Robert Fisk is one of the very few excellent investigative journalists still employed in the UK. He is twice winner of the British Press Awards‘ Journalist of the Year prize, and seven time winner of the British Press Awards’ Foreign Correspondent of the Year. He is extremely smart and knows the Middle East very well. He has just made his way – not accompanied by Russian or Syrian government officials – to Douma and this is what he reports.
If you care to search for Robert Fisk on twitter, the attacks on his reputation and integrity at this very moment from achieve nothing neo-con trolls and media lackeys are astonishing. He is in Douma – they are at their desks.
It also says a great deal about our media that one of the greatest living British journalists is employed only by The Independent, a newspaper which has become extremely marginal, while other genuine greats like Jon Pilger, with a fantastic pedigree, do not have access to UK mainstream media at all. 60,000 people on average are reading my journalism here every day, but no mainstream outlet will carry it.
UPDATE you can now read Fisk’s brilliant report from Douma here. Excellent journalism with appropriate scepticism of all sides, and vital information of the nature of the jihadists the UK/US/Saudi Arabia and Israel so desperately support.
The Belfast Telegraph publishes Fisk. You do not always associate Ulster with such enlightenment but there is naught so queer as folk.
Well, RF did hail from Ulster before the saucy women of the Eastern Mediterranean took his fancy, so I guess the BT is supporting the local boy wot dun grate…..
Robert Fisk in fact hailed from Kent and did his PhD at Trinity College London before moving to the Eastern Mediterranean.
DUBLIN, not London (of course).
I have always had a lot of respect for Robert Fisk. One of the truly independent journalists who actually lives and knows the realities of the Middle East. He is always non partisan and presents it as it is. He has much more integrity than the whole lot of warmongers inour parliament put together.
Well that was something else. What a lot of words trying to justify the unjustifiable. I watched in shock, but not surprise, as the Tories agreed with May; no calling for a vote of no confidence from them. No siree. I watched incredulous as Corbyn agreed with her actions and then tried to pull back a bit and distance himself. Well after all he is the supposed Geeezus and a CNDer. He could have had her arse on a plate. He chose to pass. I saw a few MPs whimpering in small voices saying she should have asked parliament before bombing Syria. It was pathetic. What no one mentioned was the HUGE ELEPHANT in the room. It was thundering around smashing benches and crushing toes and trumpeting like a caged animal. And everyone apart from a few SNP that got to speak, pretended not to notice.
There was NO chemical attack, NO justification for taking us into a potential World War 3 with Russia and China , and if there was no justification May is guilty of a war crime. She broke International Law. But then so did Blair and look what happened to him.
The result is you can’t ever , ever trust a Tory to call out the truth. Their leader can do whatever they like. And they have and they will continue to do so. Democracy died last night. It died. It is as dead as a stuffed parrot.
May said black was white yesterday and everyone agreed. They all listened quietly. And then they nodded their heads and they agreed. Yes it is white. Very white. The brightest dazzling white they had ever seen. There was not a hint of grey. Don’t mention the White Helmets. Shhhh.
So now, do the public have to go along with it and say the same ? Or do we say , “‘Wait a minute – there is no evidence. “ Or do we look on in disbelief at the cowardice of this bunch of spine less, chinless, self aggrandising Willy Wonkers ? Because yesterday was a storyland, a wonderland of pretence. The Queen of no Hearts and no Soul with darkness in her eyes pronounced that Lies is Truth and Truth is Lies. And her courtiers agreed incase she said, “ Off with their heads. “ Reality became fantasy. Everything we thought real they pretended to have been false. The world turned upside down and everyone clutched at anything to hang on in this upside down , back to front reality. The Empress not only has no clothes, she has no morals , conscience, soul or qualms. She literally turned into a despot, a demagogue, a tyrant in front of our eyes yesterday in Parliament. And her followers just nodded.
The only single saving grace was the people watching the feed with me were all in agreement and from the comments knew exactly what she did and why. They didn’t believe the brainwashing that has been done. They don’t watch MSNews obviously so haven’t got with the agenda. All except Lee who was in there giving the government stance and probably paid to do so and a troll called Milly. But the rest of us agreed. Thankfully.
We watched Democracy take its last breath and die. And Truth was at its side. May their souls rest in peace. And those of the Syrians they killed because it was in “ the National Interest “; read May and the Tories’ interest.
RIP.
Karen A Donald
thank you Karen for saying this, could not agree more.
Karen Donald,
Great post. I think Democracy was already dead. They simply made it completely obvious, and rubbed our noses in it, about the fact. My only hope is that vastly more people notice and react. It may get very much worse yet, but ultimately will either self correct or self destruct.
This was only 70 years ago. “Article 21 of the United Nation’s 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government”.
I know we had just had a World War, but I trust the people who wrote it meant it.
Tony
Angry is good. Hold on to that anger. Keep it safe somewhere. It’s precious. I used to be angry, and pure. Now I’m just numb.
The horror. The horror.
I could read it again and again. So true, so sad what this country’s democracy has become. Thank you.
Eloquent post Karen. Thank you. What I wonder about is why JC and the opposition caved in. I found this shocking. Surely they should have been opposing. Are they just stooges do you think? Why , when they had a platform did they fail so miserably? Would welcome your thoughts on this.
My thoughts and feelings exactly , Karen . We must all do our very best to keep our anger safe – but also to find a way to use it . It sure how but in England on 3rd May the ballot boxes might be a start .
“The result is you can’t ever , ever trust a Tory to call out the truth”. A very eloquent article. But you could transpose Labour for Tory and Blair for May. They are all the same. Plus ça change. It’s human nature. We don’t learn.
So we now have journalists interviewing real Syrians who contradict Western Propaganda.
I wonder how seriously Mrs May will take this new evidence?! Not at all, as it ‘is not helpful’ (thank you Sir Humphrey for the FCO view)…..
A few Nobel Prize winning discoveries:
1) Children can go to hospital for reasons other than chemical exposure. I even managed that as an eight year old myself in NW London falling out of a loft and breaking my arm! The NHS hospital did try to kill me with chemical weapons though (I was rather sensitive to GA gas, so doctors were frantically trying to wake me up after resetting my bones: they failed, so left me on a trolley in the corridor to wake up naturally. Good thing no White Balaclava Football Hooligans were there in 1973 or IRA terrorists would have been accused of trying to bump me off!)……
2) Reprobate journalists like Robert Fisk slipped off the dog leash to start talking with locals – get with the programme, old boy: lots of 25 year old no platform 21st century cyber-reporters ready to take your place otherwise….
3) Syrians would rather live in tunnels and see their children grow up than die in their first floor bedroom after being bombed. Amazing nihilists, these Syrians. Next you will tell me that they love their children! Shameful Fake News!!
4) The White Helmets are not allowed anywhere near the local girls, so they limit themselves to cultural visits to Muslim Monastries. They just happen to all be in rebel held areas…….and controlled by headchoppers willing to hand over Syrian oil and gas to the West….
FAKE NEWS! FAKE NEWS!
Here is the sound bite that Theresa May will issue if Fisk’s report gets a bit of traction:
“I respect Robert Fisk’s as a journalist but on this occasion he is not correct.”
The BBC will simply report that quote verbatim, without any context or comment, the war drums will continue to beat….
Robert Fisk is a great journalist, who tells the truth.
Copy of an old article from Private Eye:-
http://hurryupharry.org/2012/03/23/robert-fisk-makes-things-up/
During the conflict in Libya some other ME correspondents accused Fisk of filing his copy from a luxury hotel in southern Italy.
Private Eye, much as though I enjoy reading it, is frequently less reliable than Fisk. Certainly on anything I know about, on any specific article it’s rather wildly written. It works by buildup on an issue over months and years.
So Fisk cannot be considered credible .. Whose reports from the scene are you going by, al-Queda’s?
Well, not people who allow themselves to be toured around like some two-bit propaganda tool straight out of the Soviet playbook, no.
He’s long been thought of as fantasist and I’m surprised the NUJ haven’t withdrawn his membership.
Here’s an item from the independent where they apologise for his conduct after he made up a story on the Saudi’s.
http://honestreporting.com/independent-admits-robert-fisk-story-was-false/
It’s not from the Independent and I do not see how it can be characterised as the Indy apologising for his behaviour.
So glad I have your attention now comrade Grozny,
Yeah, nobody trusts Fisk, they trust him as much as the Russians…..
Can you please comment on this item from the MSM, http://www.thenational.scot/politics/16163260.Russians_keep_inspectors_out_of_chemical_site_in_Syria/
Oh dear. The US & UK delegates were very quick yesterday to successfully spin the delay as Russian interference whereas the DG of the OPCW said no such thing in his statement.
https://www.opcw.org/fileadmin/OPCW/EC/88/en/ecm58dg01_e_.pdf?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MEDIA%20ALERT%20OPCW%20Director-Generals%20Update%20to%20the%2058th%20Executive%20Council%20Meeting%20on%20Syria&utm_content=MEDIA%20ALERT%20OPCW%20Director-Generals%20Update%20to%20the%2058th%20Executive%20Council%20Meeting%20on%20Syria%20Preview%20CID_c00a628f3ab82f2064200f17b2653443&utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&utm_term=update%20here
The area & route there is being made safe particularly from mines that were left. Can you imagine the furore if inspectors had headed out there & been blown up en route or while they were working at the site?
And don’t forget that it took 2 weeks to get the OPCW to Salisbury despite there not being an ongoing civil war in Wiltshire.
