OPCW-DOUMA - Release Part 3

14 December, 2019

Today WikiLeaks releases more documents showing internal disagreement within the OPCW about how facts were misrepresented in a redacted version of a report on an alleged chemical attack in Douma, Syria in April 2018.

Amongst these is a memorandum written in protest by one of the scientists sent on a fact finding mission (FFM) to investigate the attack. It is dated 14 March 2019 and is addressed to Fernando Arias, Director General of the organisation. This was exactly two weeks after the organisation published its final report on the Douma investigation.

WikiLeaks is also releasing the original preliminary report for the first time along with the redacted version (that was released by the OPCW) for comparison. Additionally, we are publishing a detailed comparison of the original interim report with the redacted interim report and the final report along with relevant comments from a member of the original fact finding mission. These documents should help clarify the series of changes that the report went through, which skewed the facts and introduced bias according to statements made by the members of the FFM.

The aforementioned memo states that around 20 inspectors have expressed concerns over the final FFM report, which they feel “did not reflect the views of the team members that deployed to Douma”. Only one member of the fact finding team that went to Douma, a paramedic, is said to have contributed to the final version of the report. Apart from that one person, an entirely new team was gathered to assemble the final report, referred to as the “FFM core team”.

This new team was staffed with people who “had only operated in country X”, according to the memorandum. It is not clear what country that refers to, except that it is presumably not Syria. It is possible, though only speculation, that country X refers to Turkey, as OPCW has sent teams into refugee camps there to interview survivors from Douma.

The author of the memorandum states that he was the one originally tasked with analysis and assessment of the two cylinders found on the scene of the alleged chemical attack. This was a task he undertook “in the understanding [he] was clearly the most qualified team member, having been to the location in Douma and because of [his] expertise in metallurgy, chemical engineering (including pressure vessel design), artillery and Defence R&D”. He continues: “In subsequent weeks I found that I was being excluded from the work, for reasons not made clear”.

The author explains that he had frequently asked to be updated on the progress of the final report and to be allowed to review the draft, but was turned down on both counts. “The response was utmost secrecy”.

Once the final report was released on the 1st of March 2019, it became clear that the conclusions of the report had changed significantly in the hands of the new “core” team that assembled it into its final form: “At the conclusion of the in-country activities in the Syrian Arab Republic, the consensus within the FFM team was that there were indications of serious inconsistencies in findings. After the exclusion of all team members other than a small cadre of members who had deployed (and deployed again in October 2018) to Country X, the conclusion seems to have turned completely in the opposite direction. The FFM team members find this confusing, and are concerned to know how this occurred.”

Towards the end of the memo he writes:

“In conclusion, I must stress that I hold no opinion, interest or strong views on the technical part of the matter, nor any interest in the political outcomes. My interest is in sound technical rigour; the science, engineering and facts will speak for themselves.”

WikiLeaks is releasing supporting documents that back up these claims in great technical detail, including the original interim report and appraisal of the changes each iteration went through.

https://wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/

https://wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/document/DG-memo1/

https://wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/document/May-20-2019-email_raising_concerns/

https://wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/document/RedactedInterimReport/

https://wikileaks.org/opcw-douma/document/Omission_of_ppb_levels_in_Interim_R_on_6-July/

>>7510571

New WikiLeaks Bombshell: 20 Inspectors Dissent From Syria Chemical Attack Narrative

Late Saturday WikiLeaks released more documents which contradict the US narrative on Assad's use of chemical weapons, specifically related to the April 7, 2018 Douma incident, which resulted in a major US and allied tomahawk missile and air strike campaign on dozens of targets in Damascus.

The leaked documents, including internal emails of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) — which investigated the Douma site — reveal mass dissent within the UN-authorized chemical weapons watchdog organization's ranks over conclusions previously reached by the international body which pointed to Syrian government culpability. It's part of a growing avalanche of dissent memos and documents casting the West's push for war in Syria in doubt (which had resulted in two major US and allied attacks on Syria).

This newly released batch, WikiLeaks reports, includes a memo stating 20 inspectors feel that the officially released version of the OPCW's report on Douma “did not reflect the views of the team members that deployed to [Syria]”. This comes amid widespread allegations US officials brought immense pressure to bear on the organization.

