Bellingcat Buffoonery on Khan Sheikyoun by Publius Tacitus

The pushback against Sy Hersh's latest piece of genuine investigative journalism in which he exposes the lie that the Government of Syria hit Khan Sheikyoun with a sarin gas attack on 4 April 2017 is based on ignorance and misinformation. One of those leading this effort is Eliot Higgins, who blogs under the handle, Bellingcat. Well worth asking, Who is Eliot Higgins? According to Wikipedia:

In 2012, when Higgins began blogging the Syrian civil war, he was an unemployed finance and admin worker who spent his days taking care of his child at home;^[1] he is married to a Turkish woman.^{[3][4] . . .}

Higgins has no background or training in weapons and is entirely self-taught, saying that "Before the Arab spring I knew no more about weapons than the average Xbox owner. I had no knowledge beyond what I'd learned from Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rambo."^[1] Higgins does not speak or read Arabic.^[4]

Higgins is credited with being among the first to report on the widespread use of improvised barrel bombs by the Syrian government, a phenomenon which has spread to other troubled nations such as Iraq to combat insurgencies and opposition forces.^[5][6]

Ah yes, an uneducated, inexperienced guy with an opinion who happens to be married to someone of Turkish descent. Nothing unusual there, right? Of course he's an expert on sarin (sarcasm fully intended).

The fact that this gentlemen is treated as a credible source is further proof of the insanity that has taken over the public debate. He knows nothing other than what he has read. He has not been through live agent training at Fort McClellan (I have). He has no scientific background in the subject matter and no experience (other than playing video games) with actual chemical weapons (Ted Postol, who has written extensively on the subject, does have actual scientific and military expertise on the topic). Higgins knows nothing of the military doctrine for employing such weapons. He knows nothing of the process and procedures required for a military unit to safely handle, load, activate and deploy such weapons.

Actual people with such expertise look at the public accounts about what supposedly happened at Khan Sheikyoun and scratch their heads. Why?

 

There is no evidence, not one shred of intelligence, to show that the Syrian Air Force or Army activated their chemical weapons unit anytime prior to the alleged sarin attack at Khan Sheikyoun. If the Syrians were going to launch a chemical weapons attack they would have to go through the process of alerting that unit and issuing it orders to prepare such weapons. That also means that the chemicals (the Syrian sarin was a binary system, which means that two separate chemicals had to be mixed together in order to create an active, viable chemical capable of killing) had to be taken from storage, transported in a secure fashion with men wearing MOPP gear (an acronym for "Mission Oriented Protective Posture"). Think of a space suit. The people handling live agents, such as sarin, do so in order to ensure they do not contaminate themselves and end up dead.

It is common knowledge within the intelligence and military community that both the United States and Israel put a priority on monitoring and collecting intel on the movements of Syrians Chemical Weapons units. Why? To ensure that Israel would be forewarned and protected against a surprise attack. The nature of military grade sarin is that it requires advance preparation, planning and logistics. One does not simply pick up a hand grenade, pull the pin and launch a chemical attack. That's only in Hollywood and the X-Box of Eliot Higgins.

Then we have the so-called evidence from Khan Shiekyoun of the sarin. Ted Postol has provided an extensive and comprehensive analysis of why the conventional wisdom that this was a sarin attack is wrong (one of his articles is at this link). Those who insist that there was sarin are relying entirely on second hand evidence collected by individuals with direct ties to radical Islamic groups. Not one single independent outside observer was allowed to the scene to collect forensic evidence or examine victims. The only "victims" examined took place a couple of days later in Turkey.

But we now have video evidence that it was not sarin. Watch as the White Helmets collects samples that they boldly declare as SARIN without having performed a single scientific field test. They collect samples declaring the water, etc as SARIN!! Talk about magic. 

This is all about propaganda and media manipulation. You will spot two individuals dressed up in some form of bizarre MOPP gear (they are fully covered). But that is not the case for everyone else running around, especially the knuckle heads carrying the supposed samples of deadly sarin. A simple surgical mask provides absolutely no protection whatsoever against SARIN. This is absurdity worthy of Monty Python.

