The Syria Thread 2011 - Present

[Elvis]

Maybe I've become a rino neocon, but Syria and Russia's genocidal war crimes in Syria

WHAT?!!

What genocidal war crimes? Please elaborate.

[conniption]

counterpunch

September 22, 2017
Uncle Sam vs. Russia in Eastern Syria: the Nightmare Scenario

by Mike Whitney

The impending collapse of ISIS has touched off a race for territory in the oil-rich eastern part of Syria pitting US-backed forces against the Russian-led coalition of Syria, Iran and Hezbollah. This is the nightmare scenario that everyone wanted to avoid. Washington and Moscow’s armies are now converging on the same area at the same time greatly increasing the probability of a conflagration between the two nuclear-armed superpowers. The only way a clash can be avoided is if one party backs down, which seems increasingly unlikely.

The situation can be easily explained. The vast swath of territory captured by ISIS is steadily shrinking due to the dogged perseverance of the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) which has liberated most of the countryside west of the Euphrates River including the former ISIS stronghold at Deir Ezzor, a critical garrison at the center of the fighting. ISIS is also getting pressure from the north where the US-backed SDF is pounding their capital at Raqqa while deploying troops and tanks southward to the oil fields in Deir Ezzor province.

Washington has made it clear that it wants its proxy-army to control the area east of the Euphrates establishing a soft partition between east and west. The US also wants to control Deir Ezzor’s vast oil resources in order to provide a reliable revenue stream for the emergent Kurdish statelet.

Syrian President Bashar al Assad has said many times that he will never agree to the partitioning of the country. But the decision will not be made by Assad alone. His coalition partners in Moscow, Beirut and Tehran will also help shape the final settlement. As far as Putin is concerned, it seems extremely unlikely that he’d risk a protracted and bloody war with the United States simply to recapture every square inch of Syrian territory. The Russian president will probably allow the US to keep its bases in the northeast provided that critical areas are conceded to the regime. But where will the line be drawn, that’s the question?

The US wants to control the area east of the Euphrates including the lucrative oil fields. This is why they deployed troops from the SDF southward even though they’re still needed in Raqqa. Earlier in the week, it looked like the Syrian Army had a leg up on the SDF as troops and armored vehicles crossed the Euphrates headed east to the oil fields. But reports that appeared late Thursday indicate that the SDF has beaten them to the punch. This is from South Front:

“On Thursday, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) …captured Tabiyeh and al-Isba oil fields in the northwestern Deir Ezzor countryside, according to pro-Kurdish sources. … If these reports are confirmed, the SDF will be in control over a half of Syria’s oil reserve. Moreover, that will mean that the SDF at least partly blocked the SAA way on the eastern bank of the Euphrates river.” (“Syrian Democratic Forces Capture Key Oil Fields In Deir Ezzor”, South Front)

This is a major setback for the Russian coalition. It means that the SAA backed by the Russian Airforce will have to fight a group which, up to this point, has been an ally in the war against ISIS. Now it’s clear that the mainly-Kurdish SDF is no ally, it’s an enemy that wants to steal Syria’s resources and carve a state out of its eastern flank.

The news about the SDF’s arrival at the oil fields came just hours after the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov issued a terse warning to the US and SDF that Russia would retaliate if SAA positions were attacked again by SDF mortar or rocket fire.

Quote: “Russia unequivocally told the commanders of US forces in Al Udeid Airbase (Qatar) that it will not tolerate any shelling from the areas where the SDF are stationed (…) Fire from positions in regions [controlled by the SDF] will be suppressed by all means necessary.”

In retrospect, it looks like the SDF had already decided to make a clean break with the government leaving no doubt of where they stood. Washington is using the SDF to seize the oil fields and to claim to the entire east side of the Euphrates for its own. There’s no doubt that these combat units of the SDF are accompanied by US Special Forces who are providing critical communications, logistic and tactical support. This operation has Washington’s fingerprints all over it.

On Friday morning, loyalist forces led by the 5th Assault Corps ISIS Hunters, established full control over Khusham village on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River near Deir Ezzor city. The strategically-located village blocks a key road linking the area held by the SDF to the Omar oil fields.

Get the picture? US-backed forces and Russian coalition members are now operating cheek-to-jowl in the same theatre trying to seize the same oil-rich scrap of land. This has all the makings of a major head-on collision.

Putin is a cautious and reasonable man, but he’s not going to hand over Syria’s oil fields without a fight. Besides, Assad needs the oil receipts to finance the rebuilding of his decimated country. Equally important, he needs the territory east of Deir Ezzor to for an overland route connecting Beirut to Damascus to Baghdad to Tehran, the so-called Arab Superhighway. Putin’s job is to glue as much of the country together as needed to create a viable state. So while he may allow the SDF and US military to occupy parts of the northeast, he’s not going to surrender crucial resources or strategically-located territory.

So what does it all mean? Does it mean that Russia will support Assad’s attempts to liberate the oil fields even if it could trigger a broader war with the United States?

Yes, that’s exactly what it means.

Putin doesn’t want a slugfest with Uncle Sam, but he’s not going to abandon an ally either. So there’s going to be a confrontation because neither party is willing to give up what they feel they need to achieve success.

So there you have it. As the standoff begins to take shape in east Syria, the two rival superpowers are preparing themselves for the worst. Clearly, we have reached the most dangerous moment in the six year-long war.

~~~

MoA

September 21, 2017

Syria - Russia Accusing U.S. Of Attacks, Abduction Attempts, Team-play With Al-Qaeda

The situation in Syria is reaching another critical point. There is an increased possibility of a large scale clash between U.S. and Russian forces. We had warned of such a clash over control of the rich fields east of Deir Ezzor. At least three incidents over the last days point to more significant escalations.

continues... http://www.moonofalabama.org/2017/09/sy ... qaeda.html

~~~

russia-insider

Military Defeat as a Financial Collapse Trigger - The Epic US Fail in Syria

"The Syrian defeat is not the result of a single operation, but an entire sequence of them, each resulting in what can only described as an epic fail."

"The entire US Syrian campaign can be described as a relentless pursuit of failure."

Dmitry Orlov
Tue, Sep 19, 2017

continues... http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/m ... ia/ri20960

[seemslikeadream]

Syria: Russia again blocks extension of chemical attacks probe
1 hour ago

A nerve gas attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April killed more than 80 people

Russia has cast a second veto in as many days to block a UN Security Council resolution that would have extended an international inquiry into chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Russia rejected a Japanese draft resolution to prolong by 30 days the Joint Investigative Mechanism, whose mandate ends at midnight on Friday.

Western nations condemned the move.

It is the 11th time Moscow has used its veto powers in support of its ally since the conflict began.
On Thursday, Russia blocked a US-written draft to extend the JIM's mandate for a year.
The JIM was set up in 2015 to identify perpetrators of chemical attacks. It is the only official mission investigating the use of chemical weapons in Syria.
Moscow strongly criticised the inquiry when it blamed the Syrian government for a deadly nerve agent attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun in April.

Syria denies using banned chemical weapons.
Why is there a war in Syria?
Syria chemical 'attack': What we know
Syria 'still producing chemical weapons'
What is the Joint Investigative Mechanism?

Created in 2015 with unanimous backing from the UN Security Council and renewed in 2016 for another year
Involves the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons
Has previously concluded that Syrian government forces used chlorine as a weapon at least three times between 2014 and 2015
It has also found that Islamic State militants used sulphur mustard in one attack
Russia, the UK, China, France and the US all have veto powers at the Security Council.

Media captionAbo Rabeea says he is still suffering from the suspected chemical weapons strike in Khan Sheikhoun
The attack on Khan Sheikhoun left more than 80 people dead and prompted the US to launch missile strikes on a Syrian airbase.
Last month, a UN Human Rights Council inquiry concluded a Syrian air force jet was responsible, dismissing statements from Russia that the jet had dropped conventional munitions that struck a rebel chemical weapons depot.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the incident in Khan Sheikhoun was a "fabrication".
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42034567

Syrian 'civilians killed' in ISIL attack in Deir Az Zor

today
Syria's SANA state news agency says an ISIL car bombing has killed at least 20 people and wounded 30 others at a site where displaced families are camped near the city of Deir Az Zor in eastern Syria.

It says the bombing occurred between al-Jafra and al-Koniko areas, which is located in the countryside south of Deir Az Zor city and is controlled by the Syrian government.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said 12 children were among a total of 26 victims of Friday's attack in Deir Az Zor province, where ISIL, or the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group, also known as ISIS, is losing ground to two separate offensives.

Also on Friday, the SOHR, a Britain-based monitor, said six children were among at least 19 civilians killed in shelling by the Syrian government in the rebel-held area of Eastern Ghouta near Damascus.

In another incident in Eastern Ghouta, six people were killed in government air strikes, according to the SOHR.

Reports said that in retaliation for the government's assault, rebels fired rockets into Damascus city on Friday, killing three civilians.

SANA said four civilians, including a child, were killed when the rockets struck al-Zablatani and al-Dwaila areas of Damascus, in which it called a new violation of a de-escalation deal.



The de-escalation zones were created as part of an agreement reached between Russia, Iran and Turkey to bring violence levels down across Syria.

SANA cited a source at Damascus police command as saying that the child was killed in the attack on al-Dwaila while material damage was caused to shops and houses in al-Hamidiya area.

Fighting between the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels in control of Eastern Ghouta has been escalating of late and claiming an increasing number of civilian lives.

Ahrar al-Sham, a rebel group which has positions in Harasta, launched an attack on Tuesday on a government military base in the area.



The SOHR says at least 37 people, including nine Syrian military officers, have been killed on the government side and another 174 people wounded as about 700 shells, raids and missiles have rained down on Eastern Ghouta over three days.

The Assad government has not confirmed the military's losses.

On Thursday six people were killed in shelling of a Damascus neighbourhood.

Among the victims was Fadel Radi, the Syrian national karate teams coach, who died of shrapnel wounds.

Radi was injured as he was leaving al-Majd club in Bab Musalla area of Damascus city, SANA reported.

Born in 1948, Radi was a prominent karate expert in Syria since 1970 and had several achievements to his name at the Arab and international levels.

Meanwhile, in New York City, diplomats at the UN said the Security Council would vote on Friday in a fresh attempt to salvage a UN-led investigation entrusted with identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

The council will vote at 6:15pm (23:15 GMT) on a Japanese draft resolution that would extend the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) for 30 days, to allow time for negotiations on a compromise.

The mandate of the JIM, an inquiry launched jointly by the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in 2015, expired on Thursday after Russia blocked a US-backed resolution.

Eleven Security Council members states voted in favour of the resolution, two abstained, and two voted against it, including Russia, which holds veto power as a permanent member of the Security Council.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/11/s ... 21568.html

Analysis Russia and U.S. Have Turned the Page on Syria - Possibly at Israel's Expense
Unless Israel wants a war with the U.S.-backed Russian-Iranian alliance, it will have to live with the reality of Iranian troops in Syria

Zvi Bar'el Nov 17, 2017 5:58 PM

Israel won’t allow Iran to establish presence in Syria, defense minister says
Israeli military chief gives unprecedented interview to Saudi media: 'Ready to Share Intel on Iran'
Analysis Israel may demand Iran leave Syria, but Russia sets the rules of the game
Moscow and Washington agreed in a joint statement on Saturday that no military solution is possible in Syria and that there are only diplomatic options. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan quickly responded that those who don’t believe in a military solution should pull their troops out of Syria.
To really understand the Middle East - subscribe to Haaretz 
The statement, which seemed to signal that presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump had turned a new leaf in their relations, also raised concern in Israel, which fears that a diplomatic solution would leave Iranian-backed forces in Syria. In time, this could pose a threat to Israel.
The U.S.-Russian agreement implies that all foreign combatants must leave Syria. Russia would press Bashar Assad to order Iran and Hezbollah to leave the country; the U.S. would ask Jordan to oust jihadi forces like Jabhat al-Nusra and other Sunni militias. These assumptions are far from convincing.
At a press briefing after the joint statement, a senior American official said the Americans don’t intend to negotiate with Assad or the Iranian forces, but with Russia. He emphasized the American and Russian sponsorship for the cease-fire agreement signed in Jordan about setting up a safe zone in southern Syria, a move that was roundly criticized by Israel.


Israel directed its remarks at Russia, but the U.S. is equally responsible for the agreement. The statement shouldn’t have surprised Israel, because already in April, at Trump’s previous meeting with Putin, the two had agreed not to discuss Assad’s future at that stage. Trump made a major concession to Russia, which was reflected in the current briefing as well, to the effect that Assad must go but it’s up to the Syrian people, including those who were displaced, to make that move by means of election. They also agreed that the two powers could work together on issues of joint interest.

However, those shared interests don’t necessarily take into consideration Israel’s interests.
At present the agreement doesn’t draft final maps, so Israel’s alarm may be premature. But after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that “the presence of Iranian forces in Syria is legitimate since they were invited by Syria,” and in view of Erdogan’s statement, clearly the prospect of the foreign forces’ leaving isn’t worth the paper the agreement was written on. Nor does the document specify when the forces must leave and who will get them out.

Iran, Russia and Turkey, together with the Syrian and foreign militias acting in their name in Syria, do not intend to leave and it is doubtful they will do so after a final agreement is reached.
This is the reality Israel will have to live with, if it doesn’t want to go to war against the Russian-Iranian partnership sponsored by America. This partnership received an unusual bolstering by Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, in a message he sent to a conference in Moscow this week entitled “Iran, Russia, Five Centuries of Cooperation.”
Zarif wrote in the message that this cooperation will “cement security, stability and growth in Central Asia and Middle East regions.”
Lavrov said in a message delivered at the conference that he hopes the cooperation in various fields between the two countries will expand to strategic matters. This cooperation also has important economic aspects, like laying the gas pipeline from Iran to India via Pakistan and infrastructure investments.
Russia’s ties with Iran helped persuade the Iranians to move their forces in the southern safe zone further north and east and to clarify to Iran that it’s better not to give Israel a reason to attack in Syria. But the extent of Iran’s military presence in Syria hasn’t changed. According to Iranian opposition reports and sources in the rebel militias, the number of Iranian and pro-Iranian troops is estimated at 70,000.
Headed by General Jaafar al-Asadi, these forces operate under a joint command located near Damascus airport, which cooperates with the Syrian army. The al-Shibani camp, northwest of Damascus, which served the Syrian Republican Guard troops before it was passed to Iranian troops, accommodates some 3,000 soldiers, as well as Hezbollah troops and Afghan militias.
The south region’s headquarters, based some 60 kilometers south of Damascus on the road to Daraa, controls the Daraa, Sweida and Quneitra area, not far from the Yarmouk camp, which serves Hezbollah. A missile unit is situated in the Azroa base, near the town Sheikh Maskin.
On the eastern-northern front, Iranians forces are deployed in the Hasakah, Raqqa and Qamishli area, and operate an airport for military flights. Almost 1,000 troops are based in another airport, located some 50 kilometers from Tadmor city, according to Iranian opposition sources. Some 1,000 Islamic Revolutionary Guard troops are also staying in the Latakia and Tartus region controlled by the Syrian army. The BBC recently published photographs of a large military camp secretly being built on the outskirts of Damascus, which can accommodate a few thousand troops.
The number and deployment of the Iranian forces cast doubt over Israel’s ability to prevent any Iranian presence in Syria, as Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot said in an interview with the Saudi-owned Elaph site. But the deployment mainly attests to the weak points in the Syrian army, where it requires Iranian assistance. So far, such assistance has been provided in local battles, like the conquest of Aleppo, but this doesn’t indicate an intention to take over Syrian territories and turn them into Iranian enclaves.
Israel’s fears that Iranian forces and their proteges will establish strongholds in the Syrian part of the Golan Heights are not unfounded. But it is not certain that Iran, Syria and Russia have an interest in opening a front against Israel in Syria. Both Iran and Syria are interested in completing the strategic move to stabilize Assad’s regime and end the militia war. It’s clear to Iran and Russia that if Israel attacks, as Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has threatened, the attacks may not be limited to Iranian targets but expand toward Assad’s palace and other Syrian strategic targets, including Hezbollah targets in Lebanon.
So mutual deterrence is being set up between Israel and Syria and Iran, in which the Israeli threat to Iran could be more palpable in the Golan Heights than the Iranian threat to Israel.
This balance could be disrupted if the Iranians deploy middle- and long-range missiles in the southern Golan Heights. But this option is not on the table yet, either, mainly due to Russia’s objection to an Iranian strategic move that could harm Russian interests. At the same time, Israel sees the long-range missiles placed in Iranian territory as a greater strategic threat than the missiles that might be placed in Syria. On the whole, in case of a missile war, geographical distance is not overly significant as long as Israel and Iran can attack each other from afar.
The more serious problem Israel faces is the alliance that the United States and Syria have formed in the Syrian arena, which means that Israel cannot expect American backup if it decides to attack in Syria.
Trump continues to display indifference to military and strategic moves that don’t pertain to fighting ISIS, and in view of the organization’s defeats, Washington could announce that its goals in Syria and Iraq have been achieved in full and withdraw its forces. If this happens, Israel will find itself diplomatically isolated in a combat zone it had made efforts not to intervene in from the start.
read more: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.823326

[Elvis]

ISIS has been militarily defeated in Iraq and Syria

http://www.businessinsider.com/isis-mil ... ia-2017-11


Well, that's that, then!

[MacCruiskeen]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DPk5x-cWAAMR4pi.jpg:large

[seemslikeadream]

HERE!

I guess you all forgot about the 128 page thread?

Maybe I should post something about Assange here?

[seemslikeadream]

oh there IS a Syrian thread ...how convenient

Let me highjack this thread with stuff about Syria!

Russia strikes back at Syrian rebels after fighter jet is downed, pilot killed
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/02/03/r ... ot-killed/

Syria war: Turkey suffers deadliest day in Afrin offensive
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-42934041

'A hellish nightmare': how Trump's travel ban hit a Syrian refugee family
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... n-virginia

North Korea arming Syria, Myanmar: UN report
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/02/n ... 44145.html

North Korea earned $200 million from banned exports last year and sends arms to Syria and Myanmar
https://www.pri.org/stories/2018-02-03/ ... -syria-and

[Elvis]

Syria can't defend itself from foreign proxy armies unless it has arms. Personally, I don't condone military takeovers or destruction of other countries for geopolitical goals and oil interests.

