An onslaught of airstrikes in rebel-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo has killed scores and destroyed a hospital supported by international aid groups, activists and humanitarian workers said Thursday, prompting the United Nations to warn of a "catastrophic deterioration" that could intensify an already dire humanitarian crisis.Chlorine attack deepens fears among besieged Aleppo residents, Washington Post, September 8 2016
...
Airstrikes Wednesday night collapsed a hospital supported by ...
...
[...] it was the hospital raid late Wednesday that was likely to have the most devastating humanitarian impact, U.N. and other aid officials said.
Al-Quds hospital in Aleppo's al-Sukkari neighborhood had an emergency room, an intensive-care unit and eight doctors and 28 nurses on staff, Doctors Without Borders said. It was "well known locally," the organization said on its Twitter account Thursday.
At least 14 patients and medical staffers โ including three doctors โ were killed when the hospital was hit by a "direct" strike, the aid group said. One of the doctors was Mohammed Waseem Maaz, Aleppo's last pediatrician, activists said. Another was a dentist.
The Syrian government dropped a bomb containing chlorine on a besieged neighborhood in the city of Aleppo on Tuesday, heightening fears among people who are cut off from the outside world and unable to escape, according to residents and hospitals in the area.So the "destroyed" and "collapsed" Al-Quds hospital in east-Aleppo has been rebuilt during intense fighting in the area? And it is big enough to take 46 patients? It is also very well equipped? A picture in Washington Post shows a youngster in the "Al-Quds hospital" with a breathing mask. Next to him are five electronic infusion pumps. More expensive medical electronic equipment is visible in the background. This, supposedly, in an area that is besieged, has no electricity, is under constant bombing and with no access to the outer world?
...
A statement from the al-Quds hospital, which received 46 of the patients, said that all were suffering from breathing difficulties and that "a strong smell of chlorine emanated from their clothes."
Also: Isn't it astonishing that the Syrian government always launches these "chlorine attacks" shortly after the "rebels" suffered a military defeat? Or are these attacks, claimed only by the "rebels", a propaganda diversion from their military defeats?
(Note also this oddity: Months after "Aleppo's last pediatrician" was killed, as claimed in the first piece above, six (killed?) pediatricians from east-Aleppo signed a letter to U.S. president Obama.)
The "White Helmets", on whose reports both the above WaPo pieces are based, received $60 million from the U.S., UK and other governments for their public relations work. For such high expenses we taxpayers should demand more consistent propaganda.
Or should we demand that news organization, for which we as consumers also pay, hire writers who are competent and of integrity. Real journalists who debunk, instead of promote, obvious bullshit like those "Al-Quds hospital" fairy tales above.
Comment: Obviously both stories can't be true. Funnily enough, the first WaPo article includes a picture of the hospital "after the airstrike", and it's still standing - it is obviously damaged, but there is no sign of it being destroyed or collapsed. So that was obvious war propaganda. As for the second story, there's probably some truth to it. But there is no evidence the chlorine was launched by the Syrian government.