Formal international investigations haven’t yet begun on a suspected gas attack against the Idlib Province in northwestern Syria, but US, British, and French officials are all clear on their narrative: that the attack was a deliberate deployment of chemical weapons by the Assad government.
The Syrian military had already denied the allegations, though each nation’s leadership insisted that they remain determined to hold the government “accountable” and that the incident once again proves that President Assad cannot be allowed to remain in power.
Syrian opposition figures were quick to blame the United States for the incident, saying it was the result of administration officials suggesting last week that the “political reality” was that Assad could remain in power. the US, of course, had already disavowed that.
The Russian Defense Ministry told a different story, saying that the Idlib airstrike was a conventional strike, which hit a rebel ammo dump which was holding chemical weapons. Though ISIS is known to have chemical weapons, ISIS is not believed to have territory near where the strike took place.
The imperial powers agree to escalate the war in Syria and use chemical weapons as a pretext for greater direct western interference.
The fact that this ‘attack’ or fake attack came so soon after Tillerson said that Assad’s fate rested with the Syrian people, is a strong indication of how worried some are that Assad would win an election. After all, if Assad did win an election, with international observers, it would make the US (government) look pretty evil for having tried to oust him with terrorists.
Assad has aleeady won election after election – internationally monitored elections.
Seriously, the US has not cared what anyone else, especially “international observers,” have to say for a very long time. We are empire and bow to no one. The US “leadership” doesn’t care if anyone else thinks we’re evil. They just don’t care.
US, British, and French officials aka globalist scum still hanging around trying their best to save their empire.
It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to learn that this was an Israeli false flag.
Or a couple of other players in this continual destruction of secular regimes in the Middle East, anyone but Syria or Russia who have no tactical need for weaponized gas and are not so stupid as to use it.
Israel or Saudis or Turkey.
This is a MOSSAD/CIA/MI6-work through their mercenary-proxies.
THe same dirty game as 2013. Assad is winning the war against the foreign sponsored terrorists and so they try old dirty tricks ruthlessly murdering even more “worthless” musslims.
They must be very desperate to go again this way. NOBODY believes these war criminals, mafia gangsters and murderers any more!
True, but they don’t need us to believe them. As a matter of fact, they relish the ability to identify those who do not believe them.
A lot of people believe them.
This gas attack does appear to be working. Now even Trump has come out condemning it as if it’s Assad’s attack.
He’s also blaming Obama for being weak. Candidate Trump said let Russia take care of ISIS in Syria and now he blames Obama for not doing enough.
Anyone who seriously believes this was the deliberate work of Assad has obviously fallen for the fakest of fake news.
Why would he do it?
And this isn’t the first time he has been accused and then found completely innocent – but framed by NATO and its terrorist aliies.
Its the NATO terrorists that have the gas and it is a completely rational story that can be only too easily believed that the gas was being stored by these terrorists and was released as a result of Syrian bombing on terrorist positions.
Just more anti Assad – pro islamic terrorist lies by NATO.
How much lower than they sink?
“How much lower than they sink?”
He, he…Buckle up, Sparky, the floor on this elevator is going to drop away before we know it.
Exactly. It would be against Assad’s own political or strategic interest to do such a thing.
hold the Assad government “accountable”…
Righteous words from an unrighteous USG regime who should also
accept ‘accountability’ and responsibility for the destruction it has
helped create in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Ukraine, Yemen…
Reliable Syrian sources assert that the “gas attack” was perpetrated by “moderate rebels” loyal to John McCain.
I’m so glad that Assad has so many people willing to give him cover to commit war crimes. You people make me sick.
Try going cold turkey on the corporate media fake news and find out how different the world seems.
Try avoiding Russian and Syrian propaganda. There are no independent media organizations saying that Assad is a kind and beneficial leader and the poor Syrian people are at dire risk of instant death at the hands of chemical weapon using terrorists. Of course corporate media has an agenda, just like RT has an agenda. You would have be woefully naive not to realize this.
Try talking with actual people from the area then. There are plenty in the US now. The Christians all like Assad. Even the Kurds grumble that it’s best he stay. The other minorities as well.
If the radical Sunni come to power, they’ll start up with ethnic cleansing.
Well, I do have some friends from Libya, and they were extremely happy that Qaddafi was executed and that his government was overthrown. They ain’t real pleased about how it all turned out, but they are glad he is dead. I don’t see the Kurds accepting Assad as their sovereign ever again. Some of them maybe don’t care if he still controls a part of Syria, but they won’t be in that part.
Yeah, I never said the Iraq war was a good idea. I marched in a protest against it in 1991 and again for a different Iraq war I organized several protests in 2003.
I never said we should go to war with Syria. But I am ashamed of how many people on here who can try to justify and use wishful thinking to support a guy like Assad. This is antiwar.com. Presumably we all want to diminish as much war as possible. So I would be thinking about what we could do about a inhuman monster killing countless innocent people. A few years ago that was Bush, then Obama. It was also Saddam and now Assad and Trump.
Have you heard the saying, “The road to Hell is paved with good intentions”? Antiwar is based on the US not getting involved in foreign conflicts. Who do you trust to “help” Syria? Do you trust John McCain or Bill Kristol? Because that’s the sort who’ll be doing the “helping”. Or maybe it’ll be someone more like John Kerry. Kerry doesn’t care about Syria either.
Fix the US such that it has the ability to help, and maybe I’ll get on board with some “helping”.
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The Kurds are indeed ready to accept Assad if the alternative is rule under a Sunni extremist. The Kurds want a separate state, sure. Turkey won’t allow that. Everyone doesn’t just get a state by wanting one. You have to fight for it.
Kurds are in Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey. Kurdistan means possible fighting in all of those states.
Personally, if I’m God picking who gets what, I’d love to have a Kurdistan. But in the real world, they’ll need to fight for it. And they prefer Assad over the Sunni radicals. So, they’re not going to fight him if it means risking he loses power.
Iraqi Kurdistan is having a referendum on independence as soon as Mosul is liberated. I don’t expect it will be very long after that Syrian Kurdistan does the same. Of course, Turkey will declare war on the new independent Kurdish states, and the US will probably abandon the Kurds again like we did at the end of the first gulf war, but it just may be possible for them to gather enough international support that they could survive. But it is not a choice of either Assad or Radical Fundamentalists, that is every Muslim strongman’s go-to line. They trot that out every single time someone complains about their lack of freedoms or crippling corruption.
“International support” doesn’t necessarily have good intentions.
And good intentions don’t necessarily lead to positive results.
Pat Buchanan had an excellent article on how to actually help Libya: Invite the Egyptians and Algerians in. Offer them each half the oil, and they’ll provide order in exchange for the oil.
That’s what a realistic solution would look like.
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Switch to Kurds again: If the Kurds were to survive, they’d need to figure how they can plug into the international economy with enough left over to afford their own defence. And when two groups claim the same land, they fight until great losses bring one side to peace. Kurdistan quite possibly would mean ethnic cleansing of some non-Kurds from land they claim. Are you wanting to get involved in ethnic cleansing? And what about Yazidis? They’re Kurdish pagans. They might face persecution: It seems unlikely today but perhaps in the future. Nation-states such as Kurdistan can be messy.
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And I’m also somewhat biased. I personally just don’t expect European and colonial (e.g America) powers to be capable of much anything. I’m American, and it’s my view that our government is uniquely incompetent.
You’re a good representative of the American people’s acceptance of the propaganda that supports the march to war. You’ve bought into it completely.
And everybody who disagrees with you has to hate babies! Did you know that Assad has his men use pitchforks for loading babies into boxcars to ship to gassing factories?
Use your common sense then!!! Why would Assad give the West rope to hang himself with? Why would he bomb the people that support him? You only want to read something that conforms to your beliefs.
Why would Assad used banned weapons? Maybe because last Thursday the Trump Administration stated that they would no longer seek to oust Assad and he only holding steady with the help of Russia, Iran and Hezbollah. Maybe because chemical weapons are cheaper to produce than guided missiles and more effective than barrel bombs. Why do you think the people in rebel held territory support Assad? And how does he “hang himself”? He as used chemical weapons dozens of times with zero consequences.
