I hope this cut in funding by the US, further exposes the true nature of these so-called "White Helmet's" and eventually affects the promotion and funding for George Clooney's movie production of these "fake hero's".
Sat May 05, 2018 - US ‘Freezes Funding’ for White Helmets as Group’s Douma Chem Attack Claim Falls apart
Farsnews
As the reputation of the controversial militant-linked White Helmets continues to crumble, even the US State Department seems to be having second thoughts about supporting the group, reportedly placing a freeze on its funding.
The State Department’s support for the White Helmets is “under active review”, according to a CBS News report. The group reportedly hasn’t received funding in weeks, but neither has it received formal confirmation that Washington’s financial assistance has come to a complete halt. This would mean a significant blow for the group, as the money accounts for about one-third of the White Helmets’ overall funding, RT reported.
An internal State Department document cited by CBS said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from US President Donald Trump’s administration by April 15 in order to approve funding for the White Helmets. If that wasn't received, the department would initiate “shut-down procedures on a rolling basis.”
Online reaction to the report has been mixed, with some continuing to hail the work of the White Helmets. Among them was Samantha Power, the former US Ambassador to the UN.
The former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul also took to Twitter to say that he has donated to the White Helmets in the past and "will do so again."
Meanwhile, Middle East political writer and commentator Marwa Osman took an entirely different approach towards the group which many hail as heroes. She referred to the White Helmets as "Al-Qaeda terrorists."
The report came amid major controversy surrounding the White Helmets, after residents of Douma, Syria, testified in The Hague at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).
The hearing centered on the alleged chemical attack that was used as a justification for the April 14 strikes by the US, Britain, and France.
In a press conference following the hearing, hospital staff and 11-year-old Hassan Diab – who is seen in troubling White Helmets footage following the alleged attack – said there was no sign of a chemical incident at the time and that the White Helmets’ video with children was apparently staged.
The footage, which showed Diab and other children being hosed down with water, was the only publicly available “evidence” that the attack ever took place.
Still, Trump and his British and French counterparts deemed it sufficient proof to launch over 100 missiles on Syria on April 14, accusing the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad of being behind the alleged attack.
The three allies were so keen to bomb Syria that they refused to wait for the results of an OPCW investigation before doing so.
If the report from CBS News is true, it could represent a significant U-turn for Washington.
Just last month, US State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert called the group “an incredible group of individuals.”
At that time, she also stated that as far as she was aware, the White Helmets were still being paid by Washington, despite a $200-million freeze in US funding for recovery efforts in Syria in late March.
Although the White Helmets says it acts solely as a makeshift emergency response team in a time of crisis, claiming to have heroically saved more than 70,000 lives in war-torn Syria, others disagree with its motives.
Footage from Syria repeatedly showed members of the White Helmets assisting terrorist groups, while multiple accounts from civilians suggested they only helped “their own” and used civilians caught in the battle only for publicity.
Russia has stated that the Douma “chemical attack” was staged by the White Helmets, with the UK pressuring the group to “speed up the provocation.”
The group has enjoyed celebrity status in the West, with a documentary praising it even winning an Oscar. However, some artists have refused to give in to peer pressure and publicly spoke out against endorsing the shady group.
Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters recently lambasted White Helmets at a concert in Barcelona, calling the group a “fake organization that exists only to create propaganda for jihadists and terrorists.”
His remark came after emails emerged showing that the White Helmets tried to lobby Waters with Saudi money.
05.05.2018 - US Halt of Funding to White Helmets Aimed to Distract From Useful Tool - Analyst
US Halt of Funding to White Helmets Aimed to Distract From Useful Tool - Analyst
Commenting on reports of the US decision to suspend funding for the White Helmets accused by Russia of spreading fake data about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, Moscow said that Western media should look into ways the NGO obtains its funding. Francesca Totolo, an independent Italian journalist, spoke with Sputnik about the issue.
Sputnik: In your view, why has the US stopped funding the organization?
Francesca Totolo:
In the context of the sources used by the Western mainstream media to tell the war in Syria, the White Helmets organization has always been the most used source for spreading propaganda against President Bashar al-Assad and supporting the "moderate rebels". The White Helmets are a British non-governmental organization founded by James Le Mesurier, former officer of the British army and intelligence service, and former (perhaps) mercenary of the contractor company ACADEMI (Blackwater).
We can not realistically talk about non-governmental organization because the White Helmets have received massive funding from various Western governments: the United States through USAID (the agency of the American government, created for the “export of democracy”, has officially donated 23 million dollars), Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.
At the beginning of last April, Donald Trump declared that he would immediately withdraw the troops deployed in Syria. The Pentagon's reaction soon came, leading to a series of pressures on the US president, such as those of the newly appointed Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, which led to a rethinking of Trump.
Coincidentally, after a few days, the White Helmets staged the chemical weapons attack on Douma, calling international attention against President Assad and expressly demanding an intervention by the "allied forces".
I'm not so sure that the US government will actually stop funding the White Helmets organization. Maybe it's just another comedy from the American deep state to divert attention from such a useful tool to destabilize Syria.
Sputnik: How can this development impact the organization and the general situation in Syria?
Francesca Totolo:
I think it will not change anything at all. After the many and varied evidences of the organization's staging on the chemical weapons attack in Douma, probably the White Helmets will be replaced, to increase the credibility of the propaganda "pro regime change", by other NGOs already financed "for humanitarian purposes" since 2012 by the US government through USAID. Just to name a few: CARE International, Concern Worldwide, Global Communities, Humanity and Inclusion, International Medical Corps, International Rescue Committee, Islamic Relief USA, Relief International, and so on.
