Did the U.S. blame the wrong side for Syria (Ghouta) chemical attack?

[IrregularT]

US News mentions a comprehensive, transparent probabilistic analysis of the Ghouta events by Rootclaim. It says that it is 92% likely that the attack was carried out by opposition forces.

 

[tyroneweaver]

who knows. When we pick sides in the middle east, it's usually the wrong one.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - dey oughta bring him up on charges of war crimes...

Assad linked to Syrian chemical attacks for first time - Reuters
Saturday 14th January, 2017 - International investigators have said for the first time that they suspect President Bashar al-Assad and his brother are responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict, according to a document seen by Reuters.

A joint inquiry for the United Nations and global watchdog the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had previously identified only military units and did not name any commanders or officials. Now a list has been produced of individuals whom the investigators have linked to a series of chlorine bomb attacks in 2014-15 - including Assad, his younger brother Maher and other high-ranking figures - indicating the decision to use toxic weapons came from the very top, according to a source familiar with the inquiry.

The Assads could not be reached for comment but a Syrian government official said accusations that government forces had used chemical weapons had "no basis in truth". The government has repeatedly denied using such weapons during the civil war, which is almost six years old, saying all the attacks highlighted by the inquiry were the work of rebels or the Islamic State militant group. The list, which has been seen by Reuters but has not been made public, was based on a combination of evidence compiled by the U.N.-OPCW team in Syria and information from Western and regional intelligence agencies, according to the source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the issue. Reuters was unable to independently review the evidence or to verify it.

The U.N.-OPCW inquiry - known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) - is led by a panel of three independent experts, supported by a team of technical and administrative staff. It is mandated by the U.N. Security Council to identify individuals and organisations responsible for chemical attacks in Syria. Virginia Gamba, the head of the Joint Investigative Mechanism, denied any list of individual suspects had yet been compiled by the inquiry. "There are no ... identification of individuals being considered at this time," she told Reuters by email. The use of chemical weapons is banned under international law and could constitute a war crime.

While the inquiry has no judicial powers, any naming of suspects could lead to their prosecution. Syria is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), but alleged war crimes could be referred to the court by the Security Council - although splits among global powers over the war make this a distant prospect at present. "The ICC is concerned about any country where crimes are reported to be committed," a spokesman for the court said when asked for comment. "Unless Syria accepts the ICC jurisdiction, the only way that (the) ICC would have jurisdiction over the situation would be through a referral by the Security Council." The list seen by Reuters could form the basis for the inquiry team's investigations this year, according to the source. It is unclear whether the United Nations or OPCW will publish the list separately.

Assad linked to Syrian chemical attacks for first time - Reuters

 

[waltky]

Guess Obama didn't get all of Syria's chemical weapons...

Syrian military used chemical weapons in Aleppo, Human Rights Watch alleges
Tuesday 14th February, 2017 - International watchdog Human Rights Watch in its latest report published on Monday said the Syrian military pounded parts of eastern Aleppo with chemical weapons during its offensive to retake the city at the end of last year.

According to the findings of the watchdog, the military's helicopters dumped canisters of chlorine gas, a banned weapon, on opposition controlled residential areas, playgrounds and clinics of the city at least eight times late last year. These attacks came during the final stages of the battle to retake the city from rebels. HRW based its assertions following interviews with several witnesses and an analysis of video footage, photographs and social media posts. Nine people were killed and some 200 injured in the attacks that took place between November 17 and December 13, 2016.

One of the deadliest bombings took place in the neighborhood of Sakhur on November 20, killing six members of the same family including four children whose bodies were shown on a video taken by the Shabha press agency. "The pattern of the chlorine attacks shows that they were coordinated with the overall military strategy for retaking Aleppo, not the work of a few rogue elements,” Ole Solvang, deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.

Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at HRW, told Al Jazeera that the senior military officials who would have been monitoring the Aleppo siege had to know chemical weapons were used. "This is industrial strength. People get a burning in their throats, their eyes tear up. Their lungs fill with fluid. Your body simply will not let you bring in air. You can actually see the yellow-green gas as it is moving through," he said. The use of chemical weapons is banned by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. Under a treaty, the Bashar al-Assad government signed in 2013 under pressure from Russia, the Syrian president promised not to use chemical weapons.

However, a United Nations panel concluded last year that government forces had used them at least three times in 2014 and 2015. The international watchdog said there was no evidence of Russian involvement in the chemical weapon attacks. "We don't have any evidence that Russia was directly involved in any of these attacks or that it was aware", said Charbonneau. "What we do know is that Russia is a close military ally of the Syrian government. It is involved on the ground. It was involved in the battle for Aleppo." "At the very least, they needed to take measures to ensure that these weapons were not being used," Charbonneau told a news conference.

Syrian military used chemical weapons in Aleppo Human Rights Watch alleges

 

[Bleipriester]

Guess Obama didn't get all of Syria's chemical weapons...

Syrian military used chemical weapons in Aleppo, Human Rights Watch alleges
Tuesday 14th February, 2017 - International watchdog Human Rights Watch in its latest report published on Monday said the Syrian military pounded parts of eastern Aleppo with chemical weapons during its offensive to retake the city at the end of last year.

According to the findings of the watchdog, the military's helicopters dumped canisters of chlorine gas, a banned weapon, on opposition controlled residential areas, playgrounds and clinics of the city at least eight times late last year. These attacks came during the final stages of the battle to retake the city from rebels. HRW based its assertions following interviews with several witnesses and an analysis of video footage, photographs and social media posts. Nine people were killed and some 200 injured in the attacks that took place between November 17 and December 13, 2016.

One of the deadliest bombings took place in the neighborhood of Sakhur on November 20, killing six members of the same family including four children whose bodies were shown on a video taken by the Shabha press agency. "The pattern of the chlorine attacks shows that they were coordinated with the overall military strategy for retaking Aleppo, not the work of a few rogue elements,” Ole Solvang, deputy emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, said in the report.

Louis Charbonneau, the UN director at HRW, told Al Jazeera that the senior military officials who would have been monitoring the Aleppo siege had to know chemical weapons were used. "This is industrial strength. People get a burning in their throats, their eyes tear up. Their lungs fill with fluid. Your body simply will not let you bring in air. You can actually see the yellow-green gas as it is moving through," he said. The use of chemical weapons is banned by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. Under a treaty, the Bashar al-Assad government signed in 2013 under pressure from Russia, the Syrian president promised not to use chemical weapons.

However, a United Nations panel concluded last year that government forces had used them at least three times in 2014 and 2015. The international watchdog said there was no evidence of Russian involvement in the chemical weapon attacks. "We don't have any evidence that Russia was directly involved in any of these attacks or that it was aware", said Charbonneau. "What we do know is that Russia is a close military ally of the Syrian government. It is involved on the ground. It was involved in the battle for Aleppo." "At the very least, they needed to take measures to ensure that these weapons were not being used," Charbonneau told a news conference.

Syrian military used chemical weapons in Aleppo Human Rights Watch alleges

Heavy relapse. Too sad.

School in Eastern Aleppo:


Hospital in Eastern Aleppo:



"(TASS) All charges against Russia over Aleppo found in the report of the US center called Atlantic Council contain nothing new, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday.

"“We’ve closely studied the Atlantic Council’s report devoted to the Syrian army’s operation to retake Aleppo to find nothing new. All of the charges and propaganda fakes mentioned there have long been dismissed. Moreover, they were dismissed twice – by facts presented at our briefings and by real life – testimonies and interviews by the thousands who have been able to get back to peaceful life in eastern Aleppo,” Konashenkov said.


“One has an impression that the report is a compilation of depositions by Bellingcat, Aleppo Media Center, Syrian American Medical Society, the White Helmets and other ostensible ‘activists’, ‘human rights campaigners’, and ‘volunteers’, whom Russian officers from the reconciliation center took out of eastern Aleppo by bus and let leave for good to head for Idlib, for Jabhat al-Nusra,” Konashenkov said.

He also remarked that the report kept quiet about mined school buildings, ammunitions depots and fire emplacements in the buildings of hospitals that had been closed down, militants’ warehouses brimming with foods and medicines and mass graves of civilians killed with shots in the head.”

“Not a single word is said there about what the real residents of eastern Aleppo have been left with after these ‘White Helmet clowns’ have left for Idlib. There is no mention of what real Russian and Western journalists [not some anonymous activists], who have personally visited eastern Aleppo managed to catch on camera,” Konashenkov said.""

Atlantic Council's charges over Aleppo refuted as false long ago: Russian Defense Ministry

 

[Bleipriester]

Also false human rights workers are terrorists, their propaganda lies make people support their terror sponsoring regimes.


Human Rights Watch damages reputation with report on chemical weapons in Syria


(TASS) A report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the alleged use of chemical weapons by Syrian troops in Aleppo in 2016 is damaging further its reputation, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.


“Such reports prepared by laymen with reference to the data of social networks and stories by unknown anonymous witnesses over the phone are destroying further the already ambiguous reputation of Human Rights Watch,” the general said.

“If Human Rights Watch would really like to sort out the situation with the use of chemical weapons in Syria, then it would be necessary to start with the use of mustard gas chemical warfare agent by militants in in the community of Maarat Umm Hawsh in September 2016. This crime has real witnesses, including Russian and foreign journalists, real affected persons with concrete names, really discovered munitions with the remains of mustard gas and soil samples,” he said.

Russian servicemen of the Center of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection jointly with the Syrian side submitted all the available proof to experts of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), the general said.


“Now it is already February 2017 but it is not even discussed when the OPCW will finish its expert study of the obtained proofs of mustard gas use in Aleppo and identify the country, which transferred it to militants.”

It has to be established with what this is linked: with the pressure of a specific mustard gas producer country or with the slowness of some officials – and this should be the subject of HRW’s special attention, if this is really a human rights organization, the general said.

Human Rights Watch damages reputation with report on chemical weapons in Syria — ministry