Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that a UN security team has entered the city of Douma. The inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are scheduled to visit on Wednesday. UPDATE: UN security teams have reported that gunfire is delaying the arrival of the inspectors.
The OPCW inspectors did not visit Monday, and there were a lot of allegations exchanged as to why. The Syrian Ambassador’s comment appears to lend credence to Syria’s previous claim that UN security concerns prevented the visit.
British officials had claimed Russia and Syria were preventing the visit. Earlier this month, there were allegations of a chemical weapons strike against Douma. There is no public proof that the strike took place, and a mounting amount of doubt that it didn’t, driven by inquiries from Robert Fisk. Residents within Douma have also expressed doubts about the strike.
OAN investigators weren’t able to confirm any evidence of a chemical weapons attack on Douma. To the extent that investigations are happening, they suggest there was no chemical strike.
Clearly, Douma was attacked by Syrian forces on that day, and the day prior. Those strikes, however, were insisted by the Syrian government to be purely conventional strikes. There is little to suggest anything else, beyond claims from the White Helmets, and Western nations claiming to have secret proof.
Syria and Russia have both denied from the start that the attack took place, and they have believed the OPCW visit would reveal the truth. Russia in particular was pushing for an investigation to take place before any rash action against Syria. Ultimately, US-led attacks on Syria happened Friday night.
The US seems to be anticipating the OPCW probe not going their way, and is already accusing Syria and Russia of plotting to tamper with the site. There’s no evidence of tampering of any kind. The US suggestion was based on the fact that Russian military police visited the site. The visit, however, was done days ago, and Russia said it was meant to deter the West from attacking Douma and destroying evidence.
Since the US, Britain, and France already attacked Syria, they have little reason to want the OPCW visit to be successful. They clearly weren’t interested in getting the facts before the strike, and facts that don’t support their narrative could be very embarrassing.
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Every last White Helmet left with the terrorists when they evacuated under the amnesty, I guess they didn’t feel the need to stay and help any-longer.
It would have been good to talk to them since they are the “Witnesses” to the gas attack.
I’m sure Assad’s people would have liked to talk to the White Helmets too…
Preferably with no Russian MPs watching.
Hmm… “Looks like what we have here is failure to communicate.” This was the White Helmets’ most cobbled together false-flag production yet. They won’t be winning any Oscars next year, folks.
Don’t be too sure, it depends on who is giving those Oscars out.
Better late than dead.
Its not clear how the Russians could tamper with a gas attack site, but if anything happens to UN inspectors who are under Russian-Syrian protection, then another ‘false flag’ crisis is created.
Let’s see, the U.S. / U.K. are so concerned about the access to Duma and tampering, a mere 11 days after the alleged attack but for some reason never thought it necessary for the OPCW to even visit Khan Shaykhun or even the Syrian airport. How pathetic.
This may sound morbid but how about a few autopsies?
The victims would not have been relocated and had they died at the hospital they should possibly still be at a morgue at this point. Just identify two victims.
Nothing is going to change the fact the attack was illegal. They could have caught Assad personally delivering a barrel bomb with fluorescent letters that had a visible “SARIN” stenciled on the side of the barrel and the attack was still illegal.
By what criteria do you deem an attack against rebel forces in a civil war to be “illegal”?
By foreign countries? International law comes to mind. And US law when it comes to us doing the attacks.
You are referring then to the attack by the US and its minions.
I thought you were referring to Assad’s attack on Douma. Sorry for the mistake.
An attack BY an external power with NO possible pretense of it being self-defense, and certainly no agreed to by the UN. ILLEGAL!!!
Why should the USA/UK/France (the FUKUS gang) decide to punish a sovereign nation for any reason??
Extralegal; illegal would require an official political stamp.
If ‘extralegal’ is pushed hard enough, maybe people will get an idea of where the problem lies as far as international law goes.
The People have to make politicians honour the law and put in place mechanisms for The People to overcome politicians’ license to negligence.
Extralegal; meeting all the definitions of illegal but lacking official sanction as ‘illegal’ thanks to the Political Question Doctrine.
The PQD is possibly one of the most damning indictments of the present state legal system; a dirty spade can’t be called a dirty spade.