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Blackbox

SOTT Focus: Veteran British Journalist Visits Hospital That Treated "Patients of Syrian Chemical Weapon Attack"

Robert fisk douma tunnels
© Yara IsmailIndependent Middle East Correspondent Robert Fisk in one of the miles of tunnels hacked beneath Douma by prisoners of Syrian rebels
Robert Fisk visits the Syria clinic at the centre of a global crisis

This is the story of a town called Douma, a ravaged, stinking place of smashed apartment blocks -- and of an underground clinic whose images of suffering allowed three of the Western world's most powerful nations to bomb Syria last week. There's even a friendly doctor in a green coat who, when I track him down in the very same clinic, cheerfully tells me that the 'gas' videotape which horrified the world - despite all the doubters - is perfectly genuine.

War stories, however, have a habit of growing darker. For the same 58-year-old senior Syrian doctor then adds something profoundly uncomfortable: the patients, he says, were overcome not by gas but by oxygen starvation in the rubbish-filled tunnels and basements in which they lived, on a night of wind and heavy shelling that stirred up a dust storm.

As Dr Assim Rahaibani announces this extraordinary conclusion, it is worth observing that he is by his own admission not an eye witness himself and, as he speaks good English, he refers twice to the jihadi gunmen of Jaish el-Islam [the Army of Islam] in Douma as "terrorists" - the regime's word for their enemies, and a term used by many people across Syria. Am I hearing this right? Which version of events are we to believe?

2 + 2 = 4

SOTT Focus: Reporter Exposes US, UK and French Government Lies About Syria

Assad Syrian people support
OAN News reporter, Pearson Sharp, is currently in Syria and was there during the cruise missile attack by the US, UK and France early last Friday morning.

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SOTT Focus: Behind the Headlines: Humpty Trumpty? Western Reality Creation Taken to Breaking Point in Syria Strikes

US missile lanuch syria
"Look at our cool stuff!"
On the morning of April 14, a coalition consisting of France, the UK and the US (F.U.K.U.S.) launched over 100 missiles at several targets in Syria. Most were intercepted or jammed by Syrian air defenses, but the primary targets were either destroyed or damaged. That much is true. The rest is fiction at a level that would make even Karl Rove blush. The attack was in response to a fictional chemical weapons attack in Douma blamed on Assad and the Syrian military. No such attack took place. The targets were designated as chemical weapons facilities. They were not. The U.S. and its partners said it was a "one-time" attack, but that if Assad were to conduct any future fictional attacks, the U.S. would be forced to respond with additional symbolic attacks on additional fictional chemical weapons facilities.

This is the world we now live in, where policy and military action are conducted within imaginary worlds within imaginary worlds, projected into actual material space. To put it simply: it is all based on lies. And this latest iteration comes as the previous big lie is on its final breath: the Skripal saga. Whereas Mr. Skripal and his daughter have survived - because the "nerve agent" they were poisoned with turns out to be "BZ toxin" which only temporarily incapacitates its victims - the British government's narrative might suffer a more fatal end.

The lies are piling up to 'yuge' proportions, and all the queen's men won't be able to put them together again after they inevitably collapse. So tune in to Behind the Headlines this Sunday April 15, 4-5:30pm UTC / 12-1:30pm EDT / 6-7:30pm CET, as we 'judiciously study' the reality creators' creations coming to pieces. As always the lines will be open for calls and comments!

Running Time: 02:02:03


Download: MP3


USA

SOTT Focus: About Those 'Nice, New, Smart' Missiles And The 'Chemical Weapons' Sites in Syria

Trump nice new smart missile
Throughout the 20th century, the US ability to project power and dominate global geopolitics was, to a large extent, based on the general perception that the US was the most powerful military force in the world. In most cases, the mere threat of this military prowess was enough to 'get things done' the American, or Western, way. The maintenance of the widespread belief in US military preeminence is therefore extremely important to the US establishment, and any event that might expose a different reality is to be avoided at all costs. When US/Western military might is physically demonstrated, a careful propaganda campaign and media management of the outcome is necessary, up to and including outright lies about the performance of the military tech used. No surprise there.

Quenelle - Golden

SOTT Focus: ‌Forget WW3: What We Just Saw Happen In Syria Is The Extent Of Western Power

dancing airstrike damascus
© FB / Rosa GuimarãesPhoto of Damascenes dancing this morning following the Syrian military's successful repulsion of an attempted Western bombardment
It's a sad day for the US, Britain, France and Israel. Their proxy terror war in Syria is lost, and this latest maneuver was a desperate attempt to save face.

'Shock-and-awe', it most certainly was not, but it was nevertheless illegal and reckless. The US, UK and France jointly produced a 'show of force' in Syria last night after a tense week in which Western threats of bombing Syria as 'punishment' for its government's alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians in Douma left many wondering how Russia would respond, and whether that would spark off 'WW3'.

This time around, the declared mission was to "take out Assad's chemical research infrastructure," a military strike that amounted to 103 cruise missiles - almost twice as many as the 59 the US fired at Shayrat airbase almost exactly one year ago - targeting mostly empty buildings and airfields on the outskirts of Damascus and Aleppo. Among the targets, however, were also alleged "chemical weapons sites in areas around Damascus and Aleppo". Forgive me for nitpicking, but doesn't that mean that FUKUS (France, UK, US) used missiles to explode chemical weapons sites in residential areas in Syria in order to make sure that Assad cannot use those chemical weapons against civilians, for example, by exploding them in residential areas?

Beaker

SOTT Focus: Skripal Case Bombshell: Swiss Lab Reports 'BZ Toxin' Used In Salisbury - Chemical Not Produced In Russia, Only NATO States

boris Johnson
'Oh dear'
The substance used on Sergei Skripal was an agent called BZ, according to Swiss state Spiez lab, the Russian foreign minister said. The toxin was never produced in Russia, but was in service in the US, UK, and other NATO states.

Sergei Skripal, a former Russian double agent, and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with an incapacitating toxin known as 3-Quinuclidinyl benzilate or BZ, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said, citing the results of the examination conducted by a Swiss chemical lab that worked with the samples that London handed over to the Organisation for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

The Swiss center sent the results to the OPCW. However, the UN chemical watchdog limited itself only to confirming the formula of the substance used to poison the Skripals in its final report without mentioning anything about the other facts presented in the Swiss document, the Russian foreign minister added. He went on to say that Moscow would ask the OPCW about its decision to not include any other information provided by the Swiss in its report.

The Swiss center mentioned by Lavrov is the Spiez Laboratory controlled by the Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection and ultimately by the country's defense minister. The lab is also an internationally recognized center of excellence in the field of the nuclear, biological, and chemical protection and is one of the five centers permanently authorized by the OPCW.

Comment: Oops, slight flaw in the Russia-did-it conspiracy theory there.

More from Fort Russ News:
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated:

"Based on the results of the investigation, traces of the toxic chemical BZ and its precursors, related to chemical weapons of the second category under the Chemical Weapons Convention, were found in the samples. BZ is a nerve gas that temporarily puts a person out of action. The effect is achieved within 30-50 minutes and lasts for up to four days."

Police officers are preparing the material while the OPCW (Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) inspectors are working on the incident surrounding former Russian agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

"Of course, if the OPCW rejects the findings of the Spiez Laboratory, it will be interesting to hear the explanations," said the Foreign Minister.

Previously, OPCW experts found that the Skripal poisoning used a high purity, toxic chemical, but did not say who was behind the incident.
From the description of its effects, it sounds like a match for the Skripals' condition: 'temporarily put out of action'.

The Western media is deathly silent about this inconvenient fact.


War Whore

SOTT Focus: BREAKING: Trump announces US, UK and France launched missile strikes against Syria - UPDATES

Syria US strike
© AP Photo/ Hassen Ammar
US President Donald Trump has approved military strikes in Syria in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack by the Assad government in Douma, near Damascus, last week. The UK and France joined the operation.

"A short time ago, I ordered the United States Armed Forces to launch precision strikes on targets associated with the chemical weapons capabilities of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad," Trump said in a televised address from the White House. He added that a combined military operation by the US, the UK and France is already underway in Syria.

The US-led intervention in Syria comes just hours before the UN's Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) experts were scheduled to visit the Damascus suburb of Douma on Saturday to determine whether chemical weapons had been used there last week.


Comment: What we're seeing in Syria with last year's US strike and now this latest one tonight, is a new kind of hybrid information-fantasy war where the US can declare itself as the dominant player in the region. Everything from the fake chemical attack, to the ratcheting up of war-fear, to this impotent attack on three warehouses cleared of all personnel is a guise of power. The US wants to maintain its image in the world as the top dog, but all it can do at this point is wag the dog.

Updates: Pentagon says Syria strikes are 'one time shot' - strong message to Assad
US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis described Saturday's strikes on multiple targets in Syria as "harder" than those in 2017, but said that no further launches were planned for the moment.

Specifying that more than twice as many weapons were fired as in April 2017, Mattis said that the aerial assault sought to "destroy the Syrian regime's chemical weapons research development and production capabilities."

The targets were described as a scientific research center in Damascus, and a pair of chemical storage facilities in close proximity to each other in Homs, a large city north of the Syrian capital.

"We were very precise and proportionate but at the same time it was a heavy strike," Mattis told reports.

Mattis added that the US, which has used manned aircraft to launch its missiles, had "gone to great lengths to avoid civilian and foreign casualties," while Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Joseph Dunford, who also took part in the briefing, said the Pentagon "specifically identified targets" to "mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved."

Dunford said "normal deconfliction channel was used to deconflict airspace" with Moscow, but that the US did not "coordinate targets" with Moscow.
Russia has responded:
The Russian Ambassador to the US has warned of "consequences" after the US and its allies launched a coordinated military action against Syria.

Russia feels threatened by the US decision to strike Syrian targets in retaliation for the alleged chemical attack in Douma on April 7, which Moscow believes was staged.

"A pre-designed scenario is being implemented. Again, we are being threatened. We warned that such actions will not be left without consequences," Anatoly Antonov said in a statement on Friday night. "All responsibility for them rests with Washington, London and Paris."

The US "specifically identified" targets to "mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved," Dunford said. "We used the normal deconfliction channel to deconflict airspace. We did not coordinate targets."

While Trump said that the purpose of the US actions is to "establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread, and use of chemical weapons," Antonov reminded that "the US - the possessor of the biggest arsenal of chemical weapons - has no moral right to blame other countries."

The attack also comes just hours before experts from the UN Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were scheduled to visit Douma on Saturday to determine whether chemical weapons had indeed been used there.
Putin's response:
The US and its allies struck civil and military facilities in Syria, violating the UN Charter and international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, responding to the American-French-British intervention in Syria.

Washington launched "an aggression against a sovereign state which is at the forefront of the fight against terrorism," the statement from the president said. Putin stressed that the multi-national strikes were not sanctioned by the UN Security Council, and were carried out "in violation of the UN Charter and principles of international law."

What's more, the current escalation of the Syrian crisis has "a devastating impact on the whole system of international relations." Yet, history will set things straight as "it has already found Washington responsible for massacres in Yugoslavia. In fact, by using force, Washington is only prompting a new wave of asylum-seekers from Syria and the whole region, according to the Russian leader.

Meanwhile, Russia is calling an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the aggressive actions of the US and its allies, the statement concluded.


Update 2: Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei:
"Attacking Syria is a crime. US president [Donald Trump], UK prime minister [Theresa May] and the president of France [Emmanuel Macron] are criminals," Khamenei said, as cited by Mehr News Agency.

The supreme leader added that the attack will not result in any "benefits," recalling the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The US-led attack is a "flagrant violation of international law" which "ignores the sovereignty of Syria," the statement released by Iran's Foreign Ministry said.

"The United States and its allies have no proof [that Syria is responsible for the Douma chemical attack] and, without even waiting for the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to take a position, have carried out this military attack."

The US and its allies "are responsible for the regional consequences of this adventurist action," the statement added.
Update 3: The Syrian General Command reported only minor damage as a result of the strikes. SANA reports:
It added that the Syrian Air Defense systems confronted, with high competence, the missiles of the aggression and shot down most of them, meanwhile, some of the missiles hit one of the buildings of the Research Center in Barzzeh in Damascus, which includes an educational center and scientific laboratories, asserting that the damages were limited to material ones.

Other missiles were forced to deviate from their tracks while they were targeting a military position near Homs as their explosions caused the injury of three civilians.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, out of 103 missiles launched, 71 were shut down by Syrian forces. No casualties reported so far, thanks in part to Russia's early warning:
A senior official in a regional alliance that backs Damascus said the Syrian government absorbed the attacks, adding that the targeted sites were evacuated days ago thanks to a warning from Russia.

"We had an early warning of the strike from the Russians ... and all military bases were evacuated a few days ago," the official said.
Meanwhile, President Assad is off to work as usual:


Update 4: All in all, the "precision" attack on 3 "chemical weapons" facilities was a farce. But France, the UK and U.S. are hyping it as a successful show of force. France released videos of the jets' takeoff, and the UK released video of their jets' prep work. They all insist Assad's guilt is "beyond doubt" (Macron), "legitimate, proportional and targeted" (French FM Le Drian), that the attack was "right and legal" (May). Turkey welcomed the strikes, Donald Tusk said "the EU will stand with our allies on the side of justice" (LOL), Stoltenberg praised the attack, and both Merkel and Trudeau supported the decision. Trump himself declared "mission accomplished" on Twitter, for a "perfectly executed" strike (LOL).

Meanwhile, the OPCW is just about to begin their investigation. The Western world seems to have gotten confused over the last decade or so. Typically investigations precede punishment in order to determine the guilt of the accused.

According to the Russian MOD all 12 cruise missiles fired at the Dumayr airbase near Damascus were intercepted by Syrian air defense. The total attack consisted of cruise and air-to-surface missiles. The Americans warned the Russians of the attack beforehand (no doubt after much behind-the-scenes negotiations), who in turn warned the Syrians, who evacuated the facilities in question. Only three people were injured in the attacks (so far), apparently by shrapnel from missiles that were jammed and diverted from their intended targets.

But Washington continues to live in its own delusional unreality bubble. The Pentagon called the strike "crippling and degrading" on Syria's already nonexistent chemical weapons program, said the Syrian air defense systems were "largely ineffective" and had no effect (no mention of the old Soviet systems, which DID work). Every target was hit. "We accomplished our military objectives" (low bar) and "dealt a severe blow" to Syria's non-existent chemical weapons facilities. Good job, U.S.! To put the "precise, overwhelming and effective" mission into perspective, the Saker comments:
  • That considering that 71 out of 103 missiles were intercepted.
  • That there were no Syrian (or Iranian or Russian) fatalities.
  • That not a single airfield was hit.
  • That the buildings destroyed were empty.
  • That only Syrian air defense were used.
  • That Russian air defenses were completely bypassed.
...Finally, and this is weird, there is no evidence of the French doing anything at all (go figure?). Oh, speaking of the French, it appears that they warned the Russians about what would happen. So, technically speaking, the US generals are being truthful when they say that they did not warn the Russian but just "deconflict". The French did all the warning for them.

As for that pathetic scorecard, the Pentagon "spokesperson" said that they had noticed a 2000% increase of "Russian troll" activity over the past 24 hours.

No kidding!

I would think that completely destroying a non-existing Syria chemical warfare capability could even be called a "infinite success".

Let's wait for further details (a lot of pro-Syrian outlets did exaggerate the number of missiles shot down) but it appears that the AngloZionist went for the "least bad" option in terms of risk for our planet: a symbolic and completely useless "pretend strike". And for that I am personally grateful. Let's hope that, at least for a while, they need to establish their "indispensableness" will be satisfied.
According to Ziad Fadel:
The combined forces used 110 cruise missiles 71 of which were either intercepted and destroyed by Syria's Pantsir air defense systems or were electronically toppled by a force which will remain unmentioned. Only 39 cruise missiles reached any target, many of them falling harmlessly in the Syrian Desert.

The only targets hit were a scientific research facility in Barza which contained classrooms and laboratories. All material had been removed so that the Americans could claim falsely that they had destroyed a CW-related institution. Another building which the Americans were allowed to destroy was a military warehouse in Homs, at Misyaaf, which the Americans could not hit because all the missiles aimed at that target were electronically toppled. As the cruise missiles were being deflected, they exploded on the ground injuring 3 civilians. The NATO allies also fired 12 missiles at the Al-Dhumayr AB east of Damascus. Russian news says all 12 were downed by Soviet-era air defense systems.

Of the 110 cruise missiles fired, 14 of them were American Tomahawks. Most of the others were British and Fench. None of the British or French missiles hit any target. Complete failure and a lesson to the allies of the U.S.

An helicopter airbase near the Lebanese border was also struck. However, because the attack took place in the early hours, nobody was at the base and, conveniently, no aircraft were to be found.


Footage of the damage done to the Barza facility:


Meanwhile several U.S. lawmakers criticized the attack, calling it illegal. Over in the UK, Corbyn said May should have sought parliamentary approval, saying Britain should be taking on a leadership role, not taking instructions from Washington. Nicola Sturgeon agreed.

UNSG Guterres gave a half-hearted reminder aimed at the Coalition of the Shilling that "There's an obligation, particularly when dealing with the matters of peace and security, to act consistently with the Charter of the United Nationals and with international law in general."

Marine Le Pen slammed Macron's decision to join in on the farce, saying, "These strikes against Syria bring us on a path with unpredictable and potentially damaging consequences. France again loses an opportunity to appear on the international stage as an independent and balanced power in the world."

The Iraqi foreign ministry called the action "extremely dangerous" and that it will only "give terrorism a new opportunity to expand."

