On April 14^th, shortly after the United Kingdom, United States and France bombed the sovereign country of Syria, on the basis of unproven allegations of the use of chemical weapons in Douma on 7^th April, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May made the following comment in her official statement:

"Together we have hit a specific and limited set of targets. They were a chemical weapons storage and production facility, a key chemical weapons research centre and a military bunker involved in chemical weapons attacks. Hitting these targets with the force that we have deployed will significantly degrade the Syrian Regime's ability to research, develop and deploy chemical weapons" [my emphasis].

It seemed to me when I heard these words - and the passage of time has not altered this impression - that Mrs May was admitting to one of two actions, either of which ought to see her removed from office.

In early 2018 a Palestinian by the name of Ahmad Abu Artema reportedly posted on his Facebook page his personal vision for thousands of Palestinians to march in honor of the 42nd anniversary of Land Day, which commemorates the first time a mass movement of Palestinians protested peacefully for their right to return to their ancestral homes. The original march was shrouded in violence, but Artema had a vision of a different way that Gazans could air their legitimate grievances, and many Gaza shared it.

Artema's vision was simple: that Israelis and Palestinians could live together, as one people. Artema stated:

"If you want my personal opinion, I don't believe in liberation [of land in Israel]. I believe in ending the apartheid system in Israel like the end of the apartheid system in South Africa, and we live all in one democratic state," Artema said in an interview in Gaza City. "I want to live with Israelis."

As the Facebook post went viral and organizers began to work towards making it a reality, a decision was made to decrease tensions by camping out hundreds of meters from the Israeli border, celebrating, marching, and 'creating a new culture'.

Artema's noble ideals however were not viewed as such by the Israeli government and military. Since March 20th, nearly 3,000 Palestinians have been injured and - at the time of writing - 39 have been killed as the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) turned Palestinians peaceful protests into a bloody shooting gallery. Let's not kid ourselves - the 'March of Return' has been yet another macabre step in the slow eradication of Palestine and its people. Perhaps what differentiates it from others before it is that the world is watching as the IDF picks off protesters (and members of the media) in broad daylight. On this occasion, there were no 'military targets' that later 'turned out to be schools, or farms, or factories'. The Israeli authorities have provided little justification for their use of deadly force against transparently civilian targets.

In recent years, many people around the world - but particularly in 'Western' societies - have become quite adept at the art of 'being oppressed' and letting everyone know about it. The victimhood narrative is part of a mindset that draws quick conclusions and assumes the worst in people. It leaves little room for such adepts to grow beyond the challenges we all face because it foists the responsibility needed to face the world onto others. It moves them away from any thought of a charitable society and draws them deeper into the victim culture.

We see this in many of liberals' pet projects: from gay rights, to the ideology behind transgender activism, to Black Lives Matter. Oppression has been used an as excuse to demand power from others. Power is sought not as a result of efforts made that earn greater responsibility, but by way of self-proclaimed victim status. Characteristics that makes us strong, such as effective communication, thinking deeply about our problems, and conscientiousness have been tossed aside in favor of elevating victimhood in order to exploit the good nature of others. That said, not everyone is buying this victim mentality. It is being challenged in big ways. One such challenger is Candace Owens, a conservative commentator and communications director for Turning Point USA.

Living in Syria in the sixth-century-old Mar Yakub monastery in the city of Qara, 90 kilometers north of the capital Damascus, Flemish Father Daniël Maes has been a witness to the invasion of western-backed terrorists since the very beginning. To this day, he and his friends continue to help the Syrian people by not only helping them directly, but also by spreading the truth about what is truly going on in the country.

Behind all the cuddles and bisoux for the cameras, what was French boy-president Macron's grande visite to the US of A all about? What the US and France can do to retain Western dominance of the Middle East, of course!

Trump is warning Iran not to "restart its nuclear program" while (again) yammering on about the 2015 JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) multinational agreement on Iranian nuclear development being "an insane, terrible deal that should have never been made."

Europe's very own 'stable genius' meanwhile spoke out of both sides of his mouth in an attempt to tame Trump's tantrum while not aggravating the Iranians, telling US officials the Iran deal can be "revisited" but should not be torn up. Iranian president Rouhani is meanwhile warning both of them about "grave consequences" if the 2015 deal is torpedoed.

What does all this bluff-and-bluster mean? And what is Trump's beef with the JCPOA anyway? Needless to say, it has almost nothing to do with the 'proliferation of nuclear weapons'...

