Douma Incident and Forensic Architecture – The Emails
Philip Watson
With the launch of “Declassified UK”, an “Independent” media outlet that will, apparently, act as an outlet for “Public service journalism investigating UK foreign, military and intelligence policies”, according to their Twitter profile, we see Eyal Weizman being added to the team as an “advisor”.
Eyal is, of course, the main man over at Forensic Architecture, an outfit that has provably dabbled in fraudulent reports that supported the official UK and US government positions on what happened at Douma, on April 7, 2018, and Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, 2017.
Given that I had been in contact with Forensic Architecture over their Lataminah investigation several people contacted me recently to ask the extent of that communication and if I could confirm if Forensic Architecture worked directly with Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat for his debate with Professor Ted Postol of MIT.
The reason, I assume, for asking me this is that as Eliot Higgins is funded by both the UK Foreign Office (via the “Open Information Partnership”) and the US State Department (via the “National Endowment for Democracy”) and given that Weizman has worked on a lot of projects with Higgins confirming the UK/US claims on Syria; then what possibly could Weizman have to offer a media group that plans to ‘investigate UK foreign, military and intelligence policies..’? It’s a genuine question that deserves an honest answer.
In a previous report I took a closer look into Forensic Architecture’s fraudulent Douma “investigation”. Under the section entitled, “Forensic Architecture’s Dusty Frost” I ask a two simple questions that Weizman has thus far refused to answer: How did you manage to mistake dust for frost and will you correct your report and thus set the public record straight?
In this report I will be reproducing the full email exchange that I had with Bob Trafford of Forensic Architecture in relation to a commission they received from Eliot Higgins ahead of his debate with Ted Postol at Goldsmiths, University of London, October 20, 2018.
The Email Exchange:
Click for larger images
Typos: FI = FA (Forensic Architecture)
The graphic I attached to the email was this:
You will have spotted in the above email Trafford’s desire to seek out an old exchange I had with Higgins and then to offer up, voluntarily, a defence for his (Higgins’) “analysis”. A defence, incidentally, that Higgins himself couldn’t offer up [Emphasis FA’s]:
We hope that our analysis of this fragment provides a possible resolution to questions that you have previously posed in relation to Eliot’s original analysis.
You haven't answered me at all you went silent and disappeared. May I ask again? Could you please inform me as to how the laws of physics were defied at the KS crater when a perfect 45 degree steel angle brace manifested itself into a perfect 90 degree curvature after impact? pic.twitter.com/MwINaUwHBh
— Philip Watson (@PhilipWatson_) October 22, 2018
A pertinent question at this stage is, why did Forensic Architecture feel the need to defend Higgin’s theory on this metal piece? Mind you, it does fit in with their very comfortable and close working relationship.
Moreover, Trafford’s decision to offer up apologia for Higgins’ inability to defend his own claims was also contradicted later by Higgins himself, which I detail here.
You will note also in the above email that Trafford attached 4 images to it showing how he made the evidence fit the claim. I provide them here for full disclosure of the email chain.
1- attachment brace found state
2- attachment brace proposed original state
3- attachment brace found state + M4000
4- attachment brace proposed original state + M4000
Let’s continue…
That was the end of the email exchange between Bob and myself and as you will see the entire exchange was carried out in a dignified and respectful manner. Then this happened on Twitter:
I'm not sure Philip Watson has ever been relevant
— Robert Trafford (@bobtrafford) September 25, 2019
Note the date of my final email to Trafford, August 28. Nothing in between, then he decides to drop all facade of professionalism and go on the attack. Why?
He seemed to be upset by this tweet I made:
Exclusive: The riddle of the "metal brace".
Eliot Higgins claimed it metamorphosed from a 45° angle to a perfect 90° curvature *after* impact & explosion. He commissioned @ForensicArchi to model the M4000 yet didn't request they model this piece. In my new report, I ask, why? pic.twitter.com/yhKzwbfhzK
— Philip Watson (@PhilipWatson_) September 16, 2019
I kept Bob’s name anonymous as I do anyone I work with unless agreed otherwise. Bob didn’t communicate with me in private and I was free to release his identity at any time but I appreciated that he made himself look unintentionally silly a few times so I decided, given how professional our communication was, to save him from any further embarrassment. He forfeited all rights to anonymity when he insulted me on Twitter.
