{"id":104672,"date":"2018-01-08T12:00:28","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T12:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=104672"},"modified":"2018-01-15T18:49:43","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T18:49:43","slug":"how-the-mainstream-media-whitewashed-al-qaeda-and-the-white-helmets-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2018\/01\/how-the-mainstream-media-whitewashed-al-qaeda-and-the-white-helmets-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Mainstream Media Whitewashed Al-Qaeda and the White Helmets in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

6 Jan 2018 – On December 18, 2017, The Guardian issued a shoddily-penned\u00a0hatchet piece<\/a>\u00a0against British journalist Vanessa Beeley, Patrick Henningsen<\/strong> and his independent website 21st<\/sup>\u00a0Century Wire, Australian professor and author Tim Anderson,<\/strong> and myself.<\/em><\/p>\n

Many insightful writers have since deconstructed the lies and omissions of the article, which I will link to at the bottom of my own. <\/em><\/p>\n

Judging by the\u00a0scathing comments<\/a>\u00a0on The Guardian\u2019s Facebook post, the general public didn\u2019t buy it either. The Guardian, like\u00a0Channe<\/a>l 4 News<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Snopes<\/a>,\u00a0whitewashes terrorism<\/a>\u00a0in Syria, employs non-sequitur arguments, promotes war propaganda, and simply gets the facts wrong:\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As the purported theme of The Guardian<\/strong>\u2018s\u00a0story<\/em>\u00a0was the issue of rescuers in Syria, I\u2019ll begin by talking about actual rescuers I know and worked with, in hellish circumstances in Gaza.<\/p>\n

In 2008\/9, I volunteered with Palestinian medics under 22 days of relentless, indiscriminate, Israeli war plane and Apache helicopter bombings, shelling from the sea and tanks, and drone strikes. The loss of life and casualties were immense, with over 1,400 Palestinians murdered, and thousands more maimed, the vast majority civilians. Using run-down, bare-bones equipment (as\u00a0actual rescuers<\/a>\u00a0in Syria do), Palestinian medics worked tirelessly day and night to rescue civilians.<\/p>\n

There was not a single occasion in which I ever heard the medics (in Sunni Gaza) shout\u00a0takbeer<\/em>or\u00a0Allahu Akbar<\/em>\u00a0upon rescuing civilians, much less intentionally stood on dead bodies, posed in staged videos, or any of the other revolting acts that the White Helmets have been filmed doing in Syria.<\/strong> They were too damn busy rescuing or evacuating the areas before another Israeli strike, and usually maintained a\u00a0focused silence<\/a>\u00a0as they worked, communicating only the necessities. The only occasion I recall of screaming while with the medics, were the screams of civilians we collected and in particular the\u00a0anguished shrieks<\/a>\u00a0of a husband helping to put the body parts of his dismembered wife onto a stretcher to be taken to the morgue. The medics I knew in Gaza were true heroes. The White Helmets, not a chance. They are gross caricatures of rescuers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

A White Helmets member. \u201cUnarmed and neutral\u201d?<\/p><\/div>\n

Reply to The Guardian\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In October, a San Francisco-based tech (and\u00a0sometimes fashion<\/a>) Guardian writer named Olivia Solon (visibly with no understanding of Middle East geopolitics) emailed myself and Beeley with nearly identical questions filled with implicit assumptions for a Guardian \u201cstory\u201d\u00a0we were to be imminently featured in. My own correspondence with The Guardian\u2019s Olivia Solon is as follows:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In brief, I\u2019ll address Solon\u2019s emails, including some of her most loaded questions:<\/p>\n

-Who is the \u201cwe\u201d, Solon mentions? Her mention of \u201cwe\u201d indicates this story isn\u2019t her own bright idea, nor independently researched and penned. Parts of the article\u2014including the title and elements I\u2019ll outline later in my article\u2014seem to be lifted from others\u2019 previous articles, but that\u2019s copy-paste journalism for you.<\/p>\n

-It isn\u2019t just that\u00a0I believe<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0the mainstream media narrative about the White Helmets is wrong; this narrative has been\u00a0redundantly-exposed\u00a0<\/strong>over the years. In September 2014, Canadian independent journalist Cory Morningstar\u00a0<\/strong>investigated<\/a>\u00a0hidden hands behind flashy PR around the White Helmets. In April 2015, American independent journalist Rick Sterling\u00a0<\/strong>revealed that<\/a>\u00a0the White Helmets had been founded by Western powers and managed by a British ex-soldier, and noted the \u201crescuers\u201d role in calling for Western intervention\u2014a No Fly Zone on Syria. (more on these articles below). This was months before Russian media began to write about the White Helmets.<\/p>\n

Since then, Vanessa Beeley<\/strong> has done the\u00a0vast amount of research<\/a>\u00a0in greater detail, doing on-the-ground investigations in Syria, including: taking the testimonies of Syrian civilians who had (often brutal) experiences with the White Helmets; establishing that the\u00a0Syrian Civil Defense exists<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0has existed since 1953<\/a>, but are not the White Helmets\u2014which has misappropriated this name; establishing that the international body, the International Civil Defence organisation in Geneva,\u00a0does not recognize the White Helmets<\/a>\u00a0as the Syrian Civil Defence; establishing that men now White Helmets members\u00a0looted vehicles and equipment<\/a>\u00a0from the Syrian Civil Defence in Aleppo\u2014and\u00a0belongings from civilians<\/a>; and establishing that\u00a0White Helmets shared a building<\/a>\u00a0in Bab Al Nairab, eastern Aleppo with al-Qaeda and were present as al-Qaeda tortured civilians, among other points.<\/p>\n

It is hard to believe that in the span of the two months between her contacting Beeley and myself that Solon, in her certainly deep investigations, has not seen\u00a0this video<\/a>, clearly showing uniformed White Helmets members with supporters of Saudi terrorist, Abdullah Muhaysini. Not quite \u201cneutral\u201d rescuers. But then, perhaps she did. She was willing to\u00a0write off the presence of White Helmets members at execution scenes, standing on dead Syrian soldiers, and holding weapons<\/strong>, as a few bad apples sort of thing.<\/p>\n

