Leaked email claims that UN watchdog's report into alleged poison gas attack by Assad was doctored

[Cthulhu]

New sexed-up dossier furore: Explosive leaked email claims that UN watchdog's report into alleged poison gas attack by Assad was doctored - so was it to justify British and American missile strikes on Syria?

By PETER HITCHENS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 23:15 GMT, 23 November 2019 | UPDATED: 14:50 GMT, 24 November 2019

A leaked email last night dramatically indicated that the UN’s poison gas watchdog had butchered and censored a critical report on an alleged chemical attack in Syria. If substantiated, the revelations will be severely embarrassing for Britain, France and America, which launched a massive military strike in retaliation without waiting for proof that chemical weapons had actually been used.

Unconfirmed reports and videos, showing the corpses of adults and children foaming at the mouth in Douma, a suburb of Damascus, shocked the world in April 2018 and led to a joint Western attack on the supposed culprit, Syria, in which more than 100 missiles, including nearly 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles, were fired.

Although the reports and films could not be independently verified, as the alleged events took place in a war zone then under the control of brutal Islamist militants, Western governments, and many Western media, took them at face value.

President Donald Trump tweeted at the time: ‘Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!’

A leaked email last night dramatically indicated that the UN’s poison gas watchdog had butchered and censored a critical report on an alleged chemical attack in Syria. If substantiated, the revelations will be severely embarrassing for Britain, France and America, which launched a massive military strike in retaliation without waiting for proof that chemical weapons had actually been used. (Above, an RAF Tornado over Damascus during the coalition attack)

President Donald Trump tweeted at the time: ‘Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria.' Britain’s then Premier, Theresa May, was equally confident of her facts, saying after the missile launch: ‘Last Saturday up to 75 people, including young children, were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack in Douma, with as many as 500 further casualties'

This image released early on April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets shows a child receiving oxygen through respirators following the alleged poison gas attack. However, a dissenting scientist, employed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says in a leaked email that investigations on the ground at Douma have produced no hard evidence that the alleged gas attack took place

Britain’s then Premier, Theresa May, was equally confident of her facts, saying after the missile launch: ‘Last Saturday up to 75 people, including young children, were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack in Douma, with as many as 500 further casualties. We have worked with our allies to establish what happened.

'And all the indications are that this was a chemical weapons attack … We are also clear about who was responsible for this atrocity. A significant body of information including intelligence indicates the Syrian regime is responsible for this latest attack.’

But a dissenting scientist, employed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says in a leaked email that investigations on the ground at Douma have produced no hard evidence that the alleged gas attack took place.

It appears that these facts were deliberately suppressed in published OPCW reports.

The email makes no attempt to suggest what did happen in Douma. It simply points out that hard evidence, gathered and examined by non-political scientists, does not support the officially endorsed version. And it claims that this resulted in the OPCW redacting the report to the extent that its conclusions were misrepresented.

The revelation appears to be the worst instance of ‘sexing-up’ in support of war since the invasion of Iraq and Tony Blair’s doctored dossiers. A whistleblower has made public the astonishing email of protest which was sent to senior officials at the OPCW. It says that the independent scientists’ official report on the Douma incident had been slashed and censored so severely that it:

• Misrepresented the facts – by leaving out key information;
• Hid the fact that the traces of chlorine found on the site were merely tiny trace elements, in parts per billion, and in forms that could have been found in any household bleach;
• Contained major deviations from the original report submitted by impartial experts, so that it had ‘morphed into something quite different’;
• Suppressed a total mismatch between the symptoms allegedly displayed by victims at the scene, and the effects of the chemicals which were actually found. The symptoms seen on harrowing videos shown at the time of the incident simply did not match the symptoms which would have been caused by any material found at the site.

The Mail on Sunday has seen the email of protest which one scientist at the OPCW submitted to his superiors. It refers to the original expert report from Douma which the email says was savagely censored.

This original report, if it had been published as written, would not have supported widespread claims that poison gas was used at Douma on April 7, 2018. If any such gas was used, it was not a gas known to, or detected by the scientists who visited the scene, examined the buildings and soil and carefully checked the samples.

A source has told me that the OPCW report, which was eventually published on July 7, 2018, was stripped of a vital fact at the last minute: the traces of chlorinated material which were found at the site were so small, and so easily available, that they could simply not be said to show that chlorine gas was employed.

The Mail on Sunday has also been told that, in the days before the original document was due to be published, a second report shorn of many of its most important findings was prepared behind the backs of most of the OPCW scientists.

A source inside the OPCW says that this move was discovered at the last minute. It was then met with protests from scientists, including the email sent to two senior OPCW officials, which The Mail on Sunday has seen. The source says a compromise was offered in which the truth about the tiny traces of chlorine would be told, though the report would still be heavily redacted.

This original report, if it had been published as written, would not have supported widespread claims that poison gas was used at Douma on April 7, 2018. If any such gas was used, it was not a gas known to, or detected by the scientists who visited the scene, examined the buildings and soil and carefully checked the samples. (Above, a baby has its face wiped following the alleged chemical attack in Douma)

Western support for the Syrian rebels against the Assad regime in Damascus has been politically awkward, as many of these rebels are Islamist extremists, in some cases linked to Al Qaeda. Claims that Assad has used poison gas against his own people have been important in persuading the Western public to back the policy. (Above, President Assad last week)

The scientists accepted this. But even this promise was then broken, and a third version of the document was issued which left out the vital fact. The wording of this report was so vague that news organisations around the world concluded – incorrectly – that it said that chlorine gas had been used or might have been used. If the key material had been left in, they could not have done this.

Since then, dissenting scientists have sought for months to find a way of setting the record straight, inside the OPCW. But all their efforts have failed, leading to the leak of the email.

It has been a long struggle. The original email of protest was sent to senior executives at the OPCW (whose names we know but have been asked not to publish) on June 22, 2018. The third (interim) report was published on July 6, 2018. A fourth report, even more mealy-mouthed, but still heavily censored, emerged in March this year.

