Russia, Syria and Iran strongly warned the United States Friday against launching new strikes on Syria and called for an international investigation of the chemical weapons attack there that killed nearly 90 people.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who hosted his Iranian and Syrian counterparts in Moscow, denounced the US missile strikes on Syria as a “flagrant violation” of international law. Additional such actions would entail “grave consequences not only for regional but global security,” Lavrov said.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said the meeting sent a “strong message” to Washington. Iran’s Mohammad Javad Zarif emphasized that the participants agreed that unilateral actions by the US were unacceptable.
The US accuses the Syrian government of deliberately launching the deadly chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4. Russia has alleged that the victims were killed by toxic agents from a rebel chemical arsenal hit by Syrian war planes.
Moscow has warned against putting the blame on Damascus until an independent inquiry is conducted and vetoed a proposed UN resolution on the attack, saying it failed to mention the need to inspect the affected area.
Lavrov on Friday expressed skepticism about a preliminary investigation conducted by the UN’s chemical weapons watchdog. He alleged that its experts failed to visit the site and said it was unclear to Russia where evidence was taken and how it was
In Russia’s view, the probe conducted by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons should be widened to include experts from many nations, he said.
“If our US colleagues and some European nations believe that their version is right, they have no reason to fear the creation of such an independent group,” Lavrov added. “The investigation into this high-profile incident must be transparent and leave no doubt that someone is trying to hide something.”
Lavrov said the US strike on the Syrian base has undermined peace efforts in Syria and reflected Washington’s focus on ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government.
On Wednesday, the Syrian Arab Army made the staggering claim that a recent U.S.-led airstrike on an ISIS chemical cache has killed “hundreds,” including large numbers of civilians. This alleged strike was unrelated to claims made about the chemical weapons attack in Idlib last week.
“Aircrafts [sic] of the so-called U.S.-led International Alliance on Wednesday carried out an airstrike between the hour 17:30 and 17:50 against a position of ISIS terrorists that includes a large number of foreign mercenaries in the village of Hatla to the east of Deir Ezzor, causing a white cloud that became yellow as a result of the explosion of a huge store that includes a large amount of toxic materials,” said the Syrian army’s statement, which was read out on state television, as reported by CBS.
“This incident confirms the possession of chemical weapons by terrorist organizations, particularly ISIS and the Nusra Front as well as their ability to obtain, transfer, stockpile and use them with the help of known countries in the region. This is what Syria warned of every time terrorist groups used chemical weapons against civilians and the Syrian Arab Armed Forces. It confirms that there is coordination between these terrorist organizations and the forces supporting them to find excuses and accusations of the Syrian Arab Army using chemical weapons.”
No one denies that ISIS and al-Qaeda affiliated organizations on the ground have access to nerve agents (and routinely use them). However, as CBS notes:
“The Syrian army’s statement wasn’t accompanied by any photos or video, and no images posted online by ISIS or any Syrian activist groups supported the claim.”
If the claim were true, it would back up Syria and Russia’s assertion that the real reason for the chemical weapons attack in Idlib province at the start of April was due to a targeted strike by the Syrian air force on a rebel-held facility housing chemicals and nerve agents that dispersed these agents into the air, severely affecting neighboring civilians. This is a notion that so-called experts have dismissed quite vehemently. By desperately attempting to demonstrate that such an event is possible and can occur quite regularly, the Syrian Army is hoping to advance their claim that this is what occurred in Idlib over a week ago.
At this stage, the only evidence we have for this claim is the statement from the Syrian Army, which was not accompanied by any intelligence. Not surprisingly, the U.S. has completely denied the Syrian army’s claim. U.S. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian told Reuters that the coalition had not carried out air strikes in the area of Deir al-Zor at the time.
What this incredible claim highlights is that the amount of propaganda coming out of Syria is staggering – on both sides.
Western media largely relies on two main sources when it comes to the Syrian conflict.
The first is the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which is run by one man from his home in Coventry, England. This is a man who said he would only return to Syria once Assad was gone. Sound neutral?
The second source is the rescue team known as the White Helmets, which has been discredited as a propaganda outfit multiple times. This is a group that boasts about saving as many as 65,000 civilians in areas even the New York Times admits may only have housed tens of thousands of residents to begin with. Did they save the entire city?
...no one knows what happened in Idlib pending the outcome of an impartial investigation. Yet the Trump administration ordered air strikes on the Syrian government without even waiting for intelligence to confirm who was responsible. Even if the Assad government was responsible, there is no international legal principle that says one country can violate international law to stop another country from violating international law in their own country — unless it is in an act of self-defense.
As the war rages on, we will continue to receive multiple conflicting accounts for every attack that occurs within the country. Considering the Trump administration has officially formed new “red lines” for the Assad government to cross, this entire premise is nothing short of suicidal, especially for the Syrian people.
There is no happy end to this story, not least one that involves multiple state actors heightening their involvement. It’s time to admit the U.S. ultimately tried and failed to remove a dictator who directly threatened its economic interests from power — one who may or may not be responsible for some of the most egregious human rights violations recorded in recent history.
In that context, the Syrian people have suffered enough in a geopolitical chess game they never asked for. A viable solution must involve less violence – not more of it. Once a peace process can be achieved, something that has been very close to fruition in the past, the people of Syria can decide the fate of Assad.
Whether or not the Syrian army’s claim is true should not matter one way or the other if the ultimate goal of the U.S. empire is yet again another illegal regime change operation. As stated by Counter Punch: “We don’t need conspiracies to justify our opposition to war in Syria.”
Anti-Trump protesters have taken to the streets all over the U.S. on Saturday to call for President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.
What is not being reported by the mainstream media about this massive march is that most of the organizers and partners are openly funded by George Soros or they have close ties to Soros.
The official website for the Tax March lists the following eight groups as organizers for the event: American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Tax Fairness, Center for Popular Democracy, Indivisible Project, MoveOn.Org, Our Revolution, and The Working Families Party.
Six of those eight groups are either openly funded by George Soros directly or tied to Soros money.
Breitbart reports:
Americans for Tax Fairness is the recipient of a grant from Soros’s Open Society Foundations’ U.S. Programs.
MoveOn.Org is financed by Soros.
The American Federation of Teachers’ Educational Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the American Federation of Teachers, was financed by the Strategic Opportunities Fund of Soros’s Open Society Foundations, leaked Open Society documents show.
The Center for Popular Democracy is led by Soros-tied activists. In 2013, Marbre Stahly, a policy advocate at the Center, became a Soros Justice Fellow, which comes with a stipend of $58,700 to $110,250 to fund full-time activism projects that last between 12-18 months. The Center was listed as Stahly’s “host” for the grant.
Perhaps today!
ReplyDeleteHe is Risen!
Amen brother !
ReplyDeleteIt's a GREAT day in HEAVEN
ReplyDeleteAmen Brothers! :)
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