-As to The Guardian\u2019s interest in my \u201crelationship<\/strong>\u201d to the Syrian government: No, I have not received payment, gifts or other from any government. To the contrary, I\u2019ve poured my own money into going to Syria (and have fund-raised, and also routinely\u00a0received Paypal donations<\/a>\u00a0or\u00a0support on Patreon<\/a>\u00a0by individuals who appreciate my work). See\u00a0my\u00a0article on this matter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As to how my visits to Syria and North Korea came about,\u00a0<\/strong>this is another\u00a0transparent attempt\u00a0<\/strong>to imply that I am on the payroll of\/receive other benefits from one or more of the governments in question.<\/p>\n

One of The Guardian\u2019s questions\u00a0in the emails was regarding my following: \u201cThat\u00a0you attract a large online audience<\/strong>, amplified by\u00a0high-profile right-wing personalities<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0appearances on Russian state TV<\/strong>.\u201d (emphasis added)<\/p>\n

What following I do have began exactly one year ago, after I requested to\u00a0speak in a panel<\/a>\u00a0at the United Nations, as the\u00a0US Peace Council<\/a>\u00a0had\u00a0done in August 2016<\/a>. It is as a result of a short interaction between myself and a Norwegian journalist, which went viral, that my online audience grew. In fact, I deeply regret that what went viral was not the important content of the three other panelists and my own over twenty minutes report on\u00a0conditions in Aleppo<\/a>\u00a0which was then still under daily bombardments and snipings by what the West deems \u201cmoderates\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, given that\u00a0so many people responded positively<\/strong>\u00a0regarding the interaction\u2014which dealt with lies of the corporate media and lack of sources\u2014it seems that\u00a0the public already had a sense that something was not right<\/strong>\u00a0with corporate media\u2019s renditions on Syria.<\/p>\n

The first person to cut and\u00a0share the video clip<\/a>\u00a0in question (on December 10, one day following the panel) was Twitter profile @Walid970721. As I have since met him personally, I can attest he is neither Russian nor funded by the Kremlin, nor any government, and that he shared that clip out of his own belief that it was of interest. Otherwise, on December 10, before any major Russian media had, HispanTV also\u00a0shared my words<\/a>. Further,\u00a0India-based<\/a>\u00a0internet media Scoop Whoop\u2019s\u00a0December 15 share<\/a>\u00a0garnered the most views (nearly 10.5 million by now). That Russian media later shared the clip and reported on the incident is neither my doing: thank you Russian media for doing what Western corporate media always fail to do.<\/p>\n

-Regarding The Guardian Solon\u2019s question: \u201cThat you think that\u00a0Assad is being demonized by the US as a means to drive regime change<\/strong>.\u201d Of course I do, as do most analysts and writers not blinded by or obliged to the\u00a0NATO narrative<\/a>. As Rick Sterling\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0in September 2016:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis disinformation and propaganda on Syria takes three distinct forms. The first is\u00a0the demonization of the Syrian leadership<\/strong>. The second is the romanticization of the opposition. The third form involves attacking anyone questioning the preceding characterizations.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Boston Globe contributor, award-winning foreign correspondent and author,\u00a0Stephen Kinzer\u00a0<\/strong>wrote<\/a>\u00a0in February 2016:<\/p>\n

\u201cAstonishingly brave correspondents in the war zone, including Americans, seek to counteract Washington-based reporting. At great risk to their own safety, these reporters are pushing to find the truth about the Syrian war. Their reporting often illuminates the darkness of groupthink. Yet for many consumers of news, their voices are lost in the cacophony. Reporting from the ground is often overwhelmed by the Washington consensus.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Countering corporate media\u2019s demonization campaigns, I\u2019ve written on many occasions\u2014notably including the\u00a0words of Syrians within Syria<\/strong>\u2014about the vast amount of support the Syrian president enjoys inside of Syria and outside.<\/p>\n

In my\u00a0March 7, 2016 article<\/a>, I cited meeting with internal, unarmed, opposition members, including Kurdish representative, Berwine Brahim<\/strong>, who stated,<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want you to convey that conspiracy, terrorism and interference from Western countries has united supporters of the government and the opposition, to support President Bashar al-Assad.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In that same article, I wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever I\u2019ve gone in Syria (as well as many months in various parts of Lebanon, where I\u2019ve met Syrians from all over Syria)\u00a0I\u2019ve seen<\/a>\u00a0wide evidence of broad support for President al-Assad. The pride I\u2019ve seen in a majority of Syrians in their President surfaces in the posters in homes and shops, in patriotic songs and Syrian flags\u00a0at celebrations<\/a>\u00a0and in\u00a0discussions with<\/a>\u00a0average Syrians of all faiths. Most Syrians\u00a0request that I tell exactly what I have seen\u00a0and to transmit the message that it is for Syrians to decide their future,that they support their president and army<\/strong>\u00a0and that the only way to stop the bloodshed is for Western and Gulf nations to stop sending terrorists to Syria, for Turkey to stop warring on Syria, for the West to stop their nonsense talk about \u2018freedom<\/a>\u2018 and \u2018democracy\u2019 and leave Syrians to decide their own future.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In my\u00a0May 2014 article<\/a>\u00a0from Lebanon, having independently observed the first of two days of Syrians streaming to their embassy to vote in presidential elections, I cited some of the many Syrians there with whom I spoke (in Arabic):<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019We love him. I\u2019m Sunni, not Alawi,\u2019 Walid, from Raqqa, noted. \u2018They\u2019re afraid our voices will be heard,\u2019 he said\u2026.\u2019 I\u2019m from Deir Ezzor,\u2019 said a voter. \u2018ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and\u00a0Syria) is in our area. We want Bashar al-Assad. The guy walks straight,\u2019 he said, with a gesture of his hand.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No one escorted me in a Syrian government vehicle to that embassy, by the way. I took a bus, and then walked the remaining many kilometres (the road was so clogged with vehicles going to the embassy) with Syrians en route to vote.<\/p>\n