The leak follows other alarming developments concerning the OPCW’s report on Douma, which suggest an organisation in severe crisis. Last May, another leak from the OPCW’s HQ in the Hague cast grave doubt on claims that gas cylinders found at the Douma site had been dropped from the air, a vital part of the Western case against Syria.

An OPCW engineering and ballistics expert called Ian Henderson (who was not the leaker) had strongly suggested that two gas cylinders found in Douma and examined by the OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission had been ‘manually placed’.

This vital detail too was left out of the OPCW’s own published report, which implied strongly that they had been dropped from the air. This was crucial as Syrian government helicopters were the only aircraft in the area. On this occasion the OPCW revealed that the Henderson document was genuine, probably unintentionally, by announcing a leak inquiry on May 16.

The OPCW – whose member nations meet in The Hague for a major conference tomorrow – is also in severe turmoil after reports of further whistleblowing on the radical US website Counterpunch. Its account was written by the veteran journalist Jonathan Steele (formerly a senior foreign correspondent at The Guardian, twice named International Reporter of the Year), based on the account of a whistleblower who he codenamed ‘Alex’.

‘Alex’ said that dissenting experts, protesting against the doctoring of their work, were invited to a meeting with three American officials who were ‘cursorily introduced without making clear which US agencies they represented’. He recounted that the three ‘told them emphatically that the Syrian regime had conducted a gas attack.’

The Mail on Sunday approached the OPCW for comment on the protest email on Wednesday, November 13, more than ten days ago. We supplied them with a complete text. Despite several further requests by phone and email, the OPCW had not responded by last night.

The OPCW has been in severe disarray before, precisely because its rulings are so sensitive.

In 2002, in the lead-up to the Iraq war, the OPCW’s then director, the Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani, was forced from office by intense US pressure. The US’s then ambassador to the UN was the ferocious pro-war hawk John Bolton, famed for his brusque and bullying manner to subordinates.

He is thought to have objected to Bustani’s plans to get Iraq to agree to OPCW inspectors going there to search for WMD. These inspections might have got in the way of US plans to go to war against Iraq at all costs, a decision which had already been made by the White House.

The same John Bolton was Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser at the time of the alleged outrage in Douma and the missile attacks on Syria, which took place a week later. He left the post in September after falling out with President Trump.

The OPCW is nominally independent, but its annual budget of roughly £75 million is supplied by member states, with much of the money coming from the USA and EU and NATO members, many of them heavily committed to supporting the rebels in Syria.

Western support for the Syrian rebels against the Assad regime in Damascus has been politically awkward, as many of these rebels are Islamist extremists, in some cases linked to Al Qaeda. Claims that Assad has used poison gas against his own people have been important in persuading the Western public to back the policy.

Counterpunch asked the OPCW’s media office to explain why the chlorine levels were excluded from the interim and final reports but they did not respond.

The OPCW is nominally independent, but its annual budget of roughly £75 million is supplied by member states, with much of the money coming from the USA and EU and NATO members, many of them heavily committed to supporting the rebels in Syria. (Above, Douma on April 6, 2018)

The leaked email in full
From: ********

Sent: 22nd June 2018 08:27

To: *********

Subject: Grave concern about the 'redacted' Douma report

Dear ******,

I wish to express, as a member of the FFM (Fact Finding Mission) team that conducted the investigation into the alleged chemical attack in Douma on 7 April, my gravest concern at the redacted version of the FFM report, which I understand was at the behest of the ODG. (Office of the Director General). After reading this modified report, which incidentally no other team member who deployed into Douma has had the opportunity to do, I was struck by how much it misrepresents the facts. Many of the facts and observations outlined in the full version are inextricably interconnected and, by selectively omitting certain ones, an unintended bias has been introduced into the report, undermining its credibility. In other cases, some crucial facts that have remained in the redacted version have morphed into something quite different to what was initially drafted. If I may, I will outline some specific aspects to the redacted report that are particularly worrisome.

The statement in paragraph 8.3 of the final conclusions 'The team has sufficient evidence at this time to determine that chlorine, or another reactive chlorine-containing chemical, was likely released from cylinders', is highly misleading and not supported by the facts. The only evidence available at this moment is that some samples collected at Locations 2 and 4 were in contact with one or more chemicals that contain a reactive chlorine atom. Such chemicals could include molecular chlorine, phosgene, cyanogen chloride, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen chloride or sodium hypochlorite (the major ingredient of household chlorine-based bleach). Purposely singling out chlorine gas as one of the possibilities is disingenuous. It is also worth noting that the term 'reactive chlorine-containing chemical' used in the redacted report is, in fact, inaccurate. It actually describes a reactive chemical that contains chlorine which itself (the chlorine) is not necessarily reactive e.g. chlorophenol. The original report uses the more accurate term 'a chemical containing reactive chlorine'.

The redacted report states that the gas was likely released from the cylinders (in Locations 2 and 4). The original report purposely emphasised the fact that, although the cylinders might have been the source of the suspected chemical release, there was insufficient evidence to affirm this. It is possible the error was simply a typo. This is a major deviation from the original report.

Paragraph 8.2 states that 'based on the high levels of various chlorinated organic derivatives, [...] detected in environmental samples'. Describing the levels as 'high' likely overstates the extent of levels of chlorinated organic derivatives detected. They were, in most cases, present only in parts per billion range, as low as 1-2 ppb, which is essentially trace quantities.

The original report discusses in detail the inconsistency between the victims' symptoms, as reported by witnesses and seen in video recordings. Omitting this section of the report (including the Epidemiology which has been removed in its entirety) has a serious negative impact on the report as this section is inextricably linked to the chemical agent identified. It either supports or detracts from the confidence in the identity of any possible chemical. In this case the confidence in the identity of chlorine or any choking agent is drawn into question precisely because of the inconsistency with the reported and observed symptoms. The inconsistency was not only noted by the FFM team but strongly noted by three toxicologists with expertise in exposure to CW (Chemical Weapons) agents.

