White Helmets

[angelburst29]

Syrian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Walid Muallem have met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a visit to Moscow.

30.08.2018 - Syrian FM: White Helmets Kidnapped 44 Children to Stage Chemical Attack in Idlib
Syrian FM: White Helmets Kidnapped 44 Children to Stage Chemical Attack in Idlib

The visit is being held within the framework of the Syrian-Russian intergovernmental commissions.

"Russia is ready to increase its contribution to these tasks (the restoration of Syria and the solution of the issue with the return of refugees)," the minister said at a press conference following the talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem.

On Situation Around Idlib

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called the use of the de-escalation zone in Idlib by Al-Nusra* terrorists to attack Syrian and Russian forces "unacceptable."

"It is unacceptable that the terrorists who are entrenched there, primarily from the Nusra Front [a terrorist group banned in Russia], are trying to use this de-escalation zone to prepare attacks on the positions of the Syrian army and even for attempts to attack the Russian military base in Hmeimim using aerial drones," Lavrov said at a news conference following talks with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem in Moscow.

Moscow has warned the West that they should not play with fire by trying to create provocations in the Idlib area, Lavrov noted.

"Another provocation by the West is being prepared in order to try to obstruct the anti-terrorist operation in Idlib," Lavrov said at a joint news conference with his Syrian counterpart Walid Muallem in Moscow.

Lavrov also stressed that the US attempts to establish "authorities" on the left bank of the Euphrates, as it may lead to Syria's split.

"The US presence in Syria has not only a military aspect… Simultaneously, our American colleagues are actively developing the eastern bank of the Euphrates, restoring infrastructure there, social and economic networks and even creating quasi-state local government bodies," he said.

On Western Meddling in Syria's Affairs

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has warned of possible US-UK-French aggression and of disastrous consequences of Western attempts to destabilize the country.

Regardless of whether the US-UK-French attack happens or not, Damascus will accomplish its fight against terrorism, the minister noted.

"We will do our best to avoid possible civilian casualties and generally avoid bloodshed," he said, noting that Al-Nusra front is trying to prevent such plans.

The US has lost to Syria in the military sphere, despite all its efforts, the Syrian foreign minister added.

"We can say that the Americans lost militarily in Syria, despite the efforts they have made, and now they want to take advantage of the moment to get any dividends through political processes and preventing the return of refugees to their homes," Muallem told reporters.

On Possible Chemical Weapon Provocation

The White Helmets have kidnapped 44 children in Idlib to use in a staged chemical attack, according to the Syrian foreign minister.

"Behind the creation of the pseudo-organization the White Helmets, are the British special services: they sponsor them, they lead them. They were behind the organization of those fabricated scenarios for the use of chemical weapons and now they are preparing such a development of the situation with the use of chemical weapons in Idlib," Muallem stated.

He also stated that there is no need for the Syrian army to use chemical weapons, emphasizing that it doesn't possess such weapons.

Muallem noted that Damascus intends to expand its relations with Tehran.

Earlier this week, Russia's Defense Ministry warned that the leader of the Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group, which is affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Nusra terror organization (banned in Russia), was planning a chemical attack against civilians in Idlib in order to provoke western nations into retaliating against Damascus.

Russia, alongside Iran and Turkey, is a guarantor of the ceasefire regime in Syria. Moscow has also been assisting Damascus both through supporting the struggle against terrorist groups and providing humanitarian aid to the residents of the crisis-torn country.

LIVE: Sergei Lavrov and Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem Hold Press Conference

Streamed live 4 hours ago 8.30.2018 (54:35 min.)

 

[angelburst29]

Russia is hopeful that the US government will take efforts to prevent terrorists from using chemical weapons in Syria, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said in a statement on Wednesday.

30.08.2018 - Russian Envoy to US: Militants to Create Provocation in Idlib Aided by UK Forces
Russian Envoy to US: Militants to Create Provocation in Idlib Aided by UK Forces

"We are hopeful that the United States will do everything in their power to prevent the use of chemical weapons by terrorists and will act responsibly," Antonov said on Wednesday. Antonov pointed out that Russia has also warned US officials against conducting strikes in Syria.

The Russian Envoy emphasized that the rhetoric around the subject of potential use of chemical weapons by Damascus may be used as a signal for terrorist groups and "pseudo-humanitarian organizations" such as the White Helmets to stage another provocation.

Moreover, Russian Envoy to the US also stressed in a statement that UK Special Services are preparing to launch another fake chemical attack in Syria as a pretext for the West to conduct missile strikes.

"This provocation, which is being prepared with active involvement of British Special Services, may become a pretext for the western ‘trio’ (Washington-London-Paris) to conduct another missile strike against Syrian military and civil infrastructure," Antonov said.

Russia's Defense Ministry warned earlier this week that the leader of the Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group, which is affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat Nusra terrorist organization, was planning a chemical attack against civilians in Idlib in order to provoke western nations into retaliating against Damascus.

In addition to these terror organizations, thousands of jihadists have been reportedly transported to the province from other Syrian regions under deals conducted with Damascus.

Earlier in the day, Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said that US senior diplomats discussed with Russia’s Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov the situation in Syria's Idlib province.

"Ambassador Jeffrey and Ambassador Satterfield met earlier this week with the Russian Ambassador to the United States in part to raise concerns about what could happen in Idlib," Nauert told reporters on Wednesday, adding that there were concerns about a potential Syrian government offensive in Idlib and the impact it may have on civilians and infrastructure.

Meanwhile, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, representatives of the so-called White Helmets group have already delivered a large shipment of toxic substances to a warehouse used by militants in Idlib province.

"A part of this shipment in unmarked plastic barrels was later transported to another militant base in the southern part of Idlib province in order to stage a false-flag chemical attack and subsequently accuse the government forces of the use of toxic agents against civilians,"

In particular, White Helmets group plans to film videos in Syria for Middle Eastern and English-language media outlets after staging a false-flag chemical weapons attack aimed at sharply destabilizing the situation in the war-torn country, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.


30.08.2018 - 'Not the Reality': Ex-Pink Floyd Frontman has His Say on White Helmets' Mission
'Not the Reality:' Ex-Pink Floyd Frontman Has His Say on White Helmets' Mission

The co-founder of the rock band Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, took a dig at the White Helmets, as well as spoke about censorship on Facebook and other networks, speaking to RT’s Sophie Shevardnadze.

He noted that he would grant his support to the contentious White Helmets if he distinctly saw that the organization was indeed involved in helping those who had suffered in the Syrian conflict, adding, however, that “all the evidence points to the fact that that is not the reality.”

Before going on to address online censorship and other critical tech issues, he referred to the widely debated Oscar-winning documentary with the same name as the Syrian group, sarcastically remarking: “Have you ever seen anything so obviously scripted and carefully shot?”

The White Helmets is a Syrian humanitarian organization that claims to have saved tens of thousands of lives. Both Moscow and Damascus have stated that the White Helmets are linked to terrorists and extremists, and among other things helped to stage a chemical attack in the Eastern Ghouta town of Douma on April 7, prompting a number of western countries to respond with reciprocal missile launches. Meanwhile, the White Helmets' head, Raed Saleh, said earlier in August that the White Helmets, however, had no ties to any terror organization.


(Some-what related - in terms of Top-ranking Daesh Fighters - might also include - the White Helmet's that Israel rescued?)

30.08.2018 - Trump Mulls Sending Captured Top-Ranking Daesh Fighters to Guantanamo - Reports
Trump Mulls Sending Captured Top-Ranking Daesh Fighters to Guantanamo - Reports

President Donald Trump is planning to transfer some of the captured high-profile fighters of the Daesh* terror group to the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, NBC broadcaster reported on Thursday.

The Trump administration is also considering transferring several Daesh fighters to a prison in Iraq given that other states have rejected requests to take them, NBC reported.

Iraqi security officers would oversee the fighters but the United States would reserve the right to prosecute them, the report added, also saying that Trump wanted to send to the Guantanamo detention facility those fighters who had taken part in the killing of Americans and other Western hostages.

The US State Department told NBC it could not officially confirm the possible move, but noted the Trump administration would like to see all countries take responsibility for their citizens, including prosecuting them for any crimes they have committed.

The US government has sent earlier this year letters to a number of countries informing them that the Syrian Democratic Forces have captured and held a number of their citizens who are fighters.

Initially, no country responded to the US government’s letter, but later in 2018 some countries — like Macedonia and Lebanon — took custody of their citizens. The Daesh fighters from Macedonia are ethnic Albanians, who also fought with other Albanians in Macedonia and in the Serbian province of Kosovo against the legitimate governments in those countries, according to published reports.

 

[angelburst29]

Two trucks loaded with toxic substances accompanied by eight White Helmets arrived in the village of Sarakib, located in the Syrian province of Idlib. The news was shared by the Russian Reconciliation Center. The information that militants are preparing a provocation came from several independent sources.

Published on Aug 29, 2018 (3:53 min. - English subtitles)

 

[Voyageur]

IS/ISIS/Daesh/Al-Nusra Front's friends, the Saudis, write about a 'system' called The Sentry program which I had not heard of. Their article title is "Air raid warning tech gives Syrians life-saving minutes" and the White Helmets largly appear to factor in its use.

It's kind of strange, so what else is going on here? Here is what the Saudi Gazette has to say: Air raid warning tech gives Syrians life-saving minutes

MAARET AL-SHUREEN, Syria

— Khaled Al-Idlibi was still speeding away with his brother perched on the back of his motorbike when he heard the air strike that leveled his neighbors’ house in northwest Syria.

Those crucial extra minutes were thanks to a warning system that could help save civilian lives in an expected regime offensive on Idlib province, home to the last significant rebel-held area.

The Sentry program, launched two years ago by two Americans and a Syrian coder, uses human observers and a network of sensors to compute a predicted impact location when Syrian or allied Russian warplanes take off.

The resulting estimate can then trigger air raid sirens near the target zone and send warnings to mobile phone applications, giving residents more time to take cover.

Idlibi, a 23-year-old media activist, lives in Maaret Al-Shureen, a rebel-controlled town in Idlib.

On June 10 last year, he was picking up belongings he had left behind while fleeing from an earlier air strike when his smartphone suddenly lit up.

“I received an alert on Telegram that a new warplane had taken off towards the same area,” he said, recounting that he and his brother jumped on their motorbike and rode to about a kilometer from the predicted impact spot.

Idlibi said “only three children were wounded that day” and estimated that up to 15 lives may have been saved by the Sentry alert.

First launched in August 2016, the Sentry technology has become a sort of weather forecast service for many Syrians.

The system’s creators say that it has proved its worth, including during the intense air campaign against the rebel stronghold of Eastern Ghouta, earlier this year.

“We saw a huge spike in use as the campaign ramped up,” John Jaeger, a co-founder of the Hala Systems firm that developed the technology used in Sentry, said.

Jaeger, a former US diplomat and technologist who was looking for new ways to prevent civilian deaths in Syria, created the system with US entrepreneur Dave Levin and a Syrian coder whose identity is kept secret.

The system — which Jaeger says is currently funded by Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark — requires a human network on the ground to monitor areas and set up sensors.

It is therefore limited in which zones it can cover. It does not, for example, provide updates on US-led coalition warplanes targeting Daesh (the so-called IS) in air strikes that have also routinely killed civilians.

Hala Systems estimates that its warning system is available to around two million people in Syria, most of them in Idlib.

Jaeger said that, while reliable statistics were hard to come by, data analysis showed that 27 percent fewer people died in air strikes on areas where Sentry was used.

Residents who get an alert via social media, local radio stations or the air raid sirens that Hala triggers remotely have an average of eight minutes to seek shelter, Jaeger said.

The White Helmets, a network of rescuers in rebel-held areas, are actively involved in the development of Sentry, a technology that gives their staff extra time to mobilize.

“The civil defense’s technicians are trying to develop this service so that it reaches civilians even without internet,” the warning system’s coordinator in northern Syria, Ibrahim Abu Laith, said in Idlib.

He said 191 awareness sessions were held in recent weeks across parts of northern Syria vulnerable to government air strikes, so civilians know how to access Sentry.

According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, more than 350,000 people have been killed since the start of the Syrian conflict.

That figure includes around 33,000 civilians killed by regime and Russian air strikes and helicopter attacks.

Jaeger said he had not detected any attempt to disable the Sentry system by Syria’s regime.

“They don’t say they support it but I think they should. It’s nobody’s goal to kill as many civilians as possible,” he said.

“If Russia or a government aircraft specifically wants to target you, there is little this system can do for you... We just want to prevent as many preventable deaths as possible.” — AFP

 

[angelburst29]

IS/ISIS/Daesh/Al-Nusra Front's friends, the Saudis, write about a 'system' called The Sentry program which I had not heard of. Their article title is "Air raid warning tech gives Syrians life-saving minutes" and the White Helmets largly appear to factor in its use.

It's kind of strange, so what else is going on here? Here is what the Saudi Gazette has to say: Air raid warning tech gives Syrians life-saving minutes

My guess, it's hooked up to a Israeli satellite and Israel is harvesting all the data?

 

[Voyageur]

My guess, it's hooked up to a Israeli satellite and Israel is harvesting all the data?

There is no doubt about that, angelburst29 - point noted. Nothing much happens there without the Israeli's hand in it at some level. And it certainly is not an "air raid warning tech" helping the WH to save lives - well there own and their masters perhap. However, it reminded me of the low-tech the Americans were using in Vietnam to hunt and kill, yet not sure how it connects.

 

[angelburst29]

There is no doubt about that, angelburst29 - point noted. Nothing much happens there without the Israeli's hand in it at some level. And it certainly is not an "air raid warning tech" helping the WH to save lives - well there own and their masters perhap. However, it reminded me of the low-tech the Americans were using in Vietnam to hunt and kill, yet not sure how it connects.

Israel funds many of DARPA's programs, especially in electronics and AI advancements. Awhile back, I had done some studies on Vietnam, when looking into information concerning POW's. One thing I came across which seemed odd at the time - was some of the villagers testimonies of seeing "a small toy model airplane buzzing above tree tops" before bombs were dropped and decimating their villages. They may have been a proto-type of the drones that are being used now by the military?

07.09.2018 - Israel Evacuated Islamist Commanders From Syria Alongside White Helmets
Israel Evacuated Islamist Commanders From Syria Alongside White Helmets

A new report gets dirty on the details of Israeli funding and weapons shipments to 12 anti-government extremist groups in Syria. Buried in the end of the piece is the revelation that Israel helped evacuate so-called “rebel commanders” as they also flew out members of the self-proclaimed “impartial” White Helmets organization.

On August 22, Israel evacuated some 800 members of the White Helmets, a group funded by the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and other Western countries, that claims to be an impartial civil defense organization but has been accused by Syria and Russia of terrorism. Its members have been caught on video grinning wildly as a child nearby was being beheaded in addition to other atrocities, while a high-budget film about the group won the 2017 Academy Award for best documentary.

But as the White Helmets and members of their immediate families were evacuated from southern Syria as the government was liberating it from jihadists, so too were "rebel commanders" and their families, according to Foreign Policy.

Those commanders' whereabouts are unknown. For the article, Foreign Policy spoke with "more than two dozen commanders and rank-and-file" members of the groups funded and evacuated by Tel Aviv. Some people in Syria say the evacuees are in Israel, and others say they are in Jordan. "One former commander informed his subordinates that he had arrived in Turkey," the outlet reported.

The White Helmets were flown by Israel into Jordan to be resettled in the West, including Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.

But the crux of the Foreign Policy article was Israel supplying weapons to Syrian proxies. It's been a big week for revelations on the topic. Sputnik News reported on Tuesday that the Jerusalem Post, a news organization founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine, deleted — without explanation — an article detailing a press conference in which senior members of the Israel Defense Forces came clean about their support for Islamist extremists in the Golan Heights, two thirds of which have been illegally occupied by Israel since 1967.

On Thursday, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said it's "possible" that the US may recognize the Golan Heights as part of Israel.