In June 2014, a week after the elections within Syria, I traveled by public bus to Homs (once dubbed the \u201ccapital of the revolution\u201d), where\u00a0I saw Syrians\u00a0celebrating<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0the results of the election<\/strong>, one week after the fact, and spoke with Syrians beginning to clean up and patch up homes damaged from the terrorist occupation of their district.<\/p>\n

When I\u00a0returned to Homs<\/a>\u00a0in December 2015, shops and restaurants had re-opened where a year and a half prior they were destroyed. People were preparing to celebrate Christmas as they could not do when terrorists ruled. In Damascus, attending a choral concert I overheard people asking one another excitedly whether \u201che\u201d was here. The day prior, President Assad and the First Lady had dropped in on the practising choir, to their surprise and delight. And although the church was within hitting distance of mortars fired by the west\u2019s \u201cmoderates\u201d (and indeed that area had been repeatedly hit by mortars), the people faced that prospect in hopes of a re-visit by the President.<\/p>\n

These are just some of\u00a0many examples<\/a>\u00a0of the support Syria\u2019s president sees and the attempts to vilify him and\u00a0other Syrian leadership<\/a>. Even Fox News\u00a0acknowledged his support<\/a>, referring to the 2014 elections:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026it underscored the considerable support that President Bashar Assad still enjoys from the population, including many in the majority Sunni Muslim community. \u2026Without Sunni support, however, Assad\u2019s rule would have collapsed long ago.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Regarding war crimes, Syria is fighting a war against terrorism, but corporate media continues fabricating claims, and repeating those fabricated, uninvestigated, accusations. For example, the repeated claim of the Syrian government starving civilians. In my on the ground investigations, I\u2019ve revealed the truth behind starvation (and hospitals destroyed, and \u201clast doctors<\/a>\u201d)\u00a0in Aleppo<\/a>, in\u00a0Madaya, in al-Waer<\/a>, in\u00a0Old Homs (2014)<\/a>. In all instances, starvation and lack of medical care was solely due to terrorists\u2014including al-Qaeda\u2014hoarding food (and medical supplies). Vanessa Beeley has in greater depth exposed those lies regarding eastern Aleppo.<\/p>\n

Regarding chemical weapons accusations, those have long been negated by the investigations of Seymour Hersh<\/strong> (on\u00a0Ghouta 2013<\/a>; on\u00a0Khan Sheikhoun 2017<\/a>) and the UN\u2019s own Carla Del Ponte<\/strong> who\u00a0said<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated. This was\u00a0use on the part of the opposition, the rebels, not by the government authorities<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Regarding convoys allegedly bombed, see\u00a0my own article on one such claim<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Regarding whether the White Helmets have done any good work rescuing civilians: they are working\u00a0solely in areas occupied by al-Qaeda and affiliated terrorists, so no one can prove whether they have actually done any rescue work of civilians<\/strong>. However, we have numerous on the ground\u00a0witness testimonies<\/a>\u00a0to the contrary, that the\u00a0White Helmets denied medical care to civilians not affiliated with terrorist groups<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In September 2017, Murad Gazdiev<\/strong> (instrumental in his honest reporting from Aleppo during much of 2016)\u00a0documented how<\/a>\u00a0the White Helmets headquarters in Bustan al-Qasr, Aleppo, was filled with Hell Canons (used to fire gas canister bombs on\u00a0Aleppo\u2019s civilians and infrastructure<\/a>) and remnants of a bomb-making factory. The headquarters was in a school.<\/p>\n

Gazdiev\u2019s reporting on the headquarters was preceded by French citizen Pierre Le Corf<\/strong>,\u00a0living in Aleppo for over the past year,\u00a0who visited the White Helmets headquarters<\/a>\u00a0in March 2017 (and again\u00a0in April<\/a>),\u00a0documenting the al-Qaeda and ISIS linked flags, logos, and paraphernalia found inside the White Helmets headquarters, and that the White Helmets\u2019 headquarters was next to a central al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra) headquarters<\/strong>. Le Corf also\u00a0wrote about his encounters<\/a>\u00a0with civilians from Aleppo\u2019s east, and their take on the White Helmets:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the last two families I met told\u00a0me that\u00a0they helped the injured terrorists first and sometimes left the civilians in the rubble. When the camera was spinning everyone was agitated, as soon as the camera extinguished, the lives of the people under rubble took less importance<\/strong>\u2026. all the videos you\u2019ve seen in the media come from one or the other. Civilians couldn\u2019t afford cameras or 3G internet package when it was already difficult to buy bread, only armed and partisan groups.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Vanessa Beeley took testimonies from civilians from eastern, al-Qaeda-occupied Aleppo, in December 2016 when the city was liberated. Beeley later\u00a0wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I asked them if they knew of the \u201ccivil defence\u201d, they all nodded furiously and said,\u201cyes, yes \u2013 Nusra Front civil defence\u201d. Most of them elaborated and told me that the Nusra Front civil defence never helped civilians, they only worked for the armed groups<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Beeley also\u00a0wrote of<\/a>\u00a0the White Helmets\u2019 complicity in the massacre of civilians (including 116 children<\/a>) from Foua and Kafraya in April 2017.<\/p>\n

Credentials, Please: What Is Journalism?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Regarding The Guardian\u2019s question on my competency as a journalist, I note the following.<\/p>\n

I began reporting from on the ground in Palestine in 2007, first blogging and later publishing in various online media.<\/p>\n

In 2007, I spent 8 months in the occupied West Bank in occupied Palestine, in some of the most dangerous areas where Palestinians are routinely abused, attacked, abducted and killed by both the Israeli army and the illegal Jewish colonists. There, I began blogging,\u00a0documenting the crimes<\/a>\u00a0in print with witness testimonies, first person interviews, my own eye-witness experiences, photos and videos.<\/p>\n

