The April 14 US, UK and French strikes on Syria were widely applauded in the Western mainstream, with many pundits suggesting the attacks represented an end to Western inaction in Syria.

US-led attempts to overthrow governments in Syria has a long, questionable history. In fact, Syria was the first country in the post-war period to be targeted by US planners for regime change.

Game of Nations

Miles Copeland, then-CIA agent (and father of The Police's drummer Andy), documented these efforts in his 1968 autobiography, The Game of Nations. At the conclusion of World War II, with European empires crumbling and independent nationalism resurgent, the US government put together a consulting team — comprised of diplomats, OSS agents, advertising executives and political theorists — to determine how the world could continue to be managed in the interests of Western powers.  The group decided to use Syria, where elections were due in 1947, as a laboratory.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/military/201804161063615625-syria-meddling-timel...

An "electronic attack" was one of a handful of reasons given for why Syria's air defence system kicked into action last night, as the country's state media stepped back from initial reports that it had been hit by another round of missile strikes.

• State television earlier reported missiles were fired at two air bases
• Syria is now reporting there were no missiles, and it was a false alarm
• A commander said a joint "electronic attack" caused the incident

Reports in government-run media earlier on Tuesday claimed missiles were fired at an air base in the Homs area, while a media unit run by the Lebanese group Hezbollah said missiles had also targeted an air base near Damascus.

State television even showed pictures of a missile it said was shot in the air above the air base.

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-17/syrian-air-defence-system-false-al...

The scene is set in a refugee camp in Syria, where, according to CNN, live "survivors of the alleged Duma chemical attack". A journalist of the American CNN channel, sniffing a child's bag, believes there is some trace of a chemical weapon ...

Is this the proof of the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad? "I certainly feels something; it stings" said reporter Arwa Damon, with a frown, as she sniffs a little girl's pink bag. The footage is from a report broadcast by CNN on April 16, shot in the al-Bol refugee camp in Aleppo province in northern Syria on the border with Turkey. The American TV reporter went there to speak with the "survivors of the alleged April 7 Duma chemical attack", which Westerners used as an excuse to hit Syria on April 14.

In the online article that includes the video on the CNN website, the following commentary reads: "A pungent odor emerges from one of the backpacks as she opens a small cardboard box. One of the twins, Malaz, had hidden her dolls inside a box, telling them, "You're going to choke here, maybe, but at least you'll be safe from bombing."

Let say here that the only thing that STINKS IS THE JOURNALISM...

The company, Capital Group, is also the second-largest shareholder in Lockheed Martin – a US military arms firm that supplies weapons systems, aircraft and logistical support. Its shares have also rocketed since the missile strikes last week.

The fact has not gone unnoticed by some on Twitter, who agree that BAE Systems has done very well out of the UK-US-France allied airstrikes on Syria, which were sanctioned by Theresa May. It has been reported that the UK’s contribution to military strikes was to fire eight ‘Storm-Shadow’ missiles at an alleged chemical weapons facility, each of which cost £790,000 ($1.13 million) – totaling £6.32 million ($9 million). The missiles were manufactured by BAE Systems.

Theresa May’s husband has worked as a relationship manager for the research investment company Capital Group since 2005. The Tory-BAE links go even deeper, however. The former chancellor of the exchequer and present editor-in-chief at the Evening Standard, George Osborne’s other employer Black Rock is the fifth-largest shareholder in BAE Systems.

Figures revealed as of March 31, 2018 reveal that the Capital Group has amassed over 360,000 shares in the company, up over 11 percent on the previous quarter, which may have contributed to a hefty rise in BAE’s share price, which currently stands at around 600p.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/uk/424392-may-husbands-capital-group/

So the story of Douma is thus not just a story of gas – or no gas, as the case may be. It’s about thousands of people who did not opt for evacuation from Douma on buses that left last week, alongside the gunmen with whom they had to live like troglodytes for months in order to survive. I walked across this town quite freely yesterday without soldier, policeman or minder to haunt my footsteps, just two Syrian friends, a camera and a notebook. I sometimes had to clamber across 20-foot-high ramparts, up and down almost sheer walls of earth. Happy to see foreigners among them, happier still that the siege is finally over, they are mostly smiling; those whose faces you can see, of course, because a surprising number of Douma’s women wear full-length black hijab.

Read more:

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-douma-rob...

“People told us in a very convincing manner that this whole story was staged,” Uli Gack, a reporter with the German ZDF public broadcaster, said (referring to the alleged Douma chemical attack) while he spoke live on ZDF Heute (‘Today’) show on Satuday.

