“It is hard to overstate the significance of this revelation,” tweets former British MP George Galloway of a new report by the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (WGSPM). “The war-machine has now been caught red-handed in a staged chemical weapons attack for the purposes of deceiving our democracies into what could have turned into a full-scale war amongst the great-powers.”
“An important #Douma #Syria ‘Assad chemical weapon attack’ development and yet more evidence to suggest the ‘attack’ was staged, as it’s now revealed that @OPCW suppressed expert engineers report that found the cylinders were likely not dropped from the air,” tweets former Scotland Yard detective and counterterrorism intelligence officer Charles Shoebridge.
“The engineering assessment confirms our earlier conclusion,” the excellent Moon of Alabama blog writes. “The whole scene as depicted by ‘rebels’ and propaganda organs was staged. The more than 34 dead on the scene were murdered elsewhere under unknown circumstances.”
https://twitter.com/ShoebridgeC/status/1127860150222688256
The report has grabbed the attention of those who’ve expressed skepticism of establishment Syria narratives because it casts serious doubts on the official story we’ve been told to believe about an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria in April of last year. A document titled “Engineering Assessment of two cylinders observed at the Douma incident” has been leaked to the WGSPM which reveals that an engineering sub-team of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) fact-finding mission in Douma came to conclusions which differ wildly from the OPCW’s official findings on the Douma incident, yet we the public were never permitted to see this assessment.
The assessment’s findings, which you can locate on pages five through eight of the document, put forward multiple hypothetical scenarios in which two gas cylinders could have wound up in the locations(Location 2 and Location 4) that they were photographed and video recorded as having been found after the alleged attack. The assessment concludes that “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. In each case the alternative hypothesis produced the only plausible explanation for observations at the scene.”
The assessment says more thoroughly and technically what I argued in an article last year, that the physics of the air-dropped cylinder narrative make no sense whatsoever. This is a problem, because the reason we were given for the US, UK and France launching airstrikes on Syrian government targets in April of 2018 was that two cylinders full of poison gas had been dropped from aircraft by the Syrian air force and killed dozens of civilians.
The assessment is signed by Ian Henderson, who the WGSPM were able to verify as a longtime OPCW-trained inspection team leader. The OPCW reportedly denied that Henderson was involved in its Douma fact-finding mission, but the WGSPM counters that “This statement is false. The engineering sub-team could not have been carrying out studies in Douma at Locations 2 and 4 unless they had been notified by OPCW to the Syrian National Authority (the body that oversees compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention) as FFM inspectors: it is unlikely that Henderson arrived on a tourist visa.”
So far this is the establishment narrative management machine's only attempt at refuting the latest revelations indicating that the #Douma attack last year was staged. It basically boils down to "They're conspiracy theorists and the official narrative disagrees with them." https://t.co/04iFa24do8
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) May 13, 2019
Just as interesting as this new report has been the response of the usual establishment Syria narrative managers to it, or rather the lack thereof. NATO narrative management firm Bellingcat, which normally jumps all over these kinds of revelations in an attempt to discredit them, has been maintaining radio silence as of this writing. Its founder, Eliot Higgins, has had nothing to say on the matter other than to retweet a pathetic rebuttal by his mini-me Scott Lucas and take a few childish jabs at me for highlighting this fact.
Scott Lucas’ Facebook post on the WGSPM report remains as of this writing the only attempt from the Syria narrative management machine to address it, and it boils down to nothing more than assertions that the report contradicts the official OPCW narrative (duh) and that the WGSPM are conspiracy theorists. Lucas may have thought it a good idea to author this post believing that he had a more substantial argument than he actually had, but it was pointed out shortly after publication that his claim about Henderson refusing to consider other possible scenarios in his assessment is directly contradicted by the words that are in the assessment, and Lucas was forced to make a hasty revision.
There will be other counter-narratives released by the Syria narrative management machine, to be sure, but the fact that this report has been out for the better part of the day with nary a peep from that lot reveals a great deal about the difficulties they’re having with this one.
We are being lied to about Syria. Anyone who believes unproven assertions about governments targeted for toppling by the US-centralized empire has failed to learn the lessons of history. The Syrian government had literally nothing to gain strategically from using chemical weapons in Douma, a battle it had already won, and knew full well that doing so would provoke an attack from the empire. Douma was occupied by the Al Qaeda-linked Jaysh Al-Islam, who had at that point nothing to lose and everything to gain by staging a false flag attack in a last-ditch attempt to get NATO powers to function as its air force.
