"Proof" Assad Used Chemical Weapons Is One Hundred YouTube Clips: Full Report Attached

Zero Hedge ^ | August 30, 2013

[Zakeet]

Below is the government's assessment of the "Syrian Government’s Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013." It is exactly as expected, putting the full blame on Assad.

What however is absolutely mindblowing is the following:

"We have identified one hundred videos attributed to the attack, many of which show large numbers of bodies exhibiting physical signs consistent with, but not unique to, nerve agent exposure. The reported symptoms of victims included unconsciousness, foaming from the nose and mouth, constricted pupils, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing. Several of the videos show what appear to be numerous fatalities with no visible injuries, which is consistent with death from chemical weapons, and inconsistent with death from small-arms, high-explosive munitions or blister agents. At least 12 locations are portrayed in the publicly available videos, and a sampling of those videos confirmed that some were shot at the general times and locations described in the footage. We assess the Syrian opposition does not have the capability to fabricate all of the videos, physical symptoms verified by medical personnel and NGOs, and other information associated with this chemical attack."

In other words, America may be about to launch World War III on the basis of one hundred videos, which it believes "the Syrian opposition does not have the capability to fabricate."

God help us all.

Full report (pdf)

[Arthur McGowan]

What this is is, Obama is trying to prove that a YouTube video could provoke the attack in Benghazi—by showing that 100 YouTube videos can start WWIII.

[mandaladon]

So, Al Qaeda now has the best equipped military the US tax payer can buy.

[sickoflibs]

I dont see WWIII, but I liked the Russian comment that said ‘The US mid-East policy is like a monkey with hand grenades’

Bush gets some credit for that too, jointly earned.

[Don Corleone]

The reported symptoms of victims included unconsciousness, foaming from the nose and mouth, constricted pupils, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing.

Those same symptoms were faithfully and vigorously reported about the attendees at Obama's political rallys as I recall.

That 'gas' he was spewing was also poisonous without a doubt.

[dfwgator]

When the Saudis say “Jump!” the US says, “How High?”

[JoanneSD]

To quote Hillary, ‘ with all due respect, at this point what difference does it make’

[Iron Munro]

How do injured people prove that Assad forces are responsible?

Assad has nothing to gain and much to lose by gassing civilians.

Obama’s Arab-Spring style rebels have much to gain by seeing civilians gassed and convincing the world that Assad is responsible.

Either, or both sides, could be guilty, but without concrete proof it is both arrogant and foolish to act against one or the other.

But arrogance and foolishness have been Obama’s companions since the day he took office.

[bluecat6]

Welcome to the first black(mailed) President.

The Turkey PM likely has the goods to end the administration’s ‘rule’ (as VJ likes to say). Benghazi details, etc.

We may be seeing our ‘leader’ being blackmailed by Turkey into action.

Sad.

[DBrow]

The report relies heavily on data we can’t check up on (intel reports, radar and sat missile tracks).

BUT if the intel and tech data is so strong, and the medical reports from {unspecified} trusted experts, there would be no need to bring up smartphone uploads.

[Yosemitest]

EXCLUSIVE: Syrians In Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack
Rebels and local residents in Ghouta accuse Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan of providing chemical weapons to an al-Qaida linked rebel group.
By Dale Gavlak and Yahya Ababneh | August 29, 2013

This article is a collaboration between Dale Gavlak reporting for Mint Press News and Yahya Ababneh.

Ghouta, Syria — As the machinery for a U.S.-led military intervention in Syria gathers pace following last week’s chemical weapons attack, the U.S. and its allies may be targeting the wrong culprit.

Interviews with people in Damascus and Ghouta, a suburb of the Syrian capital, where the humanitarian agency Doctors Without Borders said at least 355 people had died last week from what it believed to be a neurotoxic agent, appear to indicate as much.

The U.S., Britain, and France as well as the Arab League have accused the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for carrying out the chemical weapons attack, which mainly targeted civilians. U.S. warships are stationed in the Mediterranean Sea to launch military strikes against Syria in punishment for carrying out a massive chemical weapons attack. The U.S. and others are not interested in examining any contrary evidence, with U.S Secretary of State John Kerry saying Monday that Assad’s guilt was “a judgment … already clear to the world.”

However, from numerous interviews with doctors, Ghouta residents, rebel fighters and their families, a different picture emerges. Many believe that certain rebels received chemical weapons via the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, and were responsible for carrying out the dealing gas attack.

