is a violation of international law.
When those facts sink in, Erdogan might find that Turkish nationalism will not be enough to
support his Syrian adventure if it turns into an occupation.
The Middle East that is emerging from the current crisis may be very different than the one
that existed before those cruise missiles and drones tipped over the chessboard. The Yemen War
might finally end. Iran may, at least partly, break out of the political and economic blockade
that Saudi Arabia, the US and Israel has imposed on it. Syria's civil war will recede. And the
Americans, who have dominated the Middle East since 1945, will become simply one of several
international players in the region, along with China, Russia, India and the European
Union.
Mounting evidence shows that Turkey is now using rebel groups paid for by a $1 billion U.S.
taxpayer-funded program as its soldiers in a brutal war on the Kurdish-led forces in Syria --
which were also armed and trained by America.
U.S. officials are describing these militants as "thugs, bandits, and pirates" as the
Turkish-led Islamist forces are currently committing alleged war crimes against civilians and
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Northeast Syria. Ironically, the United States
armed many of these rebels as part of an effort to overthrow Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.
Critics say that there were warning signs along the way year after year. In fact,
Turkish-backed fighters recently videotaped themselves using
a U.S.-made anti-tank rocket against an SDF vehicle, perhaps itself supplied by the U.S.
military. "If a fighter was in a faction that received weapons from the CIA, and is still
fighting today -- and that's a big if -- he is most likely in the ranks of the Syrian National
Army," said Foreign Policy Research Institute Fellow Elizabeth Tsurkov, who has extensive
contacts with Syrian rebels.
Anti-Russia and anti-Iran hawks believe that the United States could have ended the could
have pre-empted the whole mess in Northeast Syria -- Turkey, the Kurds, ISIS, and all -- by
taking out Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Now that the window of opportunity has passed, and
as President Donald Trump doubles down on ending the "endless war" in Syria, anti-Assad hawks
have shifted their attention toward using U.S. power to pressure the Syrian dictator into
submission. But first, they have to clean up the image of the Syrian opposition.
At a US gov-funded think tank, this official who oversaw Congress' Syria Study Group outlines
the continued regime-change strategy. She says the US military "owned" 1/3rd of Syrian territory,
including its oil/wheat-rich region. And the US is trying to block reconstruction funds:
1191808201177604096
Notable quotes:
"... Trump is a total moron, but we owe him a great debt for bringing the Deep State out into the open. We also owe him a great debt for blatantly stealing Syria's oil. Trump's big problem is that he's too stupid to keep the secrets of the ruling-class. They will never again be able to deny the Deep State. And their "just" wars are all exactly what they always looked like: unadulterated criminal greed. It's just killing and stealing, no different from any other murderous, thieving criminal other than the massive scale of the killing and stealing. ..."
First, all the way back in 2005 -- more than a half decade before the war began -- CNN's
Christiane Amanpour told Assad to his face that regime change is coming . Thankfully this was
in a televised and archived interview, now for posterity to behold.
Amanpour, it must be remembered, was married to former US Assistant Secretary of State James
Rubin (until 2018), who further advised both President Obama and former Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton.
"Mr. President you know the rhetoric of regime change is headed towards you from the
United States... They're granting visas and visits to Syrian opposition politicians,"
Amanpour told Assad in a 2005 CNN
interview .
Next, a surprisingly blunt assessment of where Washington currently stands after eight years
of the failed push to oust Assad and influence the final outcome of the war, from the very man
who was among the early architects of America's covert "arm the jihadists to topple the
dictator" campaign .
Myself and others
long ago documented how former Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford worked with and funded a
Free Syrian Army commander who led ISIS suicide bombers into the battlefield in 2013.
Amb. Ford has since
admitted this much (that US proxy 'rebels' and ISIS worked together in the early years of
the war), and now admits defeat in the below recent interview as perhaps a reborn
'realist'.
And finally, not everyone is as pessimistic on the continuing prospects for yet more US-led
regime change future efforts as Robert Ford is above. Below is an astoundingly blunt
articulation of the next disturbing phase of US efforts in Syria , from an October 31
conference at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) .
"The panel featured the two co-chairs of the Syria Study Group , a bi-partisan working
group appointed by Congress to draft a new US war plan for Syria," The Grayzone's Ben Norton
wrote
of the below clip:
She made it a point to stress that this sovereign Syrian land "owned" by Washington also
happened to be "resource-rich," the "economic powerhouse of Syria, so where the hydrocarbons
are as well as the agricultural powerhouse."
With images
now circulating of Trump's "secure the oil" policy in effect, which has served to at least
force pro-interventionist warmongers to drop all high-minded humanitarian notions of "democracy
promotion" and "freedom" and R2P doctrine as descriptive of US motives in Syria, the above
blunt admissions of Dana Stroul , the Democratic
co-chair of the Syria Study Group, are ghastly and chilling in terms of what's next for the
suffering population of Syria.
We are "preventing reconstruction aid and technical expertise from going back into Syria,"
she stressed in her statement.
America is not finished, apparently, and it's likely to get a lot uglier than merely
seizing
the oil.
Hell, why doesn't America unleash nerve gas on Syria's population and get this shat-show
over with? Naturally, this will result in the loss to the international body parts market of
Syria's youngsters (videos of actual procedures upon screaming school-age kids are available
online), but America's shockingly-enabled Child Protective Services seems quite adept at
replacing that market sector.
"They're granting visas and visits to Syrian opposition politicians"
think there were any quid pro quos with those? of course that was ok; it only led to a
million dead in the mideast for the very short term advantage of the likud mossad, for which
anything, at all, from 9-11 to epstein, is permitted
Gooooooooo Russia! NATO are great at bombing farmers but they **** their panties when
another modern army drew a line in the sand and they retreated and dug in around the oil
fields.
