"At least 70 people have been killed and hundreds injured (500-700) in an alleged chemical attack on the distict of Douma in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta, the mainstream media (MSM) reports citing “rescuers and medics” in the militant-held area. [for example: BBC, SkyNews]
Obviously, the alleged attack was immediately blamed on the Syrian government.
According to mainstream and pro-militant “analysts” and “media outlets”, the “Assad regime” has nothing to do but to conduct chemical attacks in Douma. Especially, considering that the militants’ defense fully collapsed in Eastern Ghouta, Douma is now the only militant stronghold in the entire area and Jaish al-Islam has no chances to win the battle for Douma even theoretically.
First reports, about the alleged chemical attack in the area appeared on April 7 when the Syrian Army re-newed its military operation against Jaish al-Islam militants controlling Douma. It’s interesting to note that according to initial reports by Jaish al-Islam-linked media only 15 people had been affected by the attack. However, by April 8, the story had reached the MSM and the death toll had grown to “at least 70”.
The notorious al-Qaeda-linked propaganda organization White Helments as always played a key role in sppreading the story.
The White Helmets closely cooperated with the Syrian al-Qaeda branch – Jaish al-Islam, and continued to cooperate with the group after it was re-branded to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and then Hayat Tahrir al-Sham."
https://southfront.org/old-new-story-msm-claims-70-people-killed-douma-chemical-attack-assad-regime/
-------------
"Animal" Assad? Our beloved president has once again been watching a bit too much TV news. Does it ever occur to him to pick up the secure phone and call the watch officer at CIA, NSA or wherever and ask if they think the news reports are correct? All of these information feeds to the MSM and thence to DJT's ears are news feeds from the propaganda apparatus of the rebels, much of it supported financially by the British government's foreign ministry and delivered through MI-6. What on earth motivates the UK in this devilment? And then, of course, there is the extreme group think on the part of the US and European MSM in parroting these objectively unproven claims. I have grown weary of pointing to the congruence of such thematic material and Zionist policy goals with regard to Syria. pl
Eric
I have no idea what Trump's tweet really implies. The last time he unleashed a few cruise missiles at some remote Syrian airbase. Then he's also tweeted that we'll be out of Syria soon.
This news report of his conflict with the Pentagon over Syria is interesting.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5584183/amp/Trump-wants-Syria-dont-say-timeline.html
Here's the issue we face in general. None of the news reports in western media can be trusted on any subject. None of the claims by Western governments can be trusted at all on any matter. In this environment of deceit and falsity we get Trump's cryptic tweets. The one positive thing for shining a spotlight on the machinations of the Deep State is the possibility of what might be released by DOJ IG Horowitz and US Attorney Huber who are investigating the Deep State conspiracy.
Posted by: Jack | 08 April 2018 at 02:43 PM
Babak,
I have been convinced for many years that what is presented to we, the people, is very much like a Sicilian puppet opera. I also believe this theater has been trending toward increasingly shabbier scripts read by the puppeteers; or maybe I'm just getting older and more cynical so that I notice the shabbiness more than I used to.
I agree with your statement about western policy being stuck in a cul de sac based on what little I know + basic reasoning (e.g. what are we going to do about it? Start a nuclear war?). Thus the show appears to just go on endlessly with gains on the margins and then losses on the same.
I often think that what is really happening has nothing to do with the drama that the puppets act out. Rather, it is an ever shifting series of alliances and conflicts between a small set of elites seeking to protect and enhance their personal fortunes and power. The citizens ruled by these people are mere pawns.
Posted by: Eric Newhill | 08 April 2018 at 04:28 PM
Since there is all kind of fantastic theories out there on the Skripal case, what about this one?
It is said that one of the Skripals´cats is missing...call-name "Musya"...I wonder whether it was this cat-agent the one which procured the phone to Yulia so as she could make that misterious call...
Take into account that cats pass always unnoticed in old huge buildings like hospitals...or palaces...Remember the famous cats from The Hermitage...It is said that Russian cats are very clever....Who knows...perhaps we are assisting to the disclosure of a new state-of-the-art kind of agent...
https://i.giphy.com/W8OfQ8S1PXWKY.gif
https://i.imgur.com/LFbR7YJ.gif
Here is our super cat-agent at the hospital morgue looking for the Skripals...in the very noses of two MI6 BoJoBots of the last generation....
https://hkgame.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/int_hallway_0000_2.gif?w=662
Posted by: Fatima Manoubia | 08 April 2018 at 04:44 PM
Apparently it doesn't pay to become ill in the U.K. if you are Russian.
Russian woman dies after she was 'embalmed alive' | Daily Mail Online
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5590893/Russian-woman-embalmed-alive-instead-saline-drip-horrific-medical-blunder.html
Posted by: j | 08 April 2018 at 05:32 PM
Nothing like jumping from frying pan to fire. The orange front goy might take the bait to divert attention from his bumbling trade war with the chicoms. According to Israeli TV channel i24NEWS citing US officials the US military is going to provide President Donald Trump with: “a set of options for carrying out strikes against the Syrian government”. Furthermore according to izzies: “Both the Joint Chiefs of Staff and CENTCOM, the US forces in the Middle East, were compiling target lists and attack options to be presented to Trump and his national security team within hours, the officials said''.