“My son came to me two weeks ago asking what I thought the weapons were that he had been asked to carry,” said Abu Abdel-Moneim, the father of a rebel fighting to unseat Assad, who lives in Ghouta.

Abdel-Moneim said his son and 12 other rebels were killed inside of a tunnel used to store weapons provided by a Saudi militant, known as Abu Ayesha, who was leading a fighting battalion. The father described the weapons as having a “tube-like structure” while others were like a “huge gas bottle.”

Ghouta townspeople said the rebels were using mosques and private houses to sleep while storing their weapons in tunnels.

Abdel-Moneim said his son and the others died during the chemical weapons attack. That same day, the militant group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is linked to al-Qaida, announced that it would similarly attack civilians in the Assad regime’s heartland of Latakia on Syria’s western coast, in purported retaliation.

“They didn’t tell us what these arms were or how to use them,” complained a female fighter named ‘K.’ “We didn’t know they were chemical weapons. We never imagined they were chemical weapons.”

“When Saudi Prince Bandar gives such weapons to people, he must give them to those who know how to handle and use them,” she warned. She, like other Syrians, do not want to use their full names for fear of retribution.

A well-known rebel leader in Ghouta named ‘J’ agreed. “Jabhat al-Nusra militants do not cooperate with other rebels, except with fighting on the ground. They do not share secret information. They merely used some ordinary rebels to carry and operate this material,” he said.

“We were very curious about these arms. And unfortunately, some of the fighters handled the weapons improperly and set off the explosions,” ‘J’ said.

Doctors who treated the chemical weapons attack victims cautioned interviewers to be careful about asking questions regarding who, exactly, was responsible for the deadly assault.

The humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders added that health workers aiding 3,600 patients also reported experiencing similar symptoms, including frothing at the mouth, respiratory distress, convulsions and blurry vision. The group has not been able to independently verify the information.

More than a dozen rebels interviewed reported that their salaries came from the Saudi government.

Saudi involvement

In a recent article for Business Insider, reporter Geoffrey Ingersoll highlighted Saudi Prince Bandar’s role in the two-and-a-half year Syrian civil war. Many observers believe Bandar, with his close ties to Washington, has been at the very heart of the push for war by the U.S. against Assad.

Ingersoll referred to an article in the U.K.’s Daily Telegraph about secret Russian-Saudi talks alleging that Bandar offered Russian President Vladimir Putin cheap oil in exchange for dumping Assad.

“Prince Bandar pledged to safeguard Russia’s naval base in Syria if the Assad regime is toppled, but he also hinted at Chechen terrorist attacks on Russia’s Winter Olympics in Sochi if there is no accord,” Ingersoll wrote.

“I can give you a guarantee to protect the Winter Olympics next year. The Chechen groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us,” Bandar allegedly told the Russians.

“Along with Saudi officials, the U.S. allegedly gave the Saudi intelligence chief the thumbs up to conduct these talks with Russia, which comes as no surprise,” Ingersoll wrote.

“Bandar is American-educated, both military and collegiate, served as a highly influential Saudi Ambassador to the U.S., and the CIA totally loves this guy,” he added.

According to U.K.’s Independent newspaper, it was Prince Bandar’s intelligence agency that first brought allegations of the use of sarin gas by the regime to the attention of Western allies in February.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the CIA realized Saudi Arabia was “serious” about toppling Assad when the Saudi king named Prince Bandar to lead the effort.

“They believed that Prince Bandar, a veteran of the diplomatic intrigues of Washington and the Arab world, could deliver what the CIA couldn’t: planeloads of money and arms, and, as one U.S. diplomat put it, wasta, Arabic for under-the-table clout,” it said.

Bandar has been advancing Saudi Arabia’s top foreign policy goal, WSJ reported, of defeating Assad and his Iranian and Hezbollah allies.

To that aim, Bandar worked Washington to back a program to arm and train rebels out of a planned military base in Jordan. The newspaper reports that he met with the “uneasy Jordanians about such a base”:
>
His meetings in Amman with Jordan’s King Abdullah sometimes ran to eight hours in a single sitting. “The king would joke: ‘Oh, Bandar’s coming again? Let’s clear two days for the meeting,’ ” said a person familiar with the meetings.

Jordan’s financial dependence on Saudi Arabia may have given the Saudis strong leverage. An operations center in Jordan started going online in the summer of 2012, including an airstrip and warehouses for arms. Saudi-procured AK-47s and ammunition arrived, WSJ reported, citing Arab officials.