That sounds very anti USA and it is! But I know the British are involved, I just do not
see the British Armed Forces as the British Armed Forces anymore they are just small players
in a USA fronted globalist force and this globalist force fights for the private wealth of a
few individuals?
**** that and **** you for your service to all NATO personnel since 9/11. Our armed forces
are the bad guys in this movie. Which oil/ore rich nation without a western run central bank
are NATO forces going to free the **** out of next? I was betting on Iran but it looks like
America is about to turn on South America soon, Venezuela looks like NATO want to free
it.
Christiane Amanpour - I wonder what she sees when she sees herself in the mirror.
'To die, to sleep – to sleep – perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub, for in
that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must
give us pause.'
likely to get a lot uglier than merely seizing the oil
Lost in their factionalist partisan bubble of rabid political gamesmanship, Merikans
continue to squabble over which of their talmudic puppet parties suffer more from imperial
over reach...
whilst serious war crimes committed by jihadis and their neo-islamist backers continue to
occur as a result of the WAR CRIMINAL IN CHIEFS' kowtowing to an oriental despot who has the
goods on Donnies' Debt Deal with turco-talmudic bagmen who did over his dirty real estate
laundry in return for having their own 'special genius' POTUS dancing on their strings!
Hundreds of thousands displaced, and more now on the run from rape n pillage gangsters due
to Dons' Deceitful Sellout of the ONLY group who took on the Daesh/ISIS and pounded their
pouty asses in to the desert sands. All to save his own chicken neck; And you wanna talk
about oil?
"I like oil - we're keeping the oil." OIL FOR BLOOD - BLOODY DON DRIMPF, THE JIHADIST CHEW
TOY!
Trump is a total moron, but we owe him a great debt for bringing the Deep State out
into the open. We also owe him a great debt for blatantly stealing Syria's oil. Trump's big
problem is that he's too stupid to keep the secrets of the ruling-class. They will never
again be able to deny the Deep State. And their "just" wars are all exactly what they always
looked like: unadulterated criminal greed. It's just killing and stealing, no different from
any other murderous, thieving criminal other than the massive scale of the killing and
stealing.
This twat wants to "hold the line on preventing reconstruction aid from going back to
Syria" ........ the Zionists love a failed state. Music to their creepy ears.
Syria is the last barrier that separates the civilization from the tsunami of evil. The
Syrian sovereignty and independence - however flawed - must be preserved at any cost.
Jews responsible for the whole of it. America cannot become a decent force in the world
without deposing its Jewish elite and removing their power, reach and influence.
I lived under communism for 21 years. For the first 11 or so years, we only had one TV
channel, which was kinda 50/50: fifty percent government propaganda, fifty percent
government-approved forms of entertainment. Some 11 years later, we got another channel,
which was mostly movies and assorted entertainment, with bits and pieces of Big Brother
presence tossed in for good measure.
Still, I found the official news credible in one sense: you knew that these guys were full
of **** and lying through the teeth so you could always reconstruct the truth by placing
their news coverage on its head. It never failed. It worked like a charm.
Now, I have some 600+ channels worth of pure brainwash in every shape, shade and nuance of
mind control. It is impossible to even think of reconstituting some semblance of objective
reality from the fake media coverage. All you get is one gigantic funhouse, the house of
horrors, the lunatic asylum on steroids. The only way to stay sane is to steer clear and as
far away from the insanity as possible. You did the right thing, in fact the only possible
thing.
The Washington Institute -- founded by Barbi Weinberg and first led by the former deputy
director of research for AIPAC. Democrat, Republican--all the same to these 'think
tanks'.
The US openly occupies parts of Syria, boasts of taking it resources and supported the
attempts of the Kurds to set up their own little state, until the Turks blew a hissy fit.
And
yet it has the gall to call out what Russia does in the Ukraine as a breach of international
law.
Random pick from the only comment by Pave Way IV. But triggering something on my mind.
CENTCOM strategy seems to be protect ISIS and help them kill Syrian soldiers,
while coalition jets destroy as much Syrian civilian and commercial infrastructure as humanly
possible around Deir EzZor.
I wouldn't mind someone to take a closer look at one specific 'point' versus its
'counterpoint', or aligned diverse narration variants plus the respectively supporting
evidence. Maybe the author wouldn't be a bad choice. ;)
In a nutshell:
a) (point) Assad more or less deliberately created Isis by releasing a series of Islamists
from prison in 2011.
b) (counterpoint) the US supports both AQ and Isis indirectly somewhat following earlier
US strategies at ME regime change.
"a" seems to be the dominating narrative on our media over here too. No surprise there. It
also surfaced in an article by Omar Kassem on CounterPunch linked here a couple of days ago,
if I recall correctly.
Am I to believe that releasing a couple of Islamist from prison, -- how many anyway -- had
a bigger impact on the genesis of Isis than the mishandling of the Iraqi transition and
Occupation. After a war that should never have happened to start with?
US military commanders overseeing Syria operations are still waiting for precise
battlefield orders from the White House and Pentagon on their exact mission to protect
oilfields in eastern Syria, according to a defense official directly familiar with the
matter.
Nearly three weeks after President Donald Trump ordered troops out of northern Syria,
publicly declaring he was taking "control" of the oil and sending troops and armored carriers
to protect it from ISIS, US commanders lack clarity on the most basic aspects of their
mission, including how and when troops can fire their weapons and what, exactly, that mission
is.