The original report has extensive sections regarding the placement of the cylinders at both locations as well as the relative damage caused to the impact points, compared to that caused to the cylinders suspected of being the sources of the toxic chemical. These sections are essentially absent from the redacted report. This information was important in assessing the likelihood of the 'presence' of toxic chemicals versus the 'use' of toxic chemicals.

A feature of this investigation and report was the robust and extensive scientific basis for sampling plans and analysing the data collected. A comprehensive bibliography of peer-reviewed scientific literature was attached to support and enhance the credibility of the work of the mission. This has unfortunately been omitted from the redacted report.

By singling out chlorine above other equally plausible substances containing reactive chlorine and presenting it as a fact in isolation creates, I believe, a level of partiality that would negatively impact on the perceived credibility of the report, and by extension that of the Organisation. I am requesting that the fact-finding report be released in its entirety as I fear that this redacted version no longer reflects the work of the team. The original report contains facts and observations that are all equally valid. The fact that inconsistencies are highlighted or observations not fully understood does not justify their omission. The inconsistencies and observations are based on the evidence and data collected. Further information in the future may help resolve them but the facts as they stand at present will not alter and need to be reported.

If the redacted version is to be released, I respectfully request to attach my differing observations, in accordance with the spirit of paragraph 62 of part II of the Verification Annex of the CWC.

Yours sincerely

(Key passages emphasised by Mail on Sunday)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...r-furore-alleged-poison-gas-attack-Assad.html

 

[925boy]

@500 WHERE ARE YOU???????????????????????

Yup, the truth is coming out slowly but surely.

White helmets- Western proxies
"Gas attacks"- Western lies and false flag attacks
ISIS - US+ NATO +GCC's pet proxy Middle east militancy project
"Islamist rebels" - Israel and US proxies in Syria when they were too afraid to put their own boots on the Syrian ground.

New sexed-up dossier furore: Explosive leaked email claims that UN watchdog's report into alleged poison gas attack by Assad was doctored - so was it to justify British and American missile strikes on Syria?

By PETER HITCHENS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY

PUBLISHED: 23:15 GMT, 23 November 2019 | UPDATED: 14:50 GMT, 24 November 2019

A leaked email last night dramatically indicated that the UN’s poison gas watchdog had butchered and censored a critical report on an alleged chemical attack in Syria. If substantiated, the revelations will be severely embarrassing for Britain, France and America, which launched a massive military strike in retaliation without waiting for proof that chemical weapons had actually been used.

Unconfirmed reports and videos, showing the corpses of adults and children foaming at the mouth in Douma, a suburb of Damascus, shocked the world in April 2018 and led to a joint Western attack on the supposed culprit, Syria, in which more than 100 missiles, including nearly 70 Tomahawk cruise missiles, were fired.

Although the reports and films could not be independently verified, as the alleged events took place in a war zone then under the control of brutal Islamist militants, Western governments, and many Western media, took them at face value.

President Donald Trump tweeted at the time: ‘Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is in lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world. President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay. Open area immediately for medical help and verification. Another humanitarian disaster for no reason whatsoever. SICK!’

A leaked email last night dramatically indicated that the UN’s poison gas watchdog had butchered and censored a critical report on an alleged chemical attack in Syria. If substantiated, the revelations will be severely embarrassing for Britain, France and America, which launched a massive military strike in retaliation without waiting for proof that chemical weapons had actually been used. (Above, an RAF Tornado over Damascus during the coalition attack)

President Donald Trump tweeted at the time: ‘Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria.' Britain’s then Premier, Theresa May, was equally confident of her facts, saying after the missile launch: ‘Last Saturday up to 75 people, including young children, were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack in Douma, with as many as 500 further casualties'

This image released early on April 8, 2018 by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets shows a child receiving oxygen through respirators following the alleged poison gas attack. However, a dissenting scientist, employed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says in a leaked email that investigations on the ground at Douma have produced no hard evidence that the alleged gas attack took place

Britain’s then Premier, Theresa May, was equally confident of her facts, saying after the missile launch: ‘Last Saturday up to 75 people, including young children, were killed in a despicable and barbaric attack in Douma, with as many as 500 further casualties. We have worked with our allies to establish what happened.

'And all the indications are that this was a chemical weapons attack … We are also clear about who was responsible for this atrocity. A significant body of information including intelligence indicates the Syrian regime is responsible for this latest attack.’

But a dissenting scientist, employed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says in a leaked email that investigations on the ground at Douma have produced no hard evidence that the alleged gas attack took place.

It appears that these facts were deliberately suppressed in published OPCW reports.

The email makes no attempt to suggest what did happen in Douma. It simply points out that hard evidence, gathered and examined by non-political scientists, does not support the officially endorsed version. And it claims that this resulted in the OPCW redacting the report to the extent that its conclusions were misrepresented.

The revelation appears to be the worst instance of ‘sexing-up’ in support of war since the invasion of Iraq and Tony Blair’s doctored dossiers. A whistleblower has made public the astonishing email of protest which was sent to senior officials at the OPCW. It says that the independent scientists’ official report on the Douma incident had been slashed and censored so severely that it:

• Misrepresented the facts – by leaving out key information;
• Hid the fact that the traces of chlorine found on the site were merely tiny trace elements, in parts per billion, and in forms that could have been found in any household bleach;
• Contained major deviations from the original report submitted by impartial experts, so that it had ‘morphed into something quite different’;
• Suppressed a total mismatch between the symptoms allegedly displayed by victims at the scene, and the effects of the chemicals which were actually found. The symptoms seen on harrowing videos shown at the time of the incident simply did not match the symptoms which would have been caused by any material found at the site.

The Mail on Sunday has seen the email of protest which one scientist at the OPCW submitted to his superiors. It refers to the original expert report from Douma which the email says was savagely censored.

This original report, if it had been published as written, would not have supported widespread claims that poison gas was used at Douma on April 7, 2018. If any such gas was used, it was not a gas known to, or detected by the scientists who visited the scene, examined the buildings and soil and carefully checked the samples.