[Belligerent Savant]

.

Moving the below content to the appropriate thread.

Olivia Solon's narrative is much more compelling than that of those who would deny, minimize and/or justify the Assad regime's many war crimes. Yawn.

Olivia is a tech reporter. An asinine and vapid one at that. She hasn't the foggiest notion about geopolitics.

Here's her latest output - how white, well off morons are committing extreme animal cruelty feeding their pets vegan diets.

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyl ... ing-others

Come the fuck on, AD. You're trolling, I get it. But try harder. Going to bat for poorly researched, brazenly mendacious shite like her al-Qaeda helmetchoppers guff just makes you look bad and undermines your already weakened brand. Shitpost harder!

AD has demonstrated behavior here, for years now, that goes beyond mere trolling. I have, in turns, called AD out on it -- as have numerous others -- or otherwise attempted to ignore it, or have simply stayed the F#CK outta this board altogether for stretches at a time.

I posted the below excerpt in 2 other threads where AD "opined" on this topic. AD has not, and WILL NOT, reply to it, despite the fact that it addresses the Olivia SOLON piece DIRECTLY, as well as allegations against the WHITE HELMETS.

AD will simply ignore and proceed as he does. Disingenuous, dishonest.

Reply to The Guardian

In October, a San Francisco-based tech (and sometimes fashion) writer named Olivia Solon (visibly with no understanding of Middle East geopolitics) emailed myself and Beeley with nearly identical questions filled with implicit assumptions for a “story” we were to be imminently featured in. My own correspondence with Solon is as follows:









In brief, I’ll address Solon’s emails, including some of her most loaded questions:

-Who is the “we”, Solon mentions? Her mention of “we” indicates this story isn’t her own bright idea, nor independently researched and penned. Parts of the article—including the title and elements I’ll outline later in my article—seem to be lifted from others’ previous articles, but that’s copy-paste journalism for you.

-It isn’t just that I believe the mainstream media narrative about the White Helmets is wrong; this narrative has been redundantly-exposed over the years. In September 2014, Canadian independent journalist Cory Morningstar investigated hidden hands behind flashy PR around the White Helmets. In April 2015, American independent journalist Rick Sterling revealed that the White Helmets had been founded by Western powers and managed by a British ex-soldier, and noted the “rescuers” role in calling for Western intervention—a No Fly Zone on Syria. (more on these articles below). This was months before Russian media began to write about the White Helmets.

Since then, Vanessa Beeley has done the vast amount of research in greater detail, doing on-the-ground investigations in Syria, including: taking the testimonies of Syrian civilians who had (often brutal) experiences with the White Helmets; establishing that the Syrian Civil Defense exists and has existed since 1953, but are not the White Helmets—which has misappropriated this name; establishing that the international body, the International Civil Defence organisation in Geneva, does not recognize the White Helmets as the Syrian Civil Defence; establishing that men now White Helmets members looted vehicles and equipment from the Syrian Civil Defence in Aleppo—and belongings from civilians; and establishing that White Helmets shared a building in Bab Al Nairab, eastern Aleppo with al-Qaeda and were present as al-Qaeda tortured civilians, among other points.

It is hard to believe that in the span of the two months between her contacting Beeley and myself that Solon, in her certainly deep investigations, has not seen this video, clearly showing uniformed White Helmets members with supporters of Saudi terrorist, Abdullah Muhaysini. Not quite “neutral” rescuers. But then, perhaps she did. She was willing to write off the presence of White Helmets members at execution scenes, standing on dead Syrian soldiers, and holding weapons, as a few bad apples sort of thing.

-As to Solon’s interest in my “relationship” to the Syrian government: No, I have not received payment, gifts or other from any government. To the contrary, I’ve poured my own money into going to Syria (and have fund-raised, and also routinely received Paypal donations or support on Patreon by individuals who appreciate my work). See my article on this matter.

As to how my visits to Syria and North Korea came about, this is another transparent attempt to imply that I am on the payroll of/receive other benefits from one or more of the governments in question.

-One of The Guardian’s questions was regarding my following: “That you attract a large online audience, amplified by high-profile right-wing personalities and appearances on Russian state TV.”

What following I do have began exactly one year ago, after I requested to speak in a panel at the United Nations, as the US Peace Council had done in August 2016. It is as a result of a short interaction between myself and a Norwegian journalist, which went viral, that my online audience grew. In fact, I deeply regret that what went viral was not the important content of the three other panelists and my own over twenty minutes report on conditions in Aleppo which was then still under daily bombardments and snipings by what the West deems “moderates”.