The lack of precise orders means troops are on the ground while critical details are still
being worked out -- exactly where they will go, when and how they will stay on small bases in
the area, and when they go on patrol.
Perhaps most crucially, there is no clarity about exactly who they are operating against
in the oilfields.
Everything the Trump administration has done in Syria has been horribly confused, so it
makes sense that the latest version of the policy would be baffling to our own troops. U.S.
commanders lack clarity about the mission because it was cooked up to appeal to the president's
desire for plundering other countries' resources. It was thrown together on the spur of the
moment as an excuse to keep U.S. troops in Syria no matter what, and now those troops are stuck
there with no instructions and no idea what they are expected to do. This is the worst kind of
unnecessary military mission, because it is being carried out simply to keep a U.S. foothold in
Syria for its own sake. The "critical details" aren't being worked out so much as a plausible
justification after the fact is being conjured out of thin air. There is no reason for these
troops to be there, and there is nothing that they can do there legally, but the administration
will come up with some bad argument to keep them there anyway.
Meanwhile, Trump is very proud of his clownish, illegal Syria policy:
Trump labors under the delusion that the oil is ours to "distribute." which everyone else
knows to be false. The oil belongs to the Syrian government, and that oil can't be sold and
revenues from those sales cannot be used without the permission of the government that owns it.
Syria's oil resources are not that great, and the infrastructure of many of the fields has been
damaged or destroyed, so if it were legal to loot the spoils there wouldn't be very much to
loot. The president thinks that seizing Syrian oil is worth boasting about, but in reality it
is one of the most absurd and indefensible reasons for deploying troops abroad. In addition to
damaging the country's international standing with allied and friendly governments with this
open thievery, Trump's "take the oil" fixation is a propaganda coup for hostile governments and
groups. As Paul Pillar pointed out last week, it plays into the
hands of jihadist groups and aids them in their recruitment:
Trump's Sunday appearance before the press played right into this theme. Referring back to
the Iraq War, Trump described as his own view at the time that if the United States was going
into Iraq, it should "keep the oil." As for Syria's oil, he said it can help the Kurds but
"it can help us because we should be able to take some also. And what I intend to do,
perhaps, is make a deal with an Exxon Mobil or one of our great companies to go in there and
do it properly." A propagandist for ISIS or al-Qaeda would hardly have written the script
differently.
Keeping troops in Syria to "take the oil" is divorced from genuine American security
interests just like any other unnecessary military intervention. The president is exposing U.S.
military personnel to unnecessary risk, and he is also putting them in legal jeopardy by
ordering them to commit what is essentially the war crime of pillaging. The president has
managed to take a Syria policy that was already incoherent and chaotic and he has made it even
worse.
The US openly occupies parts of Syria, boasts of taking it resources and supported the
attempts of the Kurds to set up their own little state, until the Turks blew a hissy fit.
And yet it has the gall to call out what Russia does in the Ukraine as a breach of
international law.
Good article by Scott Ritter, former US army officer and senior U.N. weapons of mass
destruction inspector, about how Syrians especially, but all of us owe a huge thank you to
Russia for saving us from the horrors that would've come in wider wars if not for Russia's
intervention.
"... Washington's basic purpose in deploying the US forces in oil and natural gas fields of Deir al-Zor governorate is to deny the valuable source of income to its other main rival in the region, Damascus. ..."
Before the evacuation of 1,000 American troops from northern
Syria to western Iraq, the Pentagon had 2,000 US forces in Syria.
After the drawdown of US
troops at Erdogan's insistence in order for Ankara to mount a ground offensive in northern Syria,
the US has still deployed 1,000 troops, mainly in oil-rich eastern Deir al-Zor province and
at al-Tanf military base.
Al-Tanf military base is strategically located in southeastern Syria on the border between Syria,
Iraq and Jordan, and it straddles on a critically important Damascus-Baghdad highway, which
serves as a lifeline for Damascus.
Washington has illegally occupied 55-kilometer area around
al-Tanf since 2016, and several hundred US Marines have trained several Syrian militant groups there.
It's worth noting that rather than fighting the Islamic State, the purpose of continued presence
of the US forces at al-Tanf military base is to address Israel's concerns regarding the expansion of
Iran's influence in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
Regarding the oil- and natural gas-rich Deir al-Zor governorate, it's worth pointing out
that Syria used to produce modest quantities of oil for domestic needs before the war – roughly 400,000
barrels per day, which isn't much compared to tens of millions barrels daily oil production in the
Gulf states.
Although Donald Trump crowed in a characteristic blunt manner in a tweet after the withdrawal of
1,000 American troops from northern Syria that Washington had deployed forces in eastern Syria where
there was oil,
the purpose of exercising control over Syria's oil is neither to smuggle oil
out of Syria nor to deny the valuable source of revenue to the Islamic State.
There is no denying the fact that the remnants of the Islamic State militants are still found in
Syria and Iraq but its emirate has been completely dismantled in the region and its leadership is on
the run. So much so that the fugitive caliph of the terrorist organization was killed in the bastion
of a rival jihadist outfit, al-Nusra Front in Idlib, hundreds of kilometers away from the Islamic State
strongholds in eastern Syria.
Much like the "scorched earth" battle strategy of medieval warlords – as in the case of the Islamic
State which early in the year burned crops of local farmers while retreating from its former strongholds
in eastern Syria –
Washington's basic purpose in deploying the US forces in oil and
natural gas fields of Deir al-Zor governorate is to deny the valuable source of income to its other
main rival in the region, Damascus.
After the devastation caused by eight years of proxy war, the Syrian government is in dire need
of tens of billions dollars international assistance to rebuild the country. Not only is Washington
hampering efforts to provide international aid to the hapless country, it is in fact squatting over
Syria's own resources with the help of its only ally in the region, the Kurds.
