De schrijver van het volgende artikel
heeft de zaken nog eens op een duidelijke rij gezet en kan dan ook
niet anders dan tot de conclusie komen dat de VS en haar bondgenoten
uit zijn op een oorlog met Rusland, ofwel WOIII....... Let wel: een
oorlog die dan gevoerd zal worden op basis van leugens zoals dit het geval was met de illegale
oorlogen van de VS en NAVO tegen: Afghanistan, Irak, Libië en
uiteindelijk Syrië, waar de VS (gesteund door de rest van het westen) nu met leugens over een
gifgasaanval zegt een aanval te moeten openen tegen het Syrische bewind.....*
Onder andere aandacht voor de 'gifgasaanval' op Khan Sheikhoun vorig jaar en de enorme leugens die later werden doorgeprikt...... Ondanks dat blijft men volhouden dat Syrië achter de aanval zat, hetzelfde geldt voor de gifgasaanval in 2013, deze werd in de schoenen van Assad geschoven, maar bewezen door de 'gematigde rebellen' uitgevoerd >> dagelijks hoor je de laatste dagen (sinds de 'gifgasaanval' op Douma) onder meer op de landelijke nieuws- en actualiteiten radiozenders Radio1, BNR, BBC World Service, Radio Nova Scotia en WDR de leugen herhaalt worden dat het reguliere Syrische leger verantwoordelijk was voor deze aanval........
Voorts wordt nog eens aangegeven hoe blij de bewoners van door het Syrische leger bevrijdde gebieden zijn, blij van de vreselijke terreur af te zijn, waaronder zij moesten leven.....
Onder andere aandacht voor de 'gifgasaanval' op Khan Sheikhoun vorig jaar en de enorme leugens die later werden doorgeprikt...... Ondanks dat blijft men volhouden dat Syrië achter de aanval zat, hetzelfde geldt voor de gifgasaanval in 2013, deze werd in de schoenen van Assad geschoven, maar bewezen door de 'gematigde rebellen' uitgevoerd >> dagelijks hoor je de laatste dagen (sinds de 'gifgasaanval' op Douma) onder meer op de landelijke nieuws- en actualiteiten radiozenders Radio1, BNR, BBC World Service, Radio Nova Scotia en WDR de leugen herhaalt worden dat het reguliere Syrische leger verantwoordelijk was voor deze aanval........
Voorts wordt nog eens aangegeven hoe blij de bewoners van door het Syrische leger bevrijdde gebieden zijn, blij van de vreselijke terreur af te zijn, waaronder zij moesten leven.....
Chemical Weapons Redux: Taking the World to the Brink of Annihilation
Years of chemical weapons allegations, saber rattling and a desperate search for a casus belli have culminated in a situation which risks a serious conflict of world powers.
Western neoconservatives and hawks are driving the international situation to increase tension and danger. Not content with the destruction of Iraq and Libya based on false claims, they are now pressing for a direct U.S. attack on Syria
As a dangerous prelude, Israeli jets flying over Lebanese airspace fired missiles against the T4/Tiyas Airbase west of Palmyra.
As a dangerous prelude, Israeli jets flying over Lebanese airspace fired missiles against the T4/Tiyas Airbase west of Palmyra.
This was Predicted
As reported at Tass,
the Chief of Russia’s General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, predicted
the current events almost a month ago. The report from March 13 says:
Russia has hard facts about preparations for staging the use of chemical weapons against civilians by the government forces. After the provocation, the U.S. plans to accuse Syria’s government forces of using chemical weapons … furnish the so-called ‘evidence’ … and Washington plans to deliver a missile and bomb strike against Damascus’ government districts.”
Gerasimov
noted that Russian military advisors are staying in the Syrian
Defense Ministry’s facilities in Damascus and “in the event of a
threat to our military servicemen’s lives, Russia’s Armed Forces
will take retaliatory measures to target both the missiles and their
delivery vehicles.”
The
situation is clearly dangerous with risk of sliding into
international conflict and even WW3. If that happens, it would mean
the demise of civilization. All of this so that the West can continue
supporting the sectarian armed groups seeking to overthrow the Assad
government … in violation of international law and the UN Charter.
The
most powerful country in the world is now led by a real estate, hotel
and entertainment mogul without political experience. Behind the
scenes, there is a powerful foreign policy establishment determined
to maintain and reclaim U.S. unilateral “leadership” of the
world. They don’t like the fact that the U.S. is losing influence,
prestige and power around the world. Israel and Saudi Arabia are
especially upset that their plans for regional domination are
failing.
