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The War on Truth, Dissent and Free Speech Syria, the OPCW Douma Investigation and the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media

Dr Piers Robinson

On Saturday 13 June 2020 the Times newspaper published its third attack on academics associated with researching British government propaganda and the war in Syria. This time the attack focused on smearing myself and Professor David Miller with the objective of discrediting an academic organization we established, the Organisation for Propaganda Studies (OPS), designed to foster research and writing on propaganda.

The article contained multiple falsehoods and distortions and was similar in style to previous attacks aimed at character assassination mainly through employment of the ‘conspiracy theorist’ smear. Most prominently the hatchet pieces misleadingly conflated work by members of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (WGSPM), of which myself and Miller are also members, with the OPS. Formal complaints from the OPS are in process and the Times has already been forced to issue a number of corrections.

Of course, character assassination as a propaganda tactic is widespread and there is even a Routledge academic handbook on the subject, the Routledge Handbook of Character Assassination and Reputation Management’, which was published in 2019 and contains 30 odd chapters. The attacks by the Times have been amplified by similar pieces written by Chris York for the Huffington Post.

In total, approximately 20 articles have been produced attacking those of us who are working on the war in Syria and questioning important aspects of UK propaganda operations. The bulk of these articles have been written by just two journalists, Dominic Kennedy for the Times newspaper and Chris York for the Huffington Post. This represents an extraordinarily intensive and sustained campaign against us.

Why on earth have we gotten into so much trouble?

A history of the attacks is instructive. Attention first started to be paid by former Guardian journalist Brian Whitaker in February 2018 when he penned a series of crude hatchet pieces on his blog smearing academics associated with the then newly established WGSPM. At that point Huffington Post journalist Chris York had already been attempting for several months to make contact with me, Professor Tim Hayward and journalist Vanessa Beeley.

But it was several weeks after Whitaker’s smears that the attacks started in earnest. Following the now controversial alleged chemical weapon attack in Douma, Syria, on 7th April 2018, the US UK and France bombed Syrian government targets claiming Syria was responsible for the attack. At the same moment these air attacks were underway, the Times of London published four articles which included one on the Front page, photographs of some of us from WGSPM and an editorial.

These articles smeared the academics as ‘conspiracy theorists’ for questioning official narratives regarding chemical weapon attacks in Syria, as ‘Assadists’ and also implied the existence of nefarious links with Russia. Chris York of the Huffington Post then followed the Times attack with multiple articles attacking us. The articles followed a similar pattern to the Times’ hatchet pieces involving allegations of ‘conspiracism’, ‘war crimes denial’, being pro Assad and pro Putin etc. More than two years later, attack pieces are still being published.

The vast bulk of the output of WGSPM has concerned the issues of alleged chemical weapon attacks in Syria and, in particular, the Douma event. The working group’s briefing notes documented serious anomalies and issues regarding these attacks and, in particular, critically analysed both the OPCW investigations of these alleged attacks and also identified the involvement of UK-linked actors, including the late James Le Mesurier (founder of the White Helmets) and Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.

The evidence, as the working group briefing notes set out, is that the OPCW Douma investigation was manipulated in order to ensure the finger was pointed at Syrian government responsibility for the alleged chemical weapon attack. In reality, the evidence did not demonstrate an attack had occurred and, in fact, pointed toward the attack having been staged.

Our findings have been presented at an event at the UK House of Commons and at the Harvard-Sussex Program on Chemical and Biological Weapons.

The WGSPM has not been alone in raising questions and a wide body of material now corroborates its work. For example, even at the time of the Douma attack credible individuals voiced doubt about the likelihood of the Syrian government launching a chemical weapon attack in Douma just as its forces were on the brink of retaking the enclave.

For example, both retired Major General Jonathan Shaw and Admiral Lord West questioned the tactical logic of any such an attack and the latter raised the possibility the event was carried out by opposition groups.

Following the publication of the final OPCW report on Douma in March 2019, an engineering report was leaked to WGSPM and which concluded that the chlorine gas cylinders had likely been manually placed at the alleged attack scenes rather than having been dropped from a Syrian air force helicopter. This engineering report, it subsequently transpired, had been rejected by OPCW management on spurious grounds.

During the Autumn of 2019 the Courage Foundation hosted a panel at which a former OPCW official briefed a panel of trusted and authoritative individuals, including José Bustani the first Director General of the OPCW, about significant procedural and scientific flaws regarding chemistry, ballistics, toxicology and witness statements.

An open letter addressed to OPCW states parties from the Courage Foundation followed and was signed by eminent voices such as Professor Noam Chomsky, Hans von Sponeck (former UN Assistant Secretary-General), GCHQ whistleblower Katharine Gun, former UNSCOM weapons inspector Scott Ritter, film director and producer Oliver Stone and John Pilger.

Since then, multiple documents have been published by Wikileaks evidencing irregularities with respect to the Douma FFM investigation whilst journalists such as Peter Hitchens (Mail on Sunday), Stefania Maurizi (formerly of La Repubblica) and Robert Fisk (The Independent) have reported on the issue.

Peter Hitchens has been a particularly vociferous voice defending the reputations of two OPCW staff who have been subjected to a malicious internal investigation aimed at smearing their reputations. In 2020, further leaks have been published by The Grayzone in the United States including statements from further OPCW persons and, most recently, Aaron Maté published an article in the leading US current affairs magazine The Nation.