So, here is the situation. Sy Hersh, a proven investigative journalist with a solid track record spanning 6 decades, has actual sources with first hand knowledge about what the U.S. military and intelligence community actually know. Hersh's reporting is attacked by Eliot Higgins, a chubby house husband who has no education nor experience in the field of chemical weapons and has no first hand sources. And who are we supposed to believe when it comes to an alleged Sarin attack? Why, Higgins of course. 

Comments

[wisedupearly]

The drums are sounding
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/26/us/politics/syria-will-pay-a-heavy-price-for-another-chemical-attack-trump-says.html
"President Bashar al-Assad appeared to be preparing a chemical weapons attack similar to the one in April, the White House said, warning that he would “pay a heavy price” if one occurred."
When will this insanity cease?

[JohnA]

On Syria, despite the angry rhetoric of the last few days, Moscow and Washington are close to an agreement on a de-escalation zone in South Syria. They may also be close to coordinating operations against Islamic State.

- Vladimir Frolov

https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/frolov-58242

We all hope it ends very soon.

[AK]

Perhaps I'm ascribing too much conspiratorial capability to the Trump White House and the Ziocons, but I can't help but read this as a pretty transparent message to our dear "allies" in AQ/IS/JAN - "Hey, heads up fellas, you guys might wanna pull off another one of these false flags any day now. It would really help all our causes, because in case you haven't noticed, we're all quite a ways up shit creek at present." I want to believe that it's a far-fetched scenario, but I find any level of duplicity and moral vacuity is possible from our politicians and the Borg creatures these days. My grandfathers are rolling over in their graves...

[wisedupearly]

Its either Trump tweeting or Nikki Haley, where do they find these harridans?
from Reuters
quote
The United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Twitter: "Any further attacks done to the people of Syria will be blamed on Assad, but also on Russia and Iran who support him killing his own people."
unquote
looks like peace is not her thing.

[ToivoS]

I just googled "seymour hersh news" and the top two hits were to Bellingcat's denunciation of Hersh's article this week in Welt. This article was not even listed in the top 10. How does Google do tnat?

[1664RM]

The drums are surely beating .... the green light has flashed for another faslse flag ...

https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/879520906963554305/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftheduran.com%2Famerica-prepares-to-attack-syrian-government-false-flag-imminent%2F

[LeaNder]

Hmmm? OK, once again setting another red line in the sand?

[Yeah, Right]

There is no doubt that Higgins is a buffoon or, perhaps more insidiously, a useful idiot.

Certainly his "rebuttal" is a sloppy bit of work.

Sure, it starts out fair enough in that he summarizes Hersh's article pretty well. Kudos for that.

But then he simply ignores Hersh's article altogether as he regurgitates his own "analysis", as if it were a self-evident truth that his own alternate "facts" must be better than Hersh's insider contacts.

Sorry, Elliot, that isn't the least bit self-evident.

Indeed, as far as I can tell there is only one statement in Higgin's post that is worth consideration, and it comes right at the end.

It is this: Hersh says that the Russians informed the USA that they intended to blow *this* building to smithereens with a precision bomb, and the USAF's own Bomb Damage Assessment was that the SU-22 did, indeed, blow *that* building to smithereens with a 500lb bomb.

OK, says Higgins, then Hersh should give us all the GPS coordinates of *that* building so we can see for ourselves what happened to it.

IMHO that is a very valid request, and it represents the only thing that is of any value in that Bellingcat post.

[Yeah, Right]

It's hard to know which is the more frightening:

Is it that Trump is so craven that he is threatening to attack Syria so as to distract attention from Hersh being bold enough to call Bullshit! on the President original action?

Or is it that Trump is so venal that he is openly double-dog-daring the jihadists to stage a new false-flag attack on those "beautiful babies"?

I note that this new utterance is so insane that US Central Command is running a million miles away from it.

Good for them, though I don't understand why the MSM is asking the US military for comment.

Surely they should address their questions to the CIA.

After all, the CIA will be the agency that will be tasked with coordinating Trump's self-fulfilling prophesy.

[Kunuri]

Poor Eliot Higgins, I am sure he doesn't realize how crafty Turkish women are. In our little ex-pat community here, divorce rate between Turkish women and my friends over the past 7 years I have been here is pushing 75%, myself included in this informal statistic.

