Retraction: Report of Syrian Red Crescent Statement on Alleged Douma Attack Incorrect

SARC statement was referring to previous incident in January

On April 9, 2018 Antiwar.Com reported that “Syrian Red Crescent Says No Evidence of Chemical Attack in Syria,” with respect to the alleged Saturday attack in Douma. The article quoted a (since corrected) RT.com article which made the claim. At the time, we had no reason to believe it was untrue.

In fact, the original source, TASS quoted Red Crescent officials describing the incident of six patients with breathing problems, who had not been exposed to any toxic agents. A more detailed accounting by TASS reveals this incident took place in January, with respect to a different alleged attack, and had nothing to do with the Saturday incident.

The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent’s Lebanon branch says they are unaware of any statements by the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) on the Douma matter. They also note that the SARC was not operational in Douma as of the date of the attack. It appears no such statement exists, one way or the other, on the Saturday allegations.

When Politifact contacted us to question this, we had found we had made a mistake. In the future, we will not use foreign news sources as the sole source for important articles like this.

We at Antiwar.com apologize for the mistake. We strive to provide the most accurate, and up-to-date information possible.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.