After being deported from Palestine by the Israeli authorities in December 2007, in 2008\u00a0I sailed to Gaza from Cyprus<\/a>\u00a0and documented not only the daily Israeli assaults on unarmed male, female, elderly and child\u00a0farmers<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0fishers<\/a>, but also the effects of the brutal Israeli full\u00a0siege on Gaza<\/a>, Israel\u2019s sporadic bombings and land invasions, and of course two major massacres (Dec 2008<\/a>\/Jan 2009<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Nov 2012<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In the 2008\/2009 war against Palestinian civilians, I was on the ground in northern Gaza with rescuers\u2014actual rescuers, no acting, no staging\u2014under the bombings, and\u00a0under heavy sniper fire<\/a>. I was also on an upper floor of a media building in Gaza City that was\u00a0bombed while I was in it<\/a>. And otherwise, I remained in Gaza after the slaughter had ended,\u00a0taking horrific testimonies<\/a>,\u00a0documenting Israel\u2019s war crimes<\/strong>, including Israel\u2019s:\u00a0assassinations<\/a>\u00a0of children, widespread\u00a0use of White Phosphorous<\/a>\u00a0on civilians;\u00a0holding civilians<\/a>\u00a0as human shields; andtargeting<\/a>\u00a0(and killing) of medics.<\/p>\n

See\u00a0this link<\/a>\u00a0for a more detailed description of this documentation, with many examples, and my further documentation during the November 2012 Israeli massacre of Palestinians, as well as detailed accounts of my reporting from seven trips, on the ground, around Syria.<\/p>\n

While questioning my credentials as an investigative reporter in the Middle East, The Guardian casually assigned\u00a0the story to a San Fransisco based writer specializing in\u00a0fluff pieces<\/a>,\u00a0fashion and\u00a0<\/a>Russophobic analysis<\/a>, who visibly has little to no understanding of what is happening on the ground in Syria.<\/p>\n

Addressing \u201cthe propaganda that is so often disguised as journalism,\u201daward-winning journalist and film maker,\u00a0John Pilger<\/a><\/strong>,\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0(emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cEdward Bernays<\/strong>, the so-called father of public relations, wrote about an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. He was referring to journalism, the media. That was almost 80 years ago, not long after corporate journalism was invented. It\u2019s a history few journalists talk about or know about, and it began with the arrival of corporate advertising.<\/em><\/p>\n

As the new corporations began taking over the press, something called\u00a0\u2018professional journalism\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0was invented. To attract big advertisers, the new corporate press had to appearrespectable,\u00a0pillars of the establishment,\u00a0objective,\u00a0impartial,\u00a0balanced. The first schools of journalism were set up, and a mythology of liberal neutrality was spun around the\u00a0professional journalists. The right to freedom of expression was associated with the new media.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026The whole thing was entirely bogus<\/strong>. For what the public didn\u2019t know, was that in order to be\u00a0professional, journalists had to ensure that news and opinion\u00a0were dominated by official sources<\/strong>. And that hasn\u2019t changed. Go through the New York Times on any day, and check the sources of the main political stories, domestic and foreign, and you\u2019ll find that they\u2019re\u00a0dominated by governments and other establishment interests<\/strong>. That\u2019s the essence of\u00a0professional journalism.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On a publicly-shared\u00a0Facebook post<\/a>, journalist\u00a0Stephen Kinzer<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cI happen to agree with Eva\u2019s take on Syria, but from a journalist\u2019s perspective, the true importance of what she does goes beyond reporting from any single country. She challenges the accepted narrative\u2013and that is the essence of journalism. Everything else is stenography. Budding foreign correspondents take note!!\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In The Guardian\u2019s smear piece, Solon employed a tactic used to denigrate the credibility of an investigative journalist by dubbing he\/she merely a \u201cblogger\u201d. In her\u00a0story<\/em>, Solon used \u201cblogger\u201d four times, three times in reference to Vanessa Beeley (who contributes in depth articles to a variety of online media).<\/p>\n

In the latter case, she quoted executive director of the Purpose Inc-operated \u201cSyria Campaign\u201d PR project,\u00a0James Sadri<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>saying:<\/p>\n

\u201cA blogger for a\u00a09\/11 truther website<\/a>\u00a0who only visited Syria for the first time last year should not be taken seriously as an impartial expert on the conflict.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Remind me when either Sadri or Solon was last there? Seems to be\u00a02008 for Sadri<\/a>, and never for Solon. But they are \u201ccredible<\/em>\u201d and someone like Beeley who has since her first 2016 visit to Syria had returned numerous occasions, in the country at pivotal times\u2014like during the liberation of Aleppo,\u00a0speaking with Syrian civilians from eastern areas formerly occupied by al-Qaeda and co-extremists\u2014is not?<\/p>\n

As for bloggers, there are many insightful writers and researchers self-publishing on blogs (for example,\u00a0\u00a0this blog<\/a>). However, that aside, it is amusing to note that Solon on\u00a0her LinkedIn profile<\/a>\u00a0list her first skill as blogging. Is she a mere\u00a0blogger<\/em>?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Regarding Solon\u2019s use of the \u201ctruthers\u201d theme, did she recycle this from an\u00a0article on Wired<\/a>\u00a0peddled eight months ago? Her use of \u201ctruthers\u201d is clearly to paint anyone who investigates the White Helmets as Alex Jones-esque.<\/p>\n

Is she capable of originality?<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Nov 4, 2016: Less than 100 metres away, the second of two mortars fired by terrorist factions less than 1 km from Castello Road on Nov. 4. The road and humanitarian corridor were targeted at least seven times that day by terrorist factions. Many of those in corporate media had retired to the bus, and donned helmets and flak jackets. I was on the road without such luxuries.<\/p><\/div>\n

Read about it\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guardian Uses CIA \u201cConspiracy Theory\u201d Tactic<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to using denigrating terms, The Guardian threw in the loaded CIA term \u201cconspiracy theorists\u201d.<\/p>\n

As Mark Crispin Miller<\/strong>,\u00a0Professor<\/a>\u00a0of Media Studies and\u00a0author<\/a>, noted in a June 2017\u00a0panel<\/a>\u00a0(emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cConspiracy theory was not much used by journalist for the decades prior to 1967, when suddenly it\u2019s used all the time, and increasingly ever since.<\/em><\/p>\n

