4538-ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? | View Thread

IS CANCUN SAFE? 14 KILLED IN BRUTAL CRIME SPREE AT MEXICAN RESORT TOWN

ON 4/13/18 AT 7:52 AM

Mexico’s most popular tourist town Cancun has been rocked by a record number of killings in a single day as drug trafficking gangs step up violence fueled by the U.S. opioid epidemic.

On April 4 alone, nine people were killed, almost twice the previous record of five, with a total of 14 people being executed in 36 hours, Noticaribe reported.

The news outlet reported on April 11 that the corpse of a woman, aged around 40, was found beaten, with a rope around her neck and a note that said “go to hell.” These letters left by bodies are called “narco mantas” and are often used by cartel gangs.

Tourists walk on Caracol beach in Cancun. Mexico's most popular tourist town has been hit with a record number of murders due to rival gang turf wars.REUTERS/GERARDO GARCIA

However the U.S. Department of State has not advised against travel to Cancun, host to around 4.8 million visitors per year, because “homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations”.

Last month, it did warn against travel in the states of Sinaloa, Michoacan, Colima, Guerrero and Tamaulipas, issuing them with a “do not travel” advisory, the same warning it would give to prospective travelers to war-torn Syria.

Also, the U.S. consulate in Cancun was closed temporarily following a tourist ferry explosion in February, which injured 24 people. In March, cartel boss Alfonso Contreras Espinoza was shot dead in hospital.

The British government’s travel advice warns there are frequent shootings in Playa del Carmen and downtown Cancun and says that visitors should “monitor local advice, remain vigilant and follow the advice of the local authorities.”

U.S.A. Today reported that the spike in violence is due to cartels fighting to seize opium-producing poppy territories for heroin production.

Leticia Rodriguez Lara is the alleged leader of the drug gang that dominates the city and faces trial on drug trafficking charges, along with her son. Known as "Dona Lety,” she is said to be a former police officer and allegedly heads the gang that controls drug sales in Cancun and Playa del Carmen.

She was arrested last August and is accused of bribing officials and managing a drug network linked to the notorious Sinaloa cartel, headed by El Chapo.

Cancun’s murder rate has doubled. So far in 2018, 113 people have been executed. In 2017, Mexico had its record number of murders on record, with 29,158 homicides.

(newsweek)

From the moment White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly first informed him late on the night of April 7 that dozens of people in a leafy suburb of Damascus had died choking and foaming at the mouth from another suspected gas attack, President Trump was determined to strike back in Syria.

For him, the only question was how.

This was a sudden change of tune for a president who only a few days earlier had said he wanted to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria’s intractable war and, as he put it at an event in Ohio, “let other people take care of it now.”

But the images of last weekend’s atrocities haunted Trump, White House officials said, triggering six straight days of tense deliberations with his newly reorganized national security team — as well as coalition partners from France and the United Kingdom — over military options to retaliate against the alleged perpetrator he derided as “Animal Assad.”

The result was 105 missiles raining down on three of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons facilities Friday night. The morning after, Trump tweeted — perhaps fatefully, considering President George W. Bush’s premature declaration of victory in Iraq — “Mission Accomplished!”

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, left, joined by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., brief reporters at the Pentagon on April 13, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

Even with Trump’s jubilant response to the strikes, several advisers close to the president said they had no indication there was a long-term strategy for the region — and he seems essentially in the same position now as he was after last April’s attack on Syria.

The missile strikes Friday night came at an especially traumatic moment. The commander in chief was increasingly agitated over the past week as legal and personal crises converged around him, exhibiting flashes of raw anger, letting off steam on Twitter and sometimes seeming distracted from his war planning.

[James B. Comey’s memoir: Trump fixates on proving lewd dossier allegations false]

As the military brass put together the final details on the Syria strike plan, for instance, Trump was following the New York court proceedings involving his personal lawyer Michael Cohen and was fixated on media coverage of fired FBI director James B. Comey’s new memoir. The book paints a scathing portrait of the president’s conduct in office and character, and Trump was personally involved Friday in drafting the scorching statement attacking Comey that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders read from her podium Friday, according to a senior administration official.

Friday’s surgical strikes were more restrained than the images Trump tried to conjure with his bellicose tweets previewing the action. Last Sunday, he warned Assad and his government’s backers, Russia and Iran: “Big price to pay.” On Wednesday, he wrote that missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ ”

But in closed-door national security meetings, the tone from top officials was decidedly more nuanced. Hanging over the discussions was concern that a U.S. attack in Syria might provoke a conflict with Russia, which had threatened to retaliate.

The absence of a clear strategy in Syria complicated the discussions. Trump had campaigned as a noninterventionist and vowed to withdraw from Middle East entanglements that he decried as costing American lives and treasure.

Cruise missiles as well as U.S., French and British manned aircraft targeted sites in and around Damascus and Homs. (The Washington Post)

And yet to Trump’s national security team, action of some kind seemed to be a requirement, as officials said they listened to the president deride his predecessor, Barack Obama, for sometimes discussing possible military action and then not delivering it. At a White House dinner last Tuesday, Trump opined that the problems in Syria were caused “because Obama did not enforce his red lines,” according to one attendee, Alan Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor.

Trump was insistent that the strikes impair the production of chemical weapons in Syria, and hoped that would prevent Assad from launching future attacks on his population, according to White House officials. He wanted to inflict more damage than the largely symbolic air assault he ordered in 2017 on a Syrian airfield, which Assad’s forces quickly repaired. After the attack, military officials took pains to present Friday’s operation as larger than the last time, emphasizing that the number of munitions used was roughly double.

As Trump said Friday night in announcing the strikes from the Diplomatic Room of the White House, “The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons.”

But as final options were presented, Trump was concerned about U.S. missiles harming civilians. When chemical weapons storage and research facilities were established as the targets, officials said, Trump sought assurances that hitting stockpiles would not let off plumes that could injure or kill people who lived nearby.

Military officials said Saturday that they believe that no one — not even Syrian government personnel — was killed in the attack, which struck nonresidential facilities in the middle of the night.

Although options for more-expansive actions were also discussed, the plan that Trump ultimately endorsed, with a mix of air- and sea-launched missiles and sophisticated standoff airstrikes, was designed to minimize risk to U.S. and allied personnel and lessen the chances of unwanted escalation, officials said.

National security adviser John Bolton, in his first week on the job, was a hawkish voice urging a meaningful show of force that would deter Assad. Trump also heard from some hawks on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who said he urged the president to forgo his plan to pull back troop levels in Syria.

“I fear when the dust settles, this strike will be seen as a weak military response and Assad will have paid a small price for using chemicals yet again,” Graham said.

Trump was characteristically impatient and wanted the military to take action quickly, officials said, but Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, steered a more deliberative and careful process.

Mattis and Dunford articulated to Trump the risks involved with operating in Syria, including the possibility of escalation with Russia and Iran, or an unintended event that might drag the United States further into Syria’s war, officials said.

“We were not out to expand this,” Mattis told reporters just after the attack. “We were very precise and proportionate.”

Military leaders calculated that retaliation from Syria or its allies could come immediately or in a harder-to-detect way, like the insurgent-style attacks that U.S. forces had faced from Iranian-backed militias during the Iraq War.

Despite Trump’s urgency to punish the Assad regime, the president allowed Mattis and his military leaders several days to coordinate an allied attack with the French and British, which the Pentagon argued would require naval maneuvers and target coordination among the three countries.

Military officials also said they needed time to develop the right targets. While officials had been watching known Syrian chemical sites on and off for years, aerial surveillance time has been dedicated mostly to other areas of Syria, where the United States and allied local forces continue to battle the Islamic State. That meant the U.S. military needed to refresh its intelligence on the chemical facilities before targeteers could build the “target packages” that would guide the operation.

As military leaders were busy plotting a strike plan in Washington, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley emerged almost immediately as a voice of the administration’s outrage over Assad’s suspected chemical attack — as well as over what she called Russian “disinformation” to protect its Mideast ally.

Haley used her position at the United Nations to place the American response in an international context, condemning both Syria and Russia during an emergency U.N. Security Council session on Monday. Hers was a display of traditional American diplomacy — fierce in the defense of civilians allegedly harmed by their own government, confrontational with Russia and mindful of the political and public relations needs of European allies — in an administration that frequently ignores regular diplomatic order.

“Only a monster targets civilians and then ensures that there are no ambulances to transfer the wounded,” Haley said Monday.

As Haley spoke alongside her counterparts from Britain and France, coordinating her remarks with theirs, Trump was on the phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron to forge a coalition.

Spending the week at the White House with a pared back public schedule, Trump was often distracted.

