While Obama, his allies, and the international media build a case for war in Syria; alternative media and citizen journalists are working overtime to present the other side of the story. Kate Johnston reports.
OVER THE LAST MONTH, the world’s attention has been steadily directed towards the developments in Syria. And while the United States is framing the latest round of chemical attacks as the work of Assad, contradictory evidence continues to surface.
With significant developments that make Obama’s campaign for intervention seem less and less likely each day thanks to awakening public opinion against war, we’re still not there yet.
As the mainstream media continues to propagate its one-sided agenda, we musn’t ignore the strong case against U.S. intervention in Syria, which includes some of the most authoritative and credible evidence available in the public domain.
War in Syria planned 12 years ago
In 2007, an exclusive interview with former NATO commander and US General Wesley Clark emerged on Democracy Now, detailing a chilling U.S. military plan of domination in the Middle East.
After visiting Rumsfield in the Pentagon, Clark was pulled aside by the one of the generals and told:
“This is a memo that describes that we are going to take out seven countries in five years. Starting with Iraq, then Syria and Lebanon, Libya, Somalia and Sudan and then finishing off with Iran.”
But how did the US intend to start and justify all these wars?
Obama’s red line
In August 2012, Obama made his notorious redline speech at a press conference on Syria.
“We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a redline for us is if we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.
“There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front.”
So now the US had their reason for attacking. All that was remaining was justification.
Leaked emails implicating Washington in Syrian chemical attacks
On 25 December 2012, just months after Obama’s warning to the world, an email was hacked from Britam, a British defence company. The short email released to the public via alternative media sources outlined a ‘Washington approved’ order for chemical weapons to be sent to Syria and blamed on Assad. UK’s Daily Mail Online ran the story which was pulled shortly thereafter with no retraction.
Chemical weapon evidence?
While the U.S. case for war on Syria weakens due to its inability to provide evidence on Assad’s involvement in the chemical attacks, credible evidence implicating the rebels has emerged casting doubt onto Washington’s official story.
In May of 2013,UN human rights investigator and former war crimes prosecutor Carla del Ponte, stated that it was the rebels who were responsible for the chemical attacks and not the Assad regime.
In August of 2013, Mint Press Middle Eastern correspondent and former Associated Press journalist Dale Gavlak broke a story outlining the rebels and Saudi Arabia’s role in the latest round of deadly chemical attacks:
'Rebels and local residents in Ghouta accuse Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan of providing chemical weapons to an al-Qaida linked rebel group.'
False flag
Just days ago, 2012 U.S. presidential candidate and congressman Ron Paul stated in an interview on Fox Business that the chemical attacks in Syria were a false flag:
“Look at how many lies were told to us about Saddam Hussein prior to that build up. War propaganda; it’s endless, it happens all the time.
“I think it’s a false flag. I think, really, indeed.
“Why are we on the side of Al Qaeda now?”
A ‘false flag’ is a term used to describe a covert operation carried out with the objective of blaming it on another party. In the case of Syria, this is a chemical attack orchestrated by Washington and then blamed on Assad to further Washington’s agenda.
CNN staged propaganda
A Syrian ‘activist’ has been filmed on video shortly before giving a CNN interview saying “get the gunfire sounds ready” just minutes before going live.
This shocking leak indicates that the ‘activist’ has been used as propaganda to further the case of intervention in Syria.
Leaked ‘sex tape’ propaganda
In a strange hybrid sex tape/Syrian news report, actress Alyssa Milano has ‘leaked’ what can only be described as propaganda for a US intervention in Syria. The actress later went on her twitter account playing dumb about the leaked tape, before re-tweeting it again to her 2.5 million followers.
Some are saying it’s a comedy skit, while others believe it’s a way to bring attention to the conflict in Syria.
However, the news reporter’s repetition of the official U.S. line ‒ that Assad was responsible for the chemical attacks, despite the over-whelming evidence to the contrary ‒ would indicate it is a propaganda stunt of disturbing proportions.
World War 3 scenario?
As the superpowers step up their militarily preparations in the Middle East, Russia has warned the U.S. that any strike on Syria would lead to ‘catastrophic consequences’ in the region.
According to a Russian foreign ministry spokesperson:
“Attempts to bypass the Security Council, once again to create artificial groundless excuses for a military intervention in the region are fraught with new suffering in Syria and catastrophic consequences for other countries of the Middle East and North Africa.”
Iranian Director-General of the parliament for International Affairs Hossein Sheikholeslam has warned that a US strike on Syria would result in Israel being targeted.
"No military attack will be waged against Syria, yet, if such an incident takes place, which is impossible, the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria."
Thankfully, we’re starting to see more peaceful options being laid on the table. But they only came about as a result of an informed and active public, where the true power lays. We must each continue to monitor the situation closely with open minds and open hearts and make sure that another Iraq, or any unjustified war for that matter, never happens again.
Kate Johnston is an independent journalist and social activist currently based in Melbourne, Australia. Her work can be viewed at www.discerningkate.com.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of this publication. If you have an alternative view on the Syrian crisis, please feel free to contribute it to Independent Australia by emailing editor@independentaustralia.net.
Editor's note: 12/9/13 7am: It seems as if the "leaked" Britam emails may have been faked. The following is a credible technical analysis on this point:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