"The White Man's Burden" - or perhaps, the better-phrased "the burden of the white man" - has arguably been the greatest yoke in human history. When asked about his thoughts on Western civilization, Mahatma Gandhi reportedly replied: "it would be a good idea."

While western intellectuals do voice criticism over their governments' global policies, failings are too often blamed on political parties, poor leadership, ineffectual strategies, not enough funding, weapons or "will". But venture further for a moment to consider whether the problem isn't more foundational - whether the "western" construction of knowledge itself isn't fraught with troubling inadequacies.

Too few mainstream intellectuals are even prepared to entertain the idea that perhaps western social structures and their underlying epistemology of values are so irredeemably flawed that they make western political regimes a serious burden to human existence.

Editor's note: The text below that is an excerpt from Chapter 6 of David Ray Griffin's book: "Global Chaos," of Bush and Cheney: How They Ruined America and the World constitues perhaps the most complete condensed and objectively true description of the causes of the 7 year long war in Syria. It is well worth taking the time to read it.

In Syria, the goal of creating chaos has succeeded in spades. Mnar Muhawesh wrote: "[F]oreign powers have sunk the nation into a nightmare combination of civil war, foreign invasion and terrorism. Syrians are in the impossible position of having to choose between living in a warzone, being targeted by groups like ISIS and the Syrian government's brutal crack- down, or faring dangerous waters with minimal safety equipment only to be denied food, water and safety by European governments if they reach shore."

Most Syrians support their president and military, but the BBC presents Britons with a different, one-sided story, a British baroness and member of the House of Lords told RT, after returning from a trip to the war-torn country.

Caroline Cox, a baroness and Life Peer in the House of Lords, recently returned from a tour of several Syrian cities, during which she spoke with a "wide range of people," including government officials, opposition leaders, artists, intellectuals, writers and ordinary Syrians walking in the park.

According to Baroness Cox, despite claims from western governments and media outlets, the vast majority of Syrians are thankful to President Bashar Assad and the Syrian and Russian militaries for fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIL) and jihadist groups.

The Syrian people "are very grateful to the Syrian Army, to Assad and, I may say, for Russian help in getting rid of the terrorists. They are the perpetrators of the most appalling atrocities and killings."

The second half of my life has been a continual process of disillusionment with the institutions I used to respect. I suppose it started with the FCO, where I went from being Britain's youngest ambassador to being sacked for opposing the use of intelligence from torture, at the same time having an insider view of the knowing lies about Iraqi WMD being used as a pretext for invasion and resource grab.

I still had some residual respect for the BBC, which respect disappeared during the Scottish independence referendum where BBC propaganda and disregard for the truth were truly shameless. My love of the universities was severely tested during my period as Rector of Dundee University, when I saw how far the corporate model had turned them from academic communities developing people and pursuing knowledge, to relentless churners out of unconsidered graduates and financially profitable research, with nearly all sense of community gone.

My respect for charities vanished when I discovered Save the Children was paying its chief executive £370,000 and had become a haven for New Labour politicos on huge salaries, which was why it was so involved in pushing a pro-war narrative in Syria. When Justin Forsyth and Brendan Cox - both massively salaried employees who came into Save the Children from the revolving door of Gordon Brown's office - were outed over sexual predation, that seemed a natural result of "charities" being headed by rich party hacks rather than by simple people trying to do good. As for respect for parliament, well the massive troughing expenses scandal and all those protected paedophiles...

If countless Russia-bashing pieces don't help you get the big picture of the lingering Skripal saga, a report by RT's Murad Gazdiev may. He scrutinized the major slipups in the UK government's (and their pundits') narrative.

It is "highly likely" that Russia deployed a deadly weapons-grade toxin to poison former double agent Sergei Skripal. Porton Down, the UK's leading chemical research lab, says there is "no doubt" the toxin was Novichok-class nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union. And Russia surely did it, because the very word 'Novichok' is Russian for 'newcomer.'

RT's Murad Gazdiev examines the stunning discrepancies that emanate from the Skripal case, as the blame game against Moscow continues.

The report includes commentary from renowned chemical weapon experts, both Russian and Western-based, who told RT the formula of Novichok-class agents is actually an open secret as any - yes, you heard it right - laboratory in the world may produce the same substance with the same degree of purity. Moreover, the pace at which the UK authorities identified the poison used on the Skripals raises even more questions.

Watch RT's report in full here: