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<h1><big><big><big>Attack On Ghouta, Syria, 1 Year On:
Washington's Lies Debunked</big></big></big></h1>
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<div class="cat-date-line"><big><big><big><span
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title="View all posts in Educate!" rel="category tag">Educate!</a></span>
<span class="cat-date-line3"> <a
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rel="tag">ISIS</a>, <a
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<span class="cat-date-line4">By Eric Draitser, <a
href="http://rt.com/op-edge/181840-syria-chemical-ghouta-war-us/"
target="_blank">www.rt.com</a><br>
August 23rd, 2014</span><br>
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<p><big><big><big><em>ARCHIVE PHOTO: A United Nations (UN) arms
expert collects samples on August 29, 2013, as they
inspect the site where rockets had fallen in Damascus’
eastern Ghouta suburb during an investigation into a
suspected chemical weapons strike near the capital (AFP
Photo)</em></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>This week marks the first anniversary of the
infamous chemical weapons attack on the Damascus suburb of
Ghouta.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>What makes that incident significant, both
politically and historically, is the fact that, despite
the evidence of Syrian government involvement being
non-existent, the Obama administration nearly began a war
with Syria using Ghouta as the pretext.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>As the months have passed however, scientific
studies amassing an impressive body of evidence have shown
that, not only were Washington’s claims of <em>“certainty”</em>
that Assad’s forces had used chemical weapons in their war
with extremist fighters utterly baseless, but in fact the
reality was quite the opposite – the rebels were the most
likely culprits of the attack.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Additionally, in the year since the Ghouta
attack, the nature of the war in Syria, and specifically
the way in which it is understood in the West, has changed
dramatically. The so-called rebels have been defeated in
regular battles and skirmishes with Syrian military
forces, while the specter of ISIS has emerged as the
embodiment of evil in the eyes of the Western public.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>While ISIS (now the Islamic State, or IS) was
summarily executing Syrian civilians in Aleppo and smaller
towns in Syria, they were no threat. While they were
merely destroying Christian and Shiite shrines, crucifying
prisoners, and sowing terror throughout Syria, they did
not constitute a serious problem.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>However, now that the IS has emerged on the
world stage, controlling parts of Syria and Iraq, and
expanding into Lebanon, the equation on the ground in
Syria has changed. With the West, in particular the United
States, desperately seeking to reestablish a politically
dominant position in Syria and delegitimize Assad and his
government, the pretext for aggression has shifted from
chemical weapons and Assad’s <em>‘butchery’</em> to the
inescapable need to combat the IS.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Though conditions on the ground have changed in
the last 12 months, the West’s agenda for Syria has
changed very little. Regime change is still the name of
the game.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big> </big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<div class="article_img" style="float: none; margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 0px;"><big><big><big><img scale="0" style="width:
690px; float: none; margin: 0px;"
src="cid:part16.00030700.00060807@comcast.net" alt="AFP
Photo / HO">
</big></big></big>
<p class="article_img_footer"><big><big><big>AFP Photo / HO</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big></div>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<h2><big><big><big>Ghouta: Washington’s lies debunked</big></big></big></h2>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>By the morning of August 22, 2013 – mere hours
after the incident – the Western media had already tried
and convicted Syrian President Bashar Assad for the
chemical attack on Ghouta, which allegedly killed roughly
1,300 Syrians. <a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/syrias-darkest-day-opposition-blames-assad-forces-as-up-to-1300-killed-in-poison-gas-attacks-8777527.html"
target="_blank">Headlines</a> around the world, such as
<em>“Syria’s darkest day? Opposition blames Assad forces
as up to 1,300 killed in ‘poison gas attacks’”</em> had
already convinced the world that Damascus was behind the
attack, that Assad was obviously a war criminal with a
lust for blood, and that Western intervention was both
necessary and morally justified.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Such was the tone of political discourse and
rhetoric in the West following the attack. But then, a
funny thing happened…people began questioning the validity
of the claims and demanding irrefutable evidence.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>I am happy to say that I was one of those people
demanding that the US-NATO version of events be
scrutinized carefully. In an <a
href="http://stopimperialism.org/articles/debunking-u-s-government-assessment-syrian-governments-use-chemical-weapons-august-21-2013/"
target="_blank">article</a> dated August 30, 2013, and
titled <em>‘Debunking the US Government Assessment of the
Syrian Government’s Use of Chemical Weapons on August
21, 2013’</em> I examined carefully the claims made by
Washington that purported to establish undeniable proof
that Assad’s forces carried out the attack. In the
article, which provided a point-by-point refutation of
Washington’s allegations, I wrote:</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big><em>“Any critical reading of this document [the
US Assessment] must begin with the notions of ‘human
intelligence’ and ‘witness accounts’. Such terminology
indicates that the US is simply basing pre-conceived
conclusions on rebel sources and the much touted
‘activists’ who seem to always be the sources quoted in
Western media reports. Secondly, it is obvious that US
officials have cherry-picked their eyewitness accounts
as there are many, from both sides of the conflict,
which directly contradict this so-called high-confidence
assessment.”</em></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Just by examining the conclusions drawn by
Washington at the time, it was abundantly clear that a
political, rather than a forensic and evidenced-based,
account of the events was being presented by the White
House. However, the attempt to make war on Syria
ultimately faltered for political reasons, and so, the
story mostly fell away from the public spotlight.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>In the subsequent months, multiple studies were
in fact carried out to try to firmly establish the truth
of what happened in Ghouta. In a comprehensive report
released in January 2014 (more than four months after the
incident), former UN weapons inspector Richard Lloyd and
Prof. Theodore Postol of MIT effectively debunked the
claims of the US government (along with Human Rights Watch
and a number of other organizations), showing conclusively
that US intelligence and conclusions regarding the
incident were grossly inaccurate. The <a
href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/s3.documentcloud.org/documents/1006045/possible-implications-of-bad-intelligence.pdf?_sm_au_=iRVHR0PW26P4tNjr"
target="_blank">report</a>, entitled Possible
Implications of Faulty US Technical Intelligence in the
Damascus Nerve Agent Attack of August 21, 2013, notes
that:</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big><em>“The Syrian improvised chemical munitions
that were used in the August 21 nerve agent attack in
Damascus have a range of about 2km…[The evidence]
indicates that these munitions could not possibly have
been fired at East Ghouta from the ‘heart’, or from the
eastern edge, of the Syrian Government-controlled area
shown in the intelligence map published by the White
House on August 30, 2013…The UN independent assessment
of the range of the chemical munitions is in exact
agreement with our findings…this mistaken intelligence
could have led to an unjustified US military action
based on false intelligence.”</em></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big> </big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<div class="article_img" style="float: none; margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 0px;"><big><big><big><img scale="0" style="float:
none; margin: 0px;"
src="cid:part20.05010301.04090005@comcast.net" alt="A
handout image released by the Syrian opposition's Shaam
News Network shows people inspecting bodies of children
and adults laying on the ground as Syrian rebels claim
they were killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government
forces in eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus
on August 21, 2013. (AFP/Shaam News Network)">
</big></big></big>
<p class="article_img_footer"><big><big><big>A handout image
released by the Syrian opposition’s Shaam News Network
shows people inspecting bodies of children and adults
laying on the ground as Syrian rebels claim they were
killed in a toxic gas attack by pro-government forces in
eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of Damascus on August
21, 2013. (AFP/Shaam News Network)</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big></div>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>And so, once an honest, scientific investigation
was conducted, the entire fabricated narrative with which
Washington sought authorization to go to war in Syria was
exposed as fraudulent. Unfortunately, by that point most
of the world was no longer paying attention.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>A few months later, in April 2014, Pulitzer
Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh published his
absolutely <a
href="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line"
target="_blank">critical piece</a> The Red Line and the
Rat Line in which he wrote:</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big><em>“The American and British intelligence
communities had been aware since the spring of 2013 that
some rebel units in Syria were developing chemical
weapons…Defense Intelligence Agency issued a highly
classified five-page ‘talking points’ briefing… which
stated that Al-Nusra maintained a sarin production cell:
its program, the paper said, was ‘the most advanced
sarin plot since Al-Qaeda’s pre-9/11 effort…Previous IC
[intelligence community] focus had been almost entirely
on Syrian CW [chemical weapons] stockpiles; now we see
ANF attempting to make its own CW … Al-Nusra Front’s
relative freedom of operation within Syria leads us to
assess the group’s CW aspirations will be difficult to
disrupt in the future.’ The paper drew on classified
intelligence from numerous agencies: ‘Turkey and
Saudi-based chemical facilitators,’ it said, ‘were
attempting to obtain sarin precursors in bulk, tens of
kilograms, likely for the anticipated large-scale
production effort in Syria.’”</em></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>So Hersh’s reporting finally firmly established
the fact that the rebels were indeed capable of carrying
out the attack on East Ghouta, and that they had help from
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and possibly other regional actors.