On Monday morning, after learning that FBI agents had raided Cohen’s office, hotel room and residence, Trump stewed with anger the remainder of the day. He railed to advisers and friends that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation had grown far too expansive, complained about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and mused about firing Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. Officials said that Trump made little progress that day on Syria strategy.

But the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria lingered in his mind. On Wednesday, officials said, Trump awoke to learn on Fox News Channel that Russian officials had crowed that they could shoot down any American missiles fired on Syria. He vowed on Twitter, “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ ”

Trump’s apparent announcement of a missile attack surprised and rattled military leaders. Though the strategy talks were moving in the direction of military action, officials said, no decision had been made about whether, when or how to strike in Syria. It was not until Thursday that military leaders presented Trump final options on targets.

Looming over the discussions all week were differing levels of comfort among U.S. officials with the intelligence surrounding the reported April 7 attack in Douma, just outside the capital of Damascus.

Almost immediately, military officials identified the killings as more serious than other, smaller-scale chemical incidents that Syrian activists and medical workers had reported in recent months. Within hours of learning of the Douma incident through social media, military officials flagged it for their superiors and in short order began exploring retaliatory options for Trump.

At U.S. Central Command in Tampa, officials in a dedicated planning cell dusted off earlier scenarios and discussed what sort of action might be taken. In Washington, Mattis and other senior officials talked through a possible strike with the White House. And as Trump conveyed more urgency on Twitter, the pace of Pentagon planning intensified.

As they prepared to initiate the strike, U.S. commanders stepped up security measures for U.S. troops across the Middle East, putting a U.S. force of about 2,000 inside Syria, on high alert.

Mattis for several days resisted concluding definitively that Assad’s government was responsible for the Douma attack, officials said, saying he had not seen enough evidence that the Syrian government was responsible until last Thursday.

US Bombs Syria To Cover Up Lack Of Evidence On Chem Attacks, Discredits Own Claims By Doing So

APRIL 14, 2018

By Brandon Turbeville

After yet another example of brazen Western aggression against Syria, the United States, UK, and France are once again demonstrating to the world who exactly is the biggest threat to world peace. The entire March 14 assault on Syria by the three powers has been justified by the West as a reaction to an alleged chemical weapons attack that allegedly took place in Douma weeks ago.

The word “allegedly” is incredibly important here because not only is it merely alleged that the Syrian military conducted a chemical weapons attack, it is also merely alleged that the attack even took place. More on that in a minute.

But during the debate about the chemical weapons attack – who conducted it and if it happened at all – the West has claimed to be one hundred percent sure with no doubt whatsoever that the Syrian military personally directed by Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against civilians in a battle it was fighting and winning against terrorists at precisely the worst possible opportunity to do so. This is despite virtually all of the evidence to the contrary.

The Russian government maintained that not only was Assad innocent of the crime he was being accused of but that the West essentially fabricated the whole event.

So with that in mind, let us consider for a moment that the United States is correct that Assad used chemical weapons against his own people and thus still maintains chemical weapons. The United States claims it knows where these weapons stockpiles are and where research is being conducted on those weapons. Indeed, these are the very facilities targeted by the U.S., UK, and France during the March 14th operations.

So the question now remains – if Syria’s chemical weapons research and storage facilities were just bombed by the United States, why weren’t the civilians living around these areas currently dying from the chemical weapons that were dispersed as a result of the airstrikes?

Why weren’t there explosions of chemical gas and chemical agents in any of the facilities bombed by the “coalition?”

The answer is simple – there were no chemical weapons in those facilities just like there are no chemical weapons in the possession of the Syrian government.

America’s terrorists, however, are another story, having had access to and having used chemical weapons on a number of occasions.

Another “convenient” aspect of the timing of the attack was the fact that the bombing took place before OPCW inspectors could arrive in Douma, at the request of the Syrian and Russian governments, in order to conduct an investigation as to whether or not chemical weapons were used at all and, if so, what kind. The American-led attack was a possible attempt to destroy the crime scene and draw some blood from Syria before the OPCW team could evaluate the American claims. Fortunately, however, the OPCW inspectors have arrived in Damascus and will shortly be making their way to Douma. The question is whether or not there will be anything for them to inspect as the damage from the Western war crime is yet to be fully analyzed.

As Vanessa Beeley wrote in her article for 21st Century Wire (which was conveniently attacked and taken down in the days leading up to the strike against Syria) in her article entitled, “The Egregious Western Media ‘Chemical Weapon’ Fraud In Eastern Ghouta,”

The ‘Chemical Weapon’ narrative has sustained the conflict in Syria with alleged attacks being attributed almost entirely to the Syrian government, the Syrian Arab Army and Russia. The seven year information war has been ferocious with NATO-aligned media, think tanks and self appointed experts such as Eliot Higgins and Bellingcat doing all in their power to reinforce the “Syria did it” narrative.
If we were to map the chemical weapon claims in each terrorist held area undergoing liberation by the Syrian Arab Army, we would clearly see that the claims are commensurate with the pressure felt by the terrorist factions as the SAA closes in on their stronghold. In other words, as the SAA nears victory and liberation of Syrian civilians we are expected to believe they would use chemical weapons against those civilians in an urban area which is even more densely packed as the terrorists withdraw into a shrinking combat zone, taking the civilians with them as human shields and hostages.
It appears to be a propaganda tactic employed by the terrorist factions to gain time, secure a ceasefire and to call for a No Fly Zone and further “humanitarian” intervention from the regime-change-war alliance. A ceasefire allows the militants to organise themselves and to re-arm. We know that terroristchemical weapon attacks against the civilian population in West Aleppo were never given equivalent importance by the same “humanitarian” minded nations, in fact they were largely ignored. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that crying “chemical weapon” is a tactic designed to protect the NATO-member-state assets occupying Syrian territory.
We need only cast our minds back to August 2013 and the extraordinary BBC Panorama report on the “Napalm-like school bombing” in Urem-Al-Kubra, Aleppo province – Saving Syria’s Children
Independent journalist, Robert Stuart, has masterfully and forensically exposed this report to be nothing more than war theatre orchestrated by the BBC in order ratchet up UK military intervention in Syria, coinciding with the time of David Cameron‘s vote in Parliament to join the US bombing campaign in Syria “to deter the use of chemical weapons” by the Syrian government (of course). This BBC report came hot on the heels of the alleged chemical weapon attack in Eastern Ghouta in August 2013 which was immediately blamed upon the Syrian government. Since then, that claim has been discredited by a number of analysts and independent experts.
This alleged attack, reported by BBC Panorama, was naturally accompanied by the familiar witness testimony effectively calling for the World to intervene and bomb for “Peace” – “Dear United Nations, you are calling peace, you are calling for peace. What kind of peace are you calling for? Don’t you see this, don’t you see this? What do you need to see?” from the Telegraph article at the time.
Fast forward to Eastern Ghouta which is now 90% liberated from the many terrorist factions that have occupied this eastern suburb of Damascus since 2012 and we have seen an uptick in the claims of chemical weapon attacks as the SAA noose draws tighter around the terrorist enclaves. Most of those claims are being circulated by the Al Qaeda auxiliary organisation, the White Helmets.

I highly recommend accessing Beeley’s article, which contains numerous photos from Ghouta after the area had been liberated, taken by Beeley herself, that serve as evidence of Western funding and supplying of these terrorists as well as the terrorist chemical weapons capability.

Access her article, “The Egregious Western Media ‘Chemical Weapon’ Fraud In Eastern Ghouta,”here.