Gack had travelled to Syria and visited one of the refugee camps near Damascus, where “some 20,000 people from Eastern Ghouta and particularly from Douma” were living.

The scene of the attack, which allegedly took place on April 7, was in fact the “command post” of a local Islamist group, the reporter said, citing the witnesses he was able to speak to at the refugee camp.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/424832-douma-attack-german-media/

Western nations want to end the months-long paralysis at the United Nations over Syria by referring the issue of chemical weapons use to the entire UN general assembly, where Russia’s security council veto would not apply.

The idea is to draw on a rarely used route first established in the cold war to transfer responsibility for aspects of the crisis to the 193-member general assembly.

Read more shit at the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/24/syria-western-nations-may-...

Read the reality at: fuckers of the world...

At this stage of my personal history, I'd like to thank "my mates", the Russians, for showing extraordinary restraint faced by this incessant Western onslaught of shit. I'd like to thank them for having developed smart ways to counter loony Western military aggression — in a calm and precise manner. Cпасибо.

I know that the West will try every thing it can do to disrupt the Soccer World Cup in Russia. As the Russians try to be far friendlier than the US hot-dog society, which is full of robbers and gun-totting machos in charge of the joint, the Russians need to be alert to the presence of "agents provocateurs" and the likes, aligned with terrorists...

DAMASCUS (Sputnik) - Several Syrian military bases have been struck by a missile strike in Hama and Allepo provinces, according to a report by local television.

The Syrian Sana news agency has reported earlier that explosions had been heard near the cities of Hama and Aleppo.

"The arms depot of the 47th brigade of the Syrian army was attacked near Hama. Powerful explosions and major fire have occurred as a result," a source in Syria's law enforcement told Sputnik.

According to Surya TV Channel, the syrian army positions have been attacked by a missile strike. According to the channel, the missile strike was conducted at 19:30 GMT.

Israel might be responsible for the attack, according to Haaretz.

Earlier Sunday, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Israel will maintain freedom of operation in Syria, the website reports.

“We have no intention to attack Russia or to interfere in domestic Syrian issues,” Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said at the annual Jerusalem Post conference. “But if somebody thinks that it is possible to launch missiles or to attack Israel or even our aircraft, no doubt we will respond and we will respond very forcefully.”

Earlier this month, Israeli jets struck a Syrian air base, killing seven Iranian military advisers. Israel has warned it could hit Iranian bases in the war-torn country should tensions with Tehran escalate, according to Jerusalem Post.

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201804301064020753-syria-hama-explosi...

Israel: showing how it's done?... or preparing the ground?... see: URGENT: battle plan update...

On Thursday, Sergey Lavrov reiterated Russia’s criticism of the US presence in the area of At-Tanf, which is located on Syria’s border with Jordan. US troops unilaterally declared it under its protection in April 2017, and, according to the Russian minister, “very strange things are happening there.” These include armed groups getting shelter and a chance to recover in the Rukban refugee camp, which is located in the US-controlled area, after which they “continue hostilities in violation of all ceasefire agreements,” Lavrov said.

Speaking alongside his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, Lavrov said the militant groups protected by the US are the reason why the camp cannot receive much-needed supplies.

“The Americans for a long time has been refusing access to humanitarian aid convoys, claiming that the Syrian government would not give its permission. That is not true. All the issues the Syrian government and the aid organizations had have been settled,” he said. “In fact, the US now would not provide sufficient safety assurances to allow humanitarian access to that camp.”

He added that the US has suggested that whatever aid is provided can be distributed by the people in Rukban. Lavrov criticized this idea.

“We have seen many times, including in Eastern Aleppo and in Eastern Ghouta, how humanitarian aid delivered in this way either got seized by the militants or sold at inflated prices. That is not a solution,” he stated.

Read more:

https://www.rt.com/news/425738-us-syria-militants-rest/

Iraq has never known peace since the invasion by the United States, fifteen years ago, and as a result the electorate has lost faith in the different political institutions which followed. In any case, those citizens who did take part in the elections of 12 May chose anti-US electoral lists, thereby sanctioning those of the Prime Minister, who didn’t really deserve it. Will the United States be able to sustain the disorder? Or will they be obliged to actually leave?

General elections were held in Iraq on 12 May. They were intended to consecrate Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s « Victory Alliance », in other words the sharing of the country between the United States and Iran.

However, that is not what happened. In fact, the two winning coalitions were the « Alliance towards Reforms » and the « Victory Alliance » - two anti-US formations.