East Ghouta, Damascus
East
Ghouta is a district of farms and towns on the north-east outskirts
of Damascus. For the past six years, various armed factions
controlled the area. On a nearly daily basis, they launched mortar
and hell cannon missile attacks into Damascus, killing many
thousands. This author personally witnessed two such mortar attacks
in April 2014.
By
the end of March, most of East Ghouta had been retaken by the
government. With the peaceful evacuation of armed militants,
civilians flooded into the humanitarian corridors and then government
camps for the displaced. The campaign was proceeding quickly with
minimal loss of life as the Russian Reconciliation officers
negotiated agreements which allowed the militants to keep small
weapons and be transported to Idlib in the north. Vanessa
Beeley documented the
situation including the happiness and relief of many civilians as
they finally made it to safety. One described the feeling as “like
being reborn”. Robert Fisk was on site and reported what he saw
firsthand in stories titled Watching
on as Islamist fighters are evacuated from war-torn Eastern
Ghouta and Western
howls of outrage over the Ghouta siege ring hollow.
Watch
| Emotional Footage From East Ghouta Evacuation
As
reported at the
Russian Reconciliation Centre,
by the end of March, 105,857 civilians had moved into
government-controlled areas while 13,793 militants plus 23,433 family
members had been transported north. Those who wanted to stay,
including former fighters, were welcomed. They could rejoin Syrian
society with the same rights and obligations as other Syrians.
The
last remaining opposition stronghold was the town of Douma,
controlled by the Saudi funded Jaish al Islam. Negotiations were
prolonged because Jaish al Islam did not want to go to Idlib which is
dominated by another militant opposition group, Jabhat al Nusra also
known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.
The Chemical Incident
On
Saturday, April 7 video and
stories claiming a chemical weapons attack in Douma were broadcast.
The video showed dozens of dead children. On Sunday the story grabbed
western mainstream media headlines. U.S. President Trump
quickly came to a conclusion, President
Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big
price to pay.”
There
has been no objective investigation. The media claims are based on
statements and videos from members of the Syrian American Medical
Society (SAMS) and White Helmets. Both organizations receive
significant funding from the U.S. government and call for Western
intervention in Syria.
Chemical
weapons have emerged as the quick and easy justification for
aggression. One year ago, in April 2017, it was the incident at
Khan Shaykoun. That resulted in a U.S. attack on a Syrian air base
just days later. The subsequent investigation discovered
that dozens of victims had shown up in hospitals in diverse locations
and up to 100 kms away from the scene of crime BEFORE the event
happened.
Strangely, and indicating the investigation team’s bias,
this red flag pointing to fraud was not investigated further. If it
was just a few victims or just one location, it might be a mistake in
time record-keeping. However, in this case, there were dozens of
discrepancies in multiple locations, clearly raising the possibility
of fraud.
Now
we have the incident in Douma, a town on the outskirts of Damascus.
The armed opposition is in retreat. They have tried to pressure the
US and NATO to intervene directly since 2012. They have access
to chemical weapons in
East Ghouta and a motive. They also have thousands of prisoners. This
is the group which put hundreds of prisoners, primarily women, and
children, in cages on
the streets of Douma.
Who Benefits?
The
timing of the chemical weapons incidents is also noteworthy. As
documented here,
one year ago on 30 March 2017 Ambassador Haley said the U.S. policy
was no longer focused on getting Assad out. Five days later the
chemical incident at Khan Sheikhoun happened, quickly followed by
blaming the Syrian government, a U.S. attack and a restoration of the
demand that “Assad must go”. On March 29 Trump said that
U.S. forces will withdraw from Syria “very soon”. This was
followed by outcries from the media and political establishment. Now,
following the Saturday chemical weapons incident, the U.S. is again
threatening to intervene directly. The chemical weapons incidents
have consistently resulted in the reversal of a proposed change in
hostility toward Syria.
Neoconservatives
and the supporters of ‘regime change’ foreign policy have various
theories why the Assad government would perpetrate a chemical weapons
attack. Senator John McCain says the
Syrian President was “emboldened” by the previous Trump
statement.
Juan
Cole, an academic who promoted the assaults on Libya in 2011, has a
different theory. He says:,“Chemical
weapons are used by desperate regimes that are either outnumbered by
the enemy or are reluctant to take casualties in their militaries.