According to the deleted article, Israeli officials admitted to supporting seven anti-government groups in the Golan Heights with light weapons and munitions. But a new investigative report by Foreign Policy ups the number of groups getting lethal support from Israel to 12.

Sources informed the news outlet that military transfers included assault rifles, machine guns, mortar launchers and transport vehicles.
At one point, Israel started supplying weapons seized from Iran in place of US-made weapons to throw off investigators, according to Foreign Policy.

That's in addition to the IDF paying each fighter $75 a month and additional cash for buying weapons on the black market. It isn't clear how much funding Israel provided to that end, but the Jerusalem Post article noted that one of the groups consisting of just 400 fighters got $5,000 a month.

That group is Fursan al-Joulan (Knights of the Golan). According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, al-Joulan "prepared the final coordination for the rescue." Abu Rateb, a commander of the group, was also evacuated by Israel, according to Al Masdar News, which reported that three other group commanders were also shipped out. A commander of Saif al-Sham, a group which condemned al-Nusra then later joined a Nusra-organized coalition, was also evacuated.

While Israel has treated fighters of Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaeda affiliate, in its hospitals, many of the rebel groups in the Golan and Syria's Quneitra province are believed to be working closely with al-Nusra. Al-Joulan "undoubtedly has an affiliation with a larger Islamist group like al-Nusra or al-Qaeda, but I haven't been able to determine that," Israel analyst Richard Silverstein wrote in Middle East Eye.

"Israel stood by our side in a heroic way," al-Joulan spokesman Moatasem al-Golani told The Wall Street Journal in 2017. "We wouldn't have survived without Israel's assistance."

The Wall Street Journal interview "makes clear that it isn't affiliated with the Free Syrian Army, which increases the likelihood that Fursan al-Joulan is an Islamist group," Silverstein added.

Meanwhile, "everyone" in the in the Syrian village of Hader in the Golan believes that Israel and the West "tacitly" support Al-Nusra, according to a May report from the UK news organization Channel 4. One villager called them "proxies."

Now, it appears that some of the group's members have reversed their opinions on the country. After Israel kept out of the way of the Syrian army and Russian airpower during the liberation of southern Syria earlier this summer, one fighter told Foreign Policy, "This is a lesson we will not forget about Israel. It does not care about… the people. It does not care about humanity. All it cares about it its own interest." Reportedly, many of the members begged for asylum but did not get it. Some joined the Syrian Arab Army instead.

In addition to providing weapons of war, the Jerusalem Post reported that Israel was providing extremists with massive amounts of supplies: 3,359,845 pounds of food (1,524 metric tons), 551,156 pounds of clothes (250 metric tons), 250,308 gallons of fuel (947,520 liters), 21 electrical generators and 24,900 palettes of medical equipment.

 

[angelburst29]

Sat Sep 08, 2018 - Russian MoD: Terrorists, White Helmets Met in Idlib to Prep for Final Stage False Flag Chem Attack
Farsnews

The Russian military has obtained “irrefutable” data that terrorist groups, including Jabhat an-Nusra, and the infamous White Helmets met in Idlib province on Sunday, according to the ministry’s spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.

The Russian military revealed that the militants plotted the final scenarios for the chemical attacks that the Syrian army are expected to make in the cities of Jisr al-Shoughur, Saraqib, Taftnaz and Sarmin, RT reported.

“Full readiness of all participants involved in the staging of the provocations is be ensured by the evening of September 8,” Konashenkov stated, adding that the terrorists are to receive a “special” signal from some “foreign friends of Syrian revolution” to launch the operation.

The statement comes after earlier warnings from Moscow’s that militants are preparing to stage a chemical attack in the Syrian province to give the Western coalition a pretext to strike Syria. In August, the Defense Ministry said that eight canisters of chlorine had been delivered to a village near Jisr al-Shoughur city, and that a foreign-trained group of militants had also arrived in the area to simulate a rescue operation after the staged attack.

The US and its allies have repeatedly stressed its readiness to strike Syria if any attack takes place, ignoring all Russia’s warnings. Washington’s envoy to the UN Nikki Haley recently stated that she already knows the perpetrators in case a chemical incident takes place in Syria.


Sat Sep 08, 2018 - White Helmets, Tahrir Al-Sham in Final Stages of Plot for False-Flag Chemical Attack in Northern Syria
Farsnews

Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at (the Levant Liberation Board or the Al-Nusra Front) and White Helmets have transferred toxic gases of chlorine and sarin to three regions in Hama and Idlib to become prepared for false-flag chemical attacks to raised allegations against the Syrian army.

The Arabic-language website of Sputnik quoted informed sources as saying on Saturday that the cargos of chlorine and sarin gas have been transferred to al-Najiyeh in Jisr al-Shaqour in Idlib, al-Hawash in Northwestern Hama and the town of Kafr Nobl in Idlib.

They added that the three regions have been selected after the White Helmets' plots to carry out false-flag chemical operations were disclosed, noting that one of these regions will be finally opted for chemical attacks by terrorists to raise allegations against the Syrian army.

The sources said that ringleaders of Turkistani and Tahrir al-Sham terrorist groups have held a meeting in Jisr al-Shaqour in Western Idlib on Thursday on their missions in the false-flag operations.

Based on the report, the militants have abducted tens of children, between 2 and 10, from one of the camps near the town of Salqayn and transferred them to Jisr al-Shaqour hospital and then to an unknown place to implement their plot.