And the reason for this is that the CIA at that time sent a memo to its station chiefs world wide, urging them to use their propaganda assets and friends in the media, to discredit the work of Mark Lane\u2026 books attacking the Warren Commission Report. Mark Lane\u2019s was a best seller, so the\u00a0CIA\u2019s response was to send out this memo urging a counter-attack<\/strong>, so that hacks responsive to the agency would write reviews\u00a0attacking these authors as \u2018conspiracy theorists\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0and using one or more of five specific arguments listed in the memo.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Guess Solon got the memo.<\/p>\n

Professor James Tracy<\/strong>\u00a0elaborated<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Conspiracy theory\u201d is a term that at once strikes fear and anxiety in the hearts of most every public figure, particularly journalists and academics.\u00a0Since the 1960s the label has become a disciplinary device that has been overwhelmingly effective in defining certain events off limits to inquiry or debate.<\/strong>\u00a0Especially in the United States raising legitimate questions about dubious official narratives destined to inform public opinion (and thereby public policy) is a major thought crime that must be cauterized from the public psyche at all costs.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Researcher and writer Kevin Ryan<\/strong>\u00a0noted<\/a>\u00a0(emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cIn the 45 years before the CIA memo came out, the phrase \u2018conspiracy theory\u2019 appeared in the Washington Post and New York Times only 50 times, or about once per year.\u00a0In the 45 years after the CIA memo, the phrase appeared 2,630 times, or about once per week.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Of course, in these uses the phrase is always delivered in a context in which \u2018conspiracy theorists\u2019 were\u00a0made to seem less intelligent and less rationale<\/strong>\u00a0than people who uncritically accept official explanations for major events. President George W. Bush and his colleagues often used the phrase conspiracy theory in attempts to deter questioning about their activities.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In her piece for the Guardian, Solon threw in the\u00a0Russia is behind\u00a0everything<\/strong>\u00a0clause<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Scott Lucas<\/strong> (whom Solon quotes in her own article) in August 2017\u00a0wrote\u00a0<\/a>(emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cRussian State outlets have pursued a\u00a0campaign<\/strong>\u00a0\u2014 especially since Moscow\u2019s\u00a0military intervention in September 2015<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Solon\u2019s article?\u00a0(emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0campaign<\/strong>\u00a0to discredit the White Helmets started at the same time as Russia staged a\u00a0military intervention in Syria in September 2015<\/strong>\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But I\u2019m sure this is a mere coincidence.<\/p>\n

Initial Investigations Into The White Helmets Precede Russia\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

As mentioned earlier in this article, in 2014 and early 2015, long before any Russian media took notice, Cory Morningstar<\/strong> and Rick Sterling<\/strong> were already\u00a0countering the official story<\/a>\u00a0of the White Helmets.<\/p>\n

Morningstar on September 17, 2014,\u00a0wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe New York public relations firm Purpose has created at least four anti-Assad NGOs\/campaigns:\u00a0The White Helmets<\/strong>, Free Syrian Voices [3], The Syria Campaign [4] and March Campaign #withSyria. \u2026The message is clear. Purpose wants the green light for military intervention in Syria, well-cloaked under the guise of humanitarianism \u2013 an oxymoron if there ever was one.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is where the White Helmets step in.<\/p>\n

Rick Sterling\u2019s\u00a0April 9, 2015, article<\/a>\u00a0looked at the White Helmets as a PR project for western intervention in Syria. He wrote (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cWhite Helmets is the newly minted name for \u201cSyrian Civil Defence\u201d. Despite the name, Syria Civil Defence was\u00a0not created by Syrians nor does it serve Syria. Rather it was\u00a0created by the UK and USA<\/a>\u00a0in 2013<\/strong>. Civilians from rebel controlled territory were paid to go to Turkey to receive some training in rescue operations. The program was\u00a0managed by James Le Mesurier, a former British soldier and private contractor<\/strong>\u00a0whose company is\u00a0based in Dubai.<\/a>\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Since her initial\u00a0scrutiny into the White Helmets<\/a>\u00a0in September 2015, by October\u00a0revealing their ties to executioners<\/a>\u00a0in Syria,\u00a0Vanessa Beeley<\/a>\u00a0has relentlessly pursued the organization, and the lies and propaganda around it, their funding of at least\u00a0over<\/a>\u00a0$150 million<\/a>, far more than needed for medical supplies and high-tech camera equipment.<\/p>\n

As 21st<\/sup>\u00a0Century Wire\u00a0pointed out<\/a>\u00a0(emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cNote that The Guardian and Olivia Solon also claim that the White Helmets are\u00a0only \u201cvolunteers\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 a foundational misrepresentation designed to generate sympathy for their employees. One could call this a gross lie when you consider the fact the White Helmets are\u00a0paid a regular salary<\/strong>\u00a0(which the Guardian deceptively call a \u2018stipend\u2019) which is in fact\u00a0much higher than the\u00a0national average salary<\/a>\u00a0in Syria<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 a fact conveniently left out in the Guardian\u2019s apparent foreign office-led propaganda piece:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2026<\/em>Guardian informationists like Solon would never dare mention that the White Helmet\u2019s \u2018monthly stipend\u2019 is\u00a0far in excess<\/strong>\u00a0of the standard salary for a Syrian Army soldier who is lucky to take home $60 -$70 per month.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Guardian Whitewashes the White Helmets<\/strong><\/p>\n

What are some things The Guardian could have investigated, had Solon\u2019s story not been predetermined and had she approached with an honest intent to investigate the White Helmets?<\/p>\n

-Solon very misguidedly chose to highlight the White Helmets\u2019\u00a0\u201cmannequin challenge\u201d video<\/a>, writing that the video was \u201cstripped of its context\u201d. What was the context? That the White Helmets,\u00a0supposedly<\/strong>\u00a0frantically, full-time rescuing civilians under the bombs, took time to make a video\u00a0simulating a heroic rescue scene<\/strong>? The video\u00a0reveals the patently obvious<\/strong>\u00a0point that the White Helmets\u00a0can clearly stage a very convincing \u201crescue\u201d video<\/strong>. But Solon ignores this point, it doesn\u2019t fit her factless, Russophobic\u00a0story.\u00a0Further, I cannot imagine any of the Palestinian rescuers I worked with wasting a moment of precious time for such an absurd video.<\/em><\/p>\n