This is:-
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/corrections/prince-nayef-an-apology-2331133.html
To put it another way, will you trust the findings of the OPCW when they report? Will you trust the findings regarding the Salisbury incident? Nope I didn’t think so.
” To put it another way, will you trust the findings of the OPCW when they report? ”
Errm, yes. Unlike the tin foil hat wearers who cry “cover-up” whenever an official report doesn’t back up their mad conspiracies.
Nice try.
I suppose you need to at least have a pop at Fisk, since an ad hominem attack is your only recourse here.
I personally think that hanging followed by a trial for the guilty pols would be appropriate. What do you mean, evidence?
Well it isn’t but the information re-Fisk’s reliability is relevant here.
As is yours.
Sound like someone’s been taking stories from Coco,the famous loquacious parrot at the correspondent- packed Commodore Hotel bar in Beirut.Many stories he could have told. and did.Robert Fisk had integrity and sufficient stature to shift from The Times when under then-new Murdoch regime , it refused to publish his story on US ammunition.Most other career journalists just toe the line to pay off their mortgages.
Moon of Alabama still down at 6:50am GMT.
Well by the sound of things with the OPCW not getting in until tomorrow (the 18th April 18) the Russians and Syrians are waiting until after tomorrows meeting to discuss the validity of recent events.
Meanwhile the trail goes cold.
Yeah, well, a town just conquered is perfectly secure and peaceful, isn’t it? No jihadis still hiding in apartments. The reason you believe the cr*p in the media is that they carefully switched from the original text ‘can’ to ‘allowed’, in order to put blame on the Russians. You wouldn’t have noticed that clever verbal switch would you?
Fortunately Robert Fisk is a lot braver than all those inspectors, so he boldly went where they dare not go because of all the jihadis!
Full interview with Lavrov on Hardtalk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFq4zdheIJk
He was hilarious. He’s watched too many Comical Ali videos …
A major story breaks like this one. Robert Fisk, a real journalist in his seventies who can be trusted, leaps out of the field of controlled sheep and brings a news story so momentous it should be headline news on every channel and in every newspaper. Guess what? It has been buried.
As Craig said:
“If you care to search for Robert Fisk on twitter, the attacks on his reputation and integrity at this very moment from achieve nothing neo-con trolls and media lackeys are astonishing.”
They don’t try to discredit the story and people like Kempe, commenting on this blog should be censured for attempts at character-assassination. But then if he has no argument he always goes for the ad-hominem. Disgrace!
Oh don’t worry, dissenting voices will be censored by the moderator. When the moderator and the author are the same person there can be no dissent.
https://pulsemedia.org/2016/12/03/robert-fisks-crimes-against-journalism/
Great post Ef………..
I concur that the Guardian, the BBC, ITV, SKY and every other MSM outlet are making it up as they go along and passing it off as investigative journalism. Any dissenting voices will never see the light of day or be shut down ASAP.
“I know you were trying to make an important point regarding the outbreak of WW3 but we have run out of time. Breaking news – Ant has been fined loads of money for drink driving – it will take him…………………3 days to pay it off”
What about the “National”?
They are all at it aren’t they!
http://www.thenational.scot/politics/16163260.Russians_keep_inspectors_out_of_chemical_site_in_Syria/
I voted yes in 2014, and am an SNP supporter , increasingly reluctantly since Nicola Sturgeon’s and Ian Blackford’s uncritical acceptance of the government and MSM lines on the Salisbury incident and the “gas attack” in Syria . The National is doing the same . Craig wrote about this in his last post .
You obviously haven’t read this blog much, otherwise you wouldn’t be casting nasturtiums.
So far we only have Fisk’s word for the story and pointing out that he has a chequered history shall we say is entirely relevant.
Kempe, The same could be said for Treason May and BoJo. The lies they have put out recently are quite staggering. BoJo is a renowned liar yet for some reason, he is being believed. The issue here is not one of reliability or otherwise, it is that where there is genuine evidence or seemingly genuine evidence that contradicts the Government’s view, the person is immediately branded as a traitor, ways are found to discredit and malign them and try to turn the focus away from the facts being presented to attacking the author of them. Ergo it’s government propaganda, largely lacking any evidence at all and without foundation in fact or evidence at this stage -v- information provided by someone on site and on the ground. Never forget what George Orwell said @The further a society drifts away from the truth the more the tellers of it are hated@
Your seeing ghosts doesn’t mean ghosts are real.
Not true. But little of what you say is. And you make another ad hominem against one of the best journalists and one of the few honest genuine news reporters left in this country.
https://www.rt.com/news/424047-russian-mod-syria-statement/
You should be ashamed of yourself.
I’m sorry but using Robert Fisk as a source for anything is scraping the bottom of the barrel. I wouldn’t ask him for directions.
Well, Fisk on the ground in the tunnels is a good deal more reliable than you in your armchair, or even Theresa May in the House of Commons, interested as she is to find any means, true or false, to defend herself.
BBC news just carried a report from Douma by a CNN reporter showing yellow canister in which the gas was delivered. Shum mistake shurely….
I’m sure the jihadis had a stock of those yellow canisters, which are so ghost-like that they don’t break glass, when they come in through the window.
Yes, but you wouldn’t expect to see this in a government-controlled area. I was demonstrating with Stop the War yesterday so would very much like to believe there was no attack but everything must be scrutinised.
Pyotr
Well a canister could be placed anywhere, doesnt prove anything, especially not from rebel/CNN media.
This would be the yellow canister that was videoed by the White Helmets on the day of the “attack”, was it?
You know, the canister that still had an intact seal when it was videoed?
That one?
Or is it another one? In which case, where was it on the day of the “attack”?
Interested minds would like to know….
Not if the only reason why he is “on the ground” is because the Syrian government and/or the Russians put him there. In that case, no first-hand evidence is literally better.
Lame ad hominem attacks on Fisk are simply scraping the barrel.
To be effective you should at least try to be more imaginative. I know it’s not easy in this case.
On the contrary, Fisk being a puppet of Assad and Putin is the only reason I need for completely disregarding anything this man has to say.
Trying to engage on substance just gets you into an endless stream of “he said”, “she said”, which is the whole point of this propaganda exercise: to make it seem like there’s a plausible story where Assad and Putin didn’t use chemical weapons against their own people.
P.S. Remember, none of this is about actually convincing anybody. It’s about casting doubt, making it seem like there is more than one reasonable view to be had here, so that all the people on the pro-Authoritarian left and right can believe whatever they choose to believe. You must recognise it, Trump has been using the exact same moves in the US.
@Martinned
“Trying to engage on substance just gets you into…”
“I always cheer up immensely if an attack is particularly wounding because I think , well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left.” – Margaret Thatcher
Martinned, do you actually have any evidence that Fisk is just a puppet of Putin and Assad. For God’s sake stop using the propaganda language of the Government. Don’t forget neither Russia or Syria are the aggressors here. Wouldn’t you rather know the truth even if that is there was no chemical attack rather than being rushed into WW111 on the basis of a megalomaniac in the White House, his thoughtless, idiotic puppet that calls itself our Prime Minister and Macron in France. The Government propaganda is just that – and the MSM is it’s mouthpiece and promoter of that propaganda. Any fool with a modicum of intelligence can see that not only did Treason May lie through her teeth in Parliament yesterday but the Govt’s stories both for Syria and Salisbury are so implausible as to be contemptible. Do some real, real research and digging – you might find a deal more evidence that supports the fact the Govt are lying.
Well said Laguerre.
and Martinned arrives on the scene as is normal when the message from the gangsters-in-charge is being shredded to pieces.
Exactly. He obviously knows nothing about Robert Fisk.
I know that he’s being toured around Douma by the Syrian army and is now reporting that the Syrian army are innocent as newborn lambs. That’s all I need to know.
And so they arrive, all at the same time .. those who demand we believe that al-Quaeda are more credible than a 7-time Foreign Correspondent of the Year.
they do, indeed.
Xavi,
I have occasionally been critical of Robert Fisk, and Seymour Hersh for that matter, more about the things they don’t write, rather than the things they investigate and do write, but the idiots above slagging off Fisk, are writing and quoting complete and utter total lies about him. They are probably kids, being paid to write crap from my taxes. I do not approve.
Lying is getting endemic. Here is a good article, about how to detect it, especially when its is moronically repeated.
“Groundhog Day in Syria, Take 2”
http://cluborlov.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/groundhog-day-in-syria-take-2.html
Tony
Thanks, Tony. I think they’ve learned now that if everybody circles the wagons, endlessly repeats the same lie and smears any dissenting voice it tends to do the trick. Whether a critical mass of people are onto them yet remains to be seen.
‘Circles the Wagons’ – exactly. When you follow a blog for a while you see who is following the debate, who posts, who tries to debate, who can engage in critical thinking – on both sides of the argument and who plays the ball and not the man/woman and most importantly who writes as if they are talking to a human being – with courtesy and respect.
It’s all so predictable – especially right after some new information comes into view – the likes of Hugh Efner, Horrible Henrietta and their ilk, step out from the shadows, making no attempt to debate, analyse or provide any evidence or links to evidence to support their smears and lies. If someone is lying about what they are saying then prove the lie about what they are saying – just saying they are lying or they have lied in the past is only and will only ever be a smear. Ad hominen attacks only prove there is no substance behind their ‘clever’ retorts.
@marvellousMRchops Indeed. They will also adopt a new name once the old one has been used too often. I don’t recall seeing Hugh Efner or Horrible Henrietta in the past.