Perhaps the Iraqis had been influenced by the announcement, broadcast on the very day of the vote, that the US was pulling out of the nuclear agreement with Iran (JCPoA). Maybe. In any case, only a third of the voters turned up at the polling stations, and they voted massively against the United States.

We should note that the non-aggression agreement between the US and Iran [1], which has been questioned by Donald Trump, is applicable not only in Iraq, but also in Lebanon. This fact explains the lack of US reaction to the election of President Michel Aoun in 2016.

After a moment of silence, many Iraqi ex-representatives began shouting fraud, and demanded that the vote be cancelled. Although at first the dispute involved only a few circumscriptions, the movement now demands a new national election.

To everyone’s surprise, Moqtada al-Sadr, leader of the « Alliance towards Reforms » (which won the vote), declared that he had no objection to the idea. Which is to say that, according to him, even if there may have been some incidents of fraud here and there, their only consequence would have been the elimination of one personality or another, and not the invalidation of the whole weight of the result – namely, the surge of anti-US feeling.

The programme of Chiite religious leader Moqtada al-Sadr is simple – the withdrawal of all foreign presence (except diplomatic), whether from the the USA, Turkey or Iran. Without taking into account what might become of the Turkish troops illegally stationed in Bachiqa, and aware of the fact that the Iranians have no need to send troops into Iraq in order to be represented there, this message is addressed in priority to the 100,000 US personnel still present, a fifth of whom are regular soldiers.

The other message of Moqtada al-Sadr – who is supported by the Communist Party – is the end of sectarianism. It appears that Iraqis have assimilated the idea that in the absence of a despotic régime like that of Saddam Hussein, only national union can enable the defence of the country. This is why, before the vote, Moqtada al-Sadr turned to Saudi Arabia and to the other Sunni powers in the Persian Gulf. He describes himself as a nationalist in the sense of original Ba’athism – not as an Iraqi nationalist, but as an Arab nationalist.

It is also the reason why voters did not offer massive support to the Prime Minister’s « Victory Alliance ». By referring to his victory over Daesh, Haider al-Abadi rejected the ex-Ba’athists who had supported the terrorist organisation by default [2].

The propaganda broadcast by the Bush administration had assimilated Saddam Hussein’s Ba’athists with the Nazis. Washington had qualified the Iraqi Ba’ath Party as a « criminal organisation » and forbade its members from taking part in politics. Fifteen years later, this decision is still the primary cause of the troubles which destabilise the country. To that we must add the sectarian constitution, drawn up by the Israëlo-US Noah Feltman and imposed by the Pentagon, which maintains the fear of the division of the country into three distinct States (Chiites, Sunnis and Kurds). In any case, the time has passed when the CIA could organise civil war in secret and channel anti-US anger into communitarian persecution.

In Iran, the partisans of President Hassan Rohani have decided to interpret the Iraqi vote as a populist uprising against corruption, while the partisans of the Revolutionary Guard are highlighting the unifying character of Moqtada al-Sadr’s Alliance.

But while Iran may be seeking to impose its will on the Iraqis, it may also be rejected by them. Although it is working in secret to unify the opponents of Moqtada al-Sadr, Teheran is saying nothing in public. Clearly, events are evolving in their favour – while it is true that the United States have rejected the nuclear agreement, they may lose their influence over Iraq and also their capacity to act from that country both in Syria and Turkey.

Turkey is also silent - Moqtada al-Sadr needs enormous energy to face up to the United States, and could not expel Turkish troops at the same time, despite the fact that they are far less numerous. The moment has not yet come when Iraq must take position concerning regional questions and the rivalry between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Translation 
Pete Kimberley

Read more:

http://www.voltairenet.org/article201345.html

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President Bashar Assad has made it plain that American troops should leave Syria and that Damascus is ready for talks with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

Director of US Joint Staff Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie said that "any interested party in Syria should understand that attacking US forces or our coalition partners will be a bad policy."

"We are there. Nothing has changed. The maintenance of that deconfliction zone is important and we would view very gravely any actions that tended to change that," he told a Pentagon briefing.

READ MORE: US, Allies to Withdraw From Syria Only If Presence Harms Own Interests — Envoy

The statement came after Syrian President Bashar Assad pointed out in an interview with RT that Damascus will continue beefing up its air defenses, saying that he did not exclude another US strike anytime as long as Washington "tramples over international law."

Read more:

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201806011064996729-syria-assad-us-tro...

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