Beeley writes,

We entered the district of Erbin and we were shown a bomb making factory and a chemical weapons facility, both above ground and not part of the elaborate tunnel systems that had housed terrorist field hospitals and equipment store rooms among other elements of the terrorist military apparatus.
We were told that much of the building had still not been cleared of mines and booby traps so we were warned to stay close and to not wander off. Some of the bags containing the chemical ingredients were still booby trapped and therefore it was not possible to pick them up to show the labels more clearly. It was also very dark but I did my best to photograph everything I saw there.
. . . . .
Among the documents found in this makeshift laboratory were instructions to manufacture a napalm hand grenade and directions are given how best to mix the components. I do not want to publish such step by step instructions so I will only show part of the notebook in my photos. There are also handwritten notes showing how to make the grenade more deadly by adding nails and White Phosphorous to the grenade to ensure that the incendiary effect lasts longer and is more intense. The notebook states that this mixture is known as OB2 in military terms.
. . . . .
We were told that another document found on site explains how to calibrate the mortars to target specific geolocation coordinates in Damascus and in the surrounding countryside:
. . . . .
A final document that we were shown apparently gives the names of the terrorist group members who were in charge of this facility:
. . . . .
There were a number of sacks and barrels of ingredients, not all were easy to identify by the brand name on the bags and we were told that the terrorists had rebagged some of the ingredients. One of the bags contained the chemical compound RDX.
“RDX is the organic compound with the formula (O2NNCH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive.[2] Chemically, it is classified as a nitramide, chemically similar toHMX. A more energetic explosive than TNT, it was used widely in World War II.” ~ Wikipedia.
. . . . .
Alongside these chemical ingredients which will be shown in a photo gallery at the end of this article were boxes of rockets that would be packed with the chemical and exposive components. At least one box of these specialised missiles was still booby trapped according to our guide so were unable to examine them closely:
. . . . .
We saw shelves still laden with equipment, smaller hand grenades and missiles. It was clear that this facility had been operational for some time.
. . . . .
We saw a barrel containing what looked like tar next to the chemical ingredients and rockets. An expert who was with us said it was a mix of oil, soap and other ingredients that are used to coat the missile to ensure the chemical package sticks to its target more effectively. This was a factory of death… where the terrorist factions had designed some of the most sadistic weaponry possible to be used against civilian targets:
. . . . .
The question must be asked, who used chemical weapons in Syria and in Eastern Ghouta? It is a question that has not been asked by the majority of mainstream media journalists from the West and that includes Frederick Pleitgen of CNN who saw that chemical weapon factory and yet failed to mention it during his live broadcast last night during the widespread accusations of Syrian Arab Army chemical weapon use in Douma during the final hours of Jaish Al Islam’s occupation.
. . . . .
On the 23rd March, for example, Qatar’s mouthpiece, Al Jazeera ran with the headline “Dozens burned to death in Syria attacks on Eastern Ghouta” . In the article the testimony of the White Helmets was taken without question despite their history of whitewashing the crimes and atrocities committed by the terrorist factions, dominated by Al Qaeda, against Syrian civilians:
“Sources on the ground and rescuers from the Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group also known as the White Helmets, said on Friday that at least 37 victims burned to death after air raids carrying napalm gas hit the shelter in the town of Irbin.”
I was told by people I spoke with, in Erbin, that the terrorist factions had carried out the attacks on civilians in that district in order to blame it on the Syrian government, army and Russia.
While there is no way to fully verify these on the ground reports, it must raise the question – why do western media repeat the narrative fed to them by western backed & financed groups like the White Helmets who are proven to be closely affiliated to extremist groups including Al Qaeda and who consistently produce questionable videos and accounts of events that serve in the main to protect the terrorist factions and reinforce the regime change narrative for their sponsor states.
Why is there never any context to the chemical weapon reports that intensify in line with SAA military advances? So just at the point of victory, we are led to believe that they will use ineffectual chemical weapons against the civilians they are tasked to liberate and whose lives they always attempt to preserve even if it means delaying their final attacks on terrorist centres.
The use of chemical weapons and the subsequent corporate media hysteria and sensationalism serves only the imperialist West and their assets on the ground in Syria, the terrorist factions.
An official source in Damascus told SANA this morning:
“The chemical fabrications, which did not serve the terrorists and their sponsors in Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta, will not serve them today either, as the Syrian state is determined to end terrorism in every square inch of Syrian territory”
“Each time the SAA advances and is victorious against the terrorists, the countries who support the terrorist factions raise the flag of chemical weapons which is a complete false flag, as Syria had relinquished its chemical weapons in 2013 when it signed the non-proliferation treaty and completely respected the terms of that agreement in 2014.” ~ Dr Ayssar Midani, Damascus
. . . . .
We shoud also remember that on the 28th February 2018, Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, New York, Dr Bashar Al Jaafari reported that on the 20th February Turkey “had transported barrels of weapons-grade chlorine into Idlib towns run by Turkish terrorists. One school has been turned into a warehouse of these chemical weapons. The terrorists are preparing to use these weapons on a large scale and to accuse the SAR. The conspiracy is meant to coincide with the Eighty-Seventh Executive Council of the OPCW meeting, beginning on 13 March.”

Beeley witnessed all this in the company of mainstream Western journalists who either reported the information with a heavy dose of spin and outright deceit or ignored it completely.

See also Vanessa Beeley’s on-the-ground report/interview with UK Column to see the further deconstruction of the Ghouta chemical weapons narrative here – SYRIA: New Details Emerge White Helmets Staging Alleged ‘Chemical Attack’

Terrorists in Syria have, for years, had the ability to manufacture, produce, and use chemical weapons. Back in December of 2012, after the death squads managed to capture a chlorine factory inside Syria, the Syrian government actually issued a warning that the death squads might attempt to use chemical weapons of this nature in their battle to overthrow and oppress the government and people of Syria respectively. The Syrian Foreign Ministry stated, “Terrorist groups may resort to using chemical weapons against the Syrian people … after having gained control of a toxic chlorine factory.”

Likewise, the chemical weapons attacks in Ghouta were initially blamed on Assad and the Syrian government but later found to be the work of the Western-backed terrorists who had gone so far as to capture civilians from Lattakia and use them as human stage props for video footage and propaganda purposes.

It was also reported in August of 2012 that the death squads had managed to capture a missile site belonging to the Syrian army which contained chemical weapons. The death squads erroneously claimed that the reason for attacking the site was to prevent the Assad government from using the weapons against members of the “opposition.” Regardless, one does not have to speculate very much as to the possibilities available here – in June, the death squads gain access to chemical weapons. In August, they gain access to a delivery mechanism in the form of missiles.

It is just such a coincidence that should cause one to examine another event which occurred shortly before the assault on the missile site. In July 2012, Tony Cartalucci of LandDestroyerReport, described “reports of so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’ militants seen trying on gas masks, along with reports of Libyan chemical weapon caches & equipment being discovered in Damascus.”

Together with the acquisition of the missile delivery capability by virtue of the conquering of the Syrian missile site and the possession of the chemical weapons themselves via Libya, the acquisition of gas masks points to the preparation for the launch of an actual chemical attack, or at least the possibility of it, on the part of the death squads.

As one of the death squad members stated to Reuters in April, 2012, “The rebels are getting better at bomb-making; as you know, desperation is the mother of invention.” Reuters also commented that the death squads were now able to develop “more sophisticated bombs” due to “rare outside donations” although Reuters did not attempt to name those mysterious sources.

In December 2012, a video was obtained by the Syria Tribune and subsequently released in their report and posted on YouTube which allegedly shows the NATO-backed death squads testing chemical weapons on “lab” rabbits.

As the Syria Tribune describes the video,

The video (see here) starts with several scenes showing chemical containers with Tekkim labels (Tekkim is a Turkish chemicals company) and some lab equipment, while playing Jihadists chants in the background. A glass box then appears with two rabbits inside, with a poster on the wall behind it reading The Almighty Wind Brigade (Kateebat A Reeh Al Sarsar). A person wearing a lab mask then mixes chemicals in a beaker in the glass box, and we see some gas emitting from the beaker. About a minute later, the rabbits start to have random convulsions and then die. The person says: You saw what happened? This will be your fate, you infidel Alawites, I swear by ALLAH to make you die like these rabbits, one minute only after you inhale the gas.

The Syria Tribune also comments that “Judging from the rabbits’ reaction, the gas must be a nerve agent. The number of containers, if not a bluff, indicates ability to produce a considerable amount of this gas. Deployment could be by means of a smoke generator placed in the target area, an explosion, possibly a suicide one, of a ”chemmed” car, or simply by using a humidifier.”

In March, 2013, yet another YouTube video was released which contained a clip of a second “test” of chemical weapons on captive rabbits by the death squads.

The video also contains an alleged audio recording of a phone conversation between two Free Syrian Army fighters discussing the “details of a plan to carry out a chemical weapons attack capable of impacting an area the size of one kilometer.”

The recording of the phone conversation is supposed to be between two FSA terrorists, one located in Syria and the other outside of the country. The terrorist inside Syria, Abu Hassan, asks the one on the other end of the line to send a message to Sheikh Suleiman, a then-terrorist-held military base in Aleppo, and asked for “two chemical bombs . . . . phosphoric” so that they could “finish this whole thing.”

“I want them to be effective,” states Hassan, adding, “The radius of the strike, or reach of the gases, has to be 1km.”

The video also contains a clip of the death squads openly announcing their plans to engage in chemical weapons attacks, all the while surrounded by bottles of nitric acid and other substances.

With all of the above information in mind, it is important to remember that, in 2013, Ghouta was the scene of another alleged chemical attack, again debunked repeatedly by both independent researchers and even mainstream experts.