There are way too many people commenting on these articles that are conspiracy nuts. Every single horrible attack or massacre is a false flag? Except American attacks, those are barbaric and 100% intentional. How about, all the nations on Earth commit barbaric and disgusting acts, some intentional, some not, and we want them all to stop.
“Maybe because chemical weapons are cheaper to produce than guided missiles and more effective than barrel bombs”
Actually, chemical weapons are militarily useless except for surprise temporary territory denial. One way to tell whether or not the Assad regime was behind the attack is whether or not that was the usage. Was there a nearby attack for which using chemicals there would cut off a retreat route? Or did regime troops in chemical gear move into the attacked area once the gas had cleared it for them?
Assad is not “only holding steady” with the assistance of Russia and Hezbollah. He’s clearly gained the upper hand with the assistance of Russia and Hezbollah. He’s winning the war. Gassing a bunch of civilians is exactly the opposite of what logic would call for in his situation. That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it, but it does seem unlikely absent a clear and compelling military rationale.
Good to hear chem/bio weapons talked down to their proper perspective. They’re just the tool being used for demonization, as in WMD’s in Iraq.
But the main point is that the US has created the perfect storm now and the bonus is that both parties are supportive of war with Syria. And it’s a sure winner for Trump and a way out from under his ongoing destruction by the Dems.
Aside from a little antiwar sentiment on this site, Trump’s supporters are sure to support the coming war with Syria. The R party is going to be solid behind him. And the D party has taken a stand against what was supposed to be Trump’s US/Russia stance and so are automatically with Trump.
And any Americans who don’t support the coming war against Assad just obviously has to hate babies that were (maybe) gassed.
With Trump being elected, which was a move against the establishment, no change has been brought about that can combat the propaganda efforts that work for war. What now, with half the antiwar commenters so confused they’re sounding ridiculous with their support of Trump?
Oh, and why pull the trigger on me for one day? It might be worth at least telling me what caused it?
This is a current map of Syria.
https://syria.liveuamap.com/
It shows the territory of each of the warring factions. Assad has taken some territory recently, but he is nowhere near winning the war.
Chemical weapons killed 20,000 Iranians and injured another 80,000 during the Iran-Iraq War. Their use was a turning point in the war. But more than the deaths and injuries, they cause terror in the ranks of the enemy. There are lots of uses for chemical weapons, just because you have not thought of them does not change that. You set up a false test and get the answer you want.
I agree it does not make sense from certain points of view, but it does make a lot of sense from another. When the rebels in Syria learned that the US was no longer going to seek the removal of Assad their moral must have taken a big hit. Some of them probably thought of ways to get out or otherwise end the fighting. If these demoralized fighters were also terrified of a CW attack, it may actually start a chain reaction that leads to victory for the Syrian government forces. And they had no way of knowing that pictures and video of the attack would go out over the world. They even bombed the site as rescue workers arrived to help the sick. The Syrian government does not even dispute their air force launched the attack, just that it was not chemical.
You’ve bought into the propaganda exactly as it was intended Jeremy. And not that anybody will change your mind, just to make note of how it works so well on Americans.
Wait, so what is the propaganda exactly? That all governments commit horrible crimes? Because that is what I wrote. I’m not sure there is a side pushing that, but you seem to have it figured out Don.
So just to be clear, you think Doctors Without Borders is part of the conspiracy to frame the Syrian government? And that does not sound strange to you?
The Assad family political leadership has been fighting terrorist Sunni extremists from the start. These fundamentalist Sunnis, tribalists ambitious for power, have always wanted to take Syria by force and convert stable secular Syria into an Islamic fundamentalist hellhole. Assad and his father before him have never been “kind and beneficial” to these terrorists. Rightly so. Unflinching brutality is ***exactly*** what has been needed to keep the Radical Islamic Terrorist monsters at bay. Treasonous action — and yes treason-fomenting talk as well — brought the harshest of consequences. Those harsh consequences worked, protected the Syrian people from Radical Islamic Terrorism, and kept Syria stable and peaceful. Kept it stable and peaceful until Cheney invited the Neocons to take over US foreign policy and to then use their US military poodle to inflict their festival of regime change and death on Israel’s “uncooperative” Muslim neighbors. After Bush/Cheney, Obama/Hillary took over implementing the Neocon agenda, the foreign policy of the Neocan/AIPAC hijacked United States of Israel.