No doubt some of them are part of the 77th Brigade “social-network warriors”, or similar. It can’t be the nicest of jobs, but I guess probably preferable to working in an outbound call centre. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/01/03/77_brigade_struggling_recruit_40_pc_below_establishment/
Xavi, I take hope because on other blogs I’ve been on including those of the MSM, the majority of public opinion is against the liars – i.e. the MSM and they can clearly see through the blatant lies. There are a lot of intelligent questions and thoughts being asked. I don’t know whether that translates to the wider population but, in my local pub yesterday, the opinion was decidedly that May was a liar of the first order and BoJo a complete idiot. The majority view was their story about Salisbury was a very funny joke and that there had not been a gas attack in Douma.
What about Pearson Sharp?
Who are all these new commenters who have suddenly turned up to slime Robert Fisk?
What the feck! Have you been sniffing park benches in Salisbury?
Excellent from the Saker.
Just up on Zerohedge
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-15/saker-warns-alas-far-over
To which this should be added:
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-16/british-propaganda-and-disinformation-imperial-colonial-tradition
Both Moon of Alabama and Sic Semper Tyrannis in the States seem to be down, at least for three hours now. About an hour ago it was possible briefly to get onto their main pages, but couldn’t access any of their up-to-the minute comments.
They both claim to be off for maintenance.
This is what west have become.
When someone [probably] tells the truth – Fisk. The masses gets furious.
What a perverted state of affairs our fake-news media/politicians has put us in, it really shows how propagandized our media is.
I’m struggling to understand why Russia has used their veto to prevent the proposed OPCW inspection in Douma. I’ve been reading Fisk’s work for over 20 years and respect and recognise him as one of the best in his field. I’m a natural skeptic and always reserve judgement until I have sufficient information. Just wondering if anyone can shed light.
Did Russia “use their veto to prevent the proposed OPCW inspection in Douma”? I’d be surprised to hear that. You’re being conned by the media. As I replied to Hugh Efner at 8.08,
“Yeah, well, a town just conquered is perfectly secure and peaceful, isn’t it? No jihadis still hiding in apartments. The reason you believe the cr*p in the media is that they carefully switched from the original text ‘can’ to ‘allowed’, in order to put blame on the Russians. You wouldn’t have noticed that clever verbal switch would you?”
MJT
There are some info here:
Russia vetoes UNSC resolution on renewing Syria chemical weapons probe
https://www.rt.com/news/407641-russia-veto-chemical-un-resolution/
Russian-drafted UN Security Council resolution backing OPCW probe into Syria chem ‘attack’ fails
https://www.rt.com/news/423751-un-syria-resolutions-vote/
Also remember west rejected russian drafts too as you can read in the links.
Right or wrong? I assume Russia fear west will use the resolutions for war. Thus the veto.
Keep up MJT. The OPCW are going into Douma today. That must be true. The state broadcaster tells us.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-43792120
Were there any MPs who came close to showing the level of backbone so far exhibited by our former head of the Navy Lord West, and former head of our Special Forces, Major General Shaw?
If not then that is a pretty poor show.
Are MPs all so spineless and gutless that they are all cast into the shadow by former military leaders?
Strange days.
Listened to all that drivel after Brexit and election of Trump about having to listen to the angry and disenfranchised. That was a load of BS.
Listened to another load of BS from the SNP about how a vote for them would be for a totally different way not part of our Imperial past.
Listened to more BS from Corbyn and MacDonald who like the SNP are scared to say what they believe.
So only establishment voices emerging from our confident military imperial pass have any balls whatsoever. I’m going to mull this one over. Can’t be fucked to post any more. If I want to contemplate the meaning of Loyal Dissent I shall in future bear in mind Shaw & West.
fwl as an SNP voter not supporter if we ever get independence then they the SNP would be shovelled into the North Sea with all the other political parties,they are no different from any of the others all self seekers and liars to boot,we here in Scotland are “between a rock and a hard place” with no serious alternative,Common Weal the way forward to true democracy I believe.
The article by Fisk essentially confirms what the Russians late last week, that the video at the hospital was “staged” in the sense that, as reported by medics at the hospital, “a group of people toting video cameras entered the hospital, shouting that its patients were struck with chemical weapons, dousing them with water and causing panic”.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/russia-says-suspected-chemical-attack-in-syria-was-staged-by-uk
There was also a 2nd video circulating that purported to show (dead) victims with foam at their mouth. The Associated Press yesterday, which was on site in Douma, “spoke to survivors and witnesses who described being hit by gas”, and their descriptions seem to confirm the validity of this 2nd video:
“Nuseir, 25, said he ran from the shelter to a nearby clinic and fainted. After he was revived, he returned to the shelter and found his wife and daughters dead, with foam coming from their mouths . . . Separately, the AP spoke to a medic who was among those who later were evacuated to northern Syria. Ahmed Abed al-Nafaa said helicopters were flying before the attack and when he reached the site, people were screaming ‘chlorine’. He said he tried to enter the shelter but was overcome by a strong smell of chlorine and his comrades pulled him out.”