A source has told me that the OPCW report, which was eventually published on July 7, 2018, was stripped of a vital fact at the last minute: the traces of chlorinated material which were found at the site were so small, and so easily available, that they could simply not be said to show that chlorine gas was employed.

The Mail on Sunday has also been told that, in the days before the original document was due to be published, a second report shorn of many of its most important findings was prepared behind the backs of most of the OPCW scientists.

A source inside the OPCW says that this move was discovered at the last minute. It was then met with protests from scientists, including the email sent to two senior OPCW officials, which The Mail on Sunday has seen. The source says a compromise was offered in which the truth about the tiny traces of chlorine would be told, though the report would still be heavily redacted.

This original report, if it had been published as written, would not have supported widespread claims that poison gas was used at Douma on April 7, 2018. If any such gas was used, it was not a gas known to, or detected by the scientists who visited the scene, examined the buildings and soil and carefully checked the samples. (Above, a baby has its face wiped following the alleged chemical attack in Douma)

Western support for the Syrian rebels against the Assad regime in Damascus has been politically awkward, as many of these rebels are Islamist extremists, in some cases linked to Al Qaeda. Claims that Assad has used poison gas against his own people have been important in persuading the Western public to back the policy. (Above, President Assad last week)

The scientists accepted this. But even this promise was then broken, and a third version of the document was issued which left out the vital fact. The wording of this report was so vague that news organisations around the world concluded – incorrectly – that it said that chlorine gas had been used or might have been used. If the key material had been left in, they could not have done this.

Since then, dissenting scientists have sought for months to find a way of setting the record straight, inside the OPCW. But all their efforts have failed, leading to the leak of the email.

It has been a long struggle. The original email of protest was sent to senior executives at the OPCW (whose names we know but have been asked not to publish) on June 22, 2018. The third (interim) report was published on July 6, 2018. A fourth report, even more mealy-mouthed, but still heavily censored, emerged in March this year.

The leak follows other alarming developments concerning the OPCW’s report on Douma, which suggest an organisation in severe crisis. Last May, another leak from the OPCW’s HQ in the Hague cast grave doubt on claims that gas cylinders found at the Douma site had been dropped from the air, a vital part of the Western case against Syria.

An OPCW engineering and ballistics expert called Ian Henderson (who was not the leaker) had strongly suggested that two gas cylinders found in Douma and examined by the OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission had been ‘manually placed’.

This vital detail too was left out of the OPCW’s own published report, which implied strongly that they had been dropped from the air. This was crucial as Syrian government helicopters were the only aircraft in the area. On this occasion the OPCW revealed that the Henderson document was genuine, probably unintentionally, by announcing a leak inquiry on May 16.

The OPCW – whose member nations meet in The Hague for a major conference tomorrow – is also in severe turmoil after reports of further whistleblowing on the radical US website Counterpunch. Its account was written by the veteran journalist Jonathan Steele (formerly a senior foreign correspondent at The Guardian, twice named International Reporter of the Year), based on the account of a whistleblower who he codenamed ‘Alex’.

‘Alex’ said that dissenting experts, protesting against the doctoring of their work, were invited to a meeting with three American officials who were ‘cursorily introduced without making clear which US agencies they represented’. He recounted that the three ‘told them emphatically that the Syrian regime had conducted a gas attack.’

The Mail on Sunday approached the OPCW for comment on the protest email on Wednesday, November 13, more than ten days ago. We supplied them with a complete text. Despite several further requests by phone and email, the OPCW had not responded by last night.

The OPCW has been in severe disarray before, precisely because its rulings are so sensitive.

In 2002, in the lead-up to the Iraq war, the OPCW’s then director, the Brazilian diplomat Jose Bustani, was forced from office by intense US pressure. The US’s then ambassador to the UN was the ferocious pro-war hawk John Bolton, famed for his brusque and bullying manner to subordinates.

He is thought to have objected to Bustani’s plans to get Iraq to agree to OPCW inspectors going there to search for WMD. These inspections might have got in the way of US plans to go to war against Iraq at all costs, a decision which had already been made by the White House.

The same John Bolton was Donald Trump’s National Security Adviser at the time of the alleged outrage in Douma and the missile attacks on Syria, which took place a week later. He left the post in September after falling out with President Trump.

The OPCW is nominally independent, but its annual budget of roughly £75 million is supplied by member states, with much of the money coming from the USA and EU and NATO members, many of them heavily committed to supporting the rebels in Syria.

Western support for the Syrian rebels against the Assad regime in Damascus has been politically awkward, as many of these rebels are Islamist extremists, in some cases linked to Al Qaeda. Claims that Assad has used poison gas against his own people have been important in persuading the Western public to back the policy.

Counterpunch asked the OPCW’s media office to explain why the chlorine levels were excluded from the interim and final reports but they did not respond.

The OPCW is nominally independent, but its annual budget of roughly £75 million is supplied by member states, with much of the money coming from the USA and EU and NATO members, many of them heavily committed to supporting the rebels in Syria. (Above, Douma on April 6, 2018)

The leaked email in full
From: ********

Sent: 22nd June 2018 08:27

To: *********

Subject: Grave concern about the 'redacted' Douma report

Dear ******,

I wish to express, as a member of the FFM (Fact Finding Mission) team that conducted the investigation into the alleged chemical attack in Douma on 7 April, my gravest concern at the redacted version of the FFM report, which I understand was at the behest of the ODG. (Office of the Director General). After reading this modified report, which incidentally no other team member who deployed into Douma has had the opportunity to do, I was struck by how much it misrepresents the facts. Many of the facts and observations outlined in the full version are inextricably interconnected and, by selectively omitting certain ones, an unintended bias has been introduced into the report, undermining its credibility. In other cases, some crucial facts that have remained in the redacted version have morphed into something quite different to what was initially drafted. If I may, I will outline some specific aspects to the redacted report that are particularly worrisome.