I encourage the reader to access my previous articles regarding the August 21, 2013 Ghouta chemical weapons attacks:

Fast forward four years, after having the Khan Sheykhoun chemical weapons attack repeatedly debunked by chemical weapons experts, on the ground witnesses, the Russian and Syrian governments, and independent researchers, the United States still used the event to justify the launch of cruise missiles against the al-Sha’aryat airbase in Syria that killed a number of innocent people in 2017. In 2018, Secretary of Defense James Mattis admitted that the U.S. had no evidence that the Syrian government committed those attacks.

The Douma chemical weapons attack is no different than the previous ones mentioned above in that there is no evidence to pin the attacks on the Syrian government but there is ample reason to believe that the attacks were conducted by the terrorists themselves.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the attack a complete fabrication by terrorists with the help of a foreign intelligence agency. Lavrov also pointed out that the Russian experts visited the site of the alleged attack in Douma and found no evidence of a chemical weapons attack having taken place. He said no hospitals in the area reported treating anyone for the symptoms of chemical weapons.

As PBS reported,

The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday accused Britain of staging a fake chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma last weekend, a bold charge that comes amid Moscow’s stern warnings to the West against striking Syria.
A day before a team from the international chemical weapons watchdog was to arrive in Douma, just east of Damascus, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said that images of victims of the purported attack were fakes staged with “Britain’s direct involvement.”
White Helmets first-responder volunteer and activists claimed an alleged chemical attack on April 7 by the Syrian government killed over 40 people in the town of Douma, the allegations that drew international outrage and prompted Washington and its allies to consider a military response. Moscow warned against any strikes and threatened to retaliate.
Konashenkov released statements by medics from Douma’s hospital, who said a group of people toting video cameras entered the hospital, shouting that its patients were struck with chemical weapons, dousing them with water and causing panic. The medics, however, said none of the patients had any symptoms of chemical poisoning, according to the satements.
Konashenkov said that “powerful pressure from London was exerted on representatives of the so-called White Helmets to quickly stage the premeditated provocation.” He added that the Russian military has proof of British involvement, but didn’t immediately present it.
The accusations followed an earlier statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that “intelligence agencies of a state that is now striving to spearhead a Russo-phobic campaign were involved in that fabrication.” He didn’t elaborate or name the state.
Lavrov said Russian experts have already inspected the site of the alleged attack and found no trace of chemical weapons, adding without elaboration that Moscow has “irrefutable information that it was another fabrication.”

In addition, a number of photographs purporting to show the dead were revealed to have been doctored, with one photo revealing a dead child placed in the middle of the room so as to make the photo more cinematic.

Nevertheless, the United States has once again placed the entire world on the edge of being made uninhabitable due to its immoral, illegal, and reckless imperialism and obsession with acting as the military of the international financier–corporate system. If Americans do not care about the fate of innocent people their government is killing overseas, that is their cross to bear. But they had better become concerned for their own survival soon. If they do, they will demand that this insane foreign policy walk them back from the precipice of world war.

(activistpost.com)