Forensic Fraudulence Exposed
It’s fitting at this stage to give a prime example of the sort of fraudulence that I refer to with regards to Weizman’s Forensic Architecture grouping.
This was the first image to surface from the L2 crater, as far as I’m aware, and is in fact an image taken from a video that was sent to Eliot Higgins from the scene. You will note the discolouration of the cylinder (blackening) is facing down towards the crater in this image.
Now let’s look at the underside of the crater:
The fire damage is plain for all to see. Of this the OPCW-FFM report noted:
The FFM team noted the blackening of the ceiling and the rim of the aperture from the room immediately below the point of impact (see photo above). It also noted the blackened sooty walls in the corner of the room, as well as what appeared to be the ashen remnants of a small fire. One interviewed witness stated that a fire had been lit in the room after the alleged incident, reportedly to detoxify it of the alleged chemical.
S/1731/2019 Annex 6 page 58 – FFM Report
So it doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to conclude that it was the fire damage that caused the blackening to the cylinder on the balcony.
However, that image posted by Higgins was quickly deleted by him when he was requested to do so and later was followed by a new tweet from the White Helmets showing the cylinder rotated 180º with the blackening now pointing upwards, away from the crater.
Higgins’ reason for the deletion was that the guy’s legs could have identified him (yes, that’s what he claimed) though he makes no mention of the cylinder being rotated or how identifying the guy at the scene would have made any difference given the area was controlled by Jihadist, Jaysh al-Islam at the time.
But what does Weizman’s Forensic Architecture say of the fire-damaged cylinder?
The nose of the canister is discoloured, this is caused by a corrosive acid created when chlorine gas reacts with the water which condenses on the outside of the canister during rapid decompression.”
Forensic Architecture Douma Investigation
I tweeted to Forensic Architecture the first words that came to my mind – that that claim was purely bullshit. It’s worse than bullshit; it’s fraudulent bullshit. But it’s the sort of bullshit that the corporate media gives a pass to and helps propagate.
No @ForensicArchi that is what is known, in the real world, as bullshit. What happened was there was a fire lit in the room below the crater, below the cylinder's original position, that caused scorching to the ceiling, crater and cylinder. The cylinder was then rotated 180º. pic.twitter.com/BLBvtD2eNf
— Philip Watson (@PhilipWatson_) February 7, 2020
Conclusion
At the time of my communication with Trafford I was aware that Koblentz had been channelling someone at the OPCW who had a link to the DAT (Declarations and Assessment Team). Trafford unwittingly confirmed this for me.
However, I wasn’t sure if Bob was being generous with his information or naive so I opted to assume the latter and thus decided to protect his identity. In an exchange with a source at the time I wrote:
Trafford (FA) confirmed Koblentz as a source on the M4000. We knew this, I was surprised Koblentz told Trafford though. It’s a tangled web with all the same players spinning. Our friend is ofc his “closed source”. Slamdunk on the M4000 spec leaks goes to you.
Koblentz had also been feeding Higgins with details on the M4000 that he received from Len Phillips and indeed it was Koblentz, I am told, that initially setup contact between his source (Len Phillips) and Eliot Higgins.
As Higgins began frequenting The Hague he then made contact with another member of the OPCW who went on to help with articles for Bellingcat in recent times. That man is still a member of the OPCW. Though he has fallen quiet of late as he fears his name being released. As long as he stays that way his name will be withheld.
What he did in trying to oust “Alex” and place him in danger should enrage us all who care for and support brave whistleblowers who place the truth above their careers and egos. Should he attempt to channel any further maliciousness through his useful idiot, Brian Whitaker, or anyone else, then he too will forfeit his right to anonymity as far as I’m concerned.
This also goes to show that Eyal Weizman and his Forensic Architecture are no more interested in holding the UK government to account on staged chemical attacks in Syria than they are of admitting their own role in this debacle. If Weizman doesn’t retract these verifiably false claims then it can safely be concluded that his role is to disseminate such fake information to help sell the UK FCO position on Syria and therefore we can also safely assume Declassified UK will just be an extension of this fraudulence, albeit by wearing a different disguise.