Although Donald Trump claimed credit for expropriating Syria's oil wealth, it bears mentioning
that "scorched earth" policy is not a business strategy, it is the institutional logic of the deep
state.
President Trump is known to be a businessman and at least ostensibly follows a non-interventionist
ideology; being a novice in the craft of international diplomacy, however, he has time and again been
misled by the Pentagon and Washington's national security establishment.
Regarding Washington's interest in propping up the Gulf's autocrats and fighting their wars in regional
conflicts, it bears mentioning that in April 2016, the Saudi foreign minister
threatened
that the Saudi kingdom would sell up to $750 billion in treasury securities and other
assets if the US Congress passed a bill that would allow Americans to sue the Saudi government in the
United States courts for its role in the September 11, 2001 terror attack – though the bill was eventually
passed, Saudi authorities have not been held accountable; even though 15 out of 19 9/11 hijackers were
Saudi nationals.
Moreover, $750 billion is only the Saudi investment in the United States, if we add its investment
in Western Europe and the investments of UAE, Kuwait and Qatar in the Western economies, the sum total
would amount to trillions of dollars of Gulf's investments in North America and Western Europe.
Furthermore, in order to bring home the significance of the Persian Gulf's oil in the energy-starved
industrialized world, here are a few stats from the OPEC data:
Saudi Arabia has the world's
largest proven crude oil reserves of 265 billion barrels and its daily oil production exceeds 10 million
barrels; Iran and Iraq, each, has 150 billion barrels reserves and has the capacity to produce 5 million
barrels per day, each; while UAE and Kuwait, each, has 100 billion barrels reserves and produces 3
million barrels per day, each; thus, all the littoral states of the Persian Gulf, together, hold 788
billion barrels, more than half of world's 1477 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
No wonder then, 36,000 United States troops have currently been deployed in their numerous military
bases and aircraft carriers in the oil-rich Persian Gulf in accordance with the Carter Doctrine of
1980, which states: "Let our position be absolutely clear: an attempt by any outside force to gain
control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United
States of America, and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military
force."
Additionally, regarding the Western defense production industry's sales of arms to the Gulf Arab
States,
a report
authored
by William Hartung of the US-based Center for International Policy found that the Obama administration
had offered Saudi Arabia more than $115 billion in weapons, military equipment and training during
its eight-year tenure.
Similarly, the top items in Trump's agenda for his maiden visit to Saudi Arabia in May 2017 were:
firstly, he threw his weight behind the idea of the Saudi-led "Arab NATO" to counter Iran's influence
in the region; and secondly, he announced an unprecedented arms package for Saudi Arabia. The package
included between $98 billion and $128 billion in arms sales.
Therefore, keeping the economic dependence of the Western countries on the Gulf Arab States in mind,
during the times of global recession when most of manufacturing has been outsourced to China, it is
not surprising that when the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia decided to provide training and arms
to the Islamic jihadists in the border regions of Turkey and Jordan against the government of Bashar
al-Assad in Syria, the Obama administration was left with no other choice but to toe the destructive
policy of its regional Middle Eastern allies, despite the sectarian nature of the proxy war and its
attendant consequences of breeding a new generation of Islamic jihadists who would become a long-term
security risk not only to the Middle East but to the Western countries, as well.
Similarly, when King Abdullah's successor King Salman decided, on the whim of the Crown Prince Mohammad
bin Salman, to invade Yemen in March 2015, once again the Obama administration had to yield to the
dictates of Saudi Arabia and UAE by fully coordinating the Gulf-led military campaign in Yemen not
only by providing intelligence, planning and logistical support but also by selling billions of dollars'
worth of arms and ammunition to the Gulf Arab States during the conflict.
In this reciprocal relationship, the US provides security to the ruling families of the Gulf Arab
states by providing weapons and troops; and in return, the Gulf's petro-sheikhs contribute substantial
investments to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars to the Western economies.
Regarding the Pax Americana which is the reality of the contemporary neocolonial order,
according to a January 2017
infographic
by the New York Times, 210,000 US military personnel were stationed all over the world,
including 79,000 in Europe, 45,000 in Japan, 28,500 in South Korea and 36,000 in the Middle East.
Although Donald Trump keeps complaining that NATO must share the cost of deployment of US troops,
particularly in Europe where 47,000 American troops are stationed in Germany since the end of the Second
World War, 15,000 in Italy and 8,000 in the United Kingdom, fact of the matter is that the cost is
already shared between Washington and host countries.
Roughly, European countries pay one-third of the cost for maintaining US military bases in Europe
whereas Washington chips in the remaining two-third. In the Far Eastern countries, 75% of the cost
for the deployment of American troops is shared by Japan and the remaining 25% by Washington, and in
South Korea, 40% cost is shared by the host country and the US contributes the remaining 60%.
Whereas the oil-rich Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) – Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Qatar – pay
two-third of the cost for maintaining 36,000 US troops in the Persian Gulf where more than half of
world's proven oil reserves are located and Washington contributes the remaining one-third.
* * *
Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based attorney, columnist and geopolitical analyst focused on the
politics of Af-Pak and Middle East regions, neocolonialism and petro-imperialism.
I am always amazed (and amused) at
how much smarter "journalists" are
than POTUS. If ONLY Mr. Trump would
read more and listen to those who
OBVIOUSLY are sooo much smarter!!!!
Maybe then he wouldn't be cowed and
bullied by Erdogan, Xi, Jung-on,
Trudeau (OK so maybe that one was
too far fetched) to name a few.