However, given that so many people responded positively regarding the interaction—which dealt with lies of the corporate media and lack of sources—it seems that the public already had a sense that something was not right with corporate media’s renditions on Syria.

The first person to cut and share the video clip in question (on December 10, one day following the panel) was Twitter profile @Walid970721. As I have since met him personally, I can attest he is neither Russian nor funded by the Kremlin, nor any government, and that he shared that clip out of his own belief that it was of interest. Otherwise, on December 10, before any major Russian media had, HispanTV also shared my words. Further, India-based internet media Scoop Whoop’s December 15 share garnered the most views (nearly 10.5 million by now). That Russian media later shared the clip and reported on the incident is neither my doing nor a bad thing: thank you Russian media for doing what Western corporate media always fail to do.

-Regarding The Guardian Solon’s question: “That you think that Assad is being demonized by the US as a means to drive regime change.” Of course I do, as do most analysts and writers not blinded by or obliged to the NATO narrative. As Rick Sterling wrote in September 2016:

“This disinformation and propaganda on Syria takes three distinct forms. The first is the demonization of the Syrian leadership. The second is the romanticization of the opposition. The third form involves attacking anyone questioning the preceding characterizations.”

Boston Globe contributor, award-winning foreign correspondent and author, Stephen Kinzer wrote in February 2016:

“Astonishingly brave correspondents in the war zone, including Americans, seek to counteract Washington-based reporting. At great risk to their own safety, these reporters are pushing to find the truth about the Syrian war. Their reporting often illuminates the darkness of groupthink. Yet for many consumers of news, their voices are lost in the cacophony. Reporting from the ground is often overwhelmed by the Washington consensus.”

Countering corporate media’s demonization campaigns, I’ve written on many occasions—notably including the words of Syrians within Syria—about the vast amount of support the Syrian president enjoys inside of Syria and outside.

In my March 7, 2016 article, I cited meeting with internal, unarmed, opposition members, including Kurdish representative, Berwine Brahim, who stated,

“We want you to convey that conspiracy, terrorism and interference from Western countries has united supporters of the government and the opposition, to support President Bashar al-Assad.”

In that same article, I wrote:

“Wherever I’ve gone in Syria (as well as many months in various parts of Lebanon, where I’ve met Syrians from all over Syria) I’ve seen wide evidence of broad support for President al-Assad. The pride I’ve seen in a majority of Syrians in their President surfaces in the posters in homes and shops, in patriotic songs and Syrian flags at celebrations and in discussions with average Syrians of all faiths. Most Syrians request that I tell exactly what I have seen and to transmit the message that it is for Syrians to decide their future, that they support their president and army and that the only way to stop the bloodshed is for Western and Gulf nations to stop sending terrorists to Syria, for Turkey to stop warring on Syria, for the West to stop their nonsense talk about ‘freedom‘ and ‘democracy’ and leave Syrians to decide their own future.”

In my May 2014 article from Lebanon, having independently observed the first of two days of Syrians streaming to their embassy to vote in presidential elections, I cited some of the many Syrians there with whom I spoke (in Arabic):

“’We love him. I’m Sunni, not Alawi,’ Walid, from Raqqa, noted. ‘They’re afraid our voices will be heard,’ he said….’I’m from Deir Ezzor,’ said a voter. ‘ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) is in our area. We want Bashar al-Assad. The guy walks straight,’ he said, with a gesture of his hand.”

No one escorted me in a Syrian government vehicle to that embassy, by the way. I took a bus, and then walked the remaining many kilometres (the road was so clogged with vehicles going to the embassy) with Syrians en route to vote.

In June 2014, a week after the elections within Syria, I traveled by public bus to Homs (once dubbed the “capital of the revolution”), where I saw Syrians celebrating the results of the election, one week after the fact, and spoke with Syrians beginning to clean up and patch up homes damaged from the terrorist occupation of their district.

When I returned to Homs in December 2015, shops and restaurants had re-opened where a year and a half prior they were destroyed. People were preparing to celebrate Christmas as they could not do when terrorists ruled. In Damascus, attending a choral concert I overheard people asking one another excitedly whether “he” was here. The day prior, President Assad and the First Lady had dropped in on the pracitising choir, to their surprise and delight. And although the church was within hitting distance of mortars fired by the west’s “moderates” (and indeed that area had been repeatedly hit by mortars), the people faced that prospect in hopes of a re-visit by the President.

These are just some of many examples of the support Syria’s president sees and the attempts to vilify he and other Syrian leadership. Even Fox News acknowledged his support, referring to the 2014 elections:

“…it underscored the considerable support that President Bashar Assad still enjoys from the population, including many in the majority Sunni Muslim community. …Without Sunni support, however, Assad’s rule would have collapsed long ago.”