Douma was a staged chemical attack – let there be no mistaking that. Forensic Architecture worked tirelessly alongside Higgins and the NYT to prove otherwise. Today Weizman has been signed to advise the latest “Independent” media source lead by Mark Curtis.
How recruiting a man whose organisation has taken part in fraudulent investigations into Lataminah, Khan Sheikhoun and Douma that ALL supported the UK FCO position, can in some way help advance the cause of “investigating UK foreign, military and intelligence policies” has yet to be ascertained.
But what is clear, is that having Weizman, who was recently refused a visa to enter the US based upon his “associations” with suspect characters, “advising” this new media group does not bode well for its future or lend its mission statement any credibility. It’s akin to setting up a pressure group against war-criminals and asking Tony Blair to advise its board members.
So between frosting that was really dust; to gas release that was hissing coming from outside; to a reaction that occurred during rapid decompression which was really fire damage; there’s enough evidence to conclude that Forensic Architecture is a fraudulent venture set up to help prove a narrative that is favourable to NATO countries – when it comes to Syria.
You will find lots of evidence of such fraudulence from Forensic Architecture throughout Hidden Syria.
SUPPORT OFFGUARDIAN
If you enjoy OffG's content, please help us make our monthly fund-raising goal and keep the site alive.
For other ways to donate, including direct-transfer bank details click HERE.
Hi guys, many thanks for the feedback, positive and otherwise. All points have been noted and I will endeavour to improve on the presentation of my investigations in the future.
The GreyZone have published the private letters from Inspectors A&B. Recommended reading for people like LP and other low cell count bods see for the dowwnloads.
That is one amazing barrel bomb in the picture – fully intact, no fins damaged after its high speed trip through rebar.
Wow, how did they make that?
What materials where they using?
I reckon they got that weapon from the last people to visit earth from Alpha Centauri.
Funny how ‘barrel bombs’ are such a source of outrage from the Groupthinkers of the West, but napalm, white phosporous, high explosives, depleted uranium, DIME munitions, cluster-bombs, flechettes and thermo-baric explosives when used against imprisoned civilians in Gaza, by Israel, elicit NO angst whatsoever.
I think it is like when you pick the “wrong type” of friends. These are the wrong type of weapons. Terrorists are anyone we don’t like, yet our friends are always armed forces.
So true. A perfect example is the murder of Iran’s General Soleimani. As we all know he was a General in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the country’s recognised official state military force. Can it be any coincidence that the US took the highly unusual step (see link below) of designating the IRGC as a terrorist organisation only last April (2019)? This had the effect of giving the US carte blanche to murder Soleimani on the grounds that he could be legitimately labelled as a ‘terrorist’. In any other circumstances the US would (and should) have been charged with committing a war crime.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law/article/state-department-designates-irans-islamic-revolutionary-guards-corps-as-a-foreign-terrorist-organization/818AB6356920E927625FEBA4FD79A6CC
Unfortunately Judy, the circumstances at the moment, means that the US will never face war crimes charges.
Barrel bombs were an invention of our Zionist friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if they took out a patent.
Their current bombs, and US bombs, as is well known, explode on impact to spread freedom and democracy and universal peace and brotherhood.
Of course anything with NED (CIA) connected to it is going to be lies and propaganda. That’s the nature of the beast. The National Endowment for “Democracy” first of all has nothing to do with actual democracy and is just another Trojan Horse for USAID which has been involved in regime change and manipulating elections going back to Wisner’s OPC and the on going Gladio op which got its initial funding from the Marshall Plan.
The names may change but its objectives haven’t. The false flag gas attack carried out by the White Helmets is just another example.
True Gall,
And add to that , USAID paid James le Mesurier, and funded the recruitment training and arming of ‘the White Helmets’ the latest incarnation of al Qaida ‘terrorist army.’
https://thewallwillfall.org/2015/10/23/white-helmets-war-by-way-of-deception/
Le Mesurier brought too much attention to the funders, so they had him removed?
Continued from previous post:
On November 11, 2019, the British founder of the notorious White Helmets, James Le Mesurier, died in Istanbul, Turkey. The circumstances surrounding his death immediately elicited a flurry of Turkish and corporate media reports, many of them contradictory, as the details of his final hours came to light.
MARK URBAN, the diplomatic editor at BBC Newsnight, immediately tweeted that “a former colleague” had told him it was impossible to “fall from that balcony,” referencing Le Mesurier’s reported cause of death and intimated that there may have been “state involvement.”
Urban did not identify his mysterious “former colleague” or explain what made him sufficiently qualified to conclude that Le Mesurier’s death may have been a state-sanctioned hit.
Urban, declaring ignorance over Le Mesurier’s suspected ties to Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency, then suggesting that a “black propaganda campaign by Russian and Syria media and their social media acolytes” against Le Mesurier was “a prelude to murder,” Extraordinary claims for a journalist to make prior to the publication of any official autopsy…
https://www.mintpressnews.com/mysterious-death-media-scrambles-white-helmets-founder-james-le-mesurier/263142/
The same Mark Urban who was a colleague of Pablo Millar, the MI6 Handler of
Sergei Skripa… …
Mark Urban
(soldier, academic, journalist, author, presenter, spook?)
Born
1961-01-26
Marylebone, London, England
Nationality
British
Alma mater
Rokeby School, King’s College School, London School of Economics
Religion
Jewish
Mark Urban is a UK Establishment-friendly journalist, author, academic and was the diplomatic and defence editor for BBC Two’s Newsnight at the time of the Skripal Affair. Asked by Craig Murray in an email ([email protected]):
“You were an officer in the Royal Tank Regiment together with Skripal’s MI6 handler, Pablo Miller, who also lived in Salisbury. Have you maintained friendship with Miller over the years and how often do you communicate?”
In their response, the BBC avoided the question, saying:
“Some of the information you’ve requested we are not obliged to share as it is held for purposes of journalism??
https://www.wikispooks.com/wiki/Mark_Urban
Yes they defenestrated him which I thought was kind of an interesting hit. Some what like Ted Olson whom they say jumped out a window. Only problem with the cover story is that jumpers usually open the window first before jumping through them.
Probably the reason they got rid of le Mesurier was because he knew too much about the false flag gas attack and would have been drawn in as a witness.
The CIA favours a fall from height as their preferred murder technique against lower level targets, and plane/ helicopter crashes for more exalted figures.
They conducted research concluding that a fall from 70 feet on to a hard surface would inevitably result in death.
CIA spooks are trained to grab the target by the ankles and throw them from an open window.
This may well be what happened to poor old Uncle Arthur.
Makes sense. Also it leaves an ambiguous trail for the ME who will usually determine “accidental death”. Also more convincing than the “suicide” who managed to shoot himself in the back of the head.
Douma was a staged chemical attack – let there be no mistaking that.
—
Can you elaborate on this? Where did the 40+ corpses come from? Paul McKeigue, one of Tim Hayward’s cohorts said they were killed in advance in a gas chamber. Was this done on the day of the attack or in advance? How did the dirty jihadis keep them hidden from view? And how did they keep them from creating a horrendous stink? Did they use a refrigerated lair? That must have cost a pretty penny. But then again, the Rothschild bank would have been happy to fund such an elaborate false flag scenario.
Come on Louis – you’ve been around years. Surely you don’t still believe on the evidence an attack happened which the Syrian government instigated? The way I look at it there is a long history of shaky and proven false pretexts for intervention – Iraq and Libya just recent ones. First, any detective would consider this in that context and motives. Add the details of the OPCW discrepancies it’s inconceivable you are anywhere near the mark.
Even Peter Hitchens is 100% sure on this (even though he makes no comments on the bodies) by reading all the OPCW reports. The previous alleged chemical attack he throws massive doubt on not least because there was no chain of custody.
Looking at this as a whole, can you not see obvious problems with the official narrative?. Im genuinely interested as I really can’t see how any commentator such as yourself could honestly reach the conclusions you evidently have. Regardless of what precisely happened, Douma is the weakest official narrative out of all the events which get discussed here.
For someone associated with Counter punch which portrays itself as ‘ progressive’ and has produced decent stuff in the past I’m honestly curious as to why anyone there would associate themselves with your bizarre views.
Please convince me and other readers otherwise. But if you can’t reply without smearing someone or insult please don’t bother.
You always underestimate your head chopping, throat slitting chums, L.
They are not as hapless or as hopeless or as helpless as you seem to imagine.
They have constructed vast underground tunnel complexes you can drive a heavy truck through, using slave labour, complete with heating, air conditioning, electricity and water.
They operate and maintain all the sophisticated weaponry supplied to them by the US, UK, France, Israel, Turkey and the Gulf dictatorships. Heavy tanks, bought for them from Ukraine, 100 at a time. TOW missiles. Surface to air missiles to shoot down aircraft. The 150 strong TV and PR units of the White Helmets, with the tab being picked up by the British taxpayer.
Britain has bankrolled these people to the tune of £3 billion. Qatar did a single arms deal with Croatia to equip them for $5 billion. They have been sponsored by these countries to the tune of many tens of billions of dollars. They have been caught by the Turkish police with canisters of sarin. They are not a little rinky dink street gang. They even win Hollywood Oscars. They have offices in the countries of all their sponsors. They are a huge multi national jihadi Foreign Legion. They ran the oil industry in Iraq and Syria, exporting billions of dollars worth of stolen oil via Turkey to Israel. They had plans to produce their own gold backed currency.
From the outset, they have murdered, tortured, raped and enslaved to their hearts’ content. They have an endless supply of victims from the women and children they drive around in cages on the backs of trucks as human shields.
Where did the 40+ corpses come from?
You are spoilt for choice. Maybe selected at random from the people their Sharia courts massacre on a daily basis, for the crime of being a Christian, or an Alawite, or not having a beard that is long enough. Or some of their sex slaves who have tried to escape. Or some of the children who don’t want to fight for them as child soldiers. Or some of their slave workers they don’t need any more. Or chosen as unwitting extras from the first convenient village.
Were they killed the day of the attack or before?
Who knows? Who cares? They kill people every day.
How did they keep them hidden from view?
On the back of a truck under a tarpaulin? In an abandoned building? Who knows? What does it matter?
What about the smell?
These are not delicate souls like yourself, L. They aren’t frightened of dead bodies. They like their British taxpayer funded PR unit to film themselves cannibalising dead bodies.
You really should have more faith in your throat slitting chums, L.
Have noted the bastard never replies to you when you fire back with one of your forthright, and highly detailed replies.
Your reply nails it to a tee btw. Proyectile isn’t even ashamed of the outrageous garbage he spews on here.
Every time there’s a story on Syria, expect the jihadist cheer squad to show up. Complete with pom poms.
I just point blank ignore him.
“Where did the 40+ corpses come from?”
I fully agree with your question. It’s got to be next to impossible to find serviceable, dust-free dead bodies in Syria, especially if you’re as underfunded as the White Helmets. It’s not like it’s the Southern States of America. They don’t grow on trees.
Louis, Do you not have access to the internet, is it restricted in some way? Or are you just too lazy? If so I guess you will not have the energy to open this link and digest?
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-04-11/there-wasnt-single-corpse-russia-claims-white-helmets-staged-syria-chemical-attack
Comprehensively outed, well done.
A couple of days ago I heard yet another BBC report from yet another hospital in ‘rebel controlled’ Syria. The journalist, Orla Guerin, has a very serious tone and she drips empathy and heartfelt feelings about conditions in the hospital.
This was a ‘maternity hospital/clinic and she interviewed the female ‘Doctor’ who was outraged at the ghastly and inhuman attacks by Russia bombers on civilians and especially targetting hospials. So numerous were the attacks that they’ed created a three colour coded lighting system to warn the staff and people in the hospital about the character of the attacks! Red was when it was ‘highly likely’ that the hospital itself was under direct attack.
Strangely, all the time the interview was taking place, in the background one could hear children/babies crying and wimpering. This clearly affected Orla Guerin. It was so sad. Why were these children left to cry, I wondered? Where was the rest of the world? The Dr felt that the world didn’t care about the suffering and the babies. Orla found it difficult to watch and even speak, her voice almost chocking with emotion. ‘The world is sleeping’ she intoned.
For me this story didn’t really ring true. Call me, a cynic. Perhaps I’ve seen too many wars? It reminded me of the manufactured horror stories about the savagery of the Iraqi army in Kuwait, where they threw babies onto the cold floors to left them die, because they too, like the Russians, are evil people who relish causing pain and suffering on innocent civilians, children and even helpless babies.