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/15/2018 10:36:36 AM
	IS CANCUN SAFE? 14 KILLED IN BRUTAL CRIME SPREE AT MEXICAN RESORT TOWN BY BRENDAN COLE ON 4/13/18 AT 7:52 AM Mexico’s most popular tourist town Cancun has been rocked by a record number of killings in a single day as drug trafficking gangs step up violence fueled by the U.S. opioid epidemic. On April 4 alone, nine people were killed, almost twice the previous record of five, with a total of 14 people being executed in 36 hours, Noticaribe reported. The news outlet reported on April 11 that the corpse of a woman, aged around 40, was found beaten, with a rope around her neck and a note that said “go to hell.” These letters left by bodies are called “narco mantas” and are often used by cartel gangs. Tourists walk on Caracol beach in Cancun. Mexico's most popular tourist town has been hit with a record number of murders due to rival gang turf wars.REUTERS/GERARDO GARCIA However the U.S. Department of State has not advised against travel to Cancun, host to around 4.8 million visitors per year, because “homicides appeared to be targeted, criminal organization assassinations”. Last month, it did warn against travel in the states of Sinaloa, Michoacan, Colima, Guerrero and Tamaulipas, issuing them with a “do not travel” advisory, the same warning it would give to prospective travelers to war-torn Syria. Also, the U.S. consulate in Cancun was closed temporarily following a tourist ferry explosion in February, which injured 24 people. In March, cartel boss Alfonso Contreras Espinoza was shot dead in hospital. The British government’s travel advice warns there are frequent shootings in Playa del Carmen and downtown Cancun and says that visitors should “monitor local advice, remain vigilant and follow the advice of the local authorities.” U.S.A. Today reported that the spike in violence is due to cartels fighting to seize opium-producing poppy territories for heroin production. Leticia Rodriguez Lara is the alleged leader of the drug gang that dominates the city and faces trial on drug trafficking charges, along with her son. Known as "Dona Lety,” she is said to be a former police officer and allegedly heads the gang that controls drug sales in Cancun and Playa del Carmen. She was arrested last August and is accused of bribing officials and managing a drug network linked to the notorious Sinaloa cartel, headed by El Chapo. Cancun’s murder rate has doubled. So far in 2018, 113 people have been executed. In 2017, Mexico had its record number of murders on record, with 29,158 homicides. (newsweek)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/15/2018 11:11:20 AM
	A teen missed the bus to school. When he knocked on a door for directions, a man shot at him. By Eli Rosenberg April 13 at 6:31 PM Brennan Walker, 14, stopped at a neighbor's home April 12 to ask for directions after missing a bus in Rochester Hills, Mich. A man inside fired a gun at him.(WJBK Detroit, Fox 2) The 14-year-old was walking to high school after sleeping late and missing the bus when he decided to ask a neighbor for directions. It was a banal request, but it nearly got the student from Rochester Hills, Mich., killed Thursday. The woman who opened the door after Brennan Walker, who is black, knocked on it started yelling at him. Then the woman’s husband grabbed a shotgun and fired it at him, Walker and police officials said. Walker told WJBK TV that “she was like, ‘Why are you trying to break into my house?’ I was trying to explain to her that I was trying to get directions to Rochester High. And she kept yelling at me. Then the guy came downstairs, and he grabbed the gun, I saw it and started to run. And that’s when I heard the gunshot.” After sprinting away from the house, Brennan, who was not hit, hid and broke down in tears, the outlet reported. “I’m kind of happy that, like, I didn’t become a statistic,” Brennan told the outlet, saying his mother had told him that black boys were at risk of being shot by others. Jeffrey Zeigler, a retired firefighter who is white, was charged with assault with intent to murder and a felony firearm charge, local news outlets reported, and his bond was set at $50,000. He faces as much as life in prison, according to a video of his arraignment. “There’s a lot more to the story than what’s being told, and I believe that will all come out in court,” Zeigler said at the arraignment. “I was in bed yesterday morning when my wife started screaming and crying … ” The judge interrupted Zeigler to prevent him from finishing. The man’s wife appeared to have called 911 around 8:20 a.m. saying that her husband had chased a black male who had tried to break in, according to the Associated Press. [Stephon Clark was shot eight times, mostly in his back, autopsy requested by his family shows] “It is just absurd that this happened,” Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told WJBK. “I feel terrible for the young man; I feel terrible for the mom and the anxiety that they had to go through. We are going to ask for every charge permissible for this guy who stepped up and fired a shotgun because someone knocked on his door.” Brennan’s mother, Lisa Wright, told the outlet that she had heard that the man missed only because he forgot to take the gun’s safety off. She said police showed her surveillance video of the episode taken from a camera installed at the home where the incident happened. “One of the things that stands out, that probably angers me the most is, while I was watching the tape, you can hear the wife say, ‘Why did these people choose my house?’ ” Wright said. “Who are ‘these people?’ And that set me off. I didn’t want to believe it was what it appeared to look like. When I heard her say that, it was like, but it is.” [Autistic black teen got lost running a 5K — and was assaulted by a man who feared getting mugged] Rochester Hills Mayor Bryan Barnett said in a statement that he was “personally sickened by the initial reports and they suggest behavior completely unacceptable and inconsistent with the character and values of our community.” The situation is similar to another that took place in Michigan, in Dearborn Heights, where a white man shot a 19-year-old black woman after she knocked on his door after crashing her car nearby. That man, Theodore Wafer, was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to a minimum of 17 years in prison in 2014. “We should not have to live in a society where we have to fend for ourselves,” Wright said. “If I have a question, I should be able to turn to my village and knock on a door and ask a question. I shouldn’t be fearful of a child, let alone a skin tone.” (The Washington Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/15/2018 3:39:39 PM
	‘Big price to pay’: Inside Trump’s decision to bomb Syria President Trump announced April 13 that the U.S. had conducted a military strike against the Syrian government in response to suspected chemical attacks. (The Washington Post) By Philip Rucker, Missy Ryan, Josh Dawsey and Anne Gearan April 14 at 7:37 PM From the moment White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly first informed him late on the night of April 7 that dozens of people in a leafy suburb of Damascus had died choking and foaming at the mouth from another suspected gas attack, President Trump was determined to strike back in Syria. For him, the only question was how. This was a sudden change of tune for a president who only a few days earlier had said he wanted to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria’s intractable war and, as he put it at an event in Ohio, “let other people take care of it now.” But the images of last weekend’s atrocities haunted Trump, White House officials said, triggering six straight days of tense deliberations with his newly reorganized national security team — as well as coalition partners from France and the United Kingdom — over military options to retaliate against the alleged perpetrator he derided as “Animal Assad.” The result was 105 missiles raining down on three of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical weapons facilities Friday night. The morning after, Trump tweeted — perhaps fatefully, considering President George W. Bush’s premature declaration of victory in Iraq — “Mission Accomplished!” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, left, joined by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., brief reporters at the Pentagon on April 13, 2018. (Carolyn Kaster/AP) Even with Trump’s jubilant response to the strikes, several advisers close to the president said they had no indication there was a long-term strategy for the region — and he seems essentially in the same position now as he was after last April’s attack on Syria. The missile strikes Friday night came at an especially traumatic moment. The commander in chief was increasingly agitated over the past week as legal and personal crises converged around him, exhibiting flashes of raw anger, letting off steam on Twitter and sometimes seeming distracted from his war planning. [James B. Comey’s memoir: Trump fixates on proving lewd dossier allegations false] As the military brass put together the final details on the Syria strike plan, for instance, Trump was following the New York court proceedings involving his personal lawyer Michael Cohen and was fixated on media coverage of fired FBI director James B. Comey’s new memoir. The book paints a scathing portrait of the president’s conduct in office and character, and Trump was personally involved Friday in drafting the scorching statement attacking Comey that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders read from her podium Friday, according to a senior administration official. Friday’s surgical strikes were more restrained than the images Trump tried to conjure with his bellicose tweets previewing the action. Last Sunday, he warned Assad and his government’s backers, Russia and Iran: “Big price to pay.” On Wednesday, he wrote that missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ ” But in closed-door national security meetings, the tone from top officials was decidedly more nuanced. Hanging over the discussions was concern that a U.S. attack in Syria might provoke a conflict with Russia, which had threatened to retaliate. The absence of a clear strategy in Syria complicated the discussions. Trump had campaigned as a noninterventionist and vowed to withdraw from Middle East entanglements that he decried as costing American lives and treasure. Cruise missiles as well as U.S., French and British manned aircraft targeted sites in and around Damascus and Homs. (The Washington Post) And yet to Trump’s national security team, action of some kind seemed to be a requirement, as officials said they listened to the president deride his predecessor, Barack Obama, for sometimes discussing possible military action and then not delivering it. At a White House dinner last Tuesday, Trump opined that the problems in Syria were caused “because Obama did not enforce his red lines,” according to one attendee, Alan Dershowitz, a retired Harvard Law School professor. Trump was insistent that the strikes impair the production of chemical weapons in Syria, and hoped that would prevent Assad from launching future attacks on his population, according to White House officials. He wanted to inflict more damage than the largely symbolic air assault he ordered in 2017 on a Syrian airfield, which Assad’s forces quickly repaired. After the attack, military officials took pains to present Friday’s operation as larger than the last time, emphasizing that the number of munitions used was roughly double. As Trump said Friday night in announcing the strikes from the Diplomatic Room of the White House, “The purpose of our actions tonight is to establish a strong deterrent against the production, spread and use of chemical weapons.” But as final options were presented, Trump was concerned about U.S. missiles harming civilians. When chemical weapons storage and research facilities were established as the targets, officials said, Trump sought assurances that hitting stockpiles would not let off plumes that could injure or kill people who lived nearby. Military officials said Saturday that they believe that no one — not even Syrian government personnel — was killed in the attack, which struck nonresidential facilities in the middle of the night. Although options for more-expansive actions were also discussed, the plan that Trump ultimately endorsed, with a mix of air- and sea-launched missiles and sophisticated standoff airstrikes, was designed to minimize risk to U.S. and allied personnel and lessen the chances of unwanted escalation, officials said. National security adviser John Bolton, in his first week on the job, was a hawkish voice urging a meaningful show of force that would deter Assad. Trump also heard from some hawks on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), who said he urged the president to forgo his plan to pull back troop levels in Syria. “I fear when the dust settles, this strike will be seen as a weak military response and Assad will have paid a small price for using chemicals yet again,” Graham said. Trump was characteristically impatient and wanted the military to take action quickly, officials said, but Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, steered a more deliberative and careful process. Mattis and Dunford articulated to Trump the risks involved with operating in Syria, including the possibility of escalation with Russia and Iran, or an unintended event that might drag the United States further into Syria’s war, officials said. “We were not out to expand this,” Mattis told reporters just after the attack. “We were very precise and proportionate.” Military leaders calculated that retaliation from Syria or its