Regarding war crimes, Syria is fighting a war against terrorism, but corporate media continues fabricating claims, and repeating those fabricated, not-investigated, accusations. For example, the repeated claim of the Syrian government starving civilians. In my on the ground investigations, I’ve revealed the truth behind starvation (and hospitals destroyed, and “last doctors”) in Aleppo, in Madaya, in al-Waer, in Old Homs (2014). In all instances, starvation and lack of medical care was solely due to terrorists—including al-Qaeda—hoarding food (and medical supplies). Vanessa Beeley has in greater depth exposed those corporate media lies regarding eastern Aleppo.

Even Reuters later reported on finding stockpiles of food in a “rebel” held building, citing civilians saying specifically that the Army of Islam “rebels”, “kept all these items, here and there. They did not allow us to eat even a piece of bread. We died out of hunger.”

Regarding chemical weapons accusations, those have long been negated by the investigations of Seymour Hersh (on Ghouta 2013; on Khan Sheikhoun 2017) and the UN’s own Carla Del Ponte who said:

“…there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated. This was use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities.”

Regarding convoys allegedly bombed, see my own article on one such claim, as well as award-winning investigative journalist, Gareth Porter’s article.

Regarding whether the White Helmets have done any good work rescuing civilians: they are working solely in areas occupied by al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorists, so no one can prove whether they have actual done any rescue work of civilians. However, we have numerous on the ground witness testimonies to the contrary, that the White Helmets denied medical care to civilians not affiliated with terrorist groups.

In September 2017, Murad Gazdiev (instrumental in his honest reporting from Aleppo during much of 2016) documented how the White Helmets headquarters in Bustan al-Qasr, Aleppo, was filled with Hell Canons (used to fire gas canister bombs on Aleppo’s civilians and infrastructure) and remnants of a bomb-making factory. The headquarters was in a school.

Gazdiev’s reporting on the headquarters was preceded by French citizen Pierre Le Corf, living in Aleppo for over the past year, who visited the White Helmets headquarters in March 2017 (and again in April), documenting the al-Qaeda and ISIS linked flags, logos, and paraphernalia found inside the White Helmets headquarters, and that the White Helmets’ headquarters was next to a central al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra) headquarters. Le Corf also wrote about his encounters with civilians from Aleppo’s east, and their take on the White Helmets:

“…the last two families I met told me that they helped the injured terrorists first and sometimes left the civilians in the rubble. When the camera was spinning everyone was agitated, as soon as the camera extinguished, the lives of the people under rubble took less importance…. all the videos you’ve seen in the media come from one or the other. Civilians couldn’t afford cameras or 3G internet package when it was already difficult to buy bread, only armed and partisan groups.”

Vanessa Beeley took testimonies she took from civilians from eastern, al-Qaeda-occupied Aleppo, in December 2016 when the city was liberated. Beeley later wrote:

“When I asked them if they knew of the “civil defence”, they all nodded furiously and said, “yes, yes – Nusra Front civil defence”. Most of them elaborated and told me that the Nusra Front civil defence never helped civilians, they only worked for the armed groups.”

Beeley also wrote of the White Helmets’ complicity in the massacre of civilians (including 116 children) from Foua and Kafraya in April 2017.

Including Elvis' reply below as well, to retain within the proper thread.

Olivia Solon's narrative is much more compelling

I respectfully and completely disagree. There is nothing compelling about Olivia Solon's "narrative.

a claim that’s been debunked by Snopes and Channel 4 News

We've been down the Channel 4 and Snopes road. It leads only to obfuscation. If Snopes was ever reliable, it hasn't been anything like authoritative for awhile now. The Guardian, alas, has been slipping.

The Russian strategy has been very successful at shaping the online conversation about the White Helmets.

OMG the Russians? Of course this means that all of the evidence against the White Helmets is bogus! Because Russians! How could I not have guessed that the Russians would be behind this?!


And now that I know that a a computer scientist in Indiana has examined some tweets and stuff, I can just ignore Beeley and Bartlett's on the ground reporting.

The rescue group filmed themselves in a staged rescue and shared the video on social media with the hashtag #MannequinChallenge.

The weak excuse for the "MannequinChallenge" video, a video that looks just like all their other rescue videos. Posting that video was indeed a "stupid thing to do" for them.


I'm really surprised at the willfull blindness to this obvious propaganda operation. And of course AD additionally implies that anyone who can see the charade is an "Assad supporter"—which in turn implies that they 'love' evil dictators (among which I think Assad—in reality—ranks quite low; in reality he's the twice-elected president of Syria).