-That in spite of the White Helmets\u2019 professed motto, \u201cTo save a life is to save all of humanity\u201d they\u00a0willingly participated in executions of civilians<\/strong>. But Solon wrote those extremist-affiliated White Helmets who hold weapons or stand on dead bodies or chant with al-Qaeda off as\u00a0\u201cisolated\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0\u201crogue\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0actors, in spite of\u00a0overwhelming evidence to the contrary<\/strong>. Best part? It wasn\u2019t Russia which photographed them, it was from\u00a0their own social media accounts<\/a>, where they\u00a0proudly displayed their allegiance to terrorists<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In her attempt to defend the \u201crogue\u201d assertion, Solon brings in White Helmets leader, Raed Saleh<\/strong>, who she doesn\u2019t mention\u00a0was denied entry to the US in April 2016<\/strong>, and\u00a0deemed by<\/a>\u00a0the State Department\u2019s Mark Toner<\/strong> to have\u00a0ties to extremists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s\u00a0one poignant example<\/a>\u00a0of a\u00a0rogue actor<\/em>\u00a0who was\u00a0dealt with<\/em>\u00a0by White Helmets\u2019 leadership:<\/p>\n

\u201cMuawiya Hassan Agha was present at Rashideen, and he later became infamous for his involvement in the execution of two prisoners of war in Aleppo. For this rogue bad appleness he was\u00a0supposedly fired from the White Helmets, although he was later photographed still with them<\/strong>. He has also been photographed celebrating \u2018victory\u2019 with Nusra Front in Idlib.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-The soldiers which The Guardian calls \u201cpro-Assad fighters\u201d are actually members of\u00a0Syria\u2019s national army<\/strong>. Lexicon is important, and by denigrating members of the national army, The Guardian is playing a very old, and once again\u00a0lacking in originality, lexicon card<\/strong>\u00a0worthy of some UN member states who violate UN protocol and in the UN call the Syrian government a \u201cregime\u201d (as Solon also does\u2026) instead of government.<\/p>\n

-That it is not the\u00a0entire<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0UNSC which believes that Syria has committed the crimes Solon repeats, it is some members with an admitted\u00a0vested interest in toppling the Syrian government<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The Chemical Card<\/strong><\/p>\n

In an attempt to validate the White Helmets, and delegitimize those who question them, The Guardian article presented\u00a0as fact<\/strong>\u00a0claims<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0that the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its people in Khan Sheikhoun in April 2017, that the White Helmets provided valuable documentation to the fact, and stated that Beeley and myself were\u00a0some of the \u201cmost vocal sceptics\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0of the official narrative.<\/p>\n

But so was the British and US media:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe following Mail Online article was published and subsequently removed. <\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Note the contradictory discourse: \u201cObama issued warning to Syrian president Bashar al Assad\u201d, \u201cWhite House gave green light to chemical weapons attack\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From the horse\u2019s mouth: CNN<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sources: U.S. helping underwrite Syrian rebel training on securing chemical weapons<\/a><\/p>\n

Amusingly, according to the article on the Qatari-owned channel, Al Jazeera, which The Guardian provided to back up their assertion of the Syrian government\u2019s culpability (instead of providing the\u00a0September 2017 UN report<\/a>, itself questionable, and a much longer read for Solon), (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cAll evidence available leads the Commission to\u00a0conclude that there are reasonable grounds\u00a0to believe<\/strong>\u00a0Syrian forces dropped an aerial bomb dispersing sarin in Khan Sheikhoun.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Reasonable grounds to believe is not exactly a confirmation of evidence, it\u2019s\u00a0just a belief<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The same article noted the investigators had not been to Syria and \u201cbased their findings on photographs of bomb remnants, satellite imagery and witness testimony.\u201d<\/p>\n

Witness testimony from an al-Qaeda-dominated area? Very credible. The White Helmet leader in Khan Sheikhoun, Mustafa al-Haj Yussef,<\/strong> is an extremist showing allegiance to the actions of al-Qaeda. As\u00a0Vanessa Beeley wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cYussef has called for the shelling of civilians, the execution of anyone not fasting during Ramadan, the murder of anyone considered a Shabiha, the killing of the SAA and the looting of their property.\u00a0\u2026He clearly supports both Nusra Front, an internationally recognised terrorist group, and Ahrar Al Sham\u2026Yussef is far from being\u00a0neutral, impartial or humanitarian.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The initial\u00a0analysis<\/a>\u00a0(of an April 2017 White House statement on Khan Sheikhoun) by Professor Emeritus of Science, Technology, and National Security Policy Massachusetts Institute of Technology,\u00a0Theodore Postol,<\/strong> found (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it can be shown, without doubt, that the document\u00a0does not provide any evidence whatsoever<\/strong>\u00a0that the US government has concrete knowledge that the government of Syria was the source of the chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun, Syria at roughly 6 to 7 a.m. on April 4, 2017.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Postol\u2019s analysis concludes that the alleged evidence<\/p>\n

\u201cpoints to\u00a0an attack that was executed by individuals on the ground, not from an aircraft<\/strong>, on the morning of April 4,\u201d and notes that \u201cthe report contains\u00a0absolutely no evidence<\/strong>\u00a0that this attack was the result of a munition being dropped from an aircraft.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh<\/strong> also looked at the official accusations, noting that claims made by MSF contradicted the official accusation of the Syrian government bombing the area with sarin.\u00a0Hersh wrote<\/a>\u00a0(emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cA team from M\u00e9decins Sans Fronti\u00e8res, treating victims from Khan Sheikhoun at a clinic 60 miles to the north, reported that \u2018eight patients showed symptoms \u2013 including constricted pupils, muscle spasms and involuntary defecation \u2013 which are consistent with exposure to a neurotoxic agent such as sarin gas or similar compounds.\u2019\u00a0MSF also visited other hospitals that had received victims and found that patients there \u2018smelled of bleach, suggesting that they had been exposed to chlorine.\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0In other words, evidence suggested that there was\u00a0more than one chemical responsible for the symptoms observed<\/strong>, which would\u00a0not have been the case if the Syrian Air Force \u2013 as opposition activists insisted \u2013 had dropped a sarin bomb<\/strong>, which has no percussive or ignition power to trigger secondary explosions. The range of symptoms is, however, consistent with the release of a mixture of chemicals, including chlorine and the organophosphates used in many fertilizers, which can cause neurotoxic effects similar to those of sarin.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The second article to which Solon linked was a NY Times\u00a0article<\/a>\u00a0which called the report a \u201cpolitically independent investigation\u201d. This should make readers pause to guffaw, as the investigating mechanism includes the\u00a0questionably-funded OPCW<\/a>,\u00a0and among those which the investigators interviewed were al-Qaeda\u2019s rescuers.<\/p>\n