allies could come immediately or in a harder-to-detect way, like the insurgent-style attacks that U.S. forces had faced from Iranian-backed militias during the Iraq War. Despite Trump’s urgency to punish the Assad regime, the president allowed Mattis and his military leaders several days to coordinate an allied attack with the French and British, which the Pentagon argued would require naval maneuvers and target coordination among the three countries. Military officials also said they needed time to develop the right targets. While officials had been watching known Syrian chemical sites on and off for years, aerial surveillance time has been dedicated mostly to other areas of Syria, where the United States and allied local forces continue to battle the Islamic State. That meant the U.S. military needed to refresh its intelligence on the chemical facilities before targeteers could build the “target packages” that would guide the operation. As military leaders were busy plotting a strike plan in Washington, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley emerged almost immediately as a voice of the administration’s outrage over Assad’s suspected chemical attack — as well as over what she called Russian “disinformation” to protect its Mideast ally. Haley used her position at the United Nations to place the American response in an international context, condemning both Syria and Russia during an emergency U.N. Security Council session on Monday. Hers was a display of traditional American diplomacy — fierce in the defense of civilians allegedly harmed by their own government, confrontational with Russia and mindful of the political and public relations needs of European allies — in an administration that frequently ignores regular diplomatic order. “Only a monster targets civilians and then ensures that there are no ambulances to transfer the wounded,” Haley said Monday. As Haley spoke alongside her counterparts from Britain and France, coordinating her remarks with theirs, Trump was on the phone with British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron to forge a coalition. Spending the week at the White House with a pared back public schedule, Trump was often distracted. On Monday morning, after learning that FBI agents had raided Cohen’s office, hotel room and residence, Trump stewed with anger the remainder of the day. He railed to advisers and friends that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia investigation had grown far too expansive, complained about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and mused about firing Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein. Officials said that Trump made little progress that day on Syria strategy. But the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria lingered in his mind. On Wednesday, officials said, Trump awoke to learn on Fox News Channel that Russian officials had crowed that they could shoot down any American missiles fired on Syria. He vowed on Twitter, “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ ” Trump’s apparent announcement of a missile attack surprised and rattled military leaders. Though the strategy talks were moving in the direction of military action, officials said, no decision had been made about whether, when or how to strike in Syria. It was not until Thursday that military leaders presented Trump final options on targets. Looming over the discussions all week were differing levels of comfort among U.S. officials with the intelligence surrounding the reported April 7 attack in Douma, just outside the capital of Damascus. Almost immediately, military officials identified the killings as more serious than other, smaller-scale chemical incidents that Syrian activists and medical workers had reported in recent months. Within hours of learning of the Douma incident through social media, military officials flagged it for their superiors and in short order began exploring retaliatory options for Trump. At U.S. Central Command in Tampa, officials in a dedicated planning cell dusted off earlier scenarios and discussed what sort of action might be taken. In Washington, Mattis and other senior officials talked through a possible strike with the White House. And as Trump conveyed more urgency on Twitter, the pace of Pentagon planning intensified. As they prepared to initiate the strike, U.S. commanders stepped up security measures for U.S. troops across the Middle East, putting a U.S. force of about 2,000 inside Syria, on high alert. Mattis for several days resisted concluding definitively that Assad’s government was responsible for the Douma attack, officials said, saying he had not seen enough evidence that the Syrian government was responsible until last Thursday. But his boss did not share that apprehension. Even before a full intelligence briefing on the incident had been prepared, Trump assigned blame on Twitter last Sunday morning. “Many dead, including women and children, in mindless CHEMICAL attack in Syria,” Trump tweeted. He added, “President Putin, Russia and Iran are responsible for backing Animal Assad. Big price to pay.” John Hudson and Jenna Johnson in Lima, Peru, contributed to this report. (The Washington Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/15/2018 5:46:44 PM
	Assad is defiant as U.S.-led strikes in Syria show no sign of threatening his hold on power Government supporters wave Syrian, Iranian and Russian flags as they chant slogans against President Trump during demonstrations in Damascus on Saturday, following military strikes by U.S., British and French forces. (Hassan Ammar/AP) By Liz Sly and Louisa Loveluck April 14 at 5:19 PM BEIRUT — U.S.-led strikes against Syrian chemical weapons facilities prompted defiant celebrations in Damascus on Saturday as it became clear that the limited attack posed no immediate threat to President Bashar al-Assad’s hold on power and would likely have no impact on the trajectory of the Syrian war. Fears of a wider escalation faded after it emerged that the locations targeted by the United States, Britain and France had been confined to three sites associated with the Syrian chemical weapons program, had caused no serious casualties and had probably not destroyed Syria’s capacity to develop and deploy banned chemical substances. There were expressions of anger from Syria’s allies, with Russia labeling the attack an “act of aggression” and Iran calling it “a war crime.” Syria described it as “barbarous.” President Trump called the attack an “enormous success,” tweeting that they represented a “Mission Accomplished.” But on the streets of Damascus, there was jubilation as government supporters realized that a more expansive assault would not materialize. Residents gathered in central squares and danced to patriotic songs, waving Syrian flags alongside those of Russia and Iran, Syria’s allies in the fight against the anti-Assad rebellion. [6 basic questions about the war in Syria] The Post's Anton Troianovski and Louisa Loveluck explain why the joint United States military strike against Syria on April 13 will likely have little effect.(Anton Troianovski, Louisa Loveluck, Joyce Lee/The Washington Post) “The honorable cannot be humiliated,” the Twitter account maintained by Assad’s office said shortly after the attack. A few hours later, the account tweeted a video of him walking nonchalantly to work through the halls of the Syrian presidential palace. Though the outcome appeared to have satisfied the conflicting agendas of the world powers competing for influence in Syria, it won’t make any difference to the war on the ground — which Assad is steadily winning, said Amr al-Azm, a professor of history at Shawnee State University in Ohio. “This was more about the Western allies making sure their red lines were addressed rather than trying to seriously damage the Assad regime, prevent the further killing of civilians or reduce the capacity of the Assad regime to keep fighting,” he said. “From Assad’s perspective, this was a big win. He must be thinking, this is good; I came out on top; I gained much more than I lost.” It was unclear even whether there would be a long-term impact on Syria’s capacity to develop and use chemical weapons. Trump had telegraphed for days the likely response of the United States to the alleged chemical attack that killed civilians in a rebel stronghold last Saturday, giving the Syrian authorities and their Iranian and Russian allies time to vacate the facilities that were targeted — and perhaps remove vital equipment and stores. Russia said the damage was minimal. According to the Syrian army command, three civilians were injured, in the vicinity of a strike outside the city of Homs. “It remains to be seen whether the allied attack fulfilled all its intended goals,” said Karl Dewey of the defense consultancy Jane’s by IHS Markit. April 13, 2018 The guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey fires a Tomahawk land-attack missile at Syria as part of an allied strike. President Trump ordered a joint force strike on Syria with Britain and France in response to a recent suspected chemical attack by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.Matthew Daniels/U.S. Navy/Getty Images This was the second strike against Syria in a little over a year. Last April, the United States bombed the Shayrat air base in the province of Homs in retaliation for a sarin nerve agent attack that killed about 70 people in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun. On April 7, videos again emerged of men, women and children with foam on their mouths, after a bomb allegedly containing toxic gas was dropped in a residential neighborhood of the rebel-held town of Douma, in the eastern suburbs of Damascus. A day later, the rebels in the town surrendered, making the use of chemical weapons in this instance, if confirmed, a successful tactic, Azm said. The retaliatory airstrikes went further than last year’s attack, targeting production and research facilities as well as command centers from which attacks are launched. The Pentagon said the missiles hit a scientific research center in the Barzeh suburb of Damascus, a chemical weapons storage facility west of Homs and a chemical weapons equipment storage facility and a command post, also near Homs. [Where the airstrikes in Syria hit ] But although Defense Department spokeswoman Dana White said the strikes “set the Syrian chemical weapons program back for years,” Pentagon officials acknowledged that a “residual” capacity remained. Seeking to tamp down the global tensions that soared after Trump’s tweet Wednesday that missiles are “coming, nice and new and ‘smart,’ ” the United States and its allies stressed the limited nature of their goals. “This was not about interfering in a civil war, and it was not about regime change,” British Prime Minister Theresa May said at a news conference in London. White echoed that comment, saying the attack “does not represent a change in U.S. policy, nor an attempt to depose the Syrian regime.” In Damascus, residents jolted awake by explosions at 4 a.m. expressed relief that the attack was short-lived. “Thank God this was less than we had feared. We were scared of a bigger assault that could be devastating, but we are happy it was limited and less powerful,” said Mayda Kumejian, a Damascus resident contacted by telephone. She described being wakened by explosions and jets roaring overhead, only to realize about an hour later that there would be no prolonged attack. “This strike is only muscle-flexing by Trump to show his power,” she said. “Assad’s regime is much stronger now.” The crowds that gathered in Damascus also expressed scorn, waving portraits of Assad and mocking Trump. “We tell Trump, you can do nothing. Here we are celebrating to show that you are bankrupt,” said a woman interviewed on state television. For Syrians who had welcomed the prospect of an American attack — and, in many cases, had called for strikes over many years — hopes that the U.S. threats might make a difference quickly soured into disappointment. “We thought it would be much bigger than this,” said Ahmed Primo, a journalist and activist now living in the Turkish city of Gaziantep. “Assad might have used chemical weapons this time, but he’s been indiscriminately targeting civilians for years. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed; hundreds of thousands of people have been disappeared. After seven years of war, we don’t believe that anyone will come to help the Syrian people anymore.” The strikes give Assad a green light to sustain his pursuit of a military solution against opposition areas in which many more civilians may die even if chemical weapons aren’t used, other rebel supporters said. “According to the cowardly statements and the weak strike by the West, Assad is allowed to use all kinds of weapons to kill us except chemicals,” tweeted Syrian opposition journalist Hadi Abdallah. “The international community has set him free as a monster to annihilate the Syrian people.” The United States and its allies said they hoped the attack would propel momentum toward the revival of peace talks in Geneva that have so far proved fruitless. But there was no reason to believe these strikes would give any new incentive to Assad to cooperate with a peace process that Washington says should result in his removal from power, said Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “Assad has absorbed worse before, and he will absorb this,” he said. Anton Troianovski in Moscow, Suzan Haidamous in Beirut and Zakaria Zakaria in Istanbul contributed to this report. Read more: Nikki Haley warns that U.S. forces ‘locked and loaded’ if Syria stages another chemical attack Full transcript of Trump’s address on Syria airstrikes (The Washington Post)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
	+1