Try avoiding Ziocon propaganda.
Same as the attack a few years ago when Turkey and the terrorists colluded in a false flag op to blame Assad for that one. Look up Seymour Hersch’s expose on that one.
This is your brain on Kool-Aid. That’s what’s making you sick. Put down the Kool-Aid and try some evidence, some reality.
No, a supporter of murder like yourself, that is what makes me sick. I’m not sure what moral philosophy you belong to, but it does indeed disgust me to think that you can justify the murder of children.
Your only mistake is that you’re clouding the issue with your including the Zionist cause. Leave that out for the sake of clarity. It’s only secondary to the issue anyway.
Jeremy is right on topic. He’s bought into the propaganda exactly how it’s meant to be received. He’s made you into a murderer of babies. This will be the mindset adopted by the large majority of Americans and it looks like other Nato countries will be as easy to convince.
“They would say that, wouldn’t they?”, Christine Keeler.
False flag operation after the US made statements that Assad was part of the future of Syria.
Last — or perhaps I should say the most recent — attempt by the CIA to “reboot” their regime change agenda. and it’s a twofer: nail Assad and hoodwink/manipulate Trump into becoming their latest Presidential “bïtch”. Will Trump fall for it? We shall see.
I cannot be the only person who sees these events as a full-on political war for control of state power, a war of Trump vs the Deep State.
It seems Trump is slow to go after his many political adversaries. I suppose it’s possible that he never will, but it may just be that he’s learning the ropes, getting his footing, and giving his political enemies room to show their hand. We shall see.
President Trump needs to SHUT DOWN the CIA and NSA .. SHUT THEM DOWN!
How about we allow the Syrian government do the investigation into this alleged attack? Doesn’t the US and Israel conduct their own investigations anytime they are accused of any wrong doing?
Thanks for this reporting. I fear Trump gets tricked into removing Assad.
Yes tricked by his vanity in which he now has the opportunity to become a conquering hero, and to assume a honored place in America’s pantheon of heroes. Maybe he feels this will get his face carved onto Mount Rushmore. What matters if the truth is, it provides Trump with a stage upon which to strut. Trump is unable to resist this, and his generals and the media know this.
You have a wonderful imagination 🙂
https://twitter.com/TulsiGabbard/status/849335453031563264
The fake news media and US govt propagandists — Congress, govt agency “spokesliars”, and PBS/npr — still peddle the nonsense, since disproven, that Syria/Assad was behind the Ghouta sarin attack. Obama declared his redline, creating the opportunity for the false flag, and then getting it. Obama found a way out (or was it all a plan?), so the Saudi/US-sponsored Sunni terrorists didn’t succeed in getting the US military to take out Assad for them, but as a fall-back position (or was it all an Israeli op from the start?) they did manage to strip Syria of their strategic deterrence against Israel.
The false flag stunt didn’t work on Obama, but now they are pulling the same trick on Trump. Hoping for what? That Trump will be too dim to know what’s going on? That Trump can be manipulated where Obama could not? Will the intelligence community tell Trump the truth like they told Obama? (The IC told Obama it was likely a false flag.)
But the IC is out to get Trump, so this is either a CIA or Mossad op. Or a CIA/Mossad op.
As Schumer said, “The intelligence community has six ways from Sunday of getting back at you.”
Trump needs to take down the CIA before they take him down.
Trump is too trusting of the establishment. He needs to form a coalition with the more libertarian Republicans and the more Tulsi-like Democrats, ask them for help restoring national security.
I’m not familiar enough with who’s in Congress to know of any other groups. Nehlen, if elected, would likely be in his own third category. I blindly assume Nehlen is good on liberty and war.