The statement in paragraph 8.3 of the final conclusions 'The team has sufficient evidence at this time to determine that chlorine, or another reactive chlorine-containing chemical, was likely released from cylinders', is highly misleading and not supported by the facts. The only evidence available at this moment is that some samples collected at Locations 2 and 4 were in contact with one or more chemicals that contain a reactive chlorine atom. Such chemicals could include molecular chlorine, phosgene, cyanogen chloride, hydrochloric acid, hydrogen chloride or sodium hypochlorite (the major ingredient of household chlorine-based bleach). Purposely singling out chlorine gas as one of the possibilities is disingenuous. It is also worth noting that the term 'reactive chlorine-containing chemical' used in the redacted report is, in fact, inaccurate. It actually describes a reactive chemical that contains chlorine which itself (the chlorine) is not necessarily reactive e.g. chlorophenol. The original report uses the more accurate term 'a chemical containing reactive chlorine'.

The redacted report states that the gas was likely released from the cylinders (in Locations 2 and 4). The original report purposely emphasised the fact that, although the cylinders might have been the source of the suspected chemical release, there was insufficient evidence to affirm this. It is possible the error was simply a typo. This is a major deviation from the original report.

Paragraph 8.2 states that 'based on the high levels of various chlorinated organic derivatives, [...] detected in environmental samples'. Describing the levels as 'high' likely overstates the extent of levels of chlorinated organic derivatives detected. They were, in most cases, present only in parts per billion range, as low as 1-2 ppb, which is essentially trace quantities.

The original report discusses in detail the inconsistency between the victims' symptoms, as reported by witnesses and seen in video recordings. Omitting this section of the report (including the Epidemiology which has been removed in its entirety) has a serious negative impact on the report as this section is inextricably linked to the chemical agent identified. It either supports or detracts from the confidence in the identity of any possible chemical. In this case the confidence in the identity of chlorine or any choking agent is drawn into question precisely because of the inconsistency with the reported and observed symptoms. The inconsistency was not only noted by the FFM team but strongly noted by three toxicologists with expertise in exposure to CW (Chemical Weapons) agents.

The original report has extensive sections regarding the placement of the cylinders at both locations as well as the relative damage caused to the impact points, compared to that caused to the cylinders suspected of being the sources of the toxic chemical. These sections are essentially absent from the redacted report. This information was important in assessing the likelihood of the 'presence' of toxic chemicals versus the 'use' of toxic chemicals.

A feature of this investigation and report was the robust and extensive scientific basis for sampling plans and analysing the data collected. A comprehensive bibliography of peer-reviewed scientific literature was attached to support and enhance the credibility of the work of the mission. This has unfortunately been omitted from the redacted report.

By singling out chlorine above other equally plausible substances containing reactive chlorine and presenting it as a fact in isolation creates, I believe, a level of partiality that would negatively impact on the perceived credibility of the report, and by extension that of the Organisation. I am requesting that the fact-finding report be released in its entirety as I fear that this redacted version no longer reflects the work of the team. The original report contains facts and observations that are all equally valid. The fact that inconsistencies are highlighted or observations not fully understood does not justify their omission. The inconsistencies and observations are based on the evidence and data collected. Further information in the future may help resolve them but the facts as they stand at present will not alter and need to be reported.

If the redacted version is to be released, I respectfully request to attach my differing observations, in accordance with the spirit of paragraph 62 of part II of the Verification Annex of the CWC.

Yours sincerely

(Key passages emphasised by Mail on Sunday)

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...r-furore-alleged-poison-gas-attack-Assad.html

Thanks for posting this article.

 

[PakFactor]

What I tell you, all this is the same drama as in Iraq just different actors it's like the reboot of Friends TV show.

 

[OBLiTeRate TrumpTurd]

Directed to many other Cockroaches Losers of the
Global Low Lifers Criminal nation
Undisputed Cockroaches of MURICA ...

WHERE ARE YOU ???????? ??????? ????????

Yup, the truth is coming out slowly but surely.

White helmets- Western proxies
"Gas attacks"- Western lies and false flag attacks
ISIS - US+ NATO +GCC's pet proxy Middle east militancy project
"Islamist rebels" ~ Israel and US proxies in Syria when they were too afraid to put their own boots on the Syrian ground.


To OP, ... Thank You So Much for posting this article.

@Hamartia Antidote ,, @F-22Raptor

 

[Flight of falcon]

Well those who support Assad I hope they and their families will get to smell the rose gas Assad showers on his citizens ....

 

[Beast]

Well those who support Assad I hope they and their families will get to smell the rose gas Assad showers on his citizens ....

Hardcore liar still got the cheek to talk. It just show how thick skinned they are. More like they are afraid of the righteous of Assad descend on them.

 

[like_a_boss]

@500

 

[HannibalBarca]

I love this thread... Not reading what was said and yet...
You guys didn't know that it was 2 GUYS in the entire 50+ team that gave their "Counter Opinion"...
Who btw were on board since the beginning...

Ignorance at his peak...
Poor Civilization... Getting hyped for nothing...

 

[Cthulhu]

PUSHBACK WITH AARON MATÉ November 18, 2019

A second whistleblower from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has come forward to accuse top OPCW officials of suppressing critical evidence.

The evidence undermines allegations that the Syrian government committed a chemical weapons attack in Douma in April 2018 — an allegation that prompted US-led airstrikes. The second whistleblower also says that three US officials took part in pressuring the OPCW. We speak to veteran journalist Jonathan Steele, the first reporter to interview the second whistleblower.

Guest: Jonathan Steele, journalist, author, and The Guardian’s former chief foreign correspondent.

Read Jonathan Steele’s article at Counterpunch: “The OPCW and Douma: Chemical Weapons Watchdog Accused of Evidence-Tampering by Its Own Inspectors.”

TRANSCRIPT


AARON MATÉ: Welcome to Push Back. I’m Aaron Maté.

We have been covering the unfolding scandal at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Two whistleblowers from the OPCW have come forward to allege that top officials suppressed evidence collected at the scene of an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government in the city of Douma in April 2018.

The evidence that was collected, these whistleblowers say, undermine the claim that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack. But that evidence was never made public. The second whistleblower recently gave testimony at a panel convened by the Courage Foundation.

And I’m joined now by the first journalist to interview that second whistleblower. Jonathan Steele is a veteran journalist and the former chief foreign correspondent for The Guardian.

Welcome, Jonathan Steele, to Push Back. You recently spoke to the second whistleblower. Talk to us about his position and his main revelations.

JONATHAN STEELE: Well, he was one of the members of the team of fact-finders, called the Fact-Finding Mission, which was sent to Syria after the alleged gas attack. And he was the man in charge of deciding what samples to pick up from the ground and in related buildings, and to decide how to collect them. And so, it was a very senior position. They checked in two buildings particularly, one which had a cylinder on the roof and the other which had a cylinder on the upper floor of a nearby building, just below a hole in the roof.

Now, the rebels claimed that these two cylinders contained chlorine gas, had been dropped from Syrian government helicopters, that’s why they were in the position where they were found. But there was doubt over that. There was also doubt over the question of whether there had actually been any gas at all.

The first whistleblower, his evidence was leaked in the report in March this year, and he came to the conclusion in which he said – I spoke to him on the telephone – he came to the conclusion which was accepted by everybody except one other member of the team, that there was a higher probability that these cylinders had been placed manually in the place where they were found, rather than being dropped from helicopters.

Well, the new whistleblower was not dealing with the cylinders as such; he was dealing with whether there was gas in the environment. Now, chlorine gas degrades very rapidly, so by the time the inspectors got to the ground, which was about two weeks after the alleged gas attack, it would have evaporated and disappeared. But that didn’t mean there was no possibility of finding out if gas has been used. Because, while it degrades, it contaminates or acts with other chemicals that are in the natural environment. And so, you can test for the…what are called chlorinated organic chemicals, COCs, to see whether the levels are different from what you find in the natural environment, in drinking water, or in the households or in the ground.

And they took these samples, when they got back to The Hague – to the headquarters of the OPCW, which is in Holland in The Hague – they were sent off to two designated laboratories to be analyzed. And this whistleblower waited eagerly to hear what the conclusions were. And weeks went by, nothing happened, and he then discovered that management had received the results. It hadn’t passed them on to him or the other members of the team. And he also found out that the levels of COCs, chlorinated organic chemicals, in the samples picked up in these key buildings, were lower, lower than those found in the natural environment.

So, this suggested there couldn’t have been a gas attack, because you would have expected them to be higher, not lower. He also discovered that a report was going to be issued, which would not contain his findings or his analysis but would claim that the levels were not lower than in the natural environment. In other words, the lab tests would be totally ignored, and he complained to higher management about it.

AARON MATÉ: And what did management tell him when he complained?

JONATHAN STEELE: Well, he complained initially to the director-general of the OPCW, the top person, who said that they should look again and produce a different report, not the management report that the whistleblower got sight of.

But while they were preparing this new report, he and colleagues insisted to the head of the fact-finding team, who was also actually another Tunisian called Sami Barrek, that they must include the lower levels of COCs in the report, otherwise this would be distorting the lab analysis that they’d just received. And they got promises that that would happen. But then two days before the report came out, he discovered that, after all, they had not included the lower levels of COCs, and that came out in the interim report in July last year.

And then in March this year, the final report was published, which again excluded the low levels of COCs. And so, they concluded – the whistleblowers have concluded on the basis of the results – that there had not been a chemical-related event. They didn’t go so far as to say that the issue had been staged. In fact, nor had the original report of the cylinder examination in the previous year had said that. But the inference could be drawn: if there wasn’t a chemical gas attack, how had these cylinders got to the position that they’d got?

AARON MATÉ: Well, the first report – the one that was suppressed and ultimately leaked, it was authored by Ian Henderson – said that the inference could be drawn that the cylinders were manually placed. Suggesting…he didn’t say this part, but after saying that, if you say the cylinders are manually placed, that suggests then that the attack is staged.

JONATHAN STEELE: Right. Because of course the rebels were in charge of the area at the time of the alleged gas attack. About a week later they lost control of it. I mean, they’d lost control of a large part of Douma already. The final bit they lost, and they all escaped, many of them went to Turkey. And so, by the time the Syrian government came in there, it was reasonable and safe for the inspectors to go in.

By the way, in all the OPCW investigations of chemical gas attacks by the Syrian government, this was the first time that they’d been allowed to go in on the ground, because when the rebels were in control of areas, even though they claimed there had been gas attacks, it was not possible for the OPCW to go in. Either they decided not to go in or they decided security was not good enough for them to be able to go in. So, this Damascus…Douma episode was crucial. First time inspectors had been committed to go into the area and pick up samples from the ground where the gas attack was allegedly taking place.

AARON MATÉ: And just to specify, when you say the rebels, the group that controlled Douma at the time was a Saudi-backed, Saudi-funded extremist militia called Jaysh al-Islam, and…

JONATHAN STEELE: Jaysh-al-Islam, which means in Arabic the Army of Islam.

AARON MATÉ: Right. And the reason why this story is all the more significant is because this…the allegation that there was a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government prompted, for the second year in a row, airstrikes by the US, also along with Britain and France. And now we are hearing two whistleblowers say that the rationale for those strikes was wrong.

But on that point, you have a stunning detail in your article on this, about the second whistleblower’s claims, where you report this. I’ll read it.

You’re talking about Bob Fairweather, who was the chef de cabinet at the OPCW, a high-ranking official there, and you’re describing the attempts by the whistleblower to have his samples…have the samples included and to have all the evidence weighed. And you write this:

“On July 4 there was another intervention. Bob Fairweather, the chef de cabinet, invited several members of the drafting team [from the OPCW] to his office. There they found three US officials who were cursorily introduced without making clear which US agencies they represented. The Americans told them emphatically that the Syrian regime had conducted a gas attack, and that the two cylinders found on the roof and upper floor of the building contained 170 kilograms of chlorine. The inspectors left Fairweather’s office, feeling that the invitation to the Americans to address them was unacceptable pressure and a violation of the OPCW’s declared principles of independence and impartiality.”

That’s from Jonathan Steele’s piece on this.

So, Jonathan Steele, talk to us about that. We have an intervention here by three unnamed American officials.

JONATHAN STEELE: Well, it’s pretty much exactly as you read out from my recent article.

AARON MATÉ: You know, it’s interesting, the panel that heard the second whistleblower’s testimony included José Bustani, the fir…the founding director-general of the OPCW. And Bustani is famous because he was basically forced out of his job by the US, and John Bolton infamously threatened him.

JONATHAN STEELE: That’s right. He was the first director-general of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which only started in 1997. And they were, at that time, the US was at that time, obviously ramping up the pressure against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. And the OPCW had started discussions with Baghdad, with Saddam Hussein’s people, about whether Iraq would join the Chemical Weapons Convention. Various countries were joining; took some time for different countries to come on board. And the US apparently – and we can only speculate the reasons – but the US apparently thought that this would undermine its case that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, if he voluntarily agreed to join the Chemical Weapons Convention, which obviously includes the pledge that you don’t have chemical weapons and that you’ve destroyed them all.

So, this would have undermined the case for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and John Bolton was very keen that Bustani stop the negotiations with Iraq. And Bustani initially refused, and they eventually forced him out and told him he had to resign. And so [they] allegedly threatened to take pressures on his family. They said, “We know where your children live.” At that stage his children were actually living in New York City.

AARON MATÉ: And now 16 years later we appear, based on what you report here, to have another case of US pressure, political pressure, on the OPCW for a majorly consequential event that involves US military force.

Jonathan Steele, you’re a veteran journalist. Are you surprised so far by the lack of global attention to this story? It seems like a major scandal. Two whistleblowers at the world’s top chemical weapons watchdog alleging potential fraud.

JONATHAN STEELE: Well, I am rather surprised, because, I mean, people are not afraid to criticize US foreign policy, or British foreign policy, French foreign policy, in general. So, it’s not as though it’s a taboo subject to criticize the big powers for the way they operate. But, somehow, I think in this Syrian case – because Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, has been so heavily demonized, plus Russia being demonized under Vladimir Putin, and Putin is of course an ally helping to protect the Syrian government – it seems that they are considered to be so evil, so wicked, that anything that takes the pressure off them a little bit is difficult to analyze and to investigate by the mainstream media, it seems. I mean, I can only speculate why they didn’t want to do it. That’s my guess.

AARON MATÉ: Well, there’s been widespread bipartisan support spanning across the political spectrum into the left, into left-wing circles, for the proxy war that raged for so long in Syria, and a real refusal, I find, to look at the reality on the ground.

But look, let me ask you, as someone who covers this now, along with anybody else who comes forward on this issue, you’re going to be attacked and smeared as an apologist for the Assad government. So, let me ask you, what are your thoughts on the government, on the Syrian government?

JONATHAN STEELE: Well, I think the Syrian government is a pretty hardline government, and it’s determined to smash the rebellion that began in 2011. And, increasingly, as the war has become militarized, the opposition started to take arms from abroad, and Jihadi fighters have come in from abroad. It’s degenerated into what you called, rightly, a proxy war, and there’s brutality on both sides.

I think the Syrian government has behaved pretty badly, with detentions and torture of people. That seems to be pretty well-documented. And they are bombing from the air. But it’s no worse, I think, the bombing from the air, from what British and American planes have done in Raqqa. If you look at pictures of Raqqa after it was liberated from IS, you see complete streets and residential areas flattened, just as Aleppo, eastern Aleppo, is flattened and Homs was flattened. So, I think the use of air power by both sides in this terrible proxy war in Syria has been pretty much the same on both sides.

AARON MATÉ: The whistleblowers, both of them, say that they want to testify at an upcoming session of the OPCW. Can you talk about what concerns they want to bring to that session, which is happening later this month, and whether you think they’ll be allowed to do so?

JONATHAN STEELE: Well, there’s…in the statutes of the OPCW, it is said that inspectors have the right to register dissent and disagreement, without any fear of adverse consequences to their careers or to their liberty or their promotion prospects and so on. And so, they really want to just exercise their right to express dissent from the official report as it came out, both the interim and the final report. And to speak to all the 193 member states of the OPCW, which is holding its annual conference starting on November the 25th.

And it seems a fairly reasonable demand. I mean, the whistleblower that I heard in Brussels last month had a very impressive PowerPoint production, which probably he would like to show if gets permission to do it in The Hague in a week’s time. But I don’t know whether they…they’re going to be given permission to do that or not, because the same people who’ve distorted this report will probably not want any public dissent to be had at the annual conference.

But let’s wait and see. There is mounting pressure from public opinion and from media, the alternative media pretty much, and I think individual letters have been written by the Courage Foundation people to all the member states, inviting them to ask for the whistleblowers to give their evidence. And one of the signatories of that letter is José Bustani, the first director-general of the OPCW, who we already just discussed earlier in this interview.

AARON MATÉ: Right. Also, Hans von Sponeck, the former UN humanitarian coordinator in Iraq. Also, Noam Chomsky, the MIT professor, and others.

One thing that you also report that I wanted to ask you about is that the whistleblowers made concerns noted in emails to top officials at the OPCW, and you report that they were asked to basically return those emails or to delete them?

JONATHAN STEELE: They were, and they did do that. And I asked Mr. Fairweather by email whether he could explain why that was done, but he didn’t reply.

AARON MATÉ: Do you know if the whistleblowers have the original copies of the emails that they sent, that made their concerns known?

JONATHAN STEELE: I don’t know. I mean, they told me they complied with requests to…the call to send the emails back, so I don’t know exactly what happened.

AARON MATÉ: But this is key because this could basically bury a paper trail that shows that these whistleblowers expressed their concern and their rejections.