In relevant remarks on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated during a tripartite summit in Tehran that terrorists in the Syrian province of Idlib were preparing provocations involving chemical weapons in a bid to set the stage for a Western attack on the Damascus government.

"The remaining groups of extremists (in Syria) are currently concentrated in the de-escalation zone in the province of Idlib. Terrorists are making attempts to disrupt the ceasefire, moreover, they are carrying out and preparing various kinds of provocations, including using chemical weapons," the Russian leader stressed at the tripartite summit of Iran, Russia and Turkey on Syria on Friday.

Russia's Defense Ministry had warned that the leader of the Tahrir al-Sham terrorist group, which is affiliated with the al-Qaeda-linked the Nusra Front, was planning a chemical attack against civilians in Idlib in order to provoke Western nations into retaliating against Damascus government. Thousands of militants have been reportedly transported to the province from other Syrian regions under deals conducted with Damascus.

White Helmets group plans to film videos in Syria for Middle Eastern and English-language media outlets after staging a false-flag chemical weapons attack aimed at sharply destabilizing the situation in the war-torn country, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. Moscow has also accused Washington, London and Paris of preparing to carry out new strikes against Syria under the pretext of chemical weapons used by Damascus government forces.

Putin told his Iranian and Turkish counterparts, Hassan Rouhani and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that driving militants out of Syria’s Idlib province should be the primary goal at this stage of the Syrian peace process.

“Our common absolute priority lies in the total elimination of terrorists in Syria,” Putin said, adding that Russian forces had recently helped to liberate the Southwestern part of the war-torn country and confirming that Idlib province has become the primary target now.

“The presence (of militants) poses a direct threat to the … civilians in the whole region,” the Russian president warned.

 

[angelburst29]

6 September 2018 - Report by Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media undermines claims of chemical attack in Douma
Report by Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media undermines claims of chemical attack in Douma

The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (WGSPM) has issued a report into the alleged chemical attack in Douma this year and other alleged chlorine attacks in Syria since 2014.

Briefing note: the alleged chemical attack in Douma on 7 April 2018, and other alleged chlorine attacks in Syria since 2014

The 8,300-word report drawn up by Paul McKeigue, Jake Mason, David Miller and Piers Robinson, is a devastating exposure of the propaganda claims made during the US-led, seven-year-long proxy war for regime change in Syria.

McKeigue is Professor of Genetic Epidemiology and Statistical Genetics at the University of Edinburgh. Mason is a doctoral research student, with his Master’s thesis examining the “strategic communications role of the White Helmets in the Syrian Civil War.” Miller is Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social & Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. Professor Robinson is an academic at the University of Sheffield.

The WGSPM report was produced in the teeth of a sustained media witch-hunt. For questioning the official narratives promoted by the media and US and British governments in relation to the Skripal poisoning and the role of the White Helmets in Syria, WGSPM were smeared in the London Times as “Apologists for Assad.”

The report rejects claims that nerve agents were used at Douma in April and concludes that UK Prime Minister Theresa May “misled the House of Commons” in claiming Syrian and Russian obstruction of a chemical weapons investigation. WGSPM has investigated the use of unverified secondary sources for claims of earlier alleged chlorine attacks, demonstrating that these sources came from groups associated with one side in the conflict.

Claims of the use of chemical weaponry by President Bashar al-Assad’s government forces have repeatedly been made to justify and provoke US-NATO military interventions. Many of the claims have involved the White Helmets, set up in 2013 as a proxy of the UK and US governments to provide logistical support and propaganda for Western-backed “rebels.”

Videos have surfaced of White Helmets carrying weapons alongside the Al Nusra Front, the Syrian affiliate of Al Qaeda, and participating in atrocities against government forces. The White Helmets have provided film of themselves staging rescues in areas bombed by the government and Russian planes. They are also implicated in fabricating attacks to support the US campaign. Footage of the aftermath of an alleged April 7 gas attack in the city of Douma was broadcast worldwide. After the White Helmets filmed themselves shouting “gas” and hosing down children with water at a hospital, residents and doctors came forward to say there had been no attack.

This fabricated incident was the pretext for a missile launch one week later by US, British and French forces.

The Douma allegations

The Douma incident occupies half of the WGSPM report. The chemical attack allegation focused on the hospital incident and photographs of apartment buildings. In one four-storey building, images revealed 35 victims and a gas cylinder lying over a hole in the roof. There was also an image of an apartment with a hole in the roof and a gas cylinder lying on a bed.

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had already discredited claims of the use of a nerve agent at Douma, as no traces were found in environmental samples or in blood taken from the supposed victims. These claims were made by US and French governments to justify further attacks. WGSPM described them as “poorly informed.”

French Ambassador François DeLattre told the UN Security Council that video and photographic evidence of a combined nerve agent and chlorine attack left “no doubt as to the perpetrators.” Only the Syrian government and its allies had this capability, he claimed. US officials briefed the press that biological samples had tested positive for chlorine and a nerve agent, probably sarin. Their press release referred only to symptoms, not to biological samples.

To justify renewed attacks on Syria, on April 16 May told parliament that Syrian authorities and Russian forces had prevented the OPCW team from visiting Douma. This was not true. The OPCW visit was delayed following a risk assessment conducted by the United Nations Department of Safety and Security. According to the WGSPM, May “may also have misled the House” in claiming that the US-led missile attack that followed was “specifically targeted” at three alleged chemical weapons sites, rather than at Syrian military infrastructure.

The WGSPM report notes that if there were concerns about chemical weaponry at the Barzeh research facility, an inspection could have been requested. The previous OPCW inspection, in November 2017, found no scheduled chemicals.

The WGSPM report cites various ramped-up propaganda claims. On April 11, former British army officer Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told the Financial Times, “There’s no doubt this was a major chemical weapons attack,” which he thought likely to be “a mix of” chlorine and sarin.

The OPCW found no traces of nerve agent in samples from the site and from the alleged casualties of the attack. The main breakdown product of sarin is stable and long-lasting, so testing delays would not explain its absence. Environmental samples were found to contain chlorinated organic molecules. No quantitative results were given, so it cannot be known whether these were of the concentration expected with a chlorine release.

The victims were found grouped together in the middle of the building, rather than by the window. In industrial accidents involving chlorine, victims have most often tried to escape outside, so this grouping appeared to indicate exposure to nerve agent rather than chlorine. However, given the absence of traces of nerve agent, the WGSPM suggests that “the only remaining explanation is that the victims were killed by other means.”

The WGSPM said it was impossible to reach conclusions whether a chemical attack had taken place, despite the presence of chlorinated organic compounds. The OPCW had reached no conclusion, saying it needed to continue its work before drawing final conclusions.

The presence of chlorine would not distinguish between a chemical attack and a staged incident. However, witnesses testified that the hospital scene was staged and the balcony where the gas cylinder was found, with its valve over a convenient hole, occupies about one-twentieth of the whole roof area of the building—also making a chemical attack less probable than a managed massacre. The balcony is the only part of the roof easily accessible from within the building. Chlorine’s efficacy as a weapon requires its release in industrial quantities rather than the single containers found at Douma.

Earlier alleged use of chlorine
The second part of the WGSPM report examines OPCW claims that chlorine was used in alleged attacks in Syria from 2014 to date. It highlights the dubious character of the evidence produced to support these claims and some of those providing it.

From 2013, the OPCW guidelines stated that inspectors could only conclude chemical agents were used if they had been able to access sites in person and process samples taken personally in certified laboratories. The WGSPM report concludes that from 2014 on, following an incident at Talmenes, the OPCW breached these guidelines by basing its assessments on secondary sources.

The WGPSM draws attention to the political character and provenance of the third-party witnesses who supplied the samples driving the OPCW’s conclusions. These “purported non-governmental organizations with access to opposition-held areas” include:

• A Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear (CBRN) Task Force set up by de Bretton-Gordon, whom Piers Robinson described to the World Socialist Web Site as “never very far from the government line.”
• The Same Justice/Chemical Violations Documentation Center of Syria (CVDCS), which first appeared in 2015 with an office in Brussels, with the apparent capacity to take samples and move witnesses from Idlib to other interviewing countries, and whose operations WGSPM calls “not transparent.”
• The White Helmets, who would “be implicated if these incidents were staged,” as images from alleged attacks after 2015 often show them present or filming the victims.

The evidence for some of the highest profile incidents is doubtful. On March 16, 2015, a family of six were killed in Sarmin allegedly by a chlorine barrel bomb. The WGSPM states “the alleged munition is implausible, the alleged mode of delivery is improbable, and the images of the child victims in hospital are consistent with drug overdose rather than chlorine exposure as the cause of death.”

The UN/OPCW Joint Investigative Mechanism, referring to unspecified “other sources,” decided a Syrian air force helicopter had dropped a chemical weapon.

The membership and transparency of the OPCW’s Fact Finding Mission (FFM) have changed over time. Originally intended to have a balanced membership, and subject to approval of the Syrian government, the FFM was later subdivided. One team has contact with the Syrian government, but “Team Alpha” works “completely non-transparently” with the opposition and has “classified” membership: “no one knows where it goes or how it operates.”

The groups are supposed to employ the same methods, but Team Alpha is “clearly working mostly remotely, relying on the Internet and the fabrications provided by the Syrian opposition NGOs.” WGSPM doubts that this team operates on the ground at all.

The FFM also uses open-source material as evidence, without explaining how this is retrieved or analysed. The material is collected by the OPCW Information Cell under Lt-Col. Leo Buzzerio, formerly of the US Defense Intelligence Agency.

The FFM concluded “with a high degree of confidence” that chlorine was used in a 21 April 2014 incident in Talmenes, without detailing how witnesses were identified, how their travel outside Syria was facilitated, or the source of images and documents. The FFM said they had received information from de Bretton-Gordon’s CBRN.

By comparing three FFM Interim Reports on the alleged chlorine barrel bomb attack in Talmenes, the WGSPM reconstructed the role of CBRN in providing evidence. The WGSPM points to inconsistencies in the video materials, including footage time-coded the day before the alleged incident. This was accepted, even though there was “clear evidence of staging” at the other alleged location.

De Bretton-Gordon told the press and parliament about his covert role in collecting samples relating to alleged chemical attacks. He dates this to when the press were discussing a “covert operation” with “MI6, the Secret Intelligence Service” at its head. As the WGSPM states, the OPCW relied on evidence “gathered by a network set up by an agent of the intelligence service of a state committed to one side in the Syrian conflict.”

 

[angelburst29]

The government of the Netherlands reported the complete cessation of assistance to opposition groups and other organizations in Syria due to the inefficiency of the program, a letter to the lower house of the parliament reads.

10.09.2018 - Netherlands Ends Financial Support for White Helmets in Syria
Netherlands Ends Financial Support for White Helmets in Syria

"The opportunity to quickly change the situation [in Syria] is extremely small," the letter by Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok and Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Sigrid Kaag, published on the government’s website, says.

The ministers said that the program "did not bring the expected results," while the troops of Syrian President Bashar Assad, in their opinion, "will soon win."

The Netherlands has reportedly allocated over $80 million to the Syrian opposition groups, including to the Free Syrian Police and White Helmets.

The support for the opposition was set to end immediately, while White Helmets will be funded until December.

Both Damascus and Moscow accused militants and the White Helmets non-governmental organization of staging several provocations involving chemical weapons to influence public opinion and justify foreign intervention in Syria.


09.09.2018 - Journo Says Damascus has Moles in White Helmets, Info on Future Provocations
Journo Says Damascus Has Moles in White Helmets, Info on Future Provocations

The Syrian army is preparing to take on the last terrorist stronghold in Idlib, Syria, as the US warns Damascus against the offensive and promises a "swift" response in case Bashar Assad uses chemical weapons. Sputnik spoke with Kevork Almassian, a journalist and founder of the analytical website Syrian Analysis, about the planned offensive.

Almassian noted that Idlib province is the last remaining terrorist enclave, mostly controlled by Tahrir al-Sham*. He believes that the army will attack the region from several directions at once, namely from Aleppo, northern Hama and Latakia. The journalist is confident that the operation will first of all land a significant blow against Western proxies in the region, such as Tahrir al-Sham*, Harakat Ahrar al-Sham and others.

He further noted that with the help of these governments, the groups have created "a state inside of a state" and that Damascus now plans to re-impose its sovereignty over the territory. The journalist added that such an intention is in line with both international law and the Syrian constitution, but said that Western governments are likely to try to halt the military operation by "raising the topic of chemical weapons."

They will try to slow down the operation of the Syrian army by hitting certain Syrian army targets, if such chemical attacks happen," he said.

Almassian revealed that the notorious NGO the White Helmets, which have been spotted working with terrorist groups and staging fake chemical attacks, have been infiltrated by members of the Syrian army. The journalist said that now these undercover agents are leaking information on where the group is moving its chemical weapons to stage another chemical attack. Almassian said that materials for the production of such weapons had been moved to an unnamed church and to a national hospital in the city of Jisr al-Shughur.

"If the White Helmets will yield these chemical weapons… now we have information from underground that there are preparations for another chemical play in Idlib in order to accuse the Syrian government [and] to call for Americans, the Brits and the French to come and attack Syrian army positions," the journalist said.

Turkish Position on Idlib Operation
Almassian noted that Ankara's position on Damascus' offensive in Idlib varies, but said that the possibility of a direct confrontation between the two will actually depend on negotiations and cooperation between Russia and Turkey.

"I believe the Turkish army will withdraw from their posts in southern Idlib and they will move their positions towards the northern part of Idlib until the Syrian army finishes its military operations in the southern part [of the province]," he added.

He explained that due to economic problems and worsening relations with the US, Ankara has shifted its gaze towards cooperation with Moscow and that while relations between the two remain positive, the Syrian army will be able to liberate Idlib without interference from Turkey.

Possible Casualties
The journalist believes that the number of casualties among the civilian population heavily depends on the cooperation of the armed groups in Idlib with the Syrian government. He emphasized that Moscow and Damascus have on multiple occasions organized humanitarian corridors for civilians so that they could leave embattled areas

If the militants in Idlib allow such corridors (according to Almassian, they are heavily pressured by Western governments to do so), the number of civilian casualties will be reduced to a "minimum level," the journalist said. Another scenario, according to him, would be that the militants use civilians as human shields, which could lead to thousands of casualties.

Kurdish Issue
Almassian believes that despite Damascus' desire to regain control over all of Syria's territory, the Kurdish areas will be a special case. He noted that Kurdish representatives have already met with Syrian authorities and discussed their future relations. According to the journalist, Damascus is likely to make certain concessions to the Kurds, such as "cultural and social rights," but will not give them any sort of autonomy. He added that Syrian Kurds are also likely to get more seats in the parliament and posts in the country's government.

The journalist also noted that the US, which has a strong influence on the Kurds, has never tried to prevent a rapprochement between them and Damascus. He thinks if that were the case, the first negotiations would never have happened.

Future US Steps in Syria
Almassian believes that while Trump wants to withdraw from Syria, the CIA and the Pentagon are preventing him from doing so. The journalist added that the matter is likely tightly connected with the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Iranian forces from Syria.

He thinks that Washington could withdraw its troops if Tehran and Hezbollah do the same, but doubts it is possible, as the US is currently imposing sanctions against Iran, which is unlikely to foster any negotiations between the two sides.

 

[angelburst29]

As the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation reported, all the fake footage of "chemical attacks," designed to facilitate the implication of Syrian government forces, is expected to be sent to different TV channels before the end of the day.

11.09.2018 - Staged Filming of Mock 'Chemical Attacks' has Begun in Idlib - Russian MoD
Staged Filming of Mock 'Chemical Attacks' Has Begun in Idlib - Russian MoD

"According to the information received from inhabitants of Idlib province, militants are now filming a staged provocation in the city of Jisr al-Shugur, where "chemical weapons" are depicted as being used by the Syrian army against civilians. The film crews of several Middle Eastern TV channels arrived in Jisr al-Shugur in the morning, as well as the regional affiliate of one of the main American television news networks," the Reconciliation Center said.

The Russian military added that the militants had brought two containers loaded with a chlorine-based toxic substance to Jisr al-Shughur to make the provocation seem "natural."

"The plot envisages staged scenes showing 'activists' from the Civil Defense ("White Helmets") 'helping' the residents of Jisr al-Shughur after the Syrian army allegedly used the so-called barrel bombs with poisonous substances," the center said.

According to the center, all videos of provocations shot in Jisr al-Shughur will be handed to broadcasters by the end of the day after being released via social media.

Later in the day, Syrian human rights activist and public figure Ammar Jamal has confirmed to Sputnik that a group of 30 representatives of the White Helmets had arrived to Idlib to organize a provocation. According to human rights activists, the White Helmets arrived on Tuesday morning with tanks with an unknown gas. At the moment, they are located on a grain storage site.

The information follows Sunday's Wall Street Journal report that the US Defense Department might be mulling the idea of striking Russian or Iranian military forces aiding the Syrian government if they were to launch an assault on Idlib. The report added that the United States would specifically decide whether to strike Russian air defense installations.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government has pledged to drive the remaining terrorists out of Idlib and has begun taking steps toward full-scale military operations in the territory.

Russian Defense Ministry Warned About Provocations in August
The Russian Ministry of Defense warned about the forthcoming false flag provocation, which will involve a staged chlorine gas attack, on August 26. Later, the ministry said that the results of this provocation could be used by the Western coalition forces as an excuse to launch another missile strike against the Syrian government. The United States, the Russian Defense Ministry noted, has been deploying the relevant forces to Syria. In late August, the American destroyer USS The Sullivans arrived in the Persian Gulf carrying 56 cruise missiles, and a US Air Force B-1B strategic bomber, equipped with 24 air-to-surface JASSM cruise missiles, was redeployed to El-Udeid Airbase in Qatar.

If coalition forces strike, it won't be the first time they will have targeted Syrian government positions after citing alleged chemical attacks by the Syrian government. On April 14, the United States, the United Kingdom and France launched over 100 missiles at multiple targets in Syria in response to an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Eastern Ghouta city of Douma that reportedly took place on April 7. The Syrian government has denied using chemical weapons and said that the Jaish al-Islam terror group staged the attack in order to summon a foreign intervention in the country.

 

[Laura]

This staged chemical attack could be intended to initiate full-on war with Russia and whoever else jumps into the fray. And of course, with full-on war come war-powers including martial law at home, or internment acts, hauling in dissidents of all kinds, etc. The Left is going to be REALLY sorry they did not get behind Trump, unify, and support him against the Deep State because the Deep State is gonna eat them for breakfast.

 

[Mike]

It does look like a staged chemical attack at this point in time could be the case in terms of opening up Syria to a wider war between Russia and the US. Russia is being much more aggressive trying to head it off in terms of reporting information on the activities of those taking part, going to the UN, having warships near-by, etc and the Neo-cons seem to already have shown there hand with Bolton's words on the issue. Time will tell how it all plays out, but hope Putin can manuever out of it while still allowing Syria to persue its goals and end the war. Interesting to me in the back drop of all this, with this being 9/11, is that a hurricane is brewing off the US East Coast and the US is looking to support and start a war over the destruction via Russia and Syria of Al Qaeda affilitated and connected jihadists.

 

[angelburst29]

12.09.2018 - US State Dept says Russia, Syria Endanger White Helmets with False Accusations
US State Dept Says Russia, Syria Endanger White Helmets With False Accusations

The US Department of State will continue to work closely with the Department of Defense to ensure the success of the final phase of Operation Roundup in Syria, spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a press briefing.

"The State Department will continue to work closely with our Department of Defense colleagues to ensure the success of this operation," Nauert told reporters on Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, the International Coalition for Operation Inherent Resolve announced that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces had launched an offensive against the remaining members of the Daesh terror group who are operating in northeast Syria.

The goal of Operation Roundup is to clear the last remaining Islamic State-held pockets in the city of Hajin in the Abu Kamal district and in the Dayr Az Zawr countryside east of the Euphrates River. Operation Roundup began on May 1. The first phase of the mission successfully eliminated the Daesh near Baghuz in northeastern Syria on May 15. Phase two cleared the DAesh from Dashisha, Syria on July 20.

Nauert said the State Department will also continue to work with coalition partners to support initiatives that enable Syrians to voluntarily and safely return to their homes to prevent the reemergence of the terrorist threat in the region.

Meanwhile, Heather Nauert said at a press briefing that the Syrian and Russian governments create risky conditions for the non-governmental White Helmets group by continuing to accuse them of malign activities in Syria.

"The Assad regime and Russia continue to falsely accuse the White Helmets through a massive disinformation campaign leaving its volunteers at significant risk," Nauert told reporters on Tuesday. The United States and the international community continue to support the work of the White Helmets, Nauert said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian human rights activist Ammar Jamal told Sputnik that a group of 30 White Helmets members arrived from Turkey to the Syrian province of Idlib to organize a provocation by staging the use of chemical weapons.

Damascus and Moscow have accused militants and the White Helmets of staging several provocations involving chemical weapons to influence public opinion and justify foreign intervention in Syria.

 

[luc]

Since the White Helmets are basically Al Qaida, I thought I'd post this video from 2016:

Absolutely mind-boggling. I suppose it might be even worse today. With subjects like these, the rulers can do absolutely anything and get away with it. Wow.