If you still believe at this point that the Syrian government dropped poison gas on Douma last year, then I’ve got some Iraqi WMDs to sell you.
UPDATE: The document’s authenticity has been confirmed by the OPCW.
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27 responses to “Leaked Document Pokes More Holes In Establishment Syria Narrative”
Get em Caitlin! What thinking adult and lifetime citizen of Earth ever had any doubt that these attacks were fake? It brings me back to a debate I always have with myself: what is more atrocious? The fact that these things happen regularly, or the fact that the perps think you and me are stupid enough to fall for them? Do you hear me from deep in your underground coffin John McCain? This was your last big ‘moment’. Your last 15 minutes of fame. A SECOND photo op with ISIS leadership followed just days later by an ‘attack’ consisting of US made chlorine gas ‘dropped’ in a cylinder stamped in US English. Allegedly by Assad. And then you stamped your feet and called our President a coward, agent of Putin, etc over it. The blood of these dead, however they died, are on the hands of John McCain. Don’t let the fact that he’s dead stop you all from screaming this from the rooftops. His legacy should be this, because this is who he was. And if you have the opportunity to take a fat piss on his grave, by all means do so.
The blessing and curse of this world we live in is that the winners write the history books. But they can’t make edits when they’re gone. John McCain is dead. GHW Bush is dead. David Rockefeller is dead. George Soros will be gone soon. We must never relent in setting the history books straight on who these people really were and what they really did. The lessons of history carry great value to us when they’re true. This story is a very ugly truth. And if only for justice for the victims it must be told over and over for as long as it takes for us to learn that it does not reflect a world we want to live in. And so we don’t get fooled again.
Let me add just one more Fuck John McCain as a parting shot.
MIKE K and SPANKY, for the present moment, here in reality-land, at least the number of voters who voted for Agent Orange have to somehow be enticed into voting for an anti-war candidate for POTUS AND a majority of anti-war candidates running for seats in the legislative branch. THAT is the one and only way that the MIC is going to go away.
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Again, the question is just exactly how to “entice” voters all across the 50 United In Warfare States Of America, who make their living in the MIC or its spin-offs (as described so well by Matthew Hoh), into voting for these anti-war candidates? THAT is THE question, not whether “to be or not to be”. If those candidates can not be elected, the US, and perhaps all the other nations of the world, are not going “to be” for much longer.
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Again, to entice those MIC etc. voters, those anti-war candidates are going to have to promise that if they are elected they are going to MAINTAIN the present DoD contract system, so that these millions of voters WILL NOT lose their jobs; but their jobs will be to produce all the great things that will improve the lives of all their fellow citizens. And by “improve” I mean that instead of making military aircraft that will in a few years end up sitting in a boneyard, they will make, for just one example, wind turbines, solar panels, bullet trains, etc.
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The sevices or electric power from these devices would not be “free”, just as the weapon systems are not free. But which would millions of voters enjoy more, the benefit they receive from weapon systems, or electric power, a trip across the country in an electric-powered bullet train, etc.? How would millions of voters feel about the US becoming energy independent in very few years of spending under a slightly-altered DoD contract system?
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If I were an anti-war candidate, I would propose to millions of voters that the nation create another “Liberty Ship” program (again, under the existing DoD contract system). Liberty Ships were the workhorses of World War II. They were built in 13 states by 15 companies in 18 shipyards. The first of 2,710 Liberty ships, the SS Patrick Henry, was launched in September 1941, after 150 days of construction. (The shipyard was built at the same time as the ship.) Under this highly automated ship-building system, the SS Robert E. Peary liberty ship was built in 4 Days 15 Hours 29 Minutes.
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These were not small boats, not by a long shot.
Displacement: 14,245 long tons (14,474 t)[2]
Length: 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam: 56 ft 10.75 in (17.3 m)
Draft: 27 ft 9.25 in (8.5 m)
Propulsion: Two oil-fired boilers; triple-expansion steam engine; single screw, 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Range: 20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi)
Capacity: 10,856 t (10,685 long tons)
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Again, in just a few years of assembly-line development, one of these vessels was assembled in only 4 Days 15 Hours 29 Minutes. Imagine such an assembly line system for relatively simple wind turbines, bullet trains, vehicles of all types, etc.