Please note the sarcasm. Do I really
need to go in to the success after
success Mr. Trump's foreign policy
has enjoyed? Come on Man.
What a load of BOLOCKS...The ONLY, I
mean The Real and True Reason for
American Armored presence is one
thing,,,,,,,Ready for IT ? ? ? To
Steal as much OIL as Possible, AND
convert the Booty into Currency,
Diamonds or some other intrinsically
valuable commodity, Millions of
Dollars at a Time......17 Years of
Shadows and Ghost Trucks and Tankers
Loading and Off-Loading the Black
Gold...this is what its all
about......M-O-N-E-Y....... Say It
With Me.... Mon-nee, Money Money
Mo_on_ne_e_ey, ......
From the sale of US oil in Syria
receive 30 million. dollars per
month. Image losses are immeasurably
greater. The United States put the
United States as a robbery bandit.
This is American democracy. The
longer the troops are in Syria, the
more countries will switch to
settlements in national currencies.
"Our interests", "strategic
interests" is always about money,
just a euphemism so it doesn't
look as greedy as it is. Another
euphemism is "security' ,meaning
war preparations.
...The military power of the USA
put directly in the service of "the
original TM" PIRATE STATE.
U are
the man Norm! But wait... now things
get a little hazy... in the
classic... 'alt0media fake
storyline' fashion!
"President Trump is known to be a
businessman and at least ostensibly
follows a non-interventionist
ideology; being a novice in the
craft of international diplomacy,
however, he has time and again been
misled by the Pentagon and
Washington's national security
establishment."
Awww! Poor "DUmb as Rocks
Donnie" done been fooled agin!
...In the USA... the military men
are stirring at last... having been
made all too aware that their
putative 'boss' has been operating
on behalf of foreign powers ever
since being [s]elected, that the
State Dept of the once Great
Republic has been in active cahoots
with the jihadis ...
and that those who were sent over
there to fight against the
headchoppers discovered that the
only straight shooters in the whole
mess turned out to be the Kurds who
AGENT FRIMpf THREW UNDER THE BUS
ON INSTRUCTIONS FROM JIHADI HQ!
Arguably some of the most significant events since the eight-year long war's start have played out in Syria with rapid pace over
just the last month alone, including Turkey's military incursion in the north, the US pullback from the border and into Syria's oil
fields, the Kurdish-led SDF&# deal making with Damascus, and the death of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. All of this is why a
televised interview with Presiden39;st Bashar Assad was highly anticipated at the end of this week.
Assad's commentary on the latest White House policy to "secure the oil" in Syria, for which US troops have already been redeployed
to some of the largest oil fields in the Deir Ezzor region, was the biggest pressing question. The Syrian president's response was
unexpected and is now driving headlines, given what he said directly about Trump, calling him the "best American president" ever
– because he's the "most transparent."
"When it comes to Trump you may ask me a question and I'll give you an answer which might seem strange. I tell you he's the best
American president," Assad said, according to a
translation provided by NBC.
"Why? Not because his policies are good, but because he is the most transparent president," Assad continued.
"All American presidents commit crimes and end up taking the Nobel Prize and appear as a defender of human rights and the 'unique'
and 'brilliant' American or Western principles. But all they are is a group of criminals who only represent the interests of the
American lobbies of large corporations in weapons, oil and others," he added.
"Trump speaks with the transparency to say 'We want the oil'." Assad's unique approach to an 'enemy' head of state which has just
ordered the seizure of Syrian national resources also comes after in prior years the US president called Assad "our enemy" and an
"animal."
Trump tweeted in April 2018 after
a new chemical attack allegation had surfaced: "If President Obama had crossed his stated Red Line In The Sand, the Syrian disaster
would have ended long ago! Animal Assad would have been history!"
A number of mainstream outlets commenting on Assad's interview falsely presented it as "praise" of Trump or that Assad thinks
"highly" of him; however,
it appears the Syrian leader was merely presenting Trump's policy statements from a 'realist' perspective , contrasting them from
the misleading 'humanitarian' motives typical of Washington's rhetoric about itself.
That is, Damascus sees US actions in the Middle East as motivated fundamentally by naked imperial ambition, a constant prior theme
of Assad's speeches , across administrations, whether US leadership dresses it up as 'democracy promotion' or in humanitarian terms
characteristic of liberal interventionism. As Assad described, Trump seems to skip dressing up his rhetoric in moralistic idealism
altogether, content to just unapologetically admit the ugly reality of US foreign policy.
I see Americans keep calling Assad and Putin a ''dictator'' Hey, jackasses, they were ELECTED in elections far less corrupt than what you have in the USSA
Assad is a very eloquent speaker. Witty, sharp and always calm when speaking with decadent press. Of course the MSM understood
what he DID mean, but they cannot help themselves, but parse anything to try hurting Trump.
If true. It means the Vatican (the oldest most important money there is) like Saudi Arabia and the UAE sure do seem to care
about stuff like purchasing power in their "portfolios" and a "store of value"?...
I see lots of EU participants taking their money to Moscow as well with that Arctic bonanza that says "come hither" if you
want your money to be worth something!!!
It's always been about oil. Spreading Freedumb, Dumbocracy and Western values, is PR spiel. The reality is, the West are scammers,
plunderers and outright thieves. Forget the billions Shell Oil, is holding for the Biafran people/region in Nigeria, which it
won't give to either the Bianfran states in the east, nor the Nigerian government, dating back to the secessionist state of Biafra/Nigerian civil war 1967-70. The west are nothing more than gang-bangers, but on the world stage.