The American deep state will hardly abandon Syria and its imperialist project.
Sputnik: Some experts have pointed out that the funding may have been stopped due to Trump’s desire to roll back US involvement in Syria, what is your take on that?
Francesca Totolo:
As already explained, Donald Trump immediately corrected himself after the Pentagon pressures, declaring that he had renounced the immediate withdrawal of the military contingent from Syria, speaking of the defeat of ISIS [Daesh*] as a necessary condition.
At the moment, the US President does not seem to have the internal political force to impose himself on the deep state that are infiltrating everywhere in the American administration.
It will now be essential to see the developments on the Israeli offensive against Iran and the position the US will take on the issue.
Sputnik: Apart from the US the White Helmets receive funding from other countries as well is it likely that if the US decides to stop financing the group other countries will follow?
Francesca Totolo:
In addition to the US, the main supporters of the White Helmets are Great Britain, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands, as reported on the organization's website.
There may be a disengagement from other funding countries, but it will only be apparent. The White Helmets have become the fundamental allies of the so-called "moderate rebels", and therefore a very powerful weapon in the hands of the "allied forces" that it can easily be used as an intermediary with the contractor agencies and terrorist groups that, as we know, they were born with the approval of the Obama administration and its Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
May 04, 2018 - Video: Who’s Funding the White Helmets?
https://www.globalresearch.ca/video-whos-funding-the-white-helmets/5639059
As the U.S. moves closer toward all out war in Syria, a lot of what our government seems to base its intelligence on, especially claims of chemical weapon use by they Syrian government, is an impartial humanitarian group called the White Helmets.
You’ve no doubt, heard of the White Helmets. They have been praised in the media as heroes and have
reportedly saved more than 100,000 lives as of April 2018.
But who are the White Helmets really? Are they a legitimate organization or pawns, funded for the purpose of regime change?
Let’s give it a Reality Check you won’t get anywhere else.
(6:12 min.)
Despite a recent U.S. funding freeze for humanitarian aid for Syria, the U.S.
continues to fund the controversial group, known as White Helmets.
The White Helmets claim to be a neutral entity in Syria. They say they are just helping people caught in the middle of a civil war. But are they?
Follow the money and you will find numerous ties to government funding from not only the U.S., but the U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany.
Despite a recent U.S. funding freeze for humanitarian aid for Syria, the U.S.
continues to fund the controversial group, known as White Helmets.
The White Helmets claim to be a neutral entity in Syria. They say they are just helping people caught in the middle of a civil war. But are they?
Follow the money and you will find numerous ties to government funding from not only the U.S., but the U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany.
Untangling these ties to the White Helmets is complicated, so stay with me.
According to
their website, the Syria Civil Defense, nicknamed the White Helmets, formed in “late 2012- early 2013” as self-organized groups.
Realizing they needed training,
20 Syrians went to Turkey back in March 2013 to learn from a former British army officer named
James Le Mesurier.
Le Mesurier has
ties to the failed NATO intervention in Kosovo. He developed a training program for Syrians that included trauma care, command and control and crisis management courses.
He is credited for helping form the White Helmets’ structure and operations.
Le Mesurier was able to fund this training program through Mayday Rescue, his Netherlands-based non-profit funded by
grants from the Dutch, British, Danish and German governments.
Now, this brings us to December 2013, when the U.K.-based PR machine backing the White Helmets was established.
It’s called the Voices Project,
set up as a private limited company for public relations and communications activities.
Part of the Voices Project’s articles of incorporation
state that the organization seeks to “influence public opinion” and “influence governmental and other bodies and institutions regarding reform … legislation and regulation.”
Who set up the Voices Project? The first listed director on the articles of incorporation is
Jeremy Heimans, the
co-founder and CEO of the global PR platform “Purpose” and a co-founder of controversial online activist network “Avaaz”.
Though Heimans
stepped down from his position with the Voices Project in 2015, his connection to the project is worth noting. Here’s why.
In February 2014, New York-based “Purpose” listed a
job posting for interns to “help launch a new movement for Syria.”
By March 2014, the Voices Project set up The Syria Campaign NGO, which they describe as “a human rights organisation that supports Syria’s heroes in their struggle for freedom and democracy.”
This, coinciding with the graduates of the Mayday Rescue training establishing new teams in Syria.
Six months later, in October 2014, a conference of these teams came together to establish the Syrian Civil Defense as an official, national organization. They then became known as the White Helmets,
thanks to The Syria Campaign.
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.
The firm has been
funded by USAID for years, and carries a record of failures in supporting so-called humanitarian interventions, including in Libya.
What you need to know is that first, this was only part one of our look at the White Helmets.
There are even more dots to connect here, including the relationship between USAID, Chemonics, Jeremy Heimans and Azaaz. We will make those connections in another episode of Reality Check.
But for today, let’s make this clear: there are very real questions about the authenticity of the voice of the White Helmets as representative of the Syrian people.
It is also clear that the White Helmets have ties to organizations that are being funded by governments that have been seeking, and right now continue to, seek to overthrow the Assad government and to establish a new regime in Syria.
And yet our media and government act as if the information coming from the White Helmets is coming from an impartial observer. When in fact, it appears to actually be coming from an organization that is being funded with an agenda to see the Syrian government overthrown.
It's depressing...
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