But these same eyewitnesses attributed the attack not to the Government but to the Red Army of Islam:
“He [Nuseir ] and two other residents accused the rebel Army of Islam of carrying out the attack. As they spoke, government troops were not far away but out of earshot. Nuseir said a gas cylinder was found leaking the poison gas, adding that he didn’t think it was dropped from the air because it still looked intact.”
http://time.com/5242575/syria-chemical-weapons-investigators-douma/
So perhaps we need to consider the following more complicated scenario: there were (simultaneous?) staged incidents at the hospital and a real incident elsewhere. This would indeed seem to account for some of the contradictory accounts that initially emerged, and might also explain some of the apparent difficulties with the current OPCW inspection mission.
The article by Fisk essentially confirms what the Russians [said] late last week,
Well yes, that’s the point. Propaganda/misinformation.
They took dead bodies from another real bombing incident and re arranged them in place with shaving foam on their mouths and filmed.
They have determined it from the way the blood had congealed or whatever after death – they had been moved.
They played the same trick on the Yugoslavs in the false flag at Racak.
Yes, livor mortis where the blood will settle in the lower parts of the dead body. In some photos, the blood had defied gravity and (apparently) settled upwards, indicating that the bodies had been moved prior to being photographed.
‘other genuine greats like Jon Pilger’
Mr Murray. It does your defence of Fisk no good to compare him with Pilger. I personally observed Mr Pilger fabricating a story for a TV doco for one of his causes, a good cause with which I sympathised, and facilitated, helping to take interviewees to safety before the doco could be broadcast. Fake news has a long pedigree.
You are libelling John Pilger. You had better watch out.
So how many names are you guys using to attack Pilger and Fish? You gave the game away with your ” I personally observed”.
You say you personally observed John Pilger fabricating a story, yet you don’t say which story it was or how it was fabricated. Compelling.
Nice on vagaries, short on specifics. I call malignant bull.
Hear Hear. Every MP should read the report of the first British journalist into Douma and rethink. Chemical weapons NOT used by Syrian government .Victims suffocated not poisoned
UK Government’s reactions specifically to a chemical attack which didn’t happen . UK must withdraw immediately.May stated yesterday UK not into Regime Change just deterrence of use of Chemical Weapons.
They will unfortunately probably look at the broadcast by CNN for BBC from Douma showing a gas canister. I don’t have a link for it unfortunately but it was on Breakfast News. I find the broadcast incredible as the Syrian government are not going to leave such a canister around. The explanation from the doctor which Fisk gives doesn’t constitute proof but a suggestion for interpreting the footage of the children being washed down.
As I pointed out above, residents do indeed seem to confirm the presence of gas canisters. But they say they were used by the Army of Islam, not the government.
http://time.com/5242575/syria-chemical-weapons-investigators-douma/
It does make you wonder why the Russians are preventing access until tomorrow though, the same day that the OPCW meets again in the Hague.
http://www.thenational.scot/politics/16163260.Russians_keep_inspectors_out_of_chemical_site_in_Syria/
@ Buz April 17, 2018 at 09:19
Vanessa Beeley was in Damascus when the so-called chemical weapons attack occurred, and I’m sure she beat Fisk to Douma:
‘Episode #229 – ‘War by Way of Deception’ with Vanessa Beeley, Piers Robinson’:
http://21stcenturywire.com/2018/04/15/episode-229-war-by-way-of-deception-in-syria-with-vanessa-beeley-piers-robinson/
Paul
Respect to Vanessa Beeley.I only say first BRITISH journalist because British press might give him more credence. She is Canadian I think. Sometimes I’d rather be Canadian than British. I can’t think of any war crimes committed by Canada.
‘MPs will consider Parliament’s role in approving military action in Syria later after Theresa May authorised air strikes without consulting them. ‘ BBC website
SUMMARY AGENDA: CHAMBER Tuesday 17th April, 2018
11.30am Prayers
Afterwards Oral Questions: Treasury
12.30pm Urgent Questions, Ministerial Statements (if any)
Up to 20 minutes Ten Minute Rule Motion: Prisons (Substance Testing) (Bim Afolami)
Up to three hours Emergency debate: Parliamentary approval of military action overseas
Until 7.00pm General debate: Anti-Semitism
Until 7.00pm Backbench Business
Motion: Redress for victims of banking misconduct and the FCA
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201719/cmagenda/OP180417.pdf
‘The emergency debate was secured by Jeremy Corbyn, who accused the PM of by-passing Parliament. Mrs May defended her decision during six hours of debate on Monday.’ BBC website today
Link to the Hansard record of the debate yesterday.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2018-04-16/debates/92610F86-2B91-4105-AE8B-78D018453D1B/Syria
NB Bradshaw https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-04-16/debates/92610F86-2B91-4105-AE8B-78D018453D1B/Syria#contribution-EF8B23F2-5679-45A6-B4C6-BF85EF9D6A22
PS We never see the House saying their prayers do we?
and Phillips https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2018-04-16/debates/92610F86-2B91-4105-AE8B-78D018453D1B/Syria#contribution-1592F75A-0D4F-48AE-B72C-569C1F06DC52
Jack
I already read those articles. As well as this one:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/opcw-inspectors-allowed-syria-douma-uk-delegation-180416093322500.html
I’m a fan of Adam Curtis and his work. Hypernormalisation is where we’re at. And for me to make sense of the narratives, I need to make sense of the motivations behind the actions of the key players, scene by scenem beat by beat as it were. Re: Russian Veto, i just wondered if anyone had more info at this point.
To the dude who said I’ve been conned. That ain’t me babe. I’m always striving to be GTO.
MJT
What is it that you are missing though? In the RT article I linked I think the Russian position was summairzed (right or wrong), at the same time, forget logic when Russia/West reject each others proposals in the UNSC.
MJT – Those vetos were going back to October 2017 when the renewal of the JIM team was up for being continued or closed. They are not relevant now – Don’t forget it was Russia and Syria who requested the OPCW to come to Douma – the issue of delay was one of safety for the Inspectors in travelling to Douma. Those Inspectors will arrive in Douma tomorrow.
Looking at the recent photos and Videos of Douma nobody needs to use gas to destroy the city, its gone.
On the surface at least.
But gas would remove the people in the tunnels from the equation and it seems there are good guys and bad guys in the tunnels.
But “good guys” and “bad guys” has somewhat lost its western meaning in Syria so I will simplify to a level to demonstrate a point.
There are all manner of pro Syrians, these include Assad supporters, anti US and anti restructuring of the ME, they want their lives back to how it was ( a forlorn hope).
And those who want Assad gone, a new ME a new start (something Putin won’t allow)
The two disparate groups (in motives and elements) are fighting it out. Its the dregs of war.
Putin and Assad want their enemies killed not captured, unable to cause trouble in either Syria or their homelands once defeated.
Anti Assad forces want to keep the war going for as long as possible, their defeat spell the end to the New ME Plan.
Both are stuck in tunnels and extremely difficult to kill with bombs. Water / drowning is not an option so gas is a potential method.
Putin wants the war over, logistics and supplies are keeping it going, he doesn’t want the terrorists re-supplied. Putin will be very careful about who and what he allows in.
This is the death throws of war, the terrorists will happily use gas to further their cause. The have nothing to lose
The Terrorists cause has always been allied to the US / Israeli plan for the region, that has now become the cause of the UK and France.
Don’t expect a pretty end, don’t expect the truth or sense. Expect death, destruction and more lies.
“Looking at the recent photos and Videos of Douma nobody needs to use gas to destroy the city, its gone.”
Unfortunately there are some here don’t want to look at them.
“nobody needs to use gas to destroy the city, its gone.”
They’ll have rebuilt in a year or two. People work fast, once peace is back.
So how do you kill those people, who are likely to rebuild, that have sheltered in basements?
https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=firefox-b&dcr=0&biw=1366&bih=626&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=6bTVWpboCoaIgAaY7r3wDw&q=douma&oq=douma&gs_l=psy-ab.12..0j0i67k1j0l3j0i67k1j0l4.16238.18566.0.20786.7.7.0.0.0.0.88.552.7.7.0….0…1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.3.252…0i24k1.0._1rbtF__X4o
Yes I posted this one last night.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Da06Sn-X0AEdYCy.jpg:large
Reminded me of a picture of Serte which gets bandied about a lot here.
a.k.a. “How Useful Idiots Repeat Each Other’s Claims To Make Them Seem More Credible”.
Anyway, what this guy said: https://twitter.com/_RichardHall/status/986129483425107970
You believe al-Quaeda rather than a 7-time Foreign Correspondent of the Year. A journalist who at the weekend waa saying that a chemical attack seemed to have occurred in Douma and that Putin was doubtless responsible for it.
I absolutely don’t believe Al-Qaeda. #Strawman
Richard Hall has credentials, does he? Just sounds like acid remarks trying hard to find a hole in what Fisk did. When you’re actually on the front-line, yes, you may not be able to send the perfect report the armchair commentator desires.
I have no idea who Richard Hall is. I linked to his Tweets because I agreed with them, and it saved me the trouble of writing the same thing myself.
Speaking of useful idiots………
Never mind the accusations against Robert Fisk, the worlds press could find out for themselves if they wanted to what the story in Douma is.
Robert Fisk was escorted in to Douma by Syrian military, and then allowed to wander off unsupervised. Some way to hide anything.
Or has the BBC stopped taxis on their hacks expense claims. What is to stop the BBC hacks doing their ‘job’…_
Robert Fisk was escorted in to Douma by Syrian military
I think you’ve answered your own question. Not every journalist is willing to be used as a propaganda tool by the Syrian military.