Although Saudi Arabia has officially maintained that it supported more moderate rebels, the newspaper reported that “funds and arms were being funneled to radicals on the side, simply to counter the influence of rival Islamists backed by Qatar.”

But rebels interviewed said Prince Bandar is referred to as “al-Habib” or ‘the lover’ by al-Qaida militants fighting in Syria.

Peter Oborne, writing in the Daily Telegraph on Thursday, has issued a word of caution about Washington’s rush to punish the Assad regime with so-called ‘limited’ strikes not meant to overthrow the Syrian leader but diminish his capacity to use chemical weapons:

Consider this: the only beneficiaries from the atrocity were the rebels, previously losing the war, who now have Britain and America ready to intervene on their side. While there seems to be little doubt that chemical weapons were used, there is doubt about who deployed them.

It is important to remember that Assad has been accused of using poison gas against civilians before. But on that occasion, Carla del Ponte, a U.N. commissioner on Syria, concluded that the rebels, not Assad, were probably responsible.

Some information in this article could not be independently verified. Mint Press News will continue to provide further information and updates .

Dale Gavlak is a Middle East correspondent for Mint Press News and has reported from Amman, Jordan, writing for the Associated Press, NPR and BBC. An expert in Middle Eastern affairs, Gavlak covers the Levant region, writing on topics including politics, social issues and economic trends. Dale holds a M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of Chicago. Contact Dale at dgavlak@mintpressnews.com

Yahya Ababneh is a Jordanian freelance journalist and is currently working on a master’s degree in journalism, He has covered events in Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Russia and Libya. His stories have appeared on Amman Net, Saraya News, Gerasa News and elsewhere.

[Iron Munro]

‘The US mid-East policy is like a monkey with hand grenades’

America's Little General

[kaehurowing]

Hooray for Pallywood!

[Darksheare]

This administration and their love affair with youtube.
They seem to view Youtube as some powerful force, after all they blamed a youtube video for Benghazi.

[gura]

If it’s on the Internet it must be true.

Just like his birth certificate. Where's the paper copy?

[Colonel_Flagg]

Given the history this Maladministration has with YouTube, I find this even more amazing.

[Sequoyah101]

Of course this completely misses the point.

The issue is not whether or not people were killed by chemical weapons. It seems to be obvious that people were killed. The real question though is instead WHO DID IT? There is no proof that Assad did it and no proof that the circumstantial evidence that the rebels themselves did it is not true.

We are this stupid to let the obastard get by with this. He knows it. He is rubbing in his disdain of us with this.

[Jane Long]

And, to also quote Hillary, "it was a youtube video".

Once again, this administration takes it's *lead* from youtube.

And, to quote Clown Carney, this is "preposterous".

[SeekAndFind]

RE: “Proof” Assad Used Chemical Weapons Is One Hundred YouTube Clips: Full Report Attached

But what do we make of this counter-claim:

http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3060741/posts

TITLE: Is It Possible The Syrian Rebels (Not Assad) Used Chemical Weapons?

Who is telling the truth and who can be trusted?

[sickoflibs]

Thanks for the pic below:

On Bush's side they sold Iraq invasion as cheap, easy and with the huge payoff of stopping future 9/11 type catastrophes or even greater. They cleverly used words to create visions of these things to get initial support for it, and they (we) paid for it politically for years when Iraq became a long ugly expensive mess.

Obama isnt doing land invasions but we have seen his foreign policy magic in Libya and Egypt as with his dishonest boasting about 'cant sit by and watch...' and meaningless 'lines in the sand' and the picture definitely fits him too.

[SADMILLIE]

This is interesting. I am struck by the fact that 10 % of islam are Wahhabi Sunni sect. These are the AQ and MB factions in Sunni oaith, They mean ti kill you if you think their religeon is false, Osama Bin Ladin was from the royal family in Saudi and he was of the Wahhabi sect. I can imagine that inside the royal were other Wahhabi or Wahhabi sympathizers. Prince Bandar is well known and would have the power to move these weapons with the assistance of Wahhabo elements in the US funded military. In fact the origin of such weapons might very well have been the US. Real blow back story there.
But the first casualty of war is truth. We will have to see if this is truth but I would not be surprised because Kerry today was so weak but of course Kerry was a traitor to our country in the VietNam war and I don’t know why he would not be a traitor now and get us into a disaster but I think he failed.