Luis Miguel 1162 61587 Lima	RE: ARE WE NOW IN THE END TIMES? 4/15/2018 7:09:28 PM
	US Bombs Syria To Cover Up Lack Of Evidence On Chem Attacks, Discredits Own Claims By Doing So APRIL 14, 2018 By Brandon Turbeville After yet another example of brazen Western aggression against Syria, the United States, UK, and France are once again demonstrating to the world who exactly is the biggest threat to world peace. The entire March 14 assault on Syria by the three powers has been justified by the West as a reaction to an alleged chemical weapons attack that allegedly took place in Douma weeks ago. The word “allegedly” is incredibly important here because not only is it merely alleged that the Syrian military conducted a chemical weapons attack, it is also merely alleged that the attack even took place. More on that in a minute. But during the debate about the chemical weapons attack – who conducted it and if it happened at all – the West has claimed to be one hundred percent sure with no doubt whatsoever that the Syrian military personally directed by Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against civilians in a battle it was fighting and winning against terrorists at precisely the worst possible opportunity to do so. This is despite virtually all of the evidence to the contrary. The Russian government maintained that not only was Assad innocent of the crime he was being accused of but that the West essentially fabricated the whole event. So with that in mind, let us consider for a moment that the United States is correct that Assad used chemical weapons against his own people and thus still maintains chemical weapons. The United States claims it knows where these weapons stockpiles are and where research is being conducted on those weapons. Indeed, these are the very facilities targeted by the U.S., UK, and France during the March 14th operations. So the question now remains – if Syria’s chemical weapons research and storage facilities were just bombed by the United States, why weren’t the civilians living around these areas currently dying from the chemical weapons that were dispersed as a result of the airstrikes? Why weren’t there explosions of chemical gas and chemical agents in any of the facilities bombed by the “coalition?” The answer is simple – there were no chemical weapons in those facilities just like there are no chemical weapons in the possession of the Syrian government. America’s terrorists, however, are another story, having had access to and having used chemical weapons on a number of occasions. Another “convenient” aspect of the timing of the attack was the fact that the bombing took place before OPCW inspectors could arrive in Douma, at the request of the Syrian and Russian governments, in order to conduct an investigation as to whether or not chemical weapons were used at all and, if so, what kind. The American-led attack was a possible attempt to destroy the crime scene and draw some blood from Syria before the OPCW team could evaluate the American claims. Fortunately, however, the OPCW inspectors have arrived in Damascus and will shortly be making their way to Douma. The question is whether or not there will be anything for them to inspect as the damage from the Western war crime is yet to be fully analyzed. As Vanessa Beeley wrote in her article for 21st Century Wire (which was conveniently attacked and taken down in the days leading up to the strike against Syria) in her article entitled, “The Egregious Western Media ‘Chemical Weapon’ Fraud In Eastern Ghouta,” The ‘Chemical Weapon’ narrative has sustained the conflict in Syria with alleged attacks being attributed almost entirely to the Syrian government, the Syrian Arab Army and Russia. The seven year information war has been ferocious with NATO-aligned media, think tanks and self appointed experts such as Eliot Higgins and Bellingcat doing all in their power to reinforce the “Syria did it” narrative. If we were to map the chemical weapon claims in each terrorist held area undergoing liberation by the Syrian Arab Army, we would clearly see that the claims are commensurate with the pressure felt by the terrorist factions as the SAA closes in on their stronghold. In other words, as the SAA nears victory and liberation of Syrian civilians we are expected to believe they would use chemical weapons against those civilians in an urban area which is even more densely packed as the terrorists withdraw into a shrinking combat zone, taking the civilians with them as human shields and hostages. It appears to be a propaganda tactic employed by the terrorist factions to gain time, secure a ceasefire and to call for a No Fly Zone and further “humanitarian” intervention from the regime-change-war alliance. A ceasefire allows the militants to organise themselves and to re-arm. We know that terroristchemical weapon attacks against the civilian population in West Aleppo were never given equivalent importance by the same “humanitarian” minded nations, in fact they were largely ignored. Therefore it is reasonable to conclude that crying “chemical weapon” is a tactic designed to protect the NATO-member-state assets occupying Syrian territory. We need only cast our minds back to August 2013 and the extraordinary BBC Panorama report on the “Napalm-like school bombing” in Urem-Al-Kubra, Aleppo province – Saving Syria’s Children Independent journalist, Robert Stuart, has masterfully and forensically exposed this report to be nothing more than war theatre orchestrated by the BBC in order ratchet up UK military intervention in Syria, coinciding with the time of David Cameron‘s vote in Parliament to join the US bombing campaign in Syria “to deter the use of chemical weapons” by the Syrian government (of course). This BBC report came hot on the heels of the alleged chemical weapon attack in Eastern Ghouta in August 2013 which was immediately blamed upon the Syrian government. Since then, that claim has been discredited by a number of analysts and independent experts. This alleged attack, reported by BBC Panorama, was naturally accompanied by the familiar witness testimony effectively calling for the World to intervene and bomb for “Peace” – “Dear United Nations, you are calling peace, you are calling for peace. What kind of peace are you calling for? Don’t you see this, don’t you see this? What do you need to see?” from the Telegraph article at the time. Fast forward to Eastern Ghouta which is now 90% liberated from the many terrorist factions that have occupied this eastern suburb of Damascus since 2012 and we have seen an uptick in the claims of chemical weapon attacks as the SAA noose draws tighter around the terrorist enclaves. Most of those claims are being circulated by the Al Qaeda auxiliary organisation, the White Helmets. I highly recommend accessing Beeley’s article, which contains numerous photos from Ghouta after the area had been liberated, taken by Beeley herself, that serve as evidence of Western funding and supplying of these terrorists as well as the terrorist chemical weapons capability. Access her article, “The Egregious Western Media ‘Chemical Weapon’ Fraud In Eastern Ghouta,”here. Beeley writes, We entered the district of Erbin and we were shown a bomb making factory and a chemical weapons facility, both above ground and not part of the elaborate tunnel systems that had housed terrorist field hospitals and equipment store rooms among other elements of the terrorist military apparatus. We were told that much of the building had still not been cleared of mines and booby traps so we were warned to stay close and to not wander off. Some of the bags containing the chemical ingredients were still booby trapped and therefore it was not possible to pick them up to show the labels more clearly. It was also very dark but I did my best to photograph everything I saw there. . . . . . Among the documents found in this makeshift laboratory were instructions to manufacture a napalm hand grenade and directions are given how best to mix the components. I do not want to publish such step by step instructions so I will only show part of the notebook in my photos. There are also handwritten notes showing how to make the grenade more deadly by adding nails and White Phosphorous to the grenade to ensure that the incendiary effect lasts longer and is more intense. The notebook states that this mixture is known as OB2 in military terms. . . . . . We were told that another document found on site explains how to calibrate the mortars to target specific geolocation coordinates in Damascus and in the surrounding countryside: . . . . . A final document that we were shown apparently gives the names of the terrorist group members who were in charge of this facility: . . . . . There were a number of sacks and barrels of ingredients, not all were easy to identify by the brand name on the bags and we were told that the terrorists had rebagged some of the ingredients. One of the bags contained the chemical compound RDX. “RDX is the organic compound with the formula (O2NNCH2)3. It is a white solid without smell or taste, widely used as an explosive.[2] Chemically, it is classified as a nitramide, chemically similar toHMX. A more energetic explosive than TNT, it was used widely in World War II.” ~ Wikipedia. . . . . . Alongside these chemical ingredients which will be shown in a photo gallery at the end of this article were boxes of rockets that would be packed with the chemical and exposive components. At least one box of these specialised missiles was still booby trapped according to our guide so were unable to examine them closely: . . . . . We saw shelves still laden with equipment, smaller hand grenades and missiles. It was clear that this facility had been operational for some time. . . . . . We saw a barrel containing what looked like tar next to the chemical ingredients and rockets. An expert who was with us said it was a mix of oil, soap and other ingredients that are used to coat the missile to ensure the chemical package sticks to its target more effectively. This was a factory of death… where the terrorist factions had designed some of the most sadistic weaponry possible to be used against civilian targets: . . . . . The question must be asked, who used chemical weapons in Syria and in Eastern Ghouta? It is a question that has not been asked by the majority of mainstream media journalists from the West and that includes Frederick Pleitgen of CNN who saw that chemical weapon factory and yet failed to mention it during his live broadcast last night during the widespread accusations of Syrian Arab Army chemical weapon use in Douma during the final hours of Jaish Al Islam’s occupation. . . . . . On the 23rd March, for example, Qatar’s mouthpiece, Al Jazeera ran with the headline “Dozens burned to death in Syria attacks on Eastern Ghouta” . In the article the testimony of the White Helmets was taken without question despite their history of whitewashing the crimes and atrocities committed by the terrorist factions, dominated by Al Qaeda, against Syrian civilians: “Sources on the ground and rescuers from the Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group also known as the White Helmets, said on Friday that at least 37 victims burned to death after air raids carrying napalm gas hit the shelter in the town of Irbin.” I was told by people I spoke with, in Erbin, that the terrorist factions had carried out the attacks on civilians in that district in order to blame it on the Syrian government, army and Russia. While there is no way to fully verify these on the ground reports, it must raise the question – why do western media repeat the narrative fed to them by western backed & financed groups like the White Helmets who are proven to be closely affiliated to extremist groups including Al Qaeda and who consistently produce questionable videos and accounts of events that serve in the main to protect the terrorist factions and reinforce the regime change narrative for their sponsor states. Why is there never any context to the chemical weapon reports that intensify in line with SAA military