Russian senators and other officials speculated that the attack was designed to thwart the OPCW investigation into the alleged chemical weapons attack that prompted the bombardment, and called it a war crime. The Russian foreign ministry expressed similar thoughts:
"It's becoming absolutely clear that those in the West, who are hiding behind the humanitarian rhetoric and trying to justify their military presence in Syria with the need of defeating the jihadists, are on the same side as them [the terrorists], working towards dismembering the country."
The Syrian foreign minister called the attack barbaric, saying it will only escalate the situation and threaten global security. Assad spoke with Rouhani, during which he said:
...the attack unites Syrians and increases Damascus's resolve to continue "fighting and crushing terrorism in every inch of the nation."

Bashar Assad told his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, in a telephone conversation on Saturday that the joint attack against Syria came after the Western states realized they had lost control of the situation in the region and credibility in the conflict.

Rouhani, in turn, told Assad that Tehran will stand by Damascus, "expressing his confidence that this aggression would not weaken the determination of the Syrian people in its war against terrorism."
China condemned the attack and called for restraint and dialogue, as well as an investigation into the alleged Douma attack.

Even U.S. allies like the terrorist group Jaish al-Islam complained that the attack was a total "farce". It doesn't get much better than that.

And of course there is plenty of Twitter criticism. Even Alex Jones:


Update 5: Chief of the Main Operational Directorate of the Russian General Staff Colonel General Sergei Rudskoy held a briefing for mass media today where he summarized the events of the FUKUS attack (transcript here):


The Pentagon provided 3 satellite images showing damage to the three buildings they targeted:
syria attack damage
syria attack damage
syria attack damage
A Syrian Army source told South Front:
Syrian pro-government sources confirmed that at least three facilities of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) in Damascus were fully destroyed in the strike, including an educational center in Barzah district. However, the sources confirmed that all facilities that got hit were fully evacuated days prior to the strike.
...


A video released by the Syrian al-Akhbarya TV showed that the British missiles fall in empty land and civilian houses in the western Homs countryside. The failed British strike reportedly injured at least three civilians.



Take 2

SOTT Focus: How London and the White Helmets Staged the Douma "Chemical Attack"

El portavoz del Ministerio de Defensa ruso, Igor Konashenkov, durante una reunión con un grupo de militares del país.
Last year when the U.S. military launched a cruise missile attack on a Syrian airbase after allegations of a chemical weapons attack at Khan Sheikhoun, many commentators grasped the obvious implication: in the future, whenever so-called moderate rebel terrorists were being routed by the Syrian and Russian militaries, all that the terrorists would have to do is stage another "chemical weapons" attack and broadcast it via their White Helmets propaganda network. This would essentially act as a call for American air support.


U.S. government spokespeople even said that any future chemical weapons attacks would be automatically blamed on Syria and Russia. In the real world, that's called a blank check. Since any apparent chemical weapons attack will automatically be blamed on Syria and Russia, and will be responded to with a cruise-missile attack on Syrian military positions, Syria's enemies have a major incentive to give the appearance that civilians have suffered from a chemical weapons attack. It's not rocket science.


2 + 2 = 4

SOTT Focus: Debunking 10 Lies About Syria and Assad

When I wrote the article about the "Most Dangerous Decade" two weeks ago, I didn't realize that my time frame was too optimistic. What's happening now in Syria has the potential to start WW III - numerous American, British and French aircraft carriers, submarines and fighter jets have converged just off the Syrian coast, while Russian warships and planes are scrambling to defend and retaliate.

Attention

SOTT Focus: Russian Defense Ministry: We have evidence of UK's role in staging Douma provocation

Douma bombardment Syria
© Agence France-Presse / Sameer Al-DoumyA photo taken from the town of Douma shows flames rising in the distance which are believed to be coming from Damascus International Airport following an explosion early in the morning of April 27, 2017
An apparent false flag chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma on April 7 has served as a pretext for the United States to threaten the Middle Eastern country with a missile strike; Russia has been calling for a transparent investigation while local doctors have said no one has requested any medical treatments for poisoning.

The Russian Defense Ministry held a press briefing on what the Western narrative describes as an alleged chemical attack in Syria's Eastern Ghouta. No evidence has been presented to support the claim. A Russian chemical corps commission that has been sent to Douma reported that no traces of chemical poisoning were found. On April 12, the US defense secretary acknowledged that the Pentagon had no evidence of chlorine or sarin use in Douma.

Speaking at the briefing, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the ministry has enough evidence that the planned provocation with chemical weapons was carried out in Syria's Douma on April 7.

Comment: Will the Empire finally be tripped up by its web of lies?