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So, again, this is what anti-war candidates have to promise those millions of voters in the MIC in order to capture their votes. THIS is precisely what Gabbard and other anti-war candidates have to start proposing TODAY, not 6 months down the road. If she were to do this, she would start a firestorm of a debate, which is precisely what is needed to shake up the present arrangement. Does she have the intellectual wherewithal and “courage” to do this? We will soon find out.
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Again, unless anti-war candiates propose such a transition from a war-based economy to one based upon peace, they will not be elected and the US MIC’s perpetual wars will go on until the nukes start dropping.
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The above is the one and the only realistic, practical, POLITICALLY ACCEPTABLE way that humanity has a future.
Well Ish, the men who own and control those “defense” corporations might have something to say about that too… Especially considering they and their banker friends run a wealth primary pretty much every candidate must win first to get a slot on the ballot and be considered “electable”.
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While I get your point, and don’t necessarily disagree with your economic approach, it does nothing to address lessening these elites hold on political power — power they are using today in their attempt to dominate the world and have been wielding since instigating the Cold War as justification for creating a permanent war-time economy.
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And that’s the point for them, domination. Trump was elected, in part, because he claimed to be an anti-war candidate — and what did we get? Pompeo, Bolton and Abrams — and all their neocon take-over-the-world fantasies.
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Tulsi talks a good game, and perhaps she even means it. In fact, I think she does mean what she says. But she also belongs to the CFR along with Elliot Abrams and plenty of other chickenhawks in government, think tanks, media, academia… If I’m not mistaken, the CFR is the institutional means by which the elite’s political shitshow has progressed to this point in history… And considering I’ve studied the elite and CFR, in detail, I don’t think I’m mistaken.
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Even if Tulsi represents a factional split within the elite, a splinter which seeks a less warlike foreign policy, the same elites will still rule. At best, she will simply represent a tactical shift in achieving their strategic goals, rather than a change in the goals themselves. This is same thing that occurred during the later years of the Vietnam War…
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Unless you address, directly, the elite’s control of the electoral system, and legitimacy of their governance, trying to get true anti-war candidates on the ballot will be an exercise in futility, same as it has been since the beginning of the Cold War.
Trump proved that a complete political outsider could/can “go around” the MIC and be elected. Trump paid a helluva price when he shook hands with Putin in Helsinki. That summit proved that the US MSM is also an MIC tool and that the MIC’s pockets are very deep.
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Again, I believe that candidates that propose what I described can be elected. But if they are elected, they’ll be fighting the MSM and civil service deep state every day of their political lives, which does not make for a very nice way of life for those politicians’ families. This is why a majority of congress must also be real anti-war so that they can support each other as a bloc.
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Again, the reality is that politicians are selected by voters every two or four years. None of these politicians are going to change anything about the election system or rules of campaign financing (bribery). Therefore, to stop the MIC and change the US’s war-based economy, anti-war candidates must somehow get elected within that very same system. If that does not happen, the US is doomed to suffer financial or nuclear destruction.
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Further, if the US cannot develop an economic system that does NOT absolutely depend upon perpetual population/economic growth, humanity will suffer an environmental disaster. IMO, designing and implementing such an alternative economic system will be far more difficult than getting antiwar POTUS and congress people elected, which is really saying something. When people cannot even agree upon the meanings of words as a vitally necessary first step, this may simply be a bridge too far for the supposedly most intelligent species on the planet.
This old man perceives the United States government imploding on itself and its country by continually harming itself!!! President Trump is going to go after the ” Obama officials ” for the Russiagate fiasco:
http://www.unz.com/mwhitney/judgement-day-for-john-brennan/
The police and Federal Bureau of Investigation are going to go after journalists:
https://www.sfexaminer.com/the-city/san-francisco-police-raid-home-of-journalist-to-find-leak-in-adachi-death/
And the ” United States Deep State ” is going to keep attacking weaker countries to its hearts content!! When there is no food in the supermarkets and when gasoline costs $50.00 to $100.00 a gallon there will be a ” regime change ” right here in the United States from all of the massive chaos from having ” leaders that can not lead or understand anything not related to their own selfish interests!!!
The road to a higher level of consciousness and a better world for all goes directly through the problems we are facing today. Solving these difficulties is the laboratory within which our higher possibilities will be unfolded.
I agree that somehow the madmen at the helm need to be removed if humanity is to survive. But to organize a mutiny on a ship having a small number of occupants is a difficult enough enterprise – overthrowing the huge Leviathan that is the Empire presents an almost impossible challenge. The literature of Derrick Jensen and others around Deep Green Resistance explores what it would take to attack the Empire from within it’s bowels. My take away from carefully considering this revolt by high tech sabotage and force of arms is that it will not work, and is not going to happen. Something more subtle will be required, something that can operate in the open, but evades the crude suppressive measures of the opposition. A spiritual movement with a charismatic leader might be just the ticket to take a large number of hearts and minds in a new direction, away from the deadly programs and propaganda of the Empire. What Caitlin and others are doing could be preparing the ground for such a major shift of consciousness and values.
“A spiritual movement with a charismatic leader might be just the ticket to take a large number of hearts and minds in a new direction…” — Mike K
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Not to give offense Mike K, but you’re part of the problem. Your statement “a charismatic leader might be just the ticket”, tells me you’re looking for someone else — a savior — to do your thinking, your heavy lifting, for you. That’s precisely the problem now: We’ve abdicated our responsibility to “leaders” already.
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Reclaiming our nation means we must each reclaim and assert our personal responsibility for it — that’s not something you can outsource. A real leader will tell you that. A real leader will tell you to think for yourself, not follow blindly based on charisma and faith.
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A real leader will tell you that taking your heart and mind in a new direction is just the first step. That you’re going to have to overcome “an almost impossible challenge” to overthrow Leviathan. That there are no guarantees of success, no easy way to do this…
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“Something more subtle will be required, something that can operate in the open, but evades the crude suppressive measures of the opposition.” — Mike K
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Which is exactly what I’m arguing for in this forum — tender a blank ballot in the next election to precipitate a legitimacy crises in elite governance. It’s no panacea, just another step in reclaiming our responsibility for our nation.
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But I’m no leader — just a guy whose heart and mind took a new direction over thirty years ago and stubbornly refuses to admit defeat in the face of overwhelming odds.
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The only way to change the world is become the change you wish to see.
The only way to accomplish any of these things is to get the truth on TV. You’re a thinker, patriot, rationalist , etc. people like you are easy to get on board. But the only way to reach the masses is through the TV. How else do you think everyone got so lost in the first place? I’m not sure how it can be done or even if it can, but the fact is the TV is the surrogate brain for about 70% of Americans. You won’t get a thought into their heads without it. Especially one that might call them to act. NOTHING else will work. Mark my words on that.
US Accuses Iran Of Attack On Saudi Tankers
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Apparently two Saudi tankers and two “other vessels” were attacked in the Persian Gulf near the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. is claiming “Iran was likely behind the attack”, according to a report in the WSJ.
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Here we go again…
If Bolton and Pompeo can engineer a serious false flag, like the sinking of an American warship in the Persian Gulf, behind Trump’s back – then they may be able to trigger a shooting war with Iran. Trump would then be caught up in a fait accompli, and have to own it and take it to it’s disastrous conclusion. He needs to fire these war fanatics before it is too late – for all of us.
We agree.
“The Syrian government had literally nothing to gain strategically from using chemical weapons in Douma, a battle it had already won, and knew full well that doing so would provoke an attack from the empire.”
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Anybody who is even semi-conscious knows that Assad would not attack using chemical weapons for the exact reason above. The same logic holds for Iran attacking any ships in the Strait of Hormuz. But when the US Elite want to attack somebody, the tried and true false flage operation is the go-to tool to start Terminator Nation killing.
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This strategy is so obvious that it is equally obvious that swallowing those lies is deliberate for exactly the same reason that the US Elite employs them — to keep the Empire and its “way of life” going.
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Again, just as the Nazis could not be stopped or reason Terminator Nation is not politically capable of stopping itself. An organized resistance from the outside is going to have to stop it, and that’s exactly what’s going to happen, one way or another.
Wow, what a fitting blast from the past movie clip.
But seriously though – there is organized resistance from the inside, ay?
Tulsi2020.com
I would argue (and have) that Tulsi is controlled opposition… Perhaps she represents a factional split in the elite, similar to that which occurred during the late 1960s over Vietnam, but even so she is still a card-carrying member of the elite.
“Organized resistance from the outside” runs a high risk of escalation into the fires of hell.
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Personally, would rather an organized resistance from the inside gut the empire — it decreases the chances of a world war. Which is why I’m writing here, trying to find some (effective) ideas and accompanying narratives that might gain viral traction within the citizenry… Not that I expect much, but one must try.
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Russia and China (and other nations) are attempting to create an alternative to the SWIFT financial payments system using currencies other than the dollar. Removing the dollar as reserve currency (and its stranglehold on the world) is their goal, and this is (finally) gaining momentum. It appears to be one way the U.S. might be de-fanged peacefully from the outside, altho their project is no secret.
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And perhaps it is working because it looks as if Uncle Sam is becoming increasingly desperate. Even the illusion of diplomacy is gone, replaced with vicious threats and raw ultimatums screeched daily at both “friends” and “foes” alike.
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Problem is, I think the crazy motherfuckers in D.C. and Wall Street would rather torch the place than “lose face” peacefully…
I’ll believe in this SWIFT alternative bluff when Putin and Xi proudly announce that their billions in assets are all in their respective countries currencies, businesses and real estate. As long as both of them keep their fortunes in the US/Wall Street/City of London, I’m calling BS on all these tensions. I’m also not buying into any total war where Wall Street and the City of London aren’t targeted and are left unscathed. After all, those are the heart and brain of the beast they claim to be fighting so everything should be directed at them, if the conflict is real. I have a feeling Xi, Putin, and the US gov will all exchange lists of where and who to bomb. The US and Chinese governments in particular have a huge financial system crash/debt bomb explosion they need to escape the consequences of.
Given the rate at which both Russia and China are acquiring gold, and that holding gold by a central bank is (again) considered a (no risk) reserve asset, perhaps their alternative is a more serious threat than we know…
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And you are right about targeting Wall Street and the City of London… One shot over our bow today was Xi’s threat to sell some treasuries.
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And China has been on a spending spree for the past several years, using dollar denominated financial assets to purchase real assets in Africa, South America and elsewhere. My guess is, they want draw down those dollar assets by using them to pay for BRI infrastructure projects…
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Russia has almost no foreign reserves in dollar assets, for good reasons.
The Fed will buy China’s one trillion in treasuries in one keystroke. All of Xi and Putin’s PERSONAL fortunes are invested in Wall Street/City of London and the US/Anglosphere. Ditto for their countries’ elites. Their fortunes are NOT in Renminbi/Rubles. All these tensions are fake. China and the US just want their populations culled.
considers the actors and sources. nuff said.
The establishment has a policy just to keep on lying no matter what, and to never admit any mistake about anything. Donald Trump is the perfect exemplar of this strategy. This is fascism 101.
What are the chances that this story will make it into the MSM? Ha, I’m made myself laugh just by typing that sentence. In any event, a retraction or correction at this point would have little effect on the public’s perception of the Syrian civil war. And now we have a new report from the NYT regarding an alleged massive torture and execution system run by the Assad government. Is this yet another bogus claim put forward by a dubious front organization for the Syrian opposition? I don’t know the answer, but I would not be surprised if that turns out to be the case. It has happened more than a few times before. Just think “White Helmets.” OTOH, Assad is not known for being a kind and gentle person.
With respect, Rob, I’m not at all sure it began as a ‘Syrian civil war’. A number of analysts point out that the opposition was from the start paid and armed by USUK and others and this support continued with arms and equipment etc. I suspect the ‘civil war’ label is straight from the PTB to bolster the perception that it was entirely a Syrian matter and to nullify or mitigate any suspicion that there was external ‘meddling’. In effect, same playbook as Iran 1953.
I think that there was widespread popular opposition to Assad and his policies at the start, but it was quickly co-opted by violent forces acting in behalf of the Gulf states, Israel and the U.S. Still, in the U.S. and much of the benighted West, the war in Syria is widely considered a civil war, rightly or wrongly.
Correct up to the adding of “rightly.” >:)
Not only ten for both Jimmy Dore and Abby Martin each, but Caitlin should also get no less than ten Nobel Prizes for her work.
Isn’t that the award Obama was given for dropping bombs on Pakistan his first day in office? What war crimes has Caitlyn committed that she should be given the Orwellian Peace Prize? /s