[peaches and apples]

If it is true that an agreement between Moscow and Washington is imminent concerning the de-escalation zone perhaps a "false flag sarin attack" is needed to block this agreement.

[blowback]

Why do I get the feeling that this is those imbeciles Ezra Cohen-Watnick (the senior director for intelligence on the National Security Council) and Derek Harvey (the NSC’s top Middle East advisor) stirring it up again.

[The-arioch]

but USA officials already decried evidence as unneeded and obsolete things of the past.

https://plus.google.com/+AriochThe/posts/hFWRMuNE15c

[turcopolier]

blowback

I am told that they are no longer serious players. pl

[The Beaver]

That's why Brown Moses is going CRAZY!

https://twitter.com/EliotHiggins/status/879414110810591232

He has just realised that he will be the next Rita Katz after OBL was killed in Pakistan (no more fake videos to peddle to the CIA)after the R+6 succeeeds in their goal to retake Deir-Ezzor. May be the Sultan will give him another task .

[Matthew]

Publius Tacitus: Aren't their great advantages to using amateurs like the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights and Bellingcat? You can launder fake information through the media, thereby creating a pro-intervention narrative, but without having to make actual professionals "sign their work."

Simply put, responsibility is diffused once the media pushes the story. Is it any surprise that the media avoided any soul-searching after selling the Iraq War.

When everyone is responsible, no one is.

[Ishmael Zechariah]

Kunuri,
re: " he doesn't realize how crafty Turkish women are"

IMO your statement applies to all women, irrespective of nationality. Might I remind you of Richard Sale's gem of a quote from a few topics earlier: "what a conniving, heartless skunk Hillary was..."
Pax
Ishmael Zechariah

[Old Microbiologist]

Well stated. This Higgins character has been an enormous pain in the petard for a long time now. I am surprised how much traction he gets. The same is of course true for the Syrian Human Rights Watch which I think is another one man show but out of the UK.

[The Beaver]

@ Old Microbiiologist

Higgins also is out of the UK - an unemployed book-keeper but being paid by someone inside the beltway

[SmoothieX12]

I would be extremely cautious, if not outright dismissive, with anything which comes out of Moscow Times, and especially by Frolov.

[sid_finster]

Don't pick on poor Nikki. She's right - any attacks will be blamed on Assad, no matter who is actually responsible.

[sid_finster]

Say the things the establishment wants you to say and sound sincere in doing so and you'd be surprised how much support you can muster.

vid. Mensch, Louise.

[Greco]

As I understand it, the reason Trump hit the Shayrat air base in April was ostensibly due to the supposed "chemical attack Assad ordered"; however, Trump was also advised that this base was housing containers potentially used for storing chemical weapons, which would have been a violation to the agreement the Obama admin had made with Putin after the Ghouta attack in 2013.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10309286/The-US-Russia-agreement-on-Syrias-chemical-weapons-deal-in-full.html

https://informnapalm.org/en/syria-containers-chemical-weapons-found-shayrat-air-base/

The missile attack Trump authorized in April was, for the most part, for show. And in the end, Trump didn't authorize McMaster's supposed plan to suit up 150,000 troops into Syria by June 1st (a claim made by Mike Cernovich who had learned of this plan from a source in the NSC/WH). And it was clear that those around Trump were pushing for regime change (McMaster had let on to as much), but Trump decided not to change the course he had set no less than a week earlier.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/04/09/trump-officials-say-no-new-us-focus-on-ousting-syria-assad.html

[b]

Higgins is now financed by U.S. NED and Soros Open Society - said differently, by the CIA. He has also been losing it quite a few times publicly ranting against White House journalists and Trump.

---
@Publius

"Syrian Air Force or Army activated their chemical weapons unit "

There are no longer such units. They have been completely dissolved and the soldiers and officers reassigned to regular troops. There is still is the normal ABC defense infrastructure every military has but this is integrated, as usually, in the battle units. There is no longer a chemical corps.

If the U.S. claims that it sees "chemical staff" moving here or there to prepare weapons it is simply pure nonsense.

[Seamus Padraig]

Don't use Google. They manipulate search results. Use another search engine, such as DuckDuckGo.com - they have no search filters.