And if you believe that they let him go wherever he wanted to, I have a bridge you might be willing to buy.
‘So how many names are you guys using to attack Pilger and Fish’
I’m not attacking Fisk, whom I’ve never met. And I have just this name. The first message I sent, in which I compared risk assessment, mitigation and management in lawyer heavy 5 eyes agencies to Russia, which suffers no such legal constraints, was deleted. The doco I refer to was one of Pilger’s on Timor, in which he helped push a fabricated story claiming there had been a ‘second massacre’ in which wounded had allegedly been poisoned in hospital. It was propaganda, lies. Two of his interviewees, male nurses, had to be spirited out of the country before his doco could be shown. And yes I personally facilitated the spiriting. Shhh don’t tell anyone.
Strange how this story of yours has never been taken up by any of the politicians and journalists that have tried to discredit Pilger. Why is that d’you think?
It’s interesting that Fisk’s story tallies exactly with that of the non-English speaking health worker who was also at the scene (in the footage) & whose interview was shown on RT.
With regard to those querying the delay, the area has been mined. Of course it would need to be made secure. Can you imagine the international reaction if the OPCW staff were the victims of a mine, suicide bomb or sniper attack?
Complete article now.
https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/syria-chemical-attack-gas-douma-robert-fisk-ghouta-damascus-a8307726.html
“…A Syrian colonel I came across behind one of these buildings asked if I wanted to see how deep the tunnels were. I stopped after well over a mile when he cryptically observed that “this tunnel might reach as far as Britain…”.
It’s a plausible explanation but why haven’t the Syrians or Russians already offered it?
@ certa certi April 17, 2018 at 09:42
‘…The doco I refer to was one of Pilger’s on Timor, in which he helped push a fabricated story claiming there had been a ‘second massacre’ in which wounded had allegedly been poisoned in hospital. It was propaganda, lies….’
And your evidence this was lies, or do you expect us to take your word for it?
I campaigned for over six years on East Timor, and the levels of atrocity by the Indonesian occupiers ranks as high as any others in South or Central America, Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Soviet Union (or Britain’s brutalities in Aden, Kenya, Malaya, or America’s in Vietnam, Afghanistan or Iraq).
‘And your evidence this was lies, or do you expect us to take your word for it? I campaigned for over six years on East Timor…’
Only six years? Not bad I suppose for a pom. The whole thing was a propaganda stunt with fake poison pills which endangered the lives of the few activists left post Gusmao’s capture. The poor kid with the Jesuits in Jakarta into whose care I delivered the male nurses was tasked with bribing everyone to get passports to Bangkok. His hands trembled as he held his little book of contacts. Had a hostile got that book, the few remaining clandestine would have been arrested, as most had already been. As propaganda the product wasn’t worth the risk, it was done only because of the credibility the Pilger name would allegedly give it. You know, like Steve Smith and Weetbix. Ask the bloke, I’d be interested to see his response. In the meantime I couldn’t care less if you take my word break my word or fake my word for it. Inan mahun.
‘Why is that d’you think?’
Because they don’t know. Pilger does. I do, and so do a few others, none of them politicians or journalists. And now you do too.
Someone plugged Theresa into the mains last night to recharge her battery.
Incredibly, after the 7 hour stint in the HoC, she is yapping away at the Commonwealth Heads of Government gathering. Live now on the News channels! She is unstoppable.
Wonder how she will wriggle out of her causation of the Windrush deportations following her 2012 legislation when Home Secretary. Do you remember the van that went around that she commissioned. ‘Out!. Illegals. etc.’ I say. Out! Tories! Out! Theresa’.
http://www.thejusticegap.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Home_Office-van.jpg
Creating a ‘hostile environment’: Theresa May’s Immigration Record
As Theresa May continues to use the rights of European nationals’ as a bargaining chip in her Brexit negotiations, it is worth taking a moment to consider her record as Home Secretary, and her long history of discriminating against migrants in the UK. Simon Crowther on Theresa May’s immigration record. This article was published July 12, 2017.
http://www.thejusticegap.com/2017/07/creating-hostile-environment-theresa-mays-immigration-record/
PS As I type, she is crawling up the rear ends of Bill and Melinda Gates who are seated alongside. They are saving the world from malaria…apparently.
Another account
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSXwG-901yU&feature=youtu.be&t=134
Yesterday’s nonsense at the HoC was a charade. A good number of MP’s should hang their heads in shame.
‘They are saving the world from malaria’
Fantastic. More power to them. Too late for me, I first got vivax 40 years ago but they can help my kids. I’d strongly urge them to save us from dengue too, I really, really don’t want to get that one again.
Very strangely I cannot open the page to read Mr Fisk’s account in the Independent and have therefore had to read accounts of it at Dissident Voice and Zero Hedge.