NP - The NATION (magazine), SYRIA, AND THE TRUTH ABOUT CHEMICAL WEAPONS

[Joseph Tracy]

Virtually every branch of federal power is now headed by people whose primary qualification is kissing the ass of a man who lies daily. The US government and press have a history of lies and misinformation particularly to justify military actions. What I see are many assurances from big shots and all the evidence coming from White Helmet types who are part of opposition to Assad. I have seen no substantive evidence, and you do not list any, but what major difference does it make? The US wars to topple regimes have done far more evil than good and have not brought stability or just government. The US has committed many war crimes itself, the wars only serve to bankrupt our own democracy and give ever more power to the weapons industry and military.  Why are you promoting this agenda?  Why not choose the arrests and killings in Egypt, Gaza, Burma, Turkey, Honduras etc.  Why so obsessed with this neocon agenda?


> On Apr 26, 2018, at 4:34 PM, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On April 11th 2017, the US National Security Council released a 4-page
> reportwhich stated, “The United States is confident that the Syrian regime
> conducted a chemical weapons attack, using the nerve agent sarin, against
> its own people in the town of Khan Shaykhun in southern Idlib Proince on
> April 4, 2017.”  The same day, Secretary of Defense James Mattis declared,
> “Last Tuesday on the 4th of April, the Syrian regime attacked its own
> people using chemical weapons. I have personally reviewed the intelligence,
> and there is no doubt the Syrian regime is responsible for the decision to
> attack and for the attack itself.”
> 
> Imagine if, after all that, Secretary Mattis stated that “we do not have
> evidence” that the Assad regime was responsible for the Khan Shaykhun
> attack.  It would be a shocking admission, staggering in its implications.
> But Mattis never made such an admission.
> 
> Nevertheless, *The Nation* published an article on April 16th 2018 claiming
> that he did.  Its claim is indisputably false.  [...]   *The Nation* is
> deceiving the public on a matter of the utmost gravity.
> 
> The transcript of the February press conference is available for all to
> read.
> 
> It matters what happened in Khan Shaykhun.  We have abundant evidence,
> certified by the UN, that the Assad regime launched a gas attack causing
> dozens of men, women, and children to suffer agonizing deaths. The Nation’s
> claim encourages readers to think otherwise, but the claim is a
> fabrication.  Stephen Shalom (the author of a superb Jacobin article on the
> Khan Shaykhun attack) has made the following observation about those who
> propagate the James Mattis "no evidence" assertion: “Sometimes, a claim is
> so clearly without merit, so obviously ludicrous, that those who promote it
> mark themselves, at best, as individuals wholly uninterested in examining
> evidence when a dubious claim conforms to their preconceived notions, or,
> at worst, as scoundrels.”  The journalistic malpractice of The Nation
> insults victims and harms the truth.
> --
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