Second inspector contradicts Syrian gas attack story. [View all]
I was waiting to see if this was at least going to be reported in a more mainstream outlet, but it seems like the answer is no. This is in reference to the alleged chemical attack by Syria in 2018 in the area of Douma.
Earlier this year an engineering report was leaked that suggested the gas canisters had been manually placed. This second inspector claims chemical analysis information was removed from the report , under pressure from 3 unidentified US people, that showed there was no sign of a chemical attack. No signs of chemical agent were found in the dead bodies and samples taken from the environment showed chlorine levels were very low, consistent with normal environmental levels.
Make of it what you will, but this seems like important information. It wouldn't change the fact that Assad is a bad guy, but this inspector wants the inspectors to be able to address the conference of member states later this month.
by Jonathan Steele
https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/11/15/the-opcw-and-douma-chemical-weapons-watchdog-accused-of-evidence-tampering-by-its-own-inspectors/
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The inspector went public with his allegations at a recent all-day briefing in Brussels for people from several countries working in disarmament, international law, military operations, medicine and intelligence. They included Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur on Palestine and Major-General John Holmes, a distinguished former commander of Britain’s special forces. The session was organised by the Courage Foundation, a New York-based fund which supports whistle-blowers. I attended as an independent reporter.
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When the inspector’s report was submitted to senior management, silence ensued. A few weeks later on the eve of the expected publication the inspector who had drafted the report discovered that management was going to issue a redacted version on June 22 2018 without the knowledge of most of the Douma Fact-Finding Mission. Its conclusions contradicted the inspector’s version. By then the inspector had learnt that the results of the quantitative analysis of the samples from the allegedly attacked buildings had been delivered to management from the test laboratories but not passed on to the inspectors. He got sight of the results which indicated that the levels of COCs were much lower than what would be expected in environmental samples. They were comparable to and even lower than those given in the World Health Organisation’s guidelines on recommended permitted levels of trichlorophenol and other COCs in drinking water. The redacted version of the report made no mention of the findings.
Alex described this omission as “deliberate and irregular”. “Had they been included, the public would have seen that the levels of COCs found were no higher than you would expect in any household environment”, he said.
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On July 4 there was another intervention. Fairweather, the chef de cabinet, invited several members of the drafting team to his office. There they found three US officials who were cursorily introduced without making clear which US agencies they represented. The Americans told them emphatically that the Syrian regime had conducted a gas attack, and that the two cylinders found on the roof and upper floor of the building contained 170 kilograms of chlorine. The inspectors left Fairweather’s office, feeling that the invitation to the Americans to address them was unacceptable pressure and a violation of the OPCW’s declared principles of independence and impartiality.
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If true, it wouldn't be the first time the OPCW was bullied by the US. José Bustani was removed as head of the OPCW during the run up to the Iraq war due to pressure from none other than John Bolton. His crime? He was trying to get Iraq to join the OPCW, which would have granted them full access to inspect his chemical weapons which Bolton and the Bush administration planned to use as a pretext for war.
= new reply since forum marked as read