I agree to move this "conversation" to a Syria thread, but I wanted to reply to Olivia Solon's "narrative"

[Elvis]

Moving the below content to the appropriate thread.

Thanks, BS, for moving that superb post here, and for including my post, which I may or may not have got 'round to cross-posting.

Your comments are spot on. The refutation by Eva Bartlett is thorough. She called out Guardian's already-decided story, and good for her for not participating in it.

Aren't real professional reporters supposed to contact subjects and sources before they write the article? The Guardian should be embarrassed by this.

This is the kind of pure journalistic crap—shameless crap—that White Helmet supporters are relying to make their case. Looks okay at a glance maybe, but can't hold up to scrutiny.

[Rory]

Another telling aspect of the al-Qaeda helmetchoppers story is the footage of people in eastern (holocaust) Aleppo, being asked about the White Helmets. To a man, or woman, the interviewees were like "who?" When pressed they would scratch their heads and say they didnt know what they were being asked about but that they knew the 'rebels' were hoarding all supplies and aid - food, medicine, etc.. - and that the hospitals were not used for that function (they were bases of military operation, and hosted sharia courts, torture chambers, and comand centers), and they had no recourse to organized healthcare at all.

Given the sources of funding, seeing who was signal boosting in the news and social media, and the anecdotal reports from people who lived in areas purportedly served by them, all points towards a brazen propaganda operation with long term consequences.

It's bad enough that the media has become another weapon in regime change operations. It's a absolute humanitarian disaster that civilian "aid" organizations are now also tainted by the White Helmets op. Next one of these and we'll will see the affected country brutally crush any aid efforts they dont directly control. And who benefits? The poor fuckers in the middle certainly dont and all for an oscar. Congratulations - youve doomed people to suffer by being oh so clever at thinking up new ways to "win hearts and minds" and sell your invasion to the electorate. Disgusting behavior all round.

[Jerky]

Well, to my eyes, Bartlett's "response" scans like the paranoid blatherings of someone who knows that the person she's addressing has her number, and probably has the goods on her, so she's trying to lay the foundation for reasons not to accept Solon's "story" (and her hilarious reaction to that absolutely normal turn of phrase is quite telling).

To put it another way, the lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Solon's article and Snopes.com are far, FAR more credible. I've personally looked into a number of complaints about Snopes's alleged "bias", and they have ALL turned out to be absolute bullshit flung by partisans and/or far-gone True Believers.

J.

[Belligerent Savant]

.

Well, to my eyes

To your eyes, indeed. Who are we to dispute what you see, and how real that view is to you? Thing is, I've yet to observe a substantive refutation of the numerous specific claims made by the reporters on the ground in Syria.

WHITE NOISE reigns supreme in this era: "fake news", memes and trolls abound.

But no matter -- we're just a couple anonymous handles typing from the comfort of our homes while lives continue to be snuffed out in Syria, and all over the world, due to unjust/criminal acts.

[mentalgongfu2]

I know practically nothing about the White Helmets or Bartlett that I haven't read in this thread.
In fact, I think it's fair to say there is very little coverage on anything of the sort in the news that gets to average Americans.
Back when I was a working journalist, I would undoubtedly know more, but as it is, Syria headlines are not something that make the rounds or come up in conversation, sad as this fact may be.

While this ignorance is not something I'm proud of, it does give me a bit of a tabula rasa in looking at this 'debate' on the subject at hand, which has the potential to be beneficial.

Without forming an overall opinion, I will say that reading the above posts and quoted material a few times, I am definitely struck by Bartlett's apparent fixation on the term "story" as if it were some sort of admission of guilt, when in fact it is an extremely common phrase to describe an "article" in a news publication. This alone raises my alarm bells as someone who either has an ideological agenda or just doesn't know what the fuck they are talking about. And the fact that a simple request for a comment on an upcoming "article" was met with a threat of legal action -- well, that certainly speaks to the mindset of the subject in question.

[seemslikeadream]

thanks for bringing this discussion back to the thread where it belongs

I started this thread on Fri Dec 16, 2011. I knew it was important to document what was going on there and I did so for many years....many pages... many posts.....I will leave you all figure it out and I will stay out of my own thread for here on out. Seven years later ...it's all yours now ...I even had to remind you all that there was actually a Syrian OP ........carry on

it took years of posting in this thread before it was decided by a couple people I should not post in my own thread any longer


NO ONE posting at RI is a troll for just trying to unearth the truth ...that's what we do here.... please continue to do so without personal attacks


holding my breath that one day someone will post in my Fukushima that somehow I was completely wrong about that also since I do not live in Japan I really don't know what is going on there either