advances? So just at the point of victory, we are led to believe that they will use ineffectual chemical weapons against the civilians they are tasked to liberate and whose lives they always attempt to preserve even if it means delaying their final attacks on terrorist centres. The use of chemical weapons and the subsequent corporate media hysteria and sensationalism serves only the imperialist West and their assets on the ground in Syria, the terrorist factions. An official source in Damascus told SANA this morning: “The chemical fabrications, which did not serve the terrorists and their sponsors in Aleppo and Eastern Ghouta, will not serve them today either, as the Syrian state is determined to end terrorism in every square inch of Syrian territory” “Each time the SAA advances and is victorious against the terrorists, the countries who support the terrorist factions raise the flag of chemical weapons which is a complete false flag, as Syria had relinquished its chemical weapons in 2013 when it signed the non-proliferation treaty and completely respected the terms of that agreement in 2014.” ~ Dr Ayssar Midani, Damascus . . . . . We shoud also remember that on the 28th February 2018, Syria’s permanent representative to the UN, New York, Dr Bashar Al Jaafari reported that on the 20th February Turkey “had transported barrels of weapons-grade chlorine into Idlib towns run by Turkish terrorists. One school has been turned into a warehouse of these chemical weapons. The terrorists are preparing to use these weapons on a large scale and to accuse the SAR. The conspiracy is meant to coincide with the Eighty-Seventh Executive Council of the OPCW meeting, beginning on 13 March.” Beeley witnessed all this in the company of mainstream Western journalists who either reported the information with a heavy dose of spin and outright deceit or ignored it completely. See also Vanessa Beeley’s on-the-ground report/interview with UK Column to see the further deconstruction of the Ghouta chemical weapons narrative here – SYRIA: New Details Emerge White Helmets Staging Alleged ‘Chemical Attack’ Terrorists in Syria have, for years, had the ability to manufacture, produce, and use chemical weapons. Back in December of 2012, after the death squads managed to capture a chlorine factory inside Syria, the Syrian government actually issued a warning that the death squads might attempt to use chemical weapons of this nature in their battle to overthrow and oppress the government and people of Syria respectively. The Syrian Foreign Ministry stated, “Terrorist groups may resort to using chemical weapons against the Syrian people … after having gained control of a toxic chlorine factory.” Likewise, the chemical weapons attacks in Ghouta were initially blamed on Assad and the Syrian government but later found to be the work of the Western-backed terrorists who had gone so far as to capture civilians from Lattakia and use them as human stage props for video footage and propaganda purposes. It was also reported in August of 2012 that the death squads had managed to capture a missile site belonging to the Syrian army which contained chemical weapons. The death squads erroneously claimed that the reason for attacking the site was to prevent the Assad government from using the weapons against members of the “opposition.” Regardless, one does not have to speculate very much as to the possibilities available here – in June, the death squads gain access to chemical weapons. In August, they gain access to a delivery mechanism in the form of missiles. It is just such a coincidence that should cause one to examine another event which occurred shortly before the assault on the missile site. In July 2012, Tony Cartalucci of LandDestroyerReport, described “reports of so-called ‘Free Syrian Army’ militants seen trying on gas masks, along with reports of Libyan chemical weapon caches & equipment being discovered in Damascus.” Together with the acquisition of the missile delivery capability by virtue of the conquering of the Syrian missile site and the possession of the chemical weapons themselves via Libya, the acquisition of gas masks points to the preparation for the launch of an actual chemical attack, or at least the possibility of it, on the part of the death squads. As one of the death squad members stated to Reuters in April, 2012, “The rebels are getting better at bomb-making; as you know, desperation is the mother of invention.” Reuters also commented that the death squads were now able to develop “more sophisticated bombs” due to “rare outside donations” although Reuters did not attempt to name those mysterious sources. In December 2012, a video was obtained by the Syria Tribune and subsequently released in their report and posted on YouTube which allegedly shows the NATO-backed death squads testing chemical weapons on “lab” rabbits. As the Syria Tribune describes the video, The video (see here) starts with several scenes showing chemical containers with Tekkim labels (Tekkim is a Turkish chemicals company) and some lab equipment, while playing Jihadists chants in the background. A glass box then appears with two rabbits inside, with a poster on the wall behind it reading The Almighty Wind Brigade (Kateebat A Reeh Al Sarsar). A person wearing a lab mask then mixes chemicals in a beaker in the glass box, and we see some gas emitting from the beaker. About a minute later, the rabbits start to have random convulsions and then die. The person says: You saw what happened? This will be your fate, you infidel Alawites, I swear by ALLAH to make you die like these rabbits, one minute only after you inhale the gas. The Syria Tribune also comments that “Judging from the rabbits’ reaction, the gas must be a nerve agent. The number of containers, if not a bluff, indicates ability to produce a considerable amount of this gas. Deployment could be by means of a smoke generator placed in the target area, an explosion, possibly a suicide one, of a ”chemmed” car, or simply by using a humidifier.” In March, 2013, yet another YouTube video was released which contained a clip of a second “test” of chemical weapons on captive rabbits by the death squads. The video also contains an alleged audio recording of a phone conversation between two Free Syrian Army fighters discussing the “details of a plan to carry out a chemical weapons attack capable of impacting an area the size of one kilometer.” The recording of the phone conversation is supposed to be between two FSA terrorists, one located in Syria and the other outside of the country. The terrorist inside Syria, Abu Hassan, asks the one on the other end of the line to send a message to Sheikh Suleiman, a then-terrorist-held military base in Aleppo, and asked for “two chemical bombs . . . . phosphoric” so that they could “finish this whole thing.” “I want them to be effective,” states Hassan, adding, “The radius of the strike, or reach of the gases, has to be 1km.” The video also contains a clip of the death squads openly announcing their plans to engage in chemical weapons attacks, all the while surrounded by bottles of nitric acid and other substances. With all of the above information in mind, it is important to remember that, in 2013, Ghouta was the scene of another alleged chemical attack, again debunked repeatedly by both independent researchers and even mainstream experts. I encourage the reader to access my previous articles regarding the August 21, 2013 Ghouta chemical weapons attacks: New Chemical Weapons Attack In Syria Another False Flag? Propaganda Overdrive Suggests Syria War Coming Soon U.S. Positions For Attack On Syria Kerry Plays WMD Card in Next Step Toward War With Syria Snipers Fire At UN Inspectors: Another Rebel Crime? Total Fabrication Laid Bare in March to War With Syria 5 Ways ‘Incontrovertible Evidence’ on Syria is Controvertible Syria Chemical Weapons Victims Were Staged Using Kidnapped Hostages: ReportAlso see:The Road To Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault On Syria Fast forward four years, after having the Khan Sheykhoun chemical weapons attack repeatedly debunked by chemical weapons experts, on the ground witnesses, the Russian and Syrian governments, and independent researchers, the United States still used the event to justify the launch of cruise missiles against the al-Sha’aryat airbase in Syria that killed a number of innocent people in 2017. In 2018, Secretary of Defense James Mattis admitted that the U.S. had no evidence that the Syrian government committed those attacks. The Douma chemical weapons attack is no different than the previous ones mentioned above in that there is no evidence to pin the attacks on the Syrian government but there is ample reason to believe that the attacks were conducted by the terrorists themselves. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called the attack a complete fabrication by terrorists with the help of a foreign intelligence agency. Lavrov also pointed out that the Russian experts visited the site of the alleged attack in Douma and found no evidence of a chemical weapons attack having taken place. He said no hospitals in the area reported treating anyone for the symptoms of chemical weapons. As PBS reported, The Russian Defense Ministry on Friday accused Britain of staging a fake chemical attack in the Syrian town of Douma last weekend, a bold charge that comes amid Moscow’s stern warnings to the West against striking Syria. A day before a team from the international chemical weapons watchdog was to arrive in Douma, just east of Damascus, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, said that images of victims of the purported attack were fakes staged with “Britain’s direct involvement.” White Helmets first-responder volunteer and activists claimed an alleged chemical attack on April 7 by the Syrian government killed over 40 people in the town of Douma, the allegations that drew international outrage and prompted Washington and its allies to consider a military response. Moscow warned against any strikes and threatened to retaliate. Konashenkov released statements by medics from Douma’s hospital, who said a group of people toting video cameras entered the hospital, shouting that its patients were struck with chemical weapons, dousing them with water and causing panic. The medics, however, said none of the patients had any symptoms of chemical poisoning, according to the satements. Konashenkov said that “powerful pressure from London was exerted on representatives of the so-called White Helmets to quickly stage the premeditated provocation.” He added that the Russian military has proof of British involvement, but didn’t immediately present it. The accusations followed an earlier statement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that “intelligence agencies of a state that is now striving to spearhead a Russo-phobic campaign were involved in that fabrication.” He didn’t elaborate or name the state. Lavrov said Russian experts have already inspected the site of the alleged attack and found no trace of chemical weapons, adding without elaboration that Moscow has “irrefutable information that it was another fabrication.” In addition, a number of photographs purporting to show the dead were revealed to have been doctored, with one photo revealing a dead child placed in the middle of the room so as to make the photo more cinematic. Nevertheless, the United States has once again placed the entire world on the edge of being made uninhabitable due to its immoral, illegal, and reckless imperialism and obsession with acting as the military of the international financier–corporate system. If Americans do not care about the fate of innocent people their government is killing overseas, that is their cross to bear. But they had better become concerned for their own survival soon. If they do, they will demand that this insane foreign policy walk them back from the precipice of world war. (activistpost.com)
	"Choose a job you love and you will not have to work a day in your life" (Confucius)
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