Posted by: Augustin L | 08 April 2018 at 05:41 PM
Donald has a family. And the ziocons are not known for a decency.
See how Mr. Cheney suddenly had a change of heart when his own daughter turned gay.
The ziocons could be disciplined by the international law only when their immediate families – children, grandkids, and great grandkids – face obliteration. The horror of our time is in the total lack of responsibility on the top. The unnatural selection of opportunist for the important governmental positions is coming into fore. The puppeteers (banksters & Israel-firsters) have created their worst enemies – actually, mortal enemies – by weeding out the honest and competent people from the position of power in the government, security apparatus, and MIC.
A sampling: https://theintercept.com/2018/03/29/john-bolton-trump-bush-bustani-kids-opcw/
“We know where your kids live."
Posted by: Anna | 08 April 2018 at 05:46 PM
A Moldovan thug in Israel opens his mouth to instruct the US military: https://www.rt.com/news/423532-israel-syria-strike-us/
"Israeli officials have called on the US to attack the Syrian Army, following what they called a “shocking attack” in Douma. ... The Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman also slammed the international community, for what he called willful ignorance of the human tragedies in Syria and other countries, and unjust criticism of Israel’s actions. The minister said in particular that the world was “complacent” about the deaths of civilians in Syria, all while condemning the IDF for killing Palestinians “in self-defense.”
At the same time, Lieberman did not rule out Israel’s own intervention in the Syrian conflict. ... He also criticized US President Donald Trump’s recent statements concerning the potential US troop withdrawal from Syria, by saying that “President Trump didn’t ask” him for an opinion on the matter."
-- Who needs any elections in the US when the former Soviet in Israel dictates the US policies abroad?
Posted by: Anna | 08 April 2018 at 06:17 PM
VT has a long article with pictures showing chemical weapons factory/storage of "rebels" in E. Ghouta, just captured by SAA.
Pictures include shells/weapons from Porton Down.
Article also says that USA soldiers and "British chemical warfare personnel" were captured there and are held by SAA.
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2018/04/08/proof-intel-drop-trump-bolton-behind-syria-chemical-attacks-confirmed/
In another article Vanessa Beeley visits the factory (must be same place), takes pictures.
http://21stcenturywire.com/2018/04/08/syria-the-egregious-western-media-chemical-weapon-fraud-in-eastern-ghouta/
Posted by: outthere | 08 April 2018 at 06:20 PM
You really take advantage of your subscription to that Daily mail...Seems a tabloid, doesn´t it?
Posted by: Fatima Manoubia | 08 April 2018 at 06:22 PM
For 8 years Sergei Skripal lived in England in the open while his daughter lived in the open in Russia.
Bolton finally enters stage right and we get "the most horrific attack on the UK public since the Nazis" according to the borg.
A few days ago I commented elsewhere that "if" the Skripals had been poisoned their bodies would contain the metabolites indicative of the poison and thus Yulia would never be permitted to return to Russia.
Today we find both are to be disappeared by the CIA.
At their own request? of course not.
Posted by: wisedupearly Ceo | 08 April 2018 at 06:33 PM
Amidst all this sound and fury, a couple of simple questions stand out.
First question: Why Douma? The answer, I would submit, is that the recent evacuations of civilians from the area permitted the White Helmets, acting in their 'humanitarian' role, to access Douma and stage this drama.
Second question: Why Douma? Why would the Syrian government and its military attack with chemical weapons a town that they have surrounded, and which could fall to them at any moment?
That these two simple questions and their answers are lost in the hullabaloo being raised in the West shows how little the public in this part of the world knows or cares about the Syrian conflict. Or anything else, for that matter, beyond their creature comforts.
Posted by: FB Ali | 08 April 2018 at 07:25 PM
Thank you for re-opening the comments. Like Harry said 'I am very grateful for the chance to occasionally comment, even if my observations are generally trivial.'
As other Skripal explanations fall under the weight of their own inconsistencies, the option of there having been something nasty (but unintended) in the seafood risotto is looking better and better. Filter-feeding shellfish that concentrate toxins in algal blooms survive Occam's Razor a lot better than fiendish Russian agents using incredibly inefficient methods to eliminate a non-threat.
Posted by: Henshaw | 08 April 2018 at 08:07 PM
Colonel,
Looks like the Israelis are bombing T4 - East Homs presently
Posted by: The Beaver | 08 April 2018 at 09:29 PM
Col Lang, some men were born for such a time as these. You have status, credibility and a network. The neocons or globalist or whatever one wishes to call these networks of warmongers who are just plugged into a system that feeds off itself does a disservice to the military men and women who will eventually be called upon to die or be mutilated by modern warfare. The hegemon that seems to work for what Smedley Butler called the white shoe boys is despicable and not worthy of the United States of America nor its constitution nor the men and women who live their lives believing in it.