Finally, and by no means least, former OPCW inspector Ian Henderson addressed an Arria Formula meeting of the UN Security Council at which he detailed the irregularities and misconduct he had experienced with respect to the FFM Douma investigation. In September 2020, a second Arria Formula meeting was held at which OPCW Syia FFMs and the Douma investigation were again debated and which included, again, the former OPCW Inspector Ian Henderson. And, this week at a UN Security Council meeting, a statement from OPCW First Director-General José Bustani was read out in which yet again raised concerns about the conduct of the OPCW Douma investigation.

To any casual observer it should be abundantly clear that the activities and output of the WGSPM is entirely legitimate. Our work has been at the forefront of an issue that has been discussed by mainstream media journalist and has been corroborated by information from people within the OPCW itself.

Why then has the Times of London and the Huffington Post published approximately 20 articles (including three Times leaders) in 2 years targeting us?

In general, the behaviour of both the Times and the Huffington Post is disturbing and suggestive of a deliberate campaign aimed at suppressing public debate regarding both the war in Syria and the involvement of the UK government in supporting activities aimed at the overthrow of the Syrian government.

UK involvement in the Syrian war has included direct support for opposition groups as well as potentially criminal activity relating to the OPCW and connection with the staging of alleged chemical weapon attacks.

In the last few weeks, a large volume of FCO documents have been leaked which document a vast ‘strategic communication’ operation aimed at supporting the war against Syria. According to Ben Norton from the Grayzone:

[V]irtually every major Western corporate media outlet was influenced by the UK government-funded disinformation campaign exposed in the trove of leaked documents, from the New York Times to the Washington Post, CNN to The Guardian, the BBC to Buzzfeed.

In fact, there are some indications that the media attacks might be the direct result of deliberate media alignment with the UK government position on Syria and its well-established policy seeking to overthrow the existing Syrian government. Specifically, two of the authors of the original Times attack on the academics, Dominic Kennedy and Deborah Haynes, are identified in leaked documents as being associated with the UK government-funded propaganda operation known as the Integrity Initiative.

The Integrity Initiative leaks provided powerful insights on how propaganda operations were being built around “clusters” of journalists. Haynes has subsequently denied involvement with the article whilst Kennedy has repeatedly refused to answer questions regarding the relationship between his articles and the Integrity Initiative.

Most notably, Times columnist Oliver Kamm has stated in public that the late James Le Mesurier ‘had reached out to this newspaper to urge us to keep on their [the academics] case’.

Regarding Huffington Post, Chris York’s line manager, Jess Brammar, is a member of the Defence and Security Media Advisory Committee which works with the UK government on influencing and controlling media reporting of defence and security related issues. Further information regarding the organizational details and scale of media-related activities aimed at suppressing criticism of UK Syria policy is still being investigated and information will be published in due course by WGSPM.

However, even if it is, as of yet, unclear whether the attacks are at the behest of those involved in UK government/FCO strategic communication operations related to Syria, it is certainly the case that they have a deleterious impact on open public debate and academic research. People might reasonably expect mainstream media to uphold, defend and encourage research and debate, as opposed to smear honest academics who are simply doing their jobs.

Even more seriously, the available evidence indicates that the alleged attack in Douma involved the murder of captive civilians. That means the event surrounding Douma likely involve an extremely serious, and indeed horrific, war crime. Those seeking to hinder those in pursuit of the truth run the risk of complicity, whether knowing or unknowingly, in a war crime and run legal jeopardy as a result.

A final note. The late Julian Perry Robinson, one of the world’s leading experts on chemical and biological weapons, was in communication with the Working Group. In an earlier era, Robinson played a key role challenging the false claim made by the US government that Soviet-backed forces in Laos and Cambodia were deploying toxins.

At the time of his death, he was completing a chronology regarding chemical weapons and the war in Syria. Writing about the events surrounding alleged chemical weapon attacks in Syria and the vicious attacks against WGSPM, he noted that:

It is not immediately clear from their pronouncements that the critics of the WGSPM just quoted have in fact adequately studied the Group’s publications. They certainly seem not to have done their reading with the care that might have been expected ahead of such vicious denigrations.

So is the Group simply becoming a victim of the fake news and other acts of information warfare it has itself been seeking to counter? Is the WGSPM being maliciously targeted by enemies that its principled research and outreach seem to have created?

Part 8: The Chemical Warfare Reported From Syria: a documented chronology detailing reports of events in Syria since 1982 said to have involved use of chemical weapons, by Julian Perry Robinson

It was Julian Perry Robinson who subsequently invited WGSPM member Professor Paul McKeigue to present at the Harvard-Sussex Program on Chemical and Biological Weapons roundtable meeting in March 2020.

If a figure of such standing and brilliance wished for his colleagues to hear our analysis, where does this leave the Times and the Huffington Post who have so relentlessly sought to silence us through character assassination and smears?

Not, I would suggest, in a very good place.

Dr Piers Robinson is a director of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies and convenor of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media. He writes here in a personal capacity.

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Andre
Andre
Oct 8, 2020 4:03 PM

The Syria false chemical attacks were all false flags committed by the Jihadis who are sponsored adn trained by US, UK, SAudi, Qatar etc. From 2013 on these attacks led to disinformation.

Wilmers31
Wilmers31
Oct 8, 2020 5:38 AM

They cannot help themselves – shoot the messenger = Assange and let the shooter/killers go free.

Arne
Arne
Oct 7, 2020 10:55 PM

One day man must learn that he lives an unworthy life as a victim.

Arne
Arne
Oct 7, 2020 10:50 PM

Of course, the eternal pessimists will say: “Disaster
does not disappear if you cover your eyes!” Well, for
my part they can spend the rest of their existence
poking around in the wound instead of letting it heal.