Yet the department for trade and industry is scratching its head, wondering why their are so few takers for a post-Brexit trade
deal with the UK, where the honest UK courts have the final say? lol
Too bad it is political suicide for an American president to try to establish communication with Assad. He seems like a pretty
practical guy and who knows, it might be possible to work out a peaceful settlement with him.
economic warfare on the syrian civlian population through illegal confiscation of vital civilian economic assets, and as conducted
in venezeula, is called ________________
Assad is saying where before the UKK was a masked thief, with Trompas and his egotism alias exceptionalism, has not bothered
withthe mask. He is still a murderer and thief.
Now Assad has some idea why Trump is so popular with his base, they love him for not being politically correct, for "telling
it like it is". He's like the wolf looking at the sheep and telling them he's going to eat them and the sheep cheering because
he's not being a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Unfortunately in the case of Trump's sheeple, they don't even have a clue they're going to be eaten, the Trumptards all think
he's going to eat someone else like the "deep state" or the "dumbocrats". Meanwhile he's chewing away at their health care, their
export markets, piling up record deficits, handing the tax gold to the rich and corporations while they get the shaft, taking
away program after program that aided students, the poor, and the elderly, appointing lobbyists to dismantle or corrupt departments
they used to lobby against, and in general destroying the international good will that it's taken decades to build.
Good historical rundown of
Uncle Sam's blatant theft of resources in Syria .. has historical precedent too I believe;
the wars in Southeast Asia (the golden triangle and the drug trade). Afghanistan (heroin and
the poppies); imagine, we come and destroy your country and then steal your resources in the
aftermath. Sickening
@joost #33 I like to think that Trump's saying that the US army are going to steal Syria's
oil is very much the same strategy. What better way to turn world opinion against US
occupation of Syria?
Good historical rundown of
Uncle Sam's blatant theft of resources in Syria .. has historical precedent too I believe;
the wars in southeast asia (the golden triangle and the drug trade). Afghanistan (heroin and
the poppies); imagine, we come and destroy your country and then steal your resources in the
aftermath. Sickening
@49 Tim Glover. Exactly, imagine Obama saying that. Trump seems to have a habit of using
reverse psychology on people. This strategy works very well when nobody likes you and you
have the power of Twitter at your disposal.
People tend to overestimate the power of the US president. Every one of them, being democrat
or republican, gets assimilated by the borg. Resistance is futile, unless you are perceived
to be an idiot and do just enough to please your overlords. The Borg likes what he says, "we
are there for the oil" and they are getting reckless, exposing themselves for what they are.
Group think distorts perception and that is their weak spot. The borg will get more open
about their crimes and their true intentions. This breaks global support for the petrodollar
and that will be the end of the "outlaw" US empire.
I am surprised that I've not seen any commentary regarding the US's announcement that they
will continue to steal Syria's oil, and more importantly what anyone - Syria, Russia or
anyone else - might do about this blatant crime.
Clearly this challenges Syria's sovereignty as well as Russia's declared aim to restore
Syrian territory in full.
Any thoughts how this situation might evolve? IMO Russia has to remain a facilitator
rather than an actor. A "no-fly zone" enforced by Syrians and SAA ground troops?
Stripes: Carolina Army Guard troops move into eastern Syria with Bradley Fighting Vehicles
WASHINGTON – National Guard members from North and South Carolina began moving into
eastern Syria with heavy armored vehicles on Thursday as part of the Pentagon's new mission
to secure oil fields wrestled from the Islamic State, a military spokesman said.
Soldiers with the North Carolina-based 4th Battalion, 118th Infantry Regiment and the
South Carolina-based 218th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade were deployed to Deir al-Zour to
protect American-held oil fields around that city, Army Col. Myles Caggins, the spokesmen
for the U.S.-led anti-ISIS mission known as Operation Inherent Resolve, tweeted Thursday.
Caggins' tweet included photos of soldiers loading M2A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles onto Air
Force C-17 Globemaster cargo jets to be used on the mission. . . .
For now, the new deployment will not include M1 Abrams tanks, the Pentagon official said
Thursday.
here
Why use regulars when we can call up the National Guard?
US hold on the oilfields depends mostly on Iraq. The oilfields of Deir Ezzor are in open
country with few towns and apart from the Euphrates flood plain is sparsely populated.
The only cover for guerrilla style attacks against US or its proxies on the oilfields will
be the occasional dust storm.
Apart from Iraq, syria setting up S-300 at deir Ezzor and taking control of the airspace
would also be a game changer but this may not happen.
Lebanon and Iraq are both undergoing US color revolutions at the moment so its a matter of
waiting for the dust to settle on both these moves to see where US is positioned in the
region.
Yet the US military is overwhelmingly the #1 most trusted US institution among Americans,
despite it forcibly wasting their hard earned money to kill tens of millions of innocents
abroad. At the same time the US is also filled to the brim with draft dodgers.
If anybody thinks Bolton and his chickenhawking buddies isn't representative of the whole
US, think again.
Don Bacon 73 "Really? I thought the protests were like many other protests around the world,
over economic issues."
As was the Syrian 'revolution'. Plenty of small US companies willing to go in. US already
has buyers as they have been shipping oil out of east Syria for some time. Turkey, Israel ect
plus many more willing to buy at a discount. And considering the oilfields are simply stolen,
oil can be sold at a discount.
The new deployment in Syria will
leave almost the same
number of U.S. troops in the country as there were before the "withdrawal":
Meanwhile, the first few hundred infantry troops, soon to be joined by mechanized troops in Bradley fighting vehicles and possibly
a few tanks, have driven in from Iraq. Defense Department officials said the total number of American troops guarding the oil
fields would be around 500. When combined with the troops at Al-Tanf, that brings the number of American troops projected to be
in Syria to near 900, a number that could easily rise if, as expected, the Islamic State begins to make a comeback. "We're under
no illusion that they will go away because we killed Baghdadi," said Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's
Central Command, during a Pentagon news conference Wednesday. "Since it's an ideology, you will never be able to stamp it out."
Meanwhile, the first few hundred infantry troops, soon to be joined by mechanized troops in Bradley fighting vehicles and possibly
a few tanks, have driven in from Iraq. Defense Department officials said the total number of American troops guarding the oil
fields would be around 500. When combined with the troops at Al-Tanf, that brings the number of American troops projected to be
in Syria to near 900, a number that could easily rise if, as expected, the Islamic State begins to make a comeback. "We're under
no illusion that they will go away because we killed Baghdadi," said Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's
Central Command, during a Pentagon news conference Wednesday. "Since it's an ideology, you will never be able to stamp it out."
When combined with the troops at Al-Tanf, that brings the number of American troops projected to be in Syria to near 900, a number
that could easily rise if, as expected, the Islamic State begins to make a comeback. "We're under no illusion that they will go
away because we killed Baghdadi," said Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's Central Command, during a Pentagon
news conference Wednesday. "Since it's an ideology, you will never be able to stamp it out." When combined with the troops at
Al-Tanf, that brings the number of American troops projected to be in Syria to near 900, a number that could easily rise if, as
expected, the Islamic State begins to make a comeback. "We're under no illusion that they will go away because we killed Baghdadi,"
said Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's Central Command, during a Pentagon news conference Wednesday. "Since
it's an ideology, you will never be able to stamp it out." "We're under no illusion that they will go away because we killed Baghdadi,"
said Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's Central Command, during a Pentagon news conference Wednesday. "Since
it's an ideology, you will never be able to stamp it out." "We're under no illusion that they will go away because we killed Baghdadi,"
said Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., the head of the military's Central Command, during a Pentagon news conference Wednesday. "Since
it's an ideology, you will never be able to stamp it out."
These few sentences in the These few sentences in the NYT report on the deployment sum up the absurdity and futility of the
mission that these troops have been given. A few hundred troops are being sent to "guard" oil fields that belong to the Syrian government
for the purpose of keeping the Syrian government from being able to use their own property, so there it seems as if U.S. troops stuck
with this illegal and bizarre mission indefinitely. The troops that have been sent there also happen to be a National Guard unit
that shouldn't be there: ... ... ... A smaller number of troops will remain at the pointless Tanf base as a token force just so that
the administration can say that it is opposing Iranian influence in Syria. Neither one of these has anything to do with making the
U.S. more secure, and neither one of them has ever been authorized by Congress. The unauthorized anti-ISIS mission that these two
groups of soldiers are supposedly supporting also won't end because, as Gen. McKenzie puts it, "you will never be able to stamp it
out," so their illegal military presence in Syria will continue because there will always be the possibility of a "resurgence." Killing
Baghdadi is an operational success that doesn't really change very much. Max Abrahms ... ... ... A smaller number of troops will
remain at the pointless Tanf base as a token force just so that the administration can say that it is opposing Iranian influence
in Syria. Neither one of these has anything to do with making the U.S. more secure, and neither one of them has ever been authorized
by Congress. The unauthorized anti-ISIS mission that these two groups of soldiers are supposedly supporting also won't end because,
as Gen. McKenzie puts it, "you will never be able to stamp it out," so their illegal military presence in Syria will continue because
there will always be the possibility of a "resurgence." Killing Baghdadi is an operational success that doesn't really change very
much. Max Abrahms A smaller number of troops will remain at the pointless Tanf base as a token force just so that the administration
can say that it is opposing Iranian influence in Syria. Neither one of these has anything to do with making the U.S. more secure,
and neither one of them has ever been authorized by Congress. The unauthorized anti-ISIS mission that these two groups of soldiers
are supposedly supporting also won't end because, as Gen. McKenzie puts it, "you will never be able to stamp it out," so their illegal
military presence in Syria will continue because there will always be the possibility of a "resurgence." Killing Baghdadi is an operational
success that doesn't really change very much. Max Abrahms Killing Baghdadi is an operational success that doesn't really change very
much. Max Abrahms Killing Baghdadi is an operational success that doesn't really change very much. Max Abrahms
explains that his death doesn't
matter for the future of the group because he was a remarkably bad leader:
When you look scientifically at the history of militant groups, one thing becomes immediately clear about the Islamic State (ISIS):
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was one stupid leader. Baghdadi could have written a book called Rules for Rebels to Fail. Indeed, he did
the exact opposite of what smart leaders have historically done to achieve their stated political goals. When you look scientifically
at the history of militant groups, one thing becomes immediately clear about the Islamic State (ISIS): Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was
one stupid leader. Baghdadi could have written a book called Rules for Rebels to Fail. Indeed, he did the exact opposite of what
smart leaders have historically done to achieve their stated political goals.
In other words, eliminating such an incompetent leader is hardly a fatal blow to a group when he is the one who led them to ruin.
All of this demonstrates how foolish our Syria policy is in particular, and it also shines a light on our complete lack of strategy
in countering terrorist groups. The U.S. can kill jihadist leaders and lots of their followers again and again, but a heavily militarized
approach to counter-terrorism has caused terrorist groups to flourish and terrorist attacks to increase significantly over time.
If it is impossible to "stamp it out" because it is an ideology, it doesn't make any sense to devote enormous resources to a futile
effort at stamping it out through force, especially when a militarized response produces more enemies than it can possibly eliminate.