Posted by: DailyPlanet | 08 April 2018 at 09:35 PM
I would point again to Mark Curtis' book on Britain's longtime collusion with radical Islam as a strategy for "containing" secular Arab nationalism:
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Affairs-Britains-Collusion-Radical-ebook/dp/B0051YNTLW
Posted by: JamesT | 08 April 2018 at 10:09 PM
According to Jack Posobiec Trump didn't write the tweets. True or seeking an out? The only plus point so far is the impressive push back against all this.
Looks like Israel and France taking the lead anyway, for now. Macron always was a creation.
Posted by: LondonBob | 09 April 2018 at 02:09 AM
In the context of Israel seemingly taking the lead this article is interesting in that he states Trump has told Netanyahu the US will be leaving Syria and that it is Israel's to handle.
https://www.axios.com/netanyahu-couldnt-convince-trump-to-rethink-syria-policy-25c33377-15e5-48c4-b947-dbde9a87fd87.html
Posted by: LondonBob | 09 April 2018 at 04:45 AM
"The Russians need to show some fangs this time, otherwise the Israeli agents and US state security apparatus will be staging these attacks every other week."
Shooting things down in revenge has never been the Russian way - they work to a different timescale to the West. Syria will end up a single country again with all the unwanted foreigners out.
Posted by: blowback | 09 April 2018 at 05:34 AM
Shellfish toxin? if so I am really surprised that they are alive. pl
That theory was analyzed at my site and it is compelling.
The Skripals ate a risotto pesce with mussels. They fell ill some 30-40 minutes later with exactly the symptoms that are expected for a paralytic reaction from shellfish poisoning (PSP).
Shellfish poison is a natural "nerve agent", Saxitoxin, that works with a similar biological mechanism as real nerve agents. (Saxitoxin had been weaponized in the U.S. in the 1960s and used as an assassination weapon by the CIA.)
PSP is survivable with mechanical respirator, oxygen and heart rate stabilization applied. This was done for the Skripals pretty immediately after they fell ill.
There are additional indications that Saxitioxin was involved including the public statement from the hospital emergency doctor who said "no nerve agent, only poisoned" hit the Skripals.
Posted by: b | 09 April 2018 at 07:06 AM
As for Trump's tweets please note that he is unlikely to have written them himself:
https://twitter.com/joanneleon/status/983044602243502081
Joanne Leon @joanneleon
According to my search, Trump has never used any of these words/phrases in a tweet before today (Bolton's first weekend as nat sec advisor):
"chemical attack"
"atrocity"
"inaccessible"
"lockdown"
"encircled"
"Syrian army"
Posted by: b | 09 April 2018 at 07:07 AM
b
We are being herded toward war with Syria and possibly Russia. War fever has set in. I accept your analysis of the Skripal affair given what is known at present. I am quite familiar with this toxin and this seems plausible to me. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 09 April 2018 at 08:10 AM
Trump says we are leaving Syria sometime soon, and the UK Wurlitzer starts grinding out propaganda to reverse the President's impulse to get back to his campaign pledges to end the US engagement in permanent wars. British game for a long time has been to keep a wedge between the US and Russia and this latest White Helmet gambit is just what the doctor ordered. Israel strikes at Syria on the day that John Bolton arrives with his lunch pail at the White House. More testing of Trump? London and Tel Aviv working off the same psych profile of the US President?
Porton Down has stated they don't have any tracers showing the Skripal attack was Made in Moscow. Some British scientists recall the Blair dodgy dossier and probably hear the footsteps of the ghost of Kelly, the British chem weapons specialist who told BBC that Saddam had no arsenal of WMD and then got "suicided."
Posted by: Harper | 09 April 2018 at 08:24 AM
I bow to the ladies expertise, b #45, but to this nitwit it looks a lot like Trump's basic style.
The Mondoweiss more specifically team Weiss/Norton once did a pretty good style comparison on an author publishing both on the Indian Times and First Things that had caught my attention around the same time.
Is she part of the larger effort analyzing Trump's tweets? There is a database stopping at one point in time, which is quite interesting. If you look at it more closely. It sure would make sense to consider that, maybe from early on, not all tweets were done by Trump. But I have to admit, I am not too interested in the man's psychological profile. And maybe for the wrong reason, I distrust his populist strain.
Posted by: LeaNder | 09 April 2018 at 08:46 AM
oops: the lady's expertise.
https://twitter.com/joanneleon/status/983039453840191489
Posted by: LeaNder | 09 April 2018 at 08:49 AM
All
Two different people resident in Cologne but with different IP addresses in that city are using the name "LeaNder." LeaNders - do you know each other? If so, what is the purpose of this farce? Which of you should I purge from the system? pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 09 April 2018 at 09:15 AM