Barrel-bombing Douma with chem seems to have appealed to the regime
as a tactic for this reason. It had potential of frightening the
Douma population into deserting the Army of Islam.” In contrast
with his theory, chemical weapons were used extensively by the U.S.
in Vietnam and Iraq when they were far from desperate. As evidenced
in the flow of civilians into government-held areas, most of the
civilian population are happy to get away from the sectarian and
violent Army of Islam (“Jaish al Islam”). Cole seems to be basing
his theories on inaccurate western media coverage just as he did
regarding Libya where sensational claims about a looming massacre in
Benghazi were later shown to
be fraudulent.
It’s
clear who benefits from sensational media coverage about a chemical
weapons incident: those who seek to demonize the Syrian government
and President and want the U.S. government to intervene militarily.
Every time there is an incident, it is quickly accepted and used by
the governments and organizations who have been seeking ‘regime
change’ in Syria for many years.
Manipulating Public Opinion
Nikki
Haley, United States’ Ambassador United Nations, shows pictures of
Syrian victims of alleged chemical weapons attacks as she addresses a
meeting of the Security Council on Syria at U.N. headquarters, April
5, 2017. (AP/Bebeto Matthews)
The
manipulation of western opinion about the Syrian conflict using fake
events is not theory; it has been proven. A good example is
the fake
kidnapping of
NBC reporter Richard Engel in December 2012. Engel and his
media team were reportedly kidnapped and threatened with death by
“Shabiha” supporters of the Syrian president. After days in
captivity, the American team was supposedly rescued by Free Syrian
Army “rebels” after a shootout. In 2015 it was confirmed this was
a hoax perpetrated
by the FSA and their American supporters. The entire charade was
carried out by the “rebels”. The goal was to demonize the Assad
government and its supporters and to romanticize and increase support
for the armed opposition. Neither Engel nor NBC confessed to the
reality until it was about to be exposed years later, pointing to
duplicity and collusion in the deception.
Four
and half years ago, on 21 August 2013, the most famous chemical
weapons incident occurred. The Syrian government was immediately
accused of launching a sarin attack which killed hundreds of children
and civilians. Over the next six months, investigations were carried
out. The conclusions of Seymour
Hersh, Robert
Parry and
the research site whoghouta.com concluded
that the attack was almost certainly NOT from the government but
actually from one of the ‘rebel’ factions with support from
Turkish intelligence services. Two Turkish parliamentary deputies
held a press conference and publicly revealed some
of the evidence. The intent then, as now, was to provide
justification and provocation for the U.S. and NATO to intervene
directly.
An
Imminent Attack
Today
there is the imminent possibility of a major attack based on the
allegations of a clearly biased source. Whatever happened to
international law and legal due process? Why is violence being
threatened before there is a serious objective investigation of the
chemical incident? If the accusations against Syria are true, why not
have a serious investigation, especially now that the area has been
liberated today (9 April) and safe access can be provided?
The
drums of war are pounding. After over one year of incessant Russia
bashing and disinformation, is the public ready to go to war
with Russia over
Syria? Neoconservative hawks and their Israeli and Saudi allies seem
to want this. Their plans and predictions for Iraq, Libya and Yemen
were delusional fantasies with the price paid in blood by the people
of those countries and in treasure by Americans as well. Sadly, there
has not been any accountability for the media and political
establishment that promoted and launched these wars. Now they want to
escalate the aggression by attacking Syria, causing vastly more blood
to flow and risking a confrontation with a country which can fight
back.
Top
Photo | National security adviser John Bolton listens as
President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White
House, April 9, 2018, in Washington. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Rick
Sterling is
an investigative journalist based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He
can be contacted at rsterling1@gmail.com
Read
more by Rick
Sterling
* De door de VS en een paar andere landen georganiseerde opstand in Syrië, al voorbereid vanaf 2006, moest tot een coup tegen Assad leiden, echter een oorlog was het gevolg...... Daarna stelden de VS en andere landen dat men wel moest vechten in Syrië vanwege de aanwezigheid van IS en andere terreurgroepen, die NB voor een groot deel werden aangevoerd door de VS en Saoedi-Arabië.... Met andere woorden: de VS en de NAVO vochten zogenaamd niet tegen het reguliere Syrische leger...... Nu wil de VS dan een volledige oorlogvoeren tegen het Syrische bewind en daarmee tegen Rusland en Iran......... Over de laatste gesproken, Iran: Israël is van zins om bij een vermoeden van agressie van Iran vanuit Syrië (tegen Israël), Syrië van de kaart te vegen, uiteraard een opmaat voor een aanval tegen Iran..... Later meer daarover.
Zie ook: 'VS heeft drone aanval van terreurgroep Jabhat Fateh al-Sham op Russische doel in Syrië gecoördineerd.......' (zie ook de links onder dat bericht)