No, no, you’re quite wrong, M.
The babies were crying because some Syrian and Russian soldiers had just tipped them out of their incubators and stolen the incubators.
Ask Alex Crawford and Elliot Higgins if you don’t believe me. They can confirm this.
Professor Ted Postol of MIT resolved this “debate’ many moons ago. Everything beyond that is blah blah blah.
For me, the chunks missing from the concrete wall directly beneath the hole in the steel-reinforced roof scream explosion, probably by a mortar strike. I just can’t envisage the cylinder (squashed or whole) causing that kind of damage, whatever its final position.
Why Mr Weizman?
He is emminently qualified. After all, Mr Weizman is a winner of the prestigious Digital Dozen 2016 Award for Breakthroughs in Storytelling from Columbia University.
Big problem with this piece: who is going to wade through all those virtually unreadable images? And then there is the problem of all the, ‘he said this, I said that’ stuff. I gave up halfway through. Surely the best way of presenting the evidence is through extracting the salient evidence? Isn’t that why we have investigative journalists?
In its current form, it’s indigestible and effectively defeats its own purpose. It seems that the author, so familiar with its contents, assumes the reader is equally au fait with the events. What a shame that so much hard work is lost in translation. A missed opportunity.
And that is exactly what the spin masters want .To bury the truth with so much obfuscation that at the very least most will just lose interest and then well , move along folks , nothing to see here.
Guy, I’m not sure I understand. Are you saying that Watson is a spin master? Surely it’s Watson’s role as an unvestigative journo to pierce the veil, to transform the obscured into into clarity. As I said, maybe he’s just too close to it and can’t see the wood for the trees? Having written the odd investigation myself, with lots of events that appear to be unconnected and in complex relationships, it’s precisely bringing clarity to events that marks a successful investigation.
I’ve been following the Douma events especially, since the beginning and the false flag that it was. The problem with this essay is that it gets bogged down in the details, which is why I gave up on trying to keep track of things.
Perhaps the details are needed to give context to the communications between Watson and Trafford. Some of the context include the dates of the letters, emails and Tweets, and those details help establish the timeline, which in itself can be important because you want to know who said what when, whether it was before something or after that something, and that sequence can be critical if these communications became part of a litigation action and Off-Guardian was then summonsed to either appear as a witness or to provide an affidavit regarding those communications.
Also the form of the communication can be important in itself. People often express themselves very differently depending on whether they are sending letters or emails, or Tweeting.
If you right-click on some of the emails, you will get the option of opening those emails in another tab, and then you can enlarge them if you want.
I have no problem with the facts being presented to us, I just feel there is a better way of presenting them. Surely, journalism is different from a forensic examination?
Legal issues are beside the point for the reader.
Precisely; the way the issues are presented is vitally important, which is the gist of my criticism.
And finally, I do know how to enlarge the images, it’s the fact that even enlarged, they’re still difficult to read.
I think there are many ways to present information. Personally I love humour best – watching Graham Phillips walk into an Eliot Higgins press conference, destroy it and casually walk away saying ‘they don’t like it up em’. Or Rania Khalek’s Utube presentations expertly presenting the hypocrisy of western elites
On the other hand, an academic or researcher dealing with the forensics of a staged event, I would expect there to be imperfections in the way the information is laid out and harder to take in. But the point of the investigations is they show the reader how the investigator has reached the conclusions set out at the end. I think other examples perhaps are Whitney Webb’s detailed investigations, or the Working Group on Syria. Maybe it is difficult to read but the reader has to make the effort.
“But the point of the investigations is they show the reader how the investigator has reached the conclusions set out at the end.”
Correct. Thanks.
Jen
Just for info, if you left click on the individual emails the print automatically enlarges to a readable size. With a couple of the emails it is necessary to left click a couple of times and it may be necessary to scroll the text left or right to view some of the words at the extreme edges. But they are perfectly readable in no time at all.
Thanks for the tip. 🙂
“If you right-click on some of the emails, you will get the option of opening those emails in another tab, and then you can enlarge them if you want.”
Works on all the images for me (some go to Twitter instead of an enlagement, but then Twitter can be enlarged). It the only way I could make sense of the diagrams of the shape-shifting piece of metal.
No I am not saying Watson is a spin master .People like Elliot Higgins and Wiezmen are the ones hired by the people that support the white helmets ,they are ones spinning whatever morsel they can find to insert doubt into the Minds of the sheeple.
For those of us that have been paying attention to this Douma event ,especially with the OPCW people that came out and stated the information presented after the so-called investigation was tainted and did not represent the result of the investigation .I would have thought that this in itself was strong evidence negating the Western story .
They have been caught with their pants down ,guilty of obfuscating evidence by the very organization that did the investigation.The results did not fit the narrative and so it goes.Higgins is a genuine POS .Good at what he does best .
The main points are made in the text of the article. The emails are there for anyone that wants to check them.
I’m aware of that.
“Big problem with this piece: who is going to wade through all those virtually unreadable images? And then there is the problem of all the, ‘he said this, I said that’ stuff. I gave up halfway through.”
First click/tap on the images. Bingo! They are enlarged! Next add additional enlargement, if needed. On my computer(s) I have a freeware magnifier thingy which can be pulled into various shapes and sizes like a variable version of those oblong magnifying glasses that old people like me use to read tiny hardcopy; on my tablet I pinch or sqeeze or spread or something (don’t ask me, it’s all too new fangled for me to keep with the nomenclature as well) and the same thing happens to the whole screen. Can’t help it that then the article itself turns out to be too big to fit into your eyes, though, sorry.
Hi there,
This is the first chance I’ve had to read over the comments and all constructive criticisms are welcomed and noted. Thanks.
In my defence, this article was written for my blog and followed a series of tweets I’d been tweeting at the time, so it was written in the context that the reader would already have a background on the matter. I’m also not a journalist and thus this explains how I may be failing in that department. I investigate alleged chemical usage in Syria using Open Source Intelligence, published data and information obtained from sources. But your points are, as stated, duly noted and I’ll try to be a bit more ‘journalistic’ in how I present my work for people who may not be fully aware of the background of the given case study.
A note on the layout of the emails. I could have exported to PDF or patched together screenshots so they were presented in a more ascetically pleasing manner but that’s not how I work. I didn’t want to leave myself opened to claims of ‘doctoring’ the presentation or content so I presented them as they were. Some are harder to read than others as I had to use 3rd party software to capture the entire emails that were quite long. Therefore the presentation of the emails was intended to represent authenticity.
Thanks for your input.
I think you’re being too hard on poor old Higgins. After all, he has given his word as an unemployed underwear salesman, and that’s good enough for me.
Bravo! This is why I gave up a promising career as a seoesman for unbrakeable windshields and window pane protecting splashes and went back to teaching classical Chinese for secret agents wanting to read the full store.
Philip Watson does excellent investigative work around OPCW. He is making huge in-roads into destroying official narratives. Well worth following.
We are so lucky to have a range of talent bringing us the truth through brilliant research, tenacity, critical thinking and humour. My only wish is this talent works together more.
Agreed, but as I said here, it’s not the valuable work that I have a problem with but the way it’s presented to the reader, who may or may not be well-informed on the events in Douma or elsewhere in Syria. Forensic examination is not the same as journalism. We see the same problem with the coronavirus; when I read the work of a respected scientist like Prof. Francis Boyle and he states that he thinks the coronavirus is man-made by virtue of the ‘fact’ that it contains fragments of both HIV and Ebola retro-viruses and that such things don’t occur in nature, how am I expected to know whether this a fact or an opinion? I’m not a biologist or a virologist, I rely on reasoned interpretations (by more than one person) that make sense to me, in order for me to reach some kind of conclusion.
“I read the work of a respected scientist like Prof. Francis Boyle and he states that he thinks the coronavirus is man-made by virtue of the ‘fact’ that it contains fragments of both HIV and Ebola retro-viruses and that such things don’t occur in nature, how am I expected to know whether this a fact or an opinion?”
You could start by reading the byline. Then, when you’ve found from it that he’s done no academic science of any sort because he’s a respected lawyer, you could start in on a bit of ‘investigation’ to check out his scientific sources. Sound like a plan?
Thanks for the kind comment.