The Daily Mail's Peter Hitchens, who saw the leaked documents just prior to WikiLeaks going public with them had this to say:

Sources stress that the scientists involved are ‘non-political, utterly uninterested in any strategic implications of what they reveal’.

They just ‘feel that the OPCW has a duty to be true to its own science, and not to be influenced by political considerations as they fear it has been’.

An internal memo seen by The Mail on Sunday suggests that as many 20 OPCW staff have expressed private doubts about the suppression of information or the manipulation of evidence.

This suppression of information included key evidence which undermined claims Syrian military helicopters dropped a gas cylinder from the air, which had long been the linchpin in Washington's accusation that "Assad gassed his own people" at Douma.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/new-wikileaks-bombshell-20-inspectors-dissent-syria-chemical-attack-narrative

USTR Releases Summary “Fact Sheet” Outlining U.S-China Phase One Agreement…

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer has released a two-page summary fact sheet [pdf link here] outlining the “Phase-One” agreement in principal. From research into the material the principal agreement appears to be an 86-page document covering nine chapters. The fact sheet covers the top lines of seven chapters:

https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2019/12/14/ustr-releases-summary-fact-sheet-outlining-u-s-china-phase-one-agreement/

Prime Minister Modi Triggers Political Instability in India’s Northeastern States

Indian Prime Minister Modi has a huge crisis on his hands entirely of his own making after some of the ethno-religiously diverse Northeastern States of the so-called ‘Seven Sisters’ are erupting in rage after the passage of the ‘Citizenship (Amendment) Bill’ that many fear will result in “replacement migration” against the indigenous population there, which risks triggering a chain reaction of violence in the sharply divided ‘Indian Balkans’ that might even spread to neighboring Bangladesh in the worst-case scenario.

The “Seven Sisters” Crisis

India’s Northeastern States of the so-called “Seven Sisters” have historically been unstable ever since independence owing to the often-overlooked fact that their incorporation into the country was historically unprecedented and represented nothing more than the continued legacy of British rule in the subcontinent, but this ethno-religiously diverse and sharply divided region that can rightly be described as the “Indian Balkans” is at risk of collapsing into a chain reaction of violence after the central government passed the “Citizenship (Amendment) Bill” (CAB). This contentious piece of legislation grants citizenship to non-Muslims from neighboring countries who migrated (oftentimes illegally) to India over the decades under the pretext of escaping persecution and also enables the fast-tracking of citizenship to those that plan to make this move in the future for the same supposed reason.

“Weapons Of Mass Migration”

Beyond the fact that this piece of religiously influenced legislation goes against the secular principles of the Indian Constitution but was pushed through anyhow because of the ruling BJP’s Hindutva-driven quest to transform their country into a “Hindu Rashtra“, the other reason why it’s so controversial is because it could demographically re-engineer the “Indian Balkans” through the state-supported policy of what Ivy League scholar Kelly M. Greenhill would recognize as “Weapons of Mass Migration“. More specifically, the “Seven Sisters” — and especially regional leader Assam which comprises the lion’s share of the “Indian Balkans'” population as well as tiny Tripura — already fear that their indigenous cultures will be replaced by the one from neighboring Bangladesh after the large-scale (and allegedly illegal) migration of Muslim Bengalis since the early 1970s. The locals are therefore mostly in favor of the central government’s “National Register of Citizens” (NRC) initiative to identify and deport what has been determined to be nearly 2 million people.

The Roots Of Assamese Rage

It doesn’t matter to the native Assamese and others that there’s the credible chance that the government will abuse the NRC to ethnically cleanse an “unwanted” demographic from that region and other parts of the country at large, to say nothing of the troubling means through which they’ll be deported by first being interned in what some have described as “concentration camps“, since they — whether legitimately or not — fear that their local identity is being destroyed by migrants. That’s why it was so surprising to many of them that the central government then turned around and facilitated the influx of potentially countless illegal immigrants under the pretext of protecting them from religious persecution, especially considering that it’s expected that the many people who would take advantage of this new law will probably be Bengalis, albeit non-Muslim ones (or potentially even Muslims masquerading as non-believers for “convenience’s sake”).

