Syria on Thursday dismissed a report by a global watchdog that said Syrian jets had carried out a series of chemical attacks on an opposition-held town, under orders from the top military command. Denial is the first step. Coming up is Russian propaganda to cast doubt on Assad gassing people. It’s always a one-two punch. Deny and cast doubt.
The report from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said Syrian air force pilots flying Russian-made junk Sukhoi Su-22 planes and a helicopter had dropped bombs containing toxic chlorine and sarin nerve gas on the village of Latameneh in the Hama region in March 2017.
Syria’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the report was:
deceptive and included fabricated conclusions, the purpose of which was to distort truths and accuse the Syrian government.
Which is exactly what Assad is doing through denial.
DENY EVEN IF CAUGHT
Chemical Assad and his military backer Russia have both repeatedly denied using chemical weapons. They accuse insurgents, with no means to manufacture chemical weapons, of staging attacks to implicate Syrian forces. Just as Russia claimed it does not dope its athletes. Just as Putin denied using poison chemicals to kill his rivals on EU soil.
The OPCW’s Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), whose formation Moscow and Damascus opposed (Surprise, surprise), said more than 100 people had been affected by the attacks that Damascus carried out on March 24, 25 and 30, 2017.
It said the 50th Brigade of the 22nd Air Division of the Syrian Air Force had dropped M4000 bombs containing sarin on the town; in addition to a cylinder containing chlorine on a hospital.
The report added:
Military operations of such a strategic nature as these three attacks only occur pursuant to orders from the highest levels of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces.
OPCW chief Fernando Arias said it was up to the watchdog’s members, the U.N. Secretary General and the international community to take any action they deemed necessary. The top brass at the U.N. has been protecting Putin from any harm by not calling Russia by name in their reports as bombing hospitals, schools, and markets.
TOUGH WORDS BUT NO ACTION. WHY ASSAD WILL DO IT AGAIN>
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the OPCW’s findings confirmed Syria’s continued use of chemical weapons “and utter disregard for human life”.
Pompeo tweeted:
No amount of disinformation from Assad’s enablers in Russia and Iran can hide the fact that the Syrian regime is responsible for numerous #chemicalweapons attacks. Today’s @OPCW report confirms the regime’s continued use of chemical weapons and utter disregard for human life.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) April 8, 2020
Chemical attacks on the Syrian towns of Douma and Khan Sheikhoun led U.S. President Donald Trump to carry out soft missile strikes on Syrian government targets in April 2018 with the backing of France and Britain.
In 2013, chemical attacks on the opposition-held Ghouta suburbs around Damascus killed hundreds of civilians; many of them women and children. It was the deadliest use of chemical weapons in decades. The Assad regime denied it was behind the attacks.
Reuters contributed to this article.
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