And so, not only did they have the motive (to blame Assad
for using chemical weapons while international
investigators were in Syria, thereby justifying a military
intervention and regime change), but also the means and
opportunity. This is an essential point because the entire
<em>‘case’</em> against Assad relied on the fact that only
Damascus was technologically and logistically capable of
carrying out such an attack. On the contrary, evidence has
since come to light substantiating the claim from Damascus
all along that the rebels indeed carried out the attack.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Why go into this history with the first
anniversary upon us? Because it provides observers with a
case study in how Western propaganda operates, how it
works in synchronicity with the policy agendas of the
Western powers, how it serves to suppress and/or distort
facts in order to shape them to fit a pre-conceived
narrative. They did, and continue to do, it in Syria.
They’re doing it in Ukraine. They’re doing it in Iraq (not
for the first time). It is predictable yet, sadly, many
still fall for it.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big> </big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<div class="article_img" style="float: none; margin-left: 0px;
margin-right: 0px;"><big><big><big><img scale="0" style="float:
none; margin: 0px;"
src="cid:part22.00070308.00000601@comcast.net" alt="AFP
Photo / HO">
</big></big></big>
<p class="article_img_footer"><big><big><big>AFP Photo / HO</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big></div>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<h2><big><big><big>How ISIS changed conversation, but not agenda</big></big></big></h2>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>In the year since the Ghouta attack, the war in
Syria has taken on a new dimension. With the rise to
public infamy of the IS, the conversation around Syria has
changed drastically. Before, the warmongers such as John
McCain and others argued that the US must bomb Syria in
order to effect regime change, ousting the <em>‘butcher’</em>
Assad and replacing his government with one more amenable
to Washington. Today, the same warmongers make the same
tired arguments about the necessity of using military <em>‘intervention’</em>
to fight the menace of the IS, an organization now
controlling vast swaths of Iraq and Syria.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>The gruesome <a
href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/isis-beheaded-journalist-james-wright-foley.html"
target="_blank">video</a> allegedly depicting American
journalist James Wright Foley being executed by members of
the IS has predictably elicited bellicose rhetoric from
seemingly every corner of US political life. The
unabashedly right-wing New York Post published an <a
href="http://nypost.com/2014/08/20/time-to-bomb-isis/"
target="_blank">editorial</a> entitled Time to Bomb ISIS
in which the authors wrote, <em>“[This incident] puts
President Obama in a difficult spot. But the president
must do whatever it takes to counter this vicious
savagery: that is, launch full-throttled airstrikes
against ISIS and its ‘caliphate’ in Iraq and Syria –
until the threat is gone…With American lives now being
taken and even more at risk, America is now directly
involved. No more playing footsie with butchers.”</em></big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>The editorial offers insights into the thinking
of US imperialists who have been calling for US military
action against Syria for more than a year, who supported
the illegal US war on Iraq, and seemingly every instance
of US aggression throughout the world, especially when
initiated by Republican presidents. Indeed, a close
reading of the above excerpt makes it clear that many in
the US feel that the IS should be used as a pretext to <em>‘finish
the job’</em>, so to speak. <em>“No more playing
footsie with butchers”</em> is a revealing statement,
showing clearly that the vilified Assad must be destroyed
via an operation against the IS.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Notice also that the authors make the
appallingly ignorant statement that <em>“America is now
directly involved.”</em> Naturally, these political
observers must have been asleep for the past three years,
as the US has been intimately involved in every phase of
the destabilization of Syria. As the NYT <a
href="http://rt.com/op-edge/181840-syria-chemical-ghouta-war-us/%20http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0"
target="_blank">reported</a> back in June 2012, the CIA
has been working extensively with the Syrian Muslim
Brotherhood to funnel weapons, communications equipment,
and other material support to the extremists in Syria
fighting against the government of Assad.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Naturally, those weapons and materiel have been
used to create and expand the terror group we now call the
IS. And so, in a very direct way, the cancer spreading
through Iraq and Syria is a US-NATO-GCC creation. But of
course, according to the eminent American analysts at the
NY Post and elsewhere, the US has been merely a sideline
cheerleader, totally uninvolved in the chaos in the
region. Whether these <em>‘experts’</em> are willfully
ignorant, deliberately deceitful or genuinely stupid is
certainly up for debate.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>But, a look at the media coverage of the IS and
the region in recent weeks does not bode well for the
millions around the world who have simply had enough of US
<em>‘interventions’</em> in the Middle East and beyond.
The drumbeat for war is once again audible, as it was
exactly one year ago with the incident in Ghouta. The more
things change, the more they stay the same. Yesterday’s
chemical weapons have become today’s IS threat.</big></big></big></p>
<big><big><big>
</big></big></big>
<p><big><big><big>Conveniently for Washington, no matter which way
the menu is written, war is the main course.</big></big></big></p>
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