The reader should be made aware that the Assamese (which are being focused on in the context of this analysis by virtue of their overwhelming demographic influence in the region) have felt “under siege” for years after they saw the original borders of their post-independence (or rather, post-unification-with-India) state gradually shrink as a result of the central government’s domestic political-administrative reforms that led to the creation of new entities in the areas of Assam there were mostly populated by minority groups like the Nagas. It’s a very complex history to summarize, but everything can be simplified by explaining that this part of India had mostly always remained out of the control of those in the so-called “mainland” until the British occupation merged them together into a single political unit. The era of decolonization that swept the globe after World War II saw many of the non-Assamese people in the Northeast agitating (sometimes violently) for either recognition as a separate state within India so as not to be ruled by the Assamese or outright independence in a cycle of violence that continues to this day and still flares up from time to time.

https://www.globalresearch.ca/prime-minister-modi-triggers-political-instability-in-indias-northeastern-states/5697619

>>7510751

borrowed meme feel free

>>7510801

always looking elsewhere, many Anon's are awake

>>7510835

oh f………I'm f…….

Libya's GNA Says Qatar Confirmed Its Support Amid Fresh Assault on Tripoli

The Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) of Fayez Sarraj said on Saturday that Qatar has confirmed its support for GNA and restated its position against the operation of the Libyan National Army (LNA) led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.

GNA press service said that Sarraj on Saturday held talks with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani in Doha. The meeting came as Haftar on Thursday announced the start of the final offensive to take Tripoli. Libyan media reported that clashes between GNA and Haftar's forces were taking place in several areas around the capital.

"During the meeting, the Qatari minister reiterated that Qatar is against aggression on the capital city of Tripoli, and restated support for the legitimate Government of National Accord. The parties agreed on the importance of intensifying relations in vital areas in the interests of the two friendly states," the GNA press service said.

In April, Haftar ordered his troops to march on the capital to retake it from what he claimed were terrorists. Ensuring fighting has reportedly killed civilians and displaced over 100,000 people.

Libya has been facing unrest since 2011, when its long-time leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was overthrown and killed. The two rival governments, the UN-recognized Tripoli-based GNA and the eastern-based LNA, have split the country in half. In April, the situation deteriorated when the LNA launched an offensive to take control of Tripoli.

https://sputniknews.com/middleeast/201912151077579769-libyas-gna-says-qatar-confirmed-its-support-amid-fresh-assault-on-tripoli/

>>7510884

well done sir

Bolivian Interim President Says Arrest Warrant Will Be Issued Against Morales

Earlier in the month, the nation's former President Evo Morales left Mexico for Argentina, after its President-elect Alberto Fernandez granted him political asylum.

The country's interim leader Jeanine Anez announced on Saturday that the Bolivian government will issue an arrest warrant in the days to come against ex-President Evo Morales, bringing charges of sedition against him.

"He can return whenever he wants. He left because he wanted to", Anez said. "The arrest warrant will be issued in the next few days, because we have already brought the charges."

In late November, Bolivia's current government filed a criminal case against the former president for accusations of inciting unrest and terrorist activities against authorities and rejected a bill to exempt him from criminal prosecution.

Morales left the country for Mexico amid violent protests against the results of a presidential election in which he secured a hotly-disputed fourth term in office.

Earlier in November, opposition lawmaker Jeanine Anez declared herself interim president at a special meeting in the Parliament despite not reaching the necessary quorum as lawmakers from the ruling Movement for Socialism (MAS) party were absent. Morales has characterized the situation as a coup.

https://sputniknews.com/latam/201912151077579828-bolivian-interim-president-says-arrest-warrant-will-be-issued-against-morales/

>>7511110

>>7510571

was this already noted?

https://twitter.com/40_head/status/1205819961001660416

>>7511170

>>7511176

SECONDED

To be a true femanon

>>7511185

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kVQwX9l9HJ5F76x05ic_YnU_Z5yiVS96LbzAOP66EzA/edit#gid=1257679746