Regarding the report, Professor Marcello Ferrada de Noli<\/strong> (founder and chairman of\u00a0Swedish Professors and Doctors for Human Rights<\/a><\/em>) in November 2017,\u00a0refuted it<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cinaccurate\u201d and \u201cpolitically biased\u201d. Points he made included (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

-\u201cThe same JIM authors acknowledge that\u00a0rebels in Khan Shaykhun have however destroyed evidence by filling the purported impact \u201ccrater\u201d with concrete<\/strong>. Why the \u201crebels\u201d have done that \u2013 and what consequences that sabotage would have for the investigation of facts is not even considered by the panel.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

-\u201cBy acknowledging that\u00a0Khan Shaykhun was then\u00a0under control\u00a0of al-Nusra, the JIM report exhibits yet another methodological contradiction<\/strong>: That would mean that al-Nusra and its jihadists allies, by having control of the area, they were\u00a0also in control of the \u2018official\u2019 information delivered from Khan Shaykhun on the alleged incident<\/strong>. This would imperatively call for a questioning of the reliability\/credibility (bias) of main sources that the panel used for its allegations.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Twitter user @Syricide picked up on one of the JIM\u2019s most alarming professed\u00a0irregularity<\/em>,\u00a0tweeting<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even the Nation in April 2017\u00a0ran a piece<\/a>\u00a0stressing the need for actual investigation into the chemical weapons claims, citing the research of Postol, as well noting the following (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cPhilip Giraldi<\/strong>, a former CIA case officer and Army intelligence officer,\u00a0told radio host Scott Horton<\/strong> on April 6<\/a>\u00a0that he was \u201chearing from sources on the ground in the Middle East, people who are intimately familiar with the intelligence that is available, who are saying the essential narrative we are hearing about the Syrians and Russians using chemical weapons\u00a0is a sham<\/strong>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Giraldi also noted that \u2018people both the agency [CIA] and in the military who are aware of the intelligence are freaking out about this because essentially\u00a0Trump completely misrepresented\u2019 what had taken place in Khan Sheikhun<\/em><\/strong>. Giraldi reports that his sources in the military and the intelligence community \u201care astonished by how this is being played by the administration and by the US media.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same article included the words of the former UK ambassador to Syria, Peter Ford<\/strong>, who\u00a0noted<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt defies belief that he would bring this all on his head for no military advantage.\u201d Ford said he believes the accusations against Syria are \u201csimply not plausible.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, in fact, no, some of the most vocal and informed sceptics were neither Beeley nor myself, but MIT Professor Emeritus Theodore Postol, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh, former UK ambassador Peter Ford, and former CIA and Army intelligence officer Philip Giraldi, not exactly \u201cfringe\u201d voices.<\/p>\n

Investigative journalist Robert Parry<\/strong> in April 2017\u00a0wrote of<\/a>\u00a0a NY Times deflection tactic (one which Solon employed), emphasis added:<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than deal with the difficulty of assessing what happened in Khan Sheikhoun,\u00a0which is controlled by Al Qaeda\u2019s Syrian affiliate and where information therefore should be regarded as highly suspect<\/strong>, Rutenberg simply assessed that the conventional wisdom in the West must be correct.<\/em><\/p>\n

To discredit any doubters<\/em><\/strong>, Rutenberg\u00a0associated them with one of the wackier conspiracy theories of radio personality Alex Jones<\/strong>, another version of the Times\u2019 recent troubling reliance on McCarthyistic logical fallacies, not only\u00a0applying guilt by association<\/strong>\u00a0but refuting reasonable skepticism by tying it to someone who in an entirely different context expressed unreasonable skepticism.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That sounds familiar. Solon wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cBeeley frequently\u00a0criticises the White Helmets<\/a>\u00a0in her role as editor of the website 21st Century Wire, set up by Patrick Henningsen, who is also an editor at\u00a0Infowars.com.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Infowars is Alex Jones\u2019 site, and Henningsen is for many years no longer affiliated.<\/p>\n

Solon followed this with another non sequitur argument about Beeley and the US Peace Council meeting with the Syrian president in 2016, a point\u00a0irrelevant either to the issue of the White Helmets or the alleged chemical attacks<\/strong>. But irrelevance is what corporate media do best these days.<\/p>\n

The Guardian\u00a0story<\/em>-writer has done literally zero investigative research into the fallacies she presents as fact in her article.<\/p>\n

Integrity-Devoid Sources Solon Cited<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to those I\u2019ve already mentioned, it is quite interesting to note some of the other sources Solon quoted to fluff her\u00a0story:<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2013Scott Lucas<\/strong>, whose allegiance to Imperialists is evident from his\u00a0twitter feed<\/a>, a textbook Russophobe, Iranophobe. Lucas relied on the words of terrorist-supporter, Mustafa al-Haj Youssef, for his\u00a0August article<\/a>\u00a0on the White Helmets (the one Solon seemingly plagiarized from). Solon relied on Lucas\u2019 smears to dismiss the work and detract from the integrity of those Solon attacked. That, and being a token professor to include in attempt at legitimacy, was Lucas\u2019 sole function in the Guardian\u00a0story.<\/em><\/p>\n

