BY IAN WILKIE
Lost inwards the hyper-politicized hullabaloo surrounding the Nunes Memorandum together with the Steele Dossier was the striking tilt yesteryear Secretary of Defense James Mattis that the U.S. has “no evidence” that the Syrian authorities used the banned nervus agent Sarin against its ain people. This assertion flies inwards the human face upwardly of the White House (NSC) Memorandum which was chop-chop produced together with declassified to justify an American Tomahawk missile strike against the Shayrat airbase inwards Syria. Mattis offered no temporal qualifications, which agency that both the 2017 lawsuit inwards Khan Sheikhoun together with the 2013 tragedy inwards Ghouta are unsolved cases inwards the eyes of the Defense Department together with Defense Intelligence Agency.
Mattis went on to acknowledge that “aid groups together with others” had provided testify together with reports but stopped curt of naming President Assad every bit the culprit.
There were casualties from organophosphate poisoning inwards both cases; that much is certain. But America has defendant Assad of straight responsibleness for Sarin attacks together with fifty-fifty blamed Russian Federation for culpability inwards the Khan Sheikhoun tragedy.
Now its ain armed forces boss has said on the tape that nosotros accept no testify to back upwardly this conclusion. In together with thus doing, Mattis tacitly impugned the interventionists who were responsible for pushing the “Assad is guilty” narrative twice without sufficient supporting evidence, at to the lowest degree inwards the eyes of the Pentagon.
This vibrations betwixt the White House together with the Department of Defense is especially troubling when viewed against the chorus of weapons of volume devastation (WMD) experts who accept been questioning the (Obama together with Trump) White House narratives concerning chemic weapons inwards Syrian Arab Republic since practically the minute these “Assad-ordered events” occurred.
A stance of the damaged Shayrat ('ash-Shairat') airfield at the Syrian authorities forces armed forces base of operations targeted yesteryear U.S. Tomahawk cruise missiles, southeast of the primal together with 3rd largest Syrian metropolis of Homs, Apr 7, 2017.STRINGER/AFP/GETTY
Serious, experienced chemic weapons experts together with investigators such every bit Hans Blix, Scott Ritter, Gareth Porter together with Theodore Postol accept all shape incertitude on “official” American narratives regarding President Assad employing Sarin.
These analysts accept all focused on the technical aspects of the ii attacks together with constitute them non to live on consistent amongst the piece of occupation of nation-state lineament Sarin munitions.
The 2013 Ghouta event, for example, employed home-made rockets of the type favored yesteryear insurgents. The White House Memorandum on Khan Sheikhoun seemed to rely heavily on testimony from the Syrian White Helmets who were filmed at the scene having contact amongst supposed Sarin-tainted casualties together with non suffering whatever sick effects.
Likewise, these same actors were filmed wearing chemic weapons grooming suits some the supposed “point of impact” inwards Khan Sheikhoun, something which makes their testimony (and samples) highly suspect. Influenza A virus subtype H5N1 grooming conform offers no protection at all, together with these people would all live on dead if they had come upwardly into contact amongst existent military-grade Sarin.
Chemical weapons are abhorrent together with illegal, together with no 1 knows this to a greater extent than than Carla Del Ponte. She, however, was unable to fulfill her U.N. Joint Investigative Mechanism mandate inwards Syrian Arab Republic together with withdrew inwards protestation over the USA refusing to fully investigate allegations of chemic weapons piece of occupation yesteryear “rebels” (jihadis) allied amongst the American endeavor to oust President Assad (including the piece of occupation of Sarin yesteryear anti-Assad rebels).
The fact that U.N. investigators were inwards Syrian Arab Republic when the chemic weapon lawsuit inwards Khan Sheikhoun occurred inwards Apr 2017 makes it highly dubious that Assad would accept given the lodge to piece of occupation Sarin at that time. Common feel suggests that Assad would accept chosen whatever other fourth dimension than that to piece of occupation a banned weapon that he had agreed to destroy together with never employ.
Furthermore, he would live on placing at adventure his patronage from Russian Federation if they turned on him every bit a state of war criminal together with withdrew their back upwardly for him.
Tactically, every bit a old soldier, it makes no feel to me that anyone would intentionally target civilians together with children every bit the White Helmet reports advise he did.
There is compelling analysis from Gareth Porter suggesting that phosphine could accept been released yesteryear an airborne munition striking a chemic depot, since the clouds together with casualties (while organophosphate-appearing inwards some respects) exercise non look to live on similar to MilSpec Sarin, especially the high-test Russian bomb-carried Sarin which independent groups similar “bellingcat” insist was deployed.
America’s credibility was damaged yesteryear Colin Powell at the UN inwards 2003 falsely accusing Saddam Hussein of having mobile anthrax laboratories. Fast forrad to 2017 together with nosotros come across Nikki Haley inwards an uncomfortably similar province of affairs at the U.N. Security Council calling for activity against yet some other non-Western head-of-state based on weak, unsubstantiated evidence.
Now Secretary Mattis has added fuel to the WMD propaganda doubters’ burn downward yesteryear retroactively calling into enquiry the rationale for an American cruise missile strike.
While inwards no way detracting from the horror of what took identify against innocent civilians inwards Syria, it is fourth dimension for America to halt shooting get-go together with shout for questions later.
Ian Wilkie is an international lawyer, U.S. Army veteran together with old intelligence community contractor.
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