RTTue, 11 Sep 2018 11:25 UTC
© White Helmets/ReutersAftermath of an alleged chemical weapons attack in Eastern Ghouta in April 2018.
Footage, meant to serve as proof that the Syrian government has conducted a chemical weapons attack in Idlib, Syria,
is to be handed to global news outlets by the end of Tuesday, the Russian military claims.Several Middle East TV channels and a US news channel have been sent to Jisr al-Shughur in Syria's Idlib Governorate to produce the footage needed for the provocation, a statement by the Russian Center for Syrian Reconciliation said. It added the intelligence came from local residents of Jisr al-Shughur.
"All the footage of the staged provocation in Jisr al-Shughur is to be delivered to the newsrooms of TV channels, which are
to broadcast it after its publication on social media," the statement claimed. It also said that
an Islamist group was provided with two canisters of a "chlorine-based chemical" for the purpose of the operation.
The Russian military said the footage would include scenes of White Helmets operatives treating supposed victims of an apparent barrel bomb chemical weapon attack by Damascus.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that a false flag chemical weapon attack was being prepared in Idlib, giving the US and its allies justification to attack Syrian government forces.
Senior US officials have threatened Damascus with retaliation if it uses chemical weapons in Idlib and even preemptively assigned the blame for any such attack to the government.
Comment: Neither truth, proof nor reason gets in the way of political posturing or military justification of a useful lie.
Sputnik adds further
information:
Later in the day, Syrian human rights activist and public figure Ammar Jamal has confirmed to Sputnik that a group of 30 representatives of the White Helmets had arrived to Idlib to organize a provocation. According to human rights activists, the White Helmets arrived on Tuesday morning with tanks with an unknown gas. At the moment, they are located on a grain storage site.
The information follows Sunday's Wall Street Journal report that the US Defense Department might be mulling the idea of striking Russian or Iranian military forces aiding the Syrian government if they were to launch an assault on Idlib. The report added that the United States would specifically decide whether to strike Russian air defense installations.
[...]
The Russian Ministry of Defense warned about the forthcoming false flag provocation, which will involve a staged chlorine gas attack, on August 26. Later, the ministry said that the results of this provocation could be used by the Western coalition forces as an excuse to launch another missile strike against the Syrian government. The United States, the Russian Defense Ministry noted, has been deploying the relevant forces to Syria. In late August, the American destroyer USS The Sullivans arrived in the Persian Gulf carrying 56 cruise missiles, and a US Air Force B-1B strategic bomber, equipped with 24 air-to-surface JASSM cruise missiles, was redeployed to El-Udeid Airbase in Qatar.
Comment: Neither truth, proof nor reason gets in the way of political posturing or military justification of a useful lie.
Sputnik adds further information: