By Sondoss Al Asaad

Old-Fashioned lie of chemical weapons attacks

April 11, 2018 - 10:9

BEIRUT - Once a liar is always a liar, the old saying goes. The American lies and allegations about chemical weapons attacks during the Syrian conflict are not any new.

These lies emphasise that whenever the victorious SAA advances, the United States and its NATO allies promote rigged and unverified reports of chemical weapons attacks in Syria while singling out Russia for protecting President Bashar al-Assad.

Meanwhile, the bogus claim of a purported gas attack in Syria obviously aims at undermining the exit of the Takfiri terrorists from Douma to show that the Syrian government forces have launched the attack. On Sunday, the US State Department issued a strongly worded statement, blaming the Syrian government for purportedly conducting the attack and accusing Russia of being responsible.

The use of chlorine as a weapon is prohibited under the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention, which Syria adhered to in 2013, under a deal brokered by Russia and the US. Damascus surrendered its stockpiles of chemical weapons in 2014 to a joint mission led by the UN and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which oversaw the destruction of the weaponry. However, Western governments have never stopped pointing the finger at Damascus whenever an apparent chemical attack has taken place.

A report, compiled by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and the UN’s Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), claimed last week that Syria had used chlorine in separate attacks, between 2014 and 2015. The investigation was launched based on the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2235, which called for determining which party used chemical arms in Syria.

Syria has repeatedly denied all allegations circulated about the use of chemical poisonous materials like chlorine gas. On October 26, the Syrian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying Damascus fully honours its commitments under the convention. The statement rejected the allegations, expressing that the investigations “lack any physical evidence, whether by samples or attested medical reports that chlorine was used and was totally based on witnesses presented by terrorist armed groups.”
Apparently, the Western governments have seldom accused Russia of the victims targeted with alleged chemical weapons attacks. They have launched the so-called ‘International Partnership against Impunity for Use of Chemical Weapons’ and endorsed a political commitment “to share information on combating the use of chemical weapons worldwide.”

The Zionist arrogant American President Donald Trump has accused the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of launching the alleged chemical attack, saying on Twitter there will be a “big price to pay.” He also tweeted, “Many dead, including women and children, in a mindless chemical attack in Syria. Area of atrocity is on lockdown and encircled by Syrian Army, making it completely inaccessible to outside world.”

In 2012, months after Syria plunged into crisis, Eastern Ghouta, a home to nearly 400,000 people, fell to multiple foreign-sponsored terrorist groups and has since served as a launch pad for mortar attacks against residents and infrastructure in the Syrian capital.Over the past few months, the area has witnessed deadly violence and eventually Eastern Ghouta has been fully liberated with the exception of Douma. The Syrian government agreed to let the militants and their families flee in convoys to Syria’s northern parts in order to save the lives of civilians caught in the crossfire.

In a statement released late on Saturday, the Syrian government have intensely denounced the allegation, emphasising, “the so-called Jaish al-Islam Takfiri terrorist group, which has dominant presence in the town, was repeating the allegations of using chemical munitions in order to accuse the Syrian Arab army, in a blatant attempt to hinder the Army’s advance.”

The so-called ‘White Helmets,’ a generated myth by the hypocrite international mainstream media, overseen and driven by James Le Mesurier, have claimed that the government forces, on Saturday, had “dropped a barrel bomb containing poisonous chemicals in Douma, killing and wounding dozens of civilians.” The White Helmets is a suspicious organisation backed by the British Government and the ‘Syrian National Council.’

Russia, which backs the Syrian government against the terrorist conspiracy, has casted strong doubt on the alleged attack. Noticeably, it has engaged in an anti-terror campaign in Syria since September 2015, upon an official request from Damascus, in contrast to the US-led military coalition, which is operating without permission from the Syrian government.

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry,on Sunday, has lambasted these suspicions of a chemical gas attack allegedly conducted by the Syrian government in Eastern Ghouta, expressing, “The spread of bogus stories about the use of chlorine and other poisonous substances by (Syrian) government forces continues. Yet another such fabricated piece of information about an alleged chemical attack in Douma appeared yesterday.”

The Ministry added that “the notorious White Helmets, which have a large role in fabricating the gas attack allegation, have been repeatedly caught acting with terrorists, as well as other so-called humanitarian organizations based in the United Kingdom and the United States.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow had “warned several times recently against such dangerous provocations.” It further emphasised, “The aim of such deceitful speculation, lacking any kind of grounding, is to shield terrorists … and to attempt to justify possible external uses of force.”

The ministry has warned that any military intervention based on such “invented and fabricated excuses could lead to severe consequences.” In November, Russia vetoed the renewal of an independent and technical group created by the U.N. Security Council, the so-called Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), to look into the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi said that these chemical attack claims are conspiratorial and illogical. He maintained,“Such claims and accusations by the Americans and some Western countries signal a new conspiracy against the Syrian government and nation and a pretext for military action against them.”

The Spokesman added that using such allegations as a pretext for a military intervention in Syria would certainly aggravate the situation in this country and in the region. Qassemi also expressed that the terrorists would be emboldened by any act of aggression, which would not be in favour of peace, stability and security in the region and across the world. He pointed out, “When the Syrian army has the upper hand on the battlefield against armed terrorists, and it would not be rational for it to use chemical weapons.”

In an interview with Lebanon-based al-Mayadeen TV, the current Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations Bashar al-Jaafari dismissed as flawed the findings of a UN-mandated investigation blaming Syrian forces for the use of chemical weapons, saying the report is based on “false testimonies.” He added,“The allegations had been fabricated to put pressure on the government in Damascus.”

Chief negotiator Bashar al-Jaafari added that the UN Security Council and the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had yet to publish their final findings on the use of banned arms in Syria, adding that Damascus would present its own observations and notes to the world body before the joint report is out.

Deliberately, Washington has led aerial bombardment campaigns with the help of its allies, allegedly targeting ISIS positions, but actually targeting civilians and soldiers. They have previously launched several chemical attacks, which are banned under arm treaties intended to stop the use of chemical weapons. In addition, they have carried out various horrific acts, such as public decapitations and crucifixions.

The US and its allies have been bombarding in Syria, since September 2014, without any authorization from the government. They, reportedly, have more than 2,000 troops stationed in eastern Syria, in addition to several thousand others in the north.A senior US military general said Thursday that Trump has not given the Pentagon a timeline for getting American troops out of Syria, despite Trump’s public statements that US troops should withdraw soon.

The hostile American warships, in the eastern Mediterranean, launched a barrage of 59 Tomahawk missiles against Shayrat Airfield in Syria’s Homs province, in April last year. The barrage drew the praise from anti-Damascus staunch supporters, i.e. the Saudis and the Zionists.

The U.S. alleged that the strike was the origin of a suspected chemical attack on the town of Khan Shaykhun in Syria’s Idlib province a few days earlier. So far, Washington has failed to provide any concrete evidence to prove the accusations, prompting criticisms for choosing to take unilateral military action hastily and without proof.

Damascus has repeatedly stressed that the U.S., European governments, Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia back and support the terrorist militants, who have been ravaging Syria since 2011. Last December, Ahmed al-Gaddafi al-Qahsi, a cousin of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, said the chemical weapons used in Ghouta were stolen from Libya and later smuggled into Syria via Turkey.

The White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser Thomas Bossert said in an interview on ABC, on Sunday, that the U.S. would not rule out launching a missile attack in response to the alleged chemical attack.