This approach has sometimes been likened to whack-a-mole, but that gives it too much credit. At least in whack-a-mole, the player
isn't responsible for killing innocent civilians and destabilizing entire regions along the way. Eighteen years since 9/11, the "war
on terror" has succeeded mainly in spawning more and worse terrorist groups, and illegally keeping a few hundred troops in a country
where they don't belong won't achieve anything worthwhile. In other words, eliminating such an incompetent leader is hardly a fatal
blow to a group when he is the one who led them to ruin. All of this demonstrates how foolish our Syria policy is in particular,
and it also shines a light on our complete lack of strategy in countering terrorist groups. The U.S. can kill jihadist leaders and
lots of their followers again and again, but a heavily militarized approach to counter-terrorism has caused terrorist groups to flourish
and terrorist attacks to increase significantly over time. If it is impossible to "stamp it out" because it is an ideology, it doesn't
make any sense to devote enormous resources to a futile effort at stamping it out through force, especially when a militarized response
produces more enemies than it can possibly eliminate. This approach has sometimes been likened to whack-a-mole, but that gives it
too much credit. At least in whack-a-mole, the player isn't responsible for killing innocent civilians and destabilizing entire regions
along the way. Eighteen years since 9/11, the "war on terror" has succeeded mainly in spawning more and worse terrorist groups, and
illegally keeping a few hundred troops in a country where they don't belong won't achieve anything worthwhile. All of this demonstrates
how foolish our Syria policy is in particular, and it also shines a light on our complete lack of strategy in countering terrorist
groups. The U.S. can kill jihadist leaders and lots of their followers again and again, but a heavily militarized approach to counter-terrorism
has caused terrorist groups to flourish and terrorist attacks to increase significantly over time. If it is impossible to "stamp
it out" because it is an ideology, it doesn't make any sense to devote enormous resources to a futile effort at stamping it out through
force, especially when a militarized response produces more enemies than it can possibly eliminate. This approach has sometimes been
likened to whack-a-mole, but that gives it too much credit. At least in whack-a-mole, the player isn't responsible for killing innocent
civilians and destabilizing entire regions along the way. Eighteen years since 9/11, the "war on terror" has succeeded mainly in
spawning more and worse terrorist groups, and illegally keeping a few hundred troops in a country where they don't belong won't achieve
anything worthwhile. All of this demonstrates how foolish our Syria policy is in particular, and it also shines a light on our complete
lack of strategy in countering terrorist groups. The U.S. can kill jihadist leaders and lots of their followers again and again,
but a heavily militarized approach to counter-terrorism has caused terrorist groups to flourish and terrorist attacks to increase
significantly over time. If it is impossible to "stamp it out" because it is an ideology, it doesn't make any sense to devote enormous
resources to a futile effort at stamping it out through force, especially when a militarized response produces more enemies than
it can possibly eliminate. This approach has sometimes been likened to whack-a-mole, but that gives it too much credit. At least
in whack-a-mole, the player isn't responsible for killing innocent civilians and destabilizing entire regions along the way. Eighteen
years since 9/11, the "war on terror" has succeeded mainly in spawning more and worse terrorist groups, and illegally keeping a few
hundred troops in a country where they don't belong won't achieve anything worthwhile. If it is impossible to "stamp it out" because
it is an ideology, it doesn't make any sense to devote enormous resources to a futile effort at stamping it out through force, especially
when a militarized response produces more enemies than it can possibly eliminate. This approach has sometimes been likened to whack-a-mole,
but that gives it too much credit. At least in whack-a-mole, the player isn't responsible for killing innocent civilians and destabilizing
entire regions along the way. Eighteen years since 9/11, the "war on terror" has succeeded mainly in spawning more and worse terrorist
groups, and illegally keeping a few hundred troops in a country where they don't belong won't achieve anything worthwhile. If it
is impossible to "stamp it out" because it is an ideology, it doesn't make any sense to devote enormous resources to a futile effort
at stamping it out through force, especially when a militarized response produces more enemies than it can possibly eliminate. This
approach has sometimes been likened to whack-a-mole, but that gives it too much credit. At least in whack-a-mole, the player isn't
responsible for killing innocent civilians and destabilizing entire regions along the way. Eighteen years since 9/11, the "war on
terror" has succeeded mainly in spawning more and worse terrorist groups, and illegally keeping a few hundred troops in a country
where they don't belong won't achieve anything worthwhile. At least in whack-a-mole, the player isn't responsible for killing innocent
civilians and destabilizing entire regions along the way. Eighteen years since 9/11, the "war on terror" has succeeded mainly in
spawning more and worse terrorist groups, and illegally keeping a few hundred troops in a country where they don't belong won't achieve
anything worthwhile. At least in whack-a-mole, the player isn't responsible for killing innocent civilians and destabilizing entire
regions along the way. Eighteen years since 9/11, the "war on terror" has succeeded mainly in spawning more and worse terrorist groups,
and illegally keeping a few hundred troops in a country where they don't belong won't achieve anything worthwhile.
Now, were Israel (and Saudi Arabia) not screeching for regime change, nobody in the pundit class would care in the slightest about
"Muh Poor Kurds" or "Iranian influence" or "ISIS ZOMG" or anything else about the region.
Filter any news reports you read or see accordingly.
Will achieve a good deal of something. Steal the oil to finance the empire, poke the Russians in the eye, continue destabilizing
Syria as the means to get closer to installing democracy in Iran. Will, definately.
Incorrect!!!!! Our Middle East policy is fantastic - if you are a local neocon, warmonger, apostle and/or fan of the only democracies
in the Middle East; namely, Israel and Saudi Arabia. If you are an American it is an absurd, illogical, and possibly unconstitutional
policy. Don'
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