Arne
Arne
Oct 7, 2020 10:43 PM

https://www.newsweek.com/oprah-winfrey-u-s-systemic-racism-nazi-germany-caste-book-club-1537117

Well, Morgan Freeman had understood the principle: the
demons are only brought to life when they are addressed.

comment image

mikael
mikael
Oct 7, 2020 2:24 PM

Yup, welcome to the real world.

One thing was “Goddammed Hussein”, witch was/is hidden behind an cloud of “highly likelys” despite the Chilcot Enq. final comment, witch basicly says what you and we know, but people, the Comon Man, stil belives, because the MSM stil pimps the lies, etc to justify whatever needed and you may say whatever you want about Trump, he is atleast honest, we are there for the oil, to me, Trumps biggest problem, is that He is just an president, I have watched them come and go, and the only thing that have been persistent, nothing have changed, because those that runs the banana republic have the Gov by their balls, and they, do as they are told to do, and now, with the Corona racket, its stil the same, I simply cant wrap my head around on, how on earth is the Gates of Hell becomed what he is to day, how on earth is that possible, that alone is one thing, then we have the entire systemic corruption, Gov after Gov, all due to the MSM whom attackes, cencures and lies about everything, and some people stil dont get it, when I say they lie about everything, and they indeed do that, about bloody everything.

The real eye opener for me, was Libya, one thing is Syria, again, they lie about the past and the present, but with Libya they not only lied about Gaddafy, they fabricated an long row of actions, they all did it, HRW, Ams Int. BBC, CNN, our MSM was all in it, lied, and lied and lied, and stil people belive their “storys”.
To day, we have the war on Armenia, again, this time even the so called Alternative Media, is on it to, they lie, fabricate and distort, the share scale and scope its infact jaw dropping, why, I think this time I dont want to go indept, go to SouthF and read, but the problem remains the same, they lie about everything and now, people whom have used this previous issues to build up some credibility, is attacking the issue with false premisses, by consent or just plain ignorance, its hard to tell, but to me, as an long time commenter and reader, I have started to wounder, what comes next.

The sole reason for me to do this, in UssA media, is because I know that nation is the one that desides what direction we all are heading, everything comes from them, this others have my deepest contempt and nothing else, bitches every one of them, and so far, its become an await and see, what comes, since I dont trust anyone of them because thru the years that have been the guiding light, left/right means jack shit.
When the leches disapears behind the curtain, and they, are the problem.
I have writen about the Gass bullshit story before, and again OPCW is in the head lights, and again they do what they are told to do, incl the even more idiotic Navelgny shit saga, where you have to be totaly braindead to belive whatever nonsense they come forth with, not that Russia demands any more respect that others, but the issue is about whom can we trust, and so far, they have no credibility what so ever, its so bad I dont even read, because I know what they serve, like they did with Syria, some of us ripped that to shreads within minutes, and the NavelGny is equally bad, and like the CONvid, they just throw out something because they know perfectly well we have no means to counter, other then civil disobidience, or denie they storys by protesting, like a lot of people have done lately.

I am afraid, its the end of he road aproatching and its coming in fast, and the sole problem is, as we have debated before, fear.
Thats it, fear.
Until that is dealth with, forget everything else, and right now, we are walking into the vally of shaddows, its getting darker and darker, sooner or later we loose the sight of each others and most people will walk alone into the dept of the dark, and thats where we are heading, we need to wake up, and fight back, there is no other way out of this that to fight, but right now, I see little, all hail to those, despite we can agree to we gets tears in our eyes, but the large masses will just drag us all down, and until something radical happens, I am afriad we are lost.

Its like I feel I am selfish when I thank the lord for putting me here in this times, because I will die before the worst comes, its for the sake of our children I do this, I have no fear when it comes to been controversial, I havent even taken out the big guns, but keepts it smal, but as said, I will die, and leave this paradise while it stil have some few pockets left, I will relocate my self into the world I left, the forest, the mother of them all, the North western part of the Taiga and die in peace, I have done mine, I hope you do yours, but above all, teach the young ones, they are the ones whom will inherit this battlefield.
Be the light.

peace

PS: one final word, while I am at it, lets say for the sake of arguments that I am an Angel.
The problem is what religious people forget or ignores, is the there is one rule above all, and thats, do not interfer, because, if humans are to be found wurthy, you have to do it all by your self, and reap the consequences, regardeless of what comes, nobody else, than you, despite been told what to do, you do nothing and you will reap, nothing.

Hank
Hank
Oct 7, 2020 12:25 PM

Anyone with a working brain know the MSM is fake news so don’t worry. Who cares what brain dead people think.

Philippe
Philippe
Oct 7, 2020 1:30 PM
Reply to  Hank

If there were only a few of them, I’d agree with you.

However, there are rather more than a few – enough to provide a critical mass of compliance which, in turn, facilitates ever more shit from TPTB.

Peter Jennings
Peter Jennings
Oct 7, 2020 12:12 PM

What can one really say about the OPCW, the attack on Duma and elsewhere?
One thing which can be said without question is that the OPCW and all the staff that remains, since many of those honest employees have already resigned, are crooks and shysters.

The OPCW are now but a propaganda arm of nato. Disband them both. They no longer work in the best interests of the public and should go into the bin of history.
As with most international agencies such as the OPCW, the UN, the WHO, et al, they have been usurped and infiltrated by people who really shouldn’t be trusted with power of anything greater than an AAA battery.

Brian Sides
Brian Sides
Oct 7, 2020 8:08 AM

Unknown Hackers Dump Details of UK’s Covert Programs in Syria

A came across this story while watching Russia Today of hacked Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office documents. Not headlines on BBC or other UK media no surprise there.

The program aimed to promote “attitudinal and behavioural change” among Syrian audiences by fostering secular values, building resilience among the civilian population and by promoting what the UK government described as the Moderate Armed Opposition.

Unknown Hackers Dump Details of UK’s Covert Programs in Syria – World news – Tasnim News Agency

In a security breach of enormous proportions, the hackers appear to have deliberately targeted files that set out the financial and operational relationships between the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and a network of private-sector contractors that have been covertly running media platforms in Syria throughout the nine-year foreign-backed war.

The Middle East Eye understands that between 200 and 300 highly sensitive documents are thought to have been acquired by the hackers.

Leaked docs expose massive Syria propaganda operation waged by Western govt contractors and media | The Grayzone

Tutisicecream
Tutisicecream
Oct 7, 2020 7:33 AM

I understand it must be annoying having hacks attack you and criticise your “integrity” pun intended, but it needs to be considered a badge of merit Piers. I always laugh at the constant “conspiracy theorist” label stuck on those who question the accepted/settled government backed narrative.

From MH-17, to the Skripal Affair, the whole White Helmets and Syria/Assad chemical weapons stories, up to the Covid-19 project fear, those questioning the actual conspiracy narratives [comprising of the bulk of the MSM output] are those who are portrayed as unstable/unhinged. But not, for example, those who because of their affiliations to possible criminality and corruption might have jumped to their death; their story is inconvenient and therefore ignored.

You do realise that the whole faked narrative has reached the level of insanity when the New York Times at the weekend stated that Russia will not interfere in the up and coming election in the US because they are now able to manipulate peoples thinking! Conspiracy Theory purporting to be media fact? I think we can judge for ourselves.    

Tutisicecream
Tutisicecream
Oct 7, 2020 11:49 AM
Reply to  Tutisicecream

Correction it wasn’t NYT, it was of course the WPO.. Bezos’ Beano

Voxi Pop
Voxi Pop
Oct 7, 2020 2:35 AM

https://worldchangebrief.webnode.com
Int’l Class Action Lockdown Lawsuit/
Amnesty Int’l Fronts UK Intel/
New Device Zaps Virus/
GOP Wins Voter Fraud Fights/
Trump Stops New Stimulus.Opens Spy Files/
MK Ultra Victim: Masks Control Minds/
War In Eurasia/
FBI.CIA.M16 Alphabet Coup Soup

Grace Johns
Grace Johns
Oct 7, 2020 1:13 AM

The fuckwit Guardian posted today regarding a huge spike in cases in Mexico – truth is the numbers are being refudged because NO ONE in Mexico gets flu.

“Mexico’s coronavirus case tally and Covid-19 death toll surged on Monday as a result of a change in the methodology used to determine whether a person is infected.
The case tally rose to 789,780 with 28,115 new cases reported, while the death toll increased to 81,877 with 2,789 additional fatalities registered.
Director of Epidemiology José Luis Alomía explained at the Health Ministry’s coronavirus press briefing on Monday night that statistics now include suspected coronavirus cases and deaths among people who had direct contact with a confirmed case but were not tested.”

axisofoil
axisofoil
Oct 7, 2020 12:00 AM

I wonder why the people who don’t like this site are on it.

Martin Usher
Martin Usher
Oct 6, 2020 10:55 PM

One of the reasons why the world gave up on chemical weapons after WW1 wasn’t just because of concerns about morality, it was the recognition that CBW agents really don’t work at all well. Even today with the use of chemical warfare agents confined to use against civil disturbances (yes, it is ‘chemical warfare’ — how it got into the civilian sphere is an interesting tale) its effectiveness is dubious because leaf blowers can turn the weapon back on people deploying it.

The Syrians are supposed to be using chlorine as a chemical agent, a particularly ineffective agent even by WW1 standards. They’re supposed to have used it against an unarmed civlian population in a situation where they had already won the battle. In other words, they’re using an ineffective weapon against an already defeated target just so they can garner international condemnation. This just has to have ‘False Flag’ written over it in large, gaudy, letters.

We are asked to swallow this nonsense using two time honored, but still very effective, techniques. One is to render the ‘enemy’ less-than-human. The Syrians don’t have a government, its a ‘regime’ and as such it cares little for the people it oppresses or how it goes about harming them. Part of this process is never to communicate with ‘the enemy’ because you might just find out that a) they’re human like us and b) they’re not as bad as they’re made out to be (at least the locals seem to think so). The other pillar is repetition; the insertion of set terms and phrases at every opportunity to reinforce the impression. Its so stylized these days that its almost a joke, and the fact that we can easily go around the media wall and just talk to people directly now poses such a threat to the normal way of doing things that the big thing these days is ‘influence’ and ‘disinformation’ from ‘the other side’.

After all, if we just happen to see a random video on youTube that has normal people doing normal things in normal ways but it happens to be from a part of the world that’s constantly ‘interpreted’ for us as backward, hostile and warlike what on earth are we supposed to think? Are we just victims of propaganda? If so, who’s?

Researcher
Researcher
Oct 6, 2020 10:35 PM

The war on truth, dissent and free speech has been with us since time immemorial.

The only criticism of this article I have is the use of too many qualifiers such as “might”, “suggests” etc.

The propaganda is provable and blatant. The ties of those journalists and their employers to NGOs, governments and their military, fiscal and political agendas don’t just imply impropriety or bias, they demonstrate deliberate efforts to smear, demonize, ostracize and distract.

But you’ll have more to worry about than chemical weapons in Syria if you don’t start paying attention to the chemical and biological weapons being readied for deployment in the vaccines for you and everyone else on the planet, bar a select few.

That’s a threat to all humanity. A third strand of DNA, mRNA transcription altering DNA permanently, 24-7-365 biomonitoring with nanosensors, aluminum nanoparticles that can cross the blood brain barrier, self assembling nanowires, nanobots as well as increased radiation from smart meters, 5g antennas atop all LED street lights and 25,000 additional 5g satellites blanketing the earth will kill untold millions over the next 10 years.

Jesper
Jesper
Oct 7, 2020 1:08 PM
Reply to  Researcher

Your last paragraph is somewhat plausible but is there, or will there be, enough Energy for such a proposition?

Researcher
Researcher
Oct 8, 2020 4:37 AM
Reply to  Jesper

Enough energy for what? Which part, specifically?

Jesper
Jesper
Oct 8, 2020 7:59 AM
Reply to  Researcher

Well, the part of killing off as many as possible with nanotech and 5G. And, pardon me if I have misinterpretated you, even directing nanotech via 5G. Manufacturing, assembling and control of these systems must demand vast amounts of energy. But I’m thinking out loud here…

Researcher
Researcher
Oct 9, 2020 2:59 PM
Reply to  Jesper

They have room temperature quantum computing. The 5g antennas are in every LED street light and the constant pulsing in every smart meter. Now the satellites are going up. The nano is already made. This is a decades long plan.

Gerry
Gerry
Oct 6, 2020 9:28 PM

I try not to be deliberately crude, but there are exceptions.

It would be better for my soul, to wipe my backside in a field, after a bowel movement, with a nettle, than either a fresh copy of the huff post, times or guardian.

Though in all honesty, that is all print media is fit for.

And of course lining the bottom of a bird cage or cat litter.

austrian peter
austrian peter
Oct 7, 2020 1:13 AM
Reply to  Gerry

I think that generally the MSM are shouting to an empty auditorium. Most people I know completely ignore them. Their influence is confined to a small group of interested parties that hover around Whitehall.

sam2
sam2
Oct 6, 2020 9:08 PM

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2020/10/06/health-passports-for-ireland.aspx?cid_source=dnl&cid_medium=email&cid_content=art2ReadMore&cid=20201006Z2&mid=DM673259&rid=980715734
Health Passports for Ireland, Who’s Next?
Expansion plans are underway, and the system will likely soon be rolled out globally, in countries such as Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Kenya, with other locations following

BDBinc
BDBinc
Oct 6, 2020 8:38 PM

Media disseminate propaganda, those that enjoy power over others the economic and political monopoly have known this for some . Media ( inc social media )is used for mind control.
https://notpublicaddress.wordpress.com/2020/07/23/news-amplifies-unconsciousness/

Emily Durron
Emily Durron
Oct 6, 2020 7:46 PM

You have had further Western propaganda emerge this morning, with “a group of NGOs” making “the first step on the long road to holding Bashar al-Assad’s regime accountable for its use of chemical weapons”.

OK, it is only the Guardian, and everybody should obviously be aware that it is only a megaphone for Western State-sponsored terrorism, but in fact almost everyone believes whatever they say. How weird is that.

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Oct 6, 2020 8:54 PM
Reply to  Emily Durron

Three dodgy NGOs

The Syrian Archive – The Syrian Archive is fully independent and accepts no money from governments directly involved in the Syrian conflict.

Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) is in special consultative status with UN ECOSOC since 2011. Nothing about funding. “Memberships” https://scm.bz/en/memberships

Open Society Justice Initiative. Enough said.

Philippe
Philippe
Oct 7, 2020 9:41 AM
Reply to  Emily Durron

Patrick Henningsen refers to the Guardian as “The UK Security Services’ in-house newsletter”.

Apt and succinct.

paul
paul
Oct 6, 2020 7:35 PM

The whole of the global MSM are without exception propaganda shills serving corporate vested interests. US media is owned by six Zionist billionaires. They have zero credibility and even less integrity. Nobody believes the lies they are peddling any more. Third rate media hacks of the York/ Brammar/ Kamm/ Haynes/ Kennedy/ Luke Harding variety are bought and paid for whores singing for their supper and scrabbling for the shekels they are tossed by their spook wire pullers.
Prof. M. and the author should be gratified that they are the subject of these smears. When you’re getting a lot of flak, you know you’re over the target. However unpleasant these smears may be, when they resort to ad hominem attacks you know they’ve lost the argument. We owe a great deal to these truth tellers for blowing away the smokescreen of lies.
Keep up this tremendous work you’re doing.

crank
crank
Oct 6, 2020 7:20 PM

Panache.

S Cooper
S Cooper
Oct 6, 2020 7:03 PM

All to divert attention from the fact that “War Racketeer International” illegally occupies Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, is stealing their oil, in the two former cases, and using the land of the third to grow poppies for their heroin/opium narcotics trade. For shame!

comment image

Jenny white
Jenny white
Oct 6, 2020 7:28 PM
Reply to  S Cooper

Generals blaming the banks for their war crimes.

S Cooper
S Cooper
Oct 6, 2020 8:02 PM
Reply to  Jenny white

Yeah, well look at that. What is the old expression “straight from the horses mouth.” How many today would do that?

S Cooper
S Cooper
Oct 6, 2020 8:13 PM
Reply to  Jenny white

Is one saying he should not have come clean about his and his bosses criminal activities?

Igor
Igor
Oct 7, 2020 1:38 AM
Reply to  S Cooper

Smedley Darlington Butler was a spook. His service record is the stuff of pulp fiction, dime novels.

There was no “Business Coup” against FDR. Big Business wrote the New Deal and then served as administrators of the New Deal.

FDR’s Gold confiscation did not affect the people in the business of trading in Gold. FDR’s setting the fixed price above the current market instantly raised the value of their Gold holdings. Kaching, more Profit.

Butler’s revelations about Bankers ring as hollow as Eisenhower’s warning about the MIC, as he retired after a lifetime serving the MIC.

Gary Weglarz
Gary Weglarz
Oct 7, 2020 1:56 AM
Reply to  S Cooper

S Cooper – thanks for your post, but as I’m sure you can see it’s “troll-boy” central these days at OffG comments – and as the saying goes and as with horses – “you can lead a troll-boy to water, but you can’t make him think.”

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 6:55 PM

Very informative and useful post, thanks.

Jesper
Jesper
Oct 6, 2020 6:19 PM

When could people ever expect anything from mainstream media?! Truth is completely negated. But criminals should face justice. Just not seeing much of that.

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 6:56 PM
Reply to  Jesper

The MSM say Orange Man Bad. Many here fully agree.

S Cooper
S Cooper
Oct 6, 2020 10:25 PM

One should recognize that a PUNCH AND JUDY PSYCHOPATH SHOW quickly loses its “entertainment value and luster” when one is hungry and homeless. Then a reckoning comes.
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JuraCalling
JuraCalling
Oct 6, 2020 6:17 PM

Now and again, we see, or we have it pointed out to us, that a major publication- usually a rag- have issued an apology for printing lies, misinformation or unfounded allegations. They are usually printed on the front page but almost as a footnote; short and never accompanied by a picture.It’s the rag letting the powers that be that it had honoured the order by issuing the apology( admission of guilt and / or smearing) on it’s front page so have technically -and legally – honoured their promise to. I’m sure i speak for many when i say this little protocol is thoroughly insincere and rarely convincing as an apology or admission of fault. It’s merely a going through the motions.

Once allegations, claims or downright lies are committed to the page and then circulated for sale throughout the public domain, they are then evidence of libel and slander.All that needs to be done then is for the injured party to hire a solicitor and sue.The article is tangible evidence. The accuser would have to provide proof of their allegations in a court of law.It would cost them a lot in terms of fines , costs but also- and this is more damaging to them – in credibility, reputation and future sales of their product.

So why don’t we see more of it ? Instead of this kind of nonsense ; a he -said-she-said tennis match that ends in insincere hollow victory. If a rag or publication accuse you, sue them. Ruin them.Asking for apologies or demanding them is weak.Call a lawyer, set the wheels in motion, then get that into the public domain too.

Evidence has no agenda.It just provides truth and eliminates falsehoods.

Once this has all been undertaken what better than to have a second round.One with the intention of knocking the opponent to the canvass.

If your argument is accepted and supported by evidence in round one, then the outcome of the proceeding lend weight to you next round of exchanges.

Forget things like integrity or reputation.Pay no heed to ethics and tact. This is the 21st century, not a Dickens novel.It’s cut and thrust.People thrive on being cavalier and scandalous.It sells tickets.But if they are prepared to randomly throw victims under various buses just to enhance their bad guy reputation and fame, then they need to be thrown under a bus too.

If you sense your character has been unduly attacked or assassinated, then demand proof unless your accuser explicitly states that it is merely their opinion or conjecture.All the tittle tattle. Accusation and denials are only one rung above Twitter and Facebook troll wars on the bullshit ladder.They descend into playground spats and both, or all, sides involved end up looking petty and losing any credibility and support they were trying to maintain in the first place.

If you have truth on your side, use it.If your accuser has none-use that too.It’s a win-win. What’s the old saying – the truth has nothing to fear from inquiry.

Let’s face it. The recent ( and ongoing) censorship of inquiry from a large slice of the public is evidence of that little truism.

The elite consider all truth as terror now.Those wanting to set it free are considered terrorists.Why would they consider truth as such a dangerous beast ? Because it is of savage tooth and claw ; it has the capacity and ability to devour it’s foe.To destroy lies and dishonesty and propaganda.Or, to be more accurate, the Church Of The Snake.They fear for a reason.

The truth is like a lion. You don’t have to defend it. Let it loose. It will defend itself.”

-Saint Augustine ( Circa ages ago )

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 7:00 PM
Reply to  JuraCalling

When I question or criticise established leftist opinion, I frequently get deleted (and often insulted by offended posters). It seems leaving the left is not allowed here. Is that experience different from the ‘censorship of inquiry’ you refer to?

JuraCalling
JuraCalling
Oct 6, 2020 8:12 PM

I ignore left and right.I ignore all ‘positions’ associated with any appearance of bi-partisan politics because it’s all a facade. An illusion to keep us asleep and dreaming that our opinion makes a difference,If that was the case we’d never have been given the vote in the first place.

There is one government that control our lives and all pseudo- governments and that’s how it’s been for over 100 years. They make the rules and their puppet show translate them into laws and we have a new or altered, updated set of instructions to live by.

The Mainstream- all platforms- are controlled by the elite. Call them the illuminati, the CFL or whatever.Either way it’s a web that’s wrapped around the planet and it’s grip is tightening.It’s smothering every aspect of existence. The last thing it needs is for the majority of the world’s population to wake up to that truth. This is the real so- called ‘battle for hearts and minds‘ ; the space in no-man’s land is where the sheeple graze. That’s where the big numbers are. The biggest demographic. We need to kick their heads awake before the elite give them one or two more doses of ‘stupid’.

The elite uses it’s propaganda cleverly.It’s well versed in mental trickery.It can sometime appear to be a Beast of two heads that argues left and right. It isn’t. It’s a beast with one mind and one intention.Don’t allow the illusionists that keep taking to the stage steal too much of your attention with the white rabbits and black hats.

Butties
Butties
Oct 6, 2020 5:59 PM

“People might reasonably expect mainstream media to uphold, defend and encourage research and debate

I don’t think so, the MSM are a bought and controlled organism. The occasional Peter Hitchens type articles are there to give the illusion that the MSM uphold what you claim.

The PCR test scamdemic is the shining example that the MSM are part and parcel of the Powerful Propaganda tool to manipulate the plebs.

Brianborou
Brianborou
Oct 6, 2020 5:39 PM

The most effective form of propaganda is when the people being brainwashed don’t realise or refuse to accept they are being brainwashed.

Whether it’s all the illegal wars the “ peace loving, freedom loving, democracies “ of the West are involved in, the coups, the destruction of peoples or the latest wheeze the Scamdemic.

Any person, organisation that dares to challenge the establishment narrative, is immediately targeted by smear, innuendo, lies or any other propagandistic technique to suppress the truth.

The most dangerous thing in the world to the establishment aka the Transnational financiers is the masses knowing the truth hence no expense, no effort, no lie is spared in order to squash it.

They are terrified of their malevolent deeds been brought into the light.

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 7:09 PM
Reply to  Brianborou

Hear hear. Re effective brainwashing; “It’s far easier to fool a man than to convince him he’s been fooled”, said Mark Twain (allegedly). But OffG frequently deletes me if I dare suggest their favoured opinions (eg capitalism is evil, Trump is our enemy) may be false, that they have been fooled into attacking the wrong targets. I thought this site supported free discussion, not free discussion for leftists only.

Sophie - Admin1
Admin
Sophie - Admin1
Oct 6, 2020 7:22 PM

Stop lying. Your comments are NEVER deleted. We do not delete comments unless they are obvious spam, racism or empty ad hom. Plus I am the sole mod here most of the time lately, and if I don’t delete something no one does (the eds don’t moderate the comments). So I can guarantee you have not been deleted.

Jenny white
Jenny white
Oct 6, 2020 7:29 PM

Delaying so nobody can read it is deleting.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 6, 2020 7:45 PM

I_left_the_left is clearly a troll constantly repeating the same moronic mantra. Unlike certain other commenters who are passionate, this one’s minimal repetition is either the output of a paid operative or the output of some software language generator.

Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Oct 6, 2020 8:53 PM
Reply to  George Mc

Agreed, this person simply wants attention, in fact he might for all I know just be a machine that churning out the same idiotic drivel. But I always have a belly-laugh when he starts making reference to the dreaded ‘Cultural Marxists’, including George Soros! Whenever anyone uses that turn of phrase you can tell they know jack-shit about anything.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 6, 2020 10:14 PM
Reply to  Donald Duck

Re: the “Cultural Marxists” rant, I’m waiting for him to get to the bit where Adorno wrote the songs for the Beatles! And no I didn’t make that up:

https://rocknerd.co.uk/2016/10/13/theodor-adorno-of-the-frankfurt-school-wrote-all-the-beatles-songs-as-a-cultural-marxist-assault-on-america-possibly/

Gary Weglarz
Gary Weglarz
Oct 7, 2020 2:03 AM
Reply to  George Mc

Spot on George Mc. When he’s not trolling us, he’s trolling admin. Sadly our comment’s section has become often times simply one troll posting support and likes for the post of yet another troll, so completely routine, predictable and absurd their nonsense has become. It is however a compliment to OffG that the sites warrants such attention.

Victor G.
Victor G.
Oct 10, 2020 1:38 PM
Reply to  Gary Weglarz

These cats get paid by the post/words.
It’s a shame but OffG is a money maker for them. Let’s not engage them. Let’s not feed them. Most likely they’ll move on …

ame
ame
Oct 6, 2020 9:48 PM

i_left_the_left USES several different names on this site

Brianborou
Brianborou
Oct 6, 2020 7:40 PM

As Shakespeare said The Lady doeth protest to much. It seems your credibility is slipping awaaaaaaaay.

JoeC
JoeC
Oct 6, 2020 10:26 PM

Since you’ve left the left, do us all a favor and leave OffG. Spare us as a courtesy. If I claimed a site was deleting my comments I would leave said site.

Awaiting for approval
Awaiting for approval
Oct 6, 2020 5:01 PM

Awaiting for approval
Awaiting for approval
Awaiting for approval
Awaiting for approval
Awaiting for approval
Awaiting for approval
……………..vanishes

Tell me about it.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 6, 2020 5:08 PM

So what exactly is it that is “awaiting approval”? Tell me about it.

Store lake
Store lake
Oct 6, 2020 6:44 PM
Reply to  George Mc

It is the means of censorship used here. They delay them for hours, using the header ‘awaiting for approval’ which means they will never be read, or they dump your comment into as virtual bin, never to be seen again, depending on what you say. And of course discussions on censorship are always very heavily censored.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 6, 2020 7:36 PM
Reply to  Store lake

You entered a comment of 56 words. So you had enough to make some substantial point. But all you did was complain about censorship. I’m still waiting to hear about what is being censored.

Siver fot
Siver fot
Oct 8, 2020 12:20 AM
Reply to  George Mc

You’re not very bright are you.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 8, 2020 8:03 AM
Reply to  Siver fot

Six more words and still nothing.

Philippe
Philippe
Oct 10, 2020 2:13 PM
Reply to  George Mc

I got called a dumb fuck (I’m assuming that’s what it was – some of the keys on this individual’s keyboard don’t seem to work properly).

I reckon that puts me ahead of you in the race to be vilified. You’re going to have to try much harder if you want to keep up 🙂

Philippe
Philippe
Oct 7, 2020 9:55 AM
Reply to  Store lake

I have, several times, experienced the “awaiting for approval” situation.

I don’t, as a rule, post extreme comments and certainly nothing that would contravene any site ‘guidelines’. The comments/replies usually turn up at some point. To be honest, I don’t really check.

It seems to me that this is just something that happens to everybody, at some point; it’s just that most people don’t go on about it. You may accuse me of being naive. I don’t believe I am.

Further, I am not so up myself that I fervently believe that everybody else not only has the right to my opinion, but relies upon it to further their understanding of a given topic. If nobody reads my comments or replies, so what? I comment more for my own satisfaction than in the belief that I have anything vital to say.

Perhaps if those who keep banging on about being censored somehow managed to get a sense of perspective, they would be a lot happier in general.

Siver fot
Siver fot
Oct 8, 2020 12:19 AM
Reply to  Philippe

You do know this is an article about censorship right? you du*b fu*k.

Philippe
Philippe
Oct 8, 2020 6:11 AM
Reply to  Siver fot

😏

Thank you for sharing your insight.

Victor G.
Victor G.
Oct 10, 2020 1:40 PM
Reply to  Philippe

Trolls can’t monetize posts that are not timely. Hence the vitriolic claims.
Do not feed them!

Philippe
Philippe
Oct 10, 2020 2:10 PM
Reply to  Victor G.

I usually try not to.

Sometimes I just can’t resist though with people who compare genuine censorship – Syria, covid etc – and what they perceive to be censorship on a site that routinely puts up with whatever shit they feel like throwing on any given day.

Lack of perspective is an understatement.

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 7:11 PM
Reply to  George Mc

My criticism of leftist opinion doesn’t usually await approval, only swift deletion. That’s how much OffG supports freedom and critical thinking.

Jenny white
Jenny white
Oct 6, 2020 7:33 PM

I have had comments that never reappear from ‘awaiting for approval’ but I have not seen many comments disappear recently, I think they stopped that a few months back.

Philippe
Philippe
Oct 7, 2020 10:02 AM

The question you should ask yourself is this: “Will anybody notice that my reply/comment hasn’t appeared; is there a gaping hole in the narrative that only I can fill?”

That should put your angst into perspective.

If you believe the world will stop rotating without your wisdom to drive it, then I can’t really offer any useful advice except perhaps: Get out more, find a hobby, get over yourself.

Victor G.
Victor G.
Oct 10, 2020 1:43 PM

It must be tough waiting there with baited breath to see your insightful posts appear. And crushing when, after hours they don’t …
Breathe freely, dude. Get your own blog. You have so much to say!

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 6, 2020 3:55 PM

I came to this page via Twitter and got that “Warning” sign again. I think the warning sign needs to be rewritten in the manner of that JP Awaken guy:

WARNING: This site may cause you to change your mind. And changing your mind is uncomfortable – and a potential cause of COVID.

Awaiting for approval
Awaiting for approval
Oct 6, 2020 5:02 PM
Reply to  George Mc

Warning: this site may be hijacking to the truth to lead you into the arms of the far-right.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 6, 2020 5:07 PM

And now the pincer movement from the other side to steer back into the useful idiot pseudo-Left.

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 7:13 PM

Oh you must mean evil me. Don’t worry, OffG knows what to do with my posts. Thankfully they aren’t Stalin or Xi, whose reactions would be less moderate. (PS ‘non-leftist’ doesn’t mean ‘far-right’).

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 7:12 PM
Reply to  George Mc

I try changing leftist minds here, but frequent deletion makes it more of a challenge.

George Mc
George Mc
Oct 6, 2020 7:30 PM

Yes – the “left/right” issue and the “deletion” issue. I smell lots of gaslighting.

Victor G.
Victor G.
Oct 10, 2020 1:44 PM
Reply to  George Mc

No George, it’s just gas of the intestinal variety!

Grace Johns
Grace Johns
Oct 7, 2020 1:18 AM

We here do NOT need you changing our minds. We are all very selective about who gets access

Steve Hayes
Steve Hayes
Oct 6, 2020 3:49 PM

When Admiral West expressed scepticism during a BBC interview regarding the accusation that Asad was guilty of the alleged chemical weapons attack, Annita McVeigh, the BBC anchor, rebuked him, stating, “We’re in an information war with Russia.” https://viewsandstories.blogspot.com/2018/04/bbc-asserts-it-is-propaganda.html

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Oct 6, 2020 3:59 PM
Reply to  Steve Hayes

Thanks for reminding me of her name: @annita_mcveigh). BBC Presenter, busy mum, school governor with special interest in literacy.

Notice she doesn’t say journalist. But she should add clothes horse and propaganda drone.

Moneycircus
Moneycircus
Oct 6, 2020 9:09 PM
Reply to  Moneycircus

That clothes horse McVeigh makes me bray to this day.

How dare she accuse the former head of the British Navy of channeling Russia… when she, Annita Nit, is a nobody.

I’m not giving undue credit to the military. It’s simply that she has no grounding… it’s not as if she had 20 years as a foreign correspondent under her belt and had experienced, at first-hand, a Foreign Office authorized tour of the world. She had no knowledge… and no right to open her Weetabix hole.

Who the hell is Annita ‘Nit’ McVeigh-Neigh except an on-screen Twitter drone who takes orders?

But answer came there none.

If you disagree with me, or think me harsh, Go Fund her nose bag.

I_left_the_left
I_left_the_left
Oct 6, 2020 7:18 PM
Reply to  Steve Hayes

To authoritarians, criticism of official truths is dangerous treason.

Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Oct 6, 2020 8:55 PM

Yes, particularly those ‘cultural marxists’ under the bed!