
Leaks indicate 2018 gas attacks in Syria may not have happened - thanatropism
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/douma-syria-opcw-chemical-weapons-chlorine-gas-video-conspiracy-theory-russia-a8927116.html
======
neonate
This interview with MIT weapons expert Theodore Postol is compelling viewing.
He comes right out and says that the leaked report shows overwhelming evidence
that the attack was staged and that the official OPCW report was fraud. In
previous interviews I've heard with Postol, he's never come close to saying
anything that unequivocal.

He also makes some interesting remarks about the tension between technical
experts and bureaucrats.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptwEIX3yHeI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptwEIX3yHeI)

~~~
smileypete
I skimmed the OPCW report but what struck me was it appears they failed to
investigate the cylinder itself.

The damage on it looked to have occured some while ago due to extensive rust,
and it looked squashed as if it had been under a flattened building.

Also there was a pretty computer model illustration of how it smashed through
the roof, but no picture of the hole itself.

The most telling thing was they'd be absolutely no military advantage to the
attacks, in fact the opposite as it could result in bombing from the western
powers (which it did afaik)

ETA:

Report on the attacks by Robert Fisk:
[https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/douma-syria-opcw-
chemic...](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/douma-syria-opcw-chemical-
weapons-chlorine-gas-video-conspiracy-theory-russia-a8927116.html)

Also this is the article which led me to read the OPCW report:
[https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-
attack-g...](https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-
douma-robert-fisk-ghouta-damascus-a8307726.html)

------
m0zg
This was known in the immediate aftermath of the "attack" actually. There were
UN people on the ground who did not find any traces of sarin in the
environment. Normally, trace amounts of sarin would be present for months.

This was completely and extremely cynically suppressed by the US media because
it went against the narrative the media was pushing. You could find the OPCW
report, but it was never reported on, and you'd need to know what is it you're
looking for.

Last time I pointed this out publicly I was downvoted to hell. Think about it,
what possible reason would Assad have to use the weapon which completely
closes _all_ possible avenues to resolve the conflict?

~~~
zby
No traces of sarin only eliminates one possibility - the reports mostly talk
about chlorine.

~~~
BorRagnarok
Chlorine is available in every super market, and chemically impossible to
distinguish from the type of chlorine used in attacks. Same chemical. Although
it is hardly ever used as a weapon, since there are far more effective
chemical weapons than Chlorine. Basically, you need a _lot_ of chlorine to
kill people.

~~~
m0zg
And moreover, when people are poisoned with chlorine they don't just drop dead
where they were standing (which is what was reported), they run towards the
doors and windows

------
zby
Now - who can we trust? I tend to trust Bellingcat because of their workshops
where they teach people to do the investigations. This looks like hard to
manipulate - but who knows?

The Bellingcat report supports the official OPCW report:
[https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/03/01/the-opcw-
ffm...](https://www.bellingcat.com/news/mena/2019/03/01/the-opcw-ffms-report-
on-the-april-7th-2018-douma-chemical-attack-versus-the-open-source-evidence/)
\- but it seems to talk mostly about a cylinder on a balcony and the
contention seems to be about another cylinder that was still on the roof.
There are also some Bellingcat articles in French about the same April the 7th
attack. I hope they'll write some update on the leaked documents.

~~~
guilhas
That guy worked for NATO, obviously not trustable as an independent unbiased
source

------
dimator
The nyt investigation from second hand video still seems compelling to me:

[https://youtu.be/P2X84JZINcI](https://youtu.be/P2X84JZINcI)

Istm, the odds of it being staged are much lower than a real drop from
aircraft. There are just too many details to get right to stage the
cannisters.

------
jobigoud
Speaking of fake news, this DeepFake video (SFW) is the most impressive I've
seen so far: "Bill Hader impersonates Arnold Schwarzenegger [DeepFake]"
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhUhypV27w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPhUhypV27w)

~~~
detritus
Well bugger me. I'd seen that video elsewhere a couple of weeks back and
thought - and bear in mind here, I have no idea who Bill Hader is - "well, it
helps that he can pull his face to look like Schwarzenegger". At the time I
simply consumed it as part of a day's peripheral internet content and never
thought much of it.

Need to pay more attention!

------
yohann305
It’s become impossible for an average person to know what news is true or
fake. It’s time for disruption

------
FluffyKitty
Based on the information in the article, the following items would have been
required to stage something like this:

\- Foreknowledge of the bombing by the Syrian/Russian coalition, including
time and place.

\- A high probability that there would be many people suffering from hypoxia
following the bombing.

\- False canisters ready to be deployed to the area.

While not wholly impossible, it does seem unlikely to me, and as such I
believe that the headline is a bit of a stretch.

I think it would be more accurate to focus on OPCW and they way it compiles
and presents it's findings.

~~~
a0-prw
The area was under attack so it was being regularly shelled - not hard to
predict.

Survivors do often have breathing problems after being in or near buildings
that are bombed. The air is full of dust.

And of course, since the terrorists in Syria want(ed) the US to bomb the
government, they could easily have planted the canisters.

~~~
mlazos
I find it interesting that you use the word terrorists to describe the rebels
in Syria. One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. The fact that this
government is fine with the killing of its own people en masse with
conventional weapons is enough for me to say the difference isn’t black and
white.

~~~
cannedslime
There is this saying I heard, Im not sure about the validity, but here goes:
"ISIS poses with decapitated heads, FSA plays soccer with them".

Just because you slap "FREEDOM" on your terror organisation and is possibly
sponsored by the CIA, doesn't excuse you of atrocities.

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Bendingo
It was obviously staged, for anyone who saw the photos of the bomb laying on
the bed, underneath a bomb-shaped hole in the ceiling.