-Amnesty International<\/strong>, the so-called human rights group which as Tony Cartalucci<\/strong>\u00a0outlined in August 2012<\/a>, is \u201cUS State Department Propaganda\u201d, and does indeed receive money from governments and corporate-financier interests, including \u201cconvicted financial criminal\u201d George Soros\u2019 Open Society.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just \u201cconspiracy theorists\u201d like Cartalucci who have written on Amnesty\u2019s dark side. Ann Wright<\/strong>, a 29-year U.S. Army\/Army Reserve Colonel and a 16-year U.S. Diplomat serving in numerous countries, including Afghanistan, who \u201cresigned in 2003 in opposition to the Iraq war,\u201d and \u201creturned to Afghanistan in 2007 and 2010 on fact-finding missions,\u201d has as well. Her co-author was Coleen Rowley<\/strong>, \u201ca FBI special agent for almost 24 years, legal counsel to the FBI Field Office in Minneapolis from 1990 to 2003, and a whistleblower \u201con some of the FBI\u2019s pre-9\/11 failures.\u201d Together, in June 2012, they\u00a0wrote about<\/a>\u00a0\u201cAmnesty\u2019s Shilling for US Wars\u201d.<\/p>\n

Professor of international law,\u00a0Francis Boyle<\/a><\/strong>, who himself was a member of the US board of Amnesty, wrote of the group\u2019s role in shilling for war. In October 2012,\u00a0he wrote<\/a>\u00a0of Amnesty\u2019s war mongering regarding Iraq\u2014endorsing the dead incubator babies story told by the Kuwaiti ambassador\u2019s daughter\u2014and his own attempts to inform Amnesty \u201cthat this report should not be published because it was inaccurate.\u201d He noted:<\/p>\n

\u201cThat genocidal war waged by the United States, the United Kingdom and France, inter alia, during the months of January and February 1991, killed at a minimum 200,000 Iraqis, half of whom were civilians. Amnesty International shall always have the blood of the Iraqi People on its hands!\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Boyle\u2019s parting words included:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026based upon my over sixteen years of experience having dealt with AI\/London and AIUSA at the highest levels, it is clear to me that both organizations manifest a consistent pattern and practice of following the lines of the foreign policies of the United States, Britain, and Israel. \u2026Effectively, Amnesty International and AIUSA function as tools for the imperialist, colonial and genocidal policies of the United States, Britain, and Israel.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Eliot Higgins<\/strong>, of whom award-winning investigative journalist Gareth Porter<\/strong>\u00a0wrote<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cEliot Higgins is a\u00a0non-resident fellow of the militantly anti-Russian, State Department-funded Atlantic Council<\/strong>, and has\u00a0no technical expertise on munitions.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

British journalist Graham Phillips<\/strong>\u00a0wrote<\/a>\u00a0in February 2016 on Eliot Higgins. Answering his question on who is Eliot Higgins, Phillips wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u00a0never finished college<\/strong>, dropping out of the\u00a0Southampton Institute of Higher Education<\/a>. When asked\u2026what he studied at university, his answer was,\u00a0\u2018Media\u2026I think<\/a>.\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0\u2026Higgins has always been completely\u00a0open about his lack of expertise<\/a>.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Guardian\u2019s Russia Obsession<\/strong><\/p>\n

By now it should be clear that the intent of Solon\u2019s December 18th<\/sup>\u00a0story<\/em>\u00a0was not to address the manifold questions (facts) about the White Helmets\u2019 ties to (inclusion of) terrorists in Syria, nor to question the\u00a0heroic volunteers\u2019<\/em>\u00a0obscene amount of funding from Western sources very keen to see Syria destabilized and its government replaced.<\/p>\n

Rather, the intent was to whitewash this\u00a0rescue<\/em>\u00a0group<\/strong>, and to demonize those of us highlighted, and especially to insert more Russophobia (although Russia\u2019s military intervention in Syria is legal, unlike that of the US-led coalition, of which Solon\u2019s UK is a part).<\/p>\n

Since our last early October communication until the long-awaited publishing of her slander-filled piece, Solon produced (or co-produced) 24 stories for the Guardian, nine of which were\u00a0blame-Russia!<\/strong>\u00a0sort of stories, including such lexicon as \u201cRussian operatives\u201d, \u201cRussian interference\u201d, \u201cRussian trolls\u201d, \u201cRussian propagandists\u201d, and \u201cRussian bots.<\/p>\n

Is Baroness Cox<\/strong>, of the UK House of Lords, who\u00a0recently spoke<\/a>\u00a0in support of Russia\u2019s (invited) intervention in Syria, a \u201cconspiracy theorist\u201d, a Russian operative\u201d or Kremlin-funded? She said (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the fourth point that I would like to make particularly to you is the\u00a0very real appreciation that is expressed by everyone in Syria of the support by Russia<\/strong>\u00a0to help get rid of ISIS [Daesh] and get rid of all the other Islamist religious groups.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Cox, who went to Syria, is probably\u00a0not<\/em>\u00a0a Kremlin or Assad agent. She probably just\u00a0listened to the voices of Syrians in Syria<\/em><\/strong>, like the rest of\u00a0us\u00a0<\/a>Russian propagandists<\/em><\/a>\u00a0who have bothered to go (repeatedly) to Syria and speak with Syrian civilians.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/p>\n

This is the first part of a longer article. Part II is forthcoming.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Eva Bartlett<\/em> is a freelance journalist and rights activist with extensive experience in the Gaza Strip and Syria. Her writings can be found on her blog, In Gaza.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 globalresearch.ca<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

6 Jan 2018 – There was not a single occasion in which I ever heard the medics (in Sunni Gaza) shout takbeeror Allahu Akbar upon rescuing civilians, much less intentionally stood on dead bodies, posed in staged videos, or any of the other revolting acts that the White Helmets have been filmed doing in Syria. They were too damn busy rescuing or evacuating the areas before another Israeli strike, and usually maintained a focused silence as they worked, communicating only the necessities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":99383,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,62,51,66,204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglo-america","category-media","category-europe","category-middle-east-north-africa","category-syria-in-context"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}