JONATHAN STEELE: Yeah, the paper trail would be important. So would the discovery of the actual documents, the initial report written by the whistleblower, the redacted report that was supposed to replace it, and then the third report which was an edited one before the final report, the interim final report that came out in July last year. I mean, we did ask. And I asked, specifically to the whistleblower, whether we could see his report. He declined to do that for reasons which he didn’t explain. But I hope that at some point there’s documents of those reports that will also be published.

AARON MATÉ: Finally, Jonathan Steele, in speaking to the second whistleblower, what was your impression of him? Do you think that he wanted to do it in this way, or was he hoping that this could be resolved internally?

JONATHAN STEELE: He was definitely hoping that it would be resolved internally. And so was Ian Henderson, who wrote the report about the gas cylinders having been more likely placed manually on the ground in Douma.

I think the point…basic point is – and I’m glad you asked the question – is that these are professional scientists. They’ve worked for many years at the OPCW. They wouldn’t have been sent to Syria to pick up evidence if they’d had strong political views of one kind or another. They just feel annoyed that professional scientific conclusions have been rejected in favor of politically-biased answers which favor the foreign policy agenda of certain powerful Western states. They feel that the science has been corrupted.

AARON MATÉ: And finally, you reached out to the OPCW and you asked them to respond to the whistleblowers’ claims. What did…what did they tell you?

JONATHAN STEELE: Well, again, as with Mr. Fairweather, they did…they just didn’t respond. There was plenty of time, like, I wasn’t rushing them, there’s plenty of time, and they still haven’t responded. So, I don’t know what conclusions you draw from that.

AARON MATÉ: Well, we’ll leave it there for now and continue to cover this story. Hope you’ll come back to join us, Jonathan Steele. Jonathan Steele is a veteran journalist, the former chief foreign correspondent for The Guardian, and the first journalist to interview the second whistleblower who has come forward in the OPCW scandal. Jonathan Steele, thanks very much.

JONATHAN STEELE: Thank you for having me.

https://thegrayzone.com/2019/11/18/...-chemical-weapons-evidence-after-us-pressure/

 

[Sina-1]

Wait! Hold on! Are you meaning to tell me that UN is not a cumbaya organization, but yet another control instrument orchestrated by the ww1 and ww2 winners? Wow! I am so surprised that anglos don’t play by the rules. I expected more from the slavers and colonizers.

 

[500]

The letter written by the dissenting OPCW employee on Douma investigation was sent 2 weeks before the interim report was released and 9 months before the final one. In the final one, the employee's concerns were addressed. Where's so called "cover up"?

https://www.bellingcat.com/news/201...sion-opcw-douma-coverage-misses-crucial-facts

Disgusting Khamenai aka Putin degenerates trying to prove that rebels poisoned themselves, although Assad used chemical weapons dozens of times before without any consequences at all.

Next they will tell us that rebels drop barrel bombs on themselves.

 

[925boy]

Well those who support Assad I hope they and their families will get to smell the rose gas Assad showers on his citizens ....

We never said Assad was a good person, we only claim he is better than his "opposition". Actually, calling them opposition was a BIG psycholigical+ media success by the supporters of the opposition. why? most "OPPOSITION" in most countries dont know how to fight in formation like army, equipped like an army, getting intelligence like an army, etc.

I love this thread... Not reading what was said and yet...
You guys didn't know that it was 2 GUYS in the entire 50+ team that gave their "Counter Opinion"...
Who btw were on board since the beginning...

Ignorance at his peak...
Poor Civilization... Getting hyped for nothing...

Just saying you're still in denial. thats not our problem.

The letter written by the dissenting OPCW employee on Douma investigation was sent 2 weeks before the interim report was released and 9 months before the final one. In the final one, the employee's concerns were addressed. Where's so called "cover up"?

https://www.bellingcat.com/news/201...sion-opcw-douma-coverage-misses-crucial-facts

Disgusting Khamenai aka Putin degenerates trying to prove that rebels poisoned themselves, although Assad used chemical weapons dozens of times before without any consequences at all.

Next they will tell us that rebels drop barrel bombs on themselves.

NOW U COME HERE TO PLAY SEMANTICS WHEN YOU ARE IN THE WRONG.

 

[SubWater]

All of the Syrian revolution was fake and result of wahabi traitors and global Jihadist migration from Europe till China to poor Syria.

Also Saudi/Qatari $$ support these Wahabi thugs.

Soon Muslims will clean Islamist world from these British agents, and unity and happiness return to Islamist world again.

 

[jamahir]

Disgusting Khamenai aka Putin degenerates trying to prove that rebels poisoned themselves, although Assad used chemical weapons dozens of times before without any consequences at all.

I am neither an Iranian or a Russian, but I too believe that NATO made a false claim about Assad throwing chemical weapons on his citizens.

Also, I have asked you this before, you seem to have very sympathetic views for Syrian citizens when they are supposedly bombed by Assad's forces, but you have no sympathy for Palestinians. How ??

Well those who support Assad I hope they and their families will get to smell the rose gas Assad showers on his citizens ....

Why do you support NATO governments who were the creators of such groups as al-Qaeda, FSA, al-Nusra etc ??

 

[500]

I am neither an Iranian or a Russian, but I too believe that NATO made a false claim about Assad throwing chemical weapons on his citizens.

* There are plenty evidences about Assad using chemical weapons. There is ZERO evidence of false flag attacks.
* Do you believe that daily indiscriminate bombings by Assad are also false claim? They slaughtered hundreds times more civilians than chemical.

Also, I have asked you this before, you seem to have very sympathetic views for Syrian citizens when they are supposedly bombed by Assad's forces, but you have no sympathy for Palestinians. How ??

There is no difference for me. If Israel will start dropping barrel bombs in Palestinians, starve them, poison them I will be first to protest. I support Palestinian state.

Why do you support NATO governments who were the creators of such groups as al-Qaeda, FSA, al-Nusra etc ??

Assad supported al Qaeda.