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How Britain Funded Syria’s “Moderate Armed Opposition” (aka Terrorists with a Human Face)

by Felicity Arbuthnot, via Global Research

A document (1, pdf) produced last December by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, headed: “ UK Humanitarian Aid in Response to The Syria Conflict”, makes interesting reading.
The British government it states, has spent “over £100 million” since 2012, “working closely with a range of actors” to “find a political solution to the conflict and prepare to rebuild the country in the post Assad era.” (Emphasis added.)

Our efforts … include providing more than £67 million of support to the Syrian opposition.”

Gov Uk Factsheet Screen-Shot-2016-10-14-at-18.32.33-1024x641.png
One of the “actors” to benefit from hefty chunks of British taxpayers moneys is the Syrian National Coalition whose website (2) states, under “Mission Statement and Goals”:
“The coalition will do everything in its power to reach the goal of overthrowing the Assad regime …” and to “Establish a transitional government …” (Emphasis added.)
Thus the UK government is overtly supporting the illegal overthrow of yet another sovereign government.
This all reads like a re-run of Ahmed Chalabi’s Iraq National Congress and Iyad Allawi’s Iraq National Accord, backed by the British and US governments to equally criminally overthrow Saddam Hussein.
Iraq’s football pitches, gardens and back yards turned graveyards, probably three million deaths between the embargo, the 1991 thirty two country assault, the 2003 blitzkrieg and invasion – ongoing – the ruins of the “Cradle of Civilisation” of which Syria is equally custodian, are silent witness to that gargantuan crime against humanity – and history. Will Washington and Whitehall never learn – or is destruction of civil societies, Nazi-like aggression, illegal overthrows and rivers of blood their raison d’être?
Incidentally, Foreign Office accounting farcically includes: “more than £29 Million to reduce the impact of the conflict on the region.” Stopping dropping British bombs would surely be the most practical way to do that – and persuading their US “coalition partners” to do the same. Yet more nauseating, murderous, hypocrisy.
Talking of reducing “the impact of conflict on the region” – here is what the UK is contributing to destroying it – courtesy again the (un-consulted) British taxpayer:

Each of the RAF’s Tornado GR4 jets costs £9.4 million, and each flight costs around £35,000 per hour.
Two Tornados are typically used for each flight, and each flight lasts anywhere between four and eight hours. Even at the lowest estimate, each flight costs £140,000.
Their cargo is four Paveway bombs and two Brimstone missiles, costing £22,000 and £105,000 per unit respectively
That’s £298,000 plus the cost of the flight which is £438,000, and that’s an optimistic estimate. If the jets carry Storm Shadow missiles – which cost a cool £800,000 a pop – and conduct an eight-hour mission, the total cost is a hell of a lot higher, and none of this takes into account the cost of fuel.” (3)

The British government document informs that:

To date, there are over 2,700 volunteers in 110 civil defence stations across northern Syria, trained and equipped with help from UK funding … The ‘White Helmets’ as they are more commonly known

The “White Helmets” of course, only work in the areas held by the “moderate” organ eating, child decapitating, human incinerating, crucifying “opposition.”
In Foreign Office parlance, under the heading: “Moderate armed opposition: £4.4 million”, it is explained that this has been devoted to “life saving equipment”, presumably for the head choppers since the “life savers” appear to be their guests. Indeed the “White Helmets” website states that: “They are the largest civil society organisation operating in areas outside of government control …” (Emphasis added.)
Also, near farcically, the Foreign Office informs: “We have also funded Law of Armed Conflict training to help commanders train their fighters to understand their responsibilities and obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.” Given their track record of near unique, mediaeval barbarity, the “training” is clearly falling on deaf ears.
The UK of course, is in no position to lecture on the law of armed conflict since the newly unelected Prime Minister, Theresa May, has vowed to halt all cases against British service men and women brought by Iraqis who allege torture, murder of relatives, and varying unimaginable abuses. So much for “responsibilities and obligations under human rights and humanitarian law.”
British generosity is seemingly boundless in murderous meddling in other nations. “Media activists” have been given £5.3 million:  “UK funded projects are helping establish a network of independent media outlets across Syria, whose work has included sending out messages about personal safety after the regime’s chemical weapons attack in Ghouta and, more recently, active reporting produced by civil society groups and the likes of the ‘White Helmets’ across Twitter and Facebook accounts.”
The “regime’s chemical weapons attack on Ghouta” has of course, been roundly disproved despite the best efforts of Western propaganda. As Eric Draitser has written (4):

What makes that incident significant, both politically and historically, is the fact that, despite the evidence of Syrian government involvement being non-existent, the Obama administration nearly began a war with Syria using Ghouta as the pretext.
As the months have passed however, scientific studies amassing an impressive body of evidence have shown that, not only were Washington’s claims of ‘certainty’ that Assad’s forces had used chemical weapons in their war with extremist fighters utterly baseless, but in fact the reality was quite the opposite – the rebels were the most likely culprits of the attack.

The cynic might ponder that funding “media activists” and the “The White Helmets” to possibly “actively (mis)report” is blatant propaganda. As the propoganda master, Joseph Goebbels knew: Propaganda is the art of persuasion – persuading others that your ‘side of the story’ is correct – with mega money and resources thrown at the “persuasion.”
The UK’s arguable illegal munificence also extends to: “ … working with other international donors to establish and build up the Free Syrian Police (FSP) a moderate police force in opposition-controlled areas … “
Breathtaking. Another re-run of Iraq:
Disband the police, army, all structures of State – and Iraq is the soul searing, haunting, admonishing ghost, mourning the vibrant, cohesive, civil society (for all its complexities, as most societies) it was prior to the embargo and Iraq Liberation Act (1998) which stated that: “It should be the policy of the United States to support efforts to remove the regime headed by Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq…” and signed into law on 31st October 1998, by President Bill Clinton.
As mentioned previously, there is now of course the Syria Accountability and Liberation Act of 2010 (H.R. 1206.) Spot the parallels.
“The White Helmets” have also benefitted from $23 million from the US, according to State Department spokesman, Mark Toner (27th April 2016) and €4 million from the government of the Netherlands. Last week Germany announced increasing this year’s donation to ‎€7 million. Japan has also chipped in.
A great deal of money, it would seem, is being thrown at insurgents and illegal immigrants in a sovereign country, awarding themselves the title of Syrian Civil Defence. Yet they do not even have an emergency telephone number. As Vanessa Beeley (5) has pointed out in extensive writings on the subject, the real Syria Civil Defence was established in 1953, is a Member of the International Civil Defence Organisation whose partners include the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs – and as all national emergency services, they have a telephone number: 113.
Among the myriad tasks the “White Helmets” claim to undertake is: “The provision of medical services – including first aid – at the point of injury.” Why then were they trained not by expert first responders, paramedics, civil emergency operatives, but by a mercenary, sorry “private contractor”?
According to Wikipedia: “Founder of Syria’s White Helmets, James Le Mesurier is a British ‘security’ specialist and ‘ex’ British military intelligence officer with an impressive track record in some of the most dubious NATO intervention theatres including Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine. Le Mesurier has also been placed in a series of high-profile posts at the United Nations, European Union, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.”
Equally interesting is Le Mesurier’s own site (6):

James has spent 20 years working in fragile states as a United Nations staff member, a consultant for private companies and the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and as a British Army Officer. Much of his experience has involved delivering stabilisation activities through security sector and democratisation programmes. Since 2012, James has been working on the Syria crisis where he started the Syrian White Helmets programme in March 2013. In 2014, he founded Mayday Rescue, and is dedicated to strengthening local communities in countries that are entering, enduring or emerging from conflict. (Emphasis again added.)

“Democratisation programmes” eh?   George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-four” had a “Re-education Committee”, but let’s not get too carried away.
On Tuesday 11 October 2016, the UK’s arguably combative Andrew Mitchell MP, ex-Royal Tank Regiment, who allegedly called Downing Street Police after an altercation “f ***** g plebs”, was granted an emergency three-hour debate in the House of Commons on Syria after allegations by the ‘White Helmets’ that Russian military jets and Syrian helicopters were bombing civilians in eastern Aleppo.
Mitchell stormed the debate all guns blazing, calling the alleged situation “akin to the attack on Guernica during the Spanish civil war” and suggesting the RAF should be empowered to shoot down Russian and Syrian aircraft. He also pushed for a “no fly zone.” As is known from Libya, that is a Western-only fly zone obliterating all in its sights. Guernica indeed.
Again of course, all but Russian and Syrian aircraft are there illegally, but  Andrew Mitchell is being advised among others by former CIA Director General David Petraeus, who was also former Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan and of Multinational Forces in Iraq. Not really a mini think tank, some might speculate, where the rule of law is going to have highest priority.
Mitchell also called for extra funding for – you guessed it – “The White Helmets.”
Incidentally, there are rigid protocols for first responders, paramount among which is to protect the injured, the traumatized, from publicity and identification, in their vulnerability.
“The White Helmets” are seemingly never without camera crews handy recording a small body, face facing the camera, dust covered, blood spattered, clothes awry, in the arms of the “rescuer.”
“Lights, camera, action”? Heaven forbid.
Notes
1.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/481277/Syria_UK_Non-Humanitarian_Support_-_Public_Document.pdf

2. http://en.etilaf.org

3. http://metro.co.uk/2015/12/03/whats-the-price-of-air-strikes-5542341/

4. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-infamous-ghouta-chemical-weapons-attack-two-years-on-all-out-war-on-syria-is-still-the-main-course-for-us/5470828

5. http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-real-syria-civil-defence-exposes-natos-white-helmets-as-terrorist-linked-imposters/5547528

6. http://www.maydayrescue.org/content/james-le-mesurier-0

Copyright © Felicity Arbuthnot, Global Research, 2016
 


 

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johnny
johnny
Oct 18, 2016 3:00 PM

Those figures given for the costs of tornadoes and their weaponry are only credible in the “money-no-object” world of the military. I read a while back that the French military has 3 people in procurement; the UK, which has a similar size army etc., has 3,000 (sorry but I have no source for this). No doubt there is a lucrative revolving door between the manufacturers and the deployers of such fabulous pieces of engineering

mohandeer
mohandeer
Oct 18, 2016 3:00 PM

Reblogged this on Worldtruth.

JJA
JJA
Oct 18, 2016 9:20 AM

Well, Britain cant afford both military adventurism abroad and a decent healt service, so the health service will have to suffer. Especially as only the ‘deplorables’ rely on the NHS rather than private health insurance. Simples.

Brian Harry, Australia
Brian Harry, Australia
Oct 17, 2016 9:59 PM

Given the conduct of the Americans and British over the last 50 years, and the staggering death toll(of innocent civilians) I’m beginning to understand that Adolph Hitler isn’t the only ‘Arch Villain’ to have walked the Earth since WWII.

tommytcg
tommytcg
Oct 17, 2016 11:56 PM

Hitler? 37 years to cremate 6M with the available facilities? 250K died of typhus and malnutrition according to the IRC records that were kept in Germany. Auschwitz slave labor camp Original Ops Manual exposed on German State TV by lady reporter. google that for a surprise.

Yonatan
Yonatan
Oct 17, 2016 9:05 PM

The US Militiary admitted to Congress that they had spent $500 million training ‘carefully vetted moderae rebels’, and all but 5 deserted to al Qaeda/ISIS. The US military still continued in spite of this. This confirms that there is no difference between the ‘carefuly vetted moderate rebels’ and the extremist jihadists. The false difference serves as a means for the US to salve their conscience.
Even the NYT reported this way back in 2012.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/world/middleeast/jihadists-receiving-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
British forces were also training them at the KASOTC in Amman, Jordan in 2013. The British Government claimed that this was permitted by EU regulations.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/08/west-training-syrian-rebels-jordan

John
John
Oct 17, 2016 8:36 PM

No one here in Britain really cares about the Syrian people – any more than they cared about the people of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya before them.
It is all about oil and gas energy, money and power.
That is why the Israel regime has granted exploration rights to Genie Energy, headed up by an advisory board consisting of Cheyney, Murdoch, Rothschild, a former head of the US CIA and a former head of the US Treasury in the Israeli illegally occupied Syrian territory known as the Golan Heights.
Forget all about the incessant bleatings of care and concern for tiny children in Aleppo.
They and their so-called “white” helmets are supporting the terrorist practice of human shields in Aleppo.
What they are really concerned about is the return on their investments in illegally stolen land, oil and gas.
That and the fact that they are trying to edge Russia out of the European energy market.

kevin morris
kevin morris
Oct 25, 2016 10:23 PM
Reply to  John

I think you’re wrong.
I can’t remember how many people marched in protest at the threat of war in Iraq in 2003 and many feel considerable distress at the lies that are being perpetrated by the media about Syria. People are deeply concerned about Aleppo but since they are being fed lies, many seem to believe that what Syria, Iran and Russia are doing in Aleppo is wrong. They can hardly be blamed for still believing hat what they hear on the news is fa perversion of the truth.
What people really need is information- I’d like to say leadership too but whoever does the leading it usually turns nasty quicker than anyone could anticipate. The problem with information such as on this excellent site is that rather than leading to enlightenment many of those in the know often cannot avoid giving the impression that their understanding is always accompanied by feelings of moral superiority.
What you are really saying is that the people who call the shots don’t care, but frankly it was ever thus.

John
John
Oct 25, 2016 10:44 PM
Reply to  kevin morris

You, me and 2 million others marched against the threatened invasion of Iraq in 2003.
What we demonstrated against was the lack of legality of Blair and Bush’s threatened actions.
The vast majority of us did not know any Iraqis personally – and still do not know any Iraqis.
Our objections remain what they were – a condemnation of the illegality of military activities in Iraq and Syria.
I suspect that most of us in Britain are now immune to the lies and propaganda regarding Syria and Iraq.
All we know is that it results in mass killings and mass migration of refugees towards Europe.
Neither of these are acceptable to us but what – realistically – what can any of us do about it?

archie1954
archie1954
Oct 17, 2016 8:02 PM

Unfortunately Western powers have always interfered in the internal matters of Middle East nations, most often to the detriment of the indigenous peoples of the area. It seems the actual welfare of such peoples is of absolutely no concern to the likes of the US, France and the UK. Their motto is bomb first and ask questions later! In fact they would rather not even bother with asking questions later, as their complicity in murder and mayhem may become a matter for discussion.