Let’s see ...Blame Assad for alleged chemical attacks in SyriaBlame Putin for Salisbury “attacks”No real evidence necessary- When trial by public opinion serves it's purpose so well.I'm disheartened about this change coming so close to the good news out of Syria just yesterday
Fisk: This Moment in History- The US Gives Up on Assad Overthrow
THE HAGUE, June 27. /TASS/. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has adopted the British amendments to its mandate giving it accusatory functions, a Russian delegate told the media after the voting."According to preliminary returns the British resolution has been adopted," he said.Soon, there followed a confirmation from Britain’s OPCW envoy Peter Wilson."The OPCW voted through the UK Decision co-sponsored by 30 states… 82 voted for," Wilson tweeted.
- Russia’s Industry Minister on Wednesday said the future of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was in doubt after member states voted - over objections by Moscow - to empower it to assign blame for attacks.Speaking after OPCW member states voted 82-24 in favour of a British-led proposal affirming the agency should go beyond determining whether a banned weapon had been used, Georgy Kalamonov compared the organisation to a sinking ship.“A lot of the countries that voted against the measure are starting to think about how the organisation will exist and function in the future,” he told reporters.
‘UK & US want OPCW powers expanded to justify future attacks against Syria’
London’s effort to empower the UN chemical watchdog with the right to assign guilt serves Western interests in finding loopholes and justifications for new attacks against Damascus, investigative journalist Rick Sterling told RT.“The UK in alliance with the US is hoping to have the OPCW able to assign blame and provide a rationale for future attacks by the US and the UK,” Sterling believes.Under Donald Trump’s administration, the US used chemical incidents in Syria as a pretext to stage two nearly instant ‘retaliatory’ strikes against Damascus without due investigation. The UK, as well as France, joined the US-led military endeavor this spring when they bombarded government bases and infrastructure in response to an alleged chemical attack in Douma on April 7. A year earlier, Washington unilaterally launched 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Shayrat Airbase, as a response to the Khan Shaykhun chemical incident on 4 April 2017.
Despite repeated failures by OPCW experts to impartially investigate chemical attack claims in Syria –and at times even to visit the sites of an actual alleged incident– an ongoing special conference of the watchdog in the Hague is set to vote on the expansion of its mandate. The proposed new powers would involve the OPCW declaring any party to a conflict responsible for any chemical incident.
All of the latest OPCW reports were in large part based on open source data, witness testimonies and video and photo evidence provided by select ‘moderate’ rebel groups and controversial NGOs, such as the Syrian Civil Defence (SCD) –better known as the White Helmets– or the US-based Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). Those same sources by coincidence were instrumental in heating up international public outrage in the buildup for ‘retaliatory’ US-led strikes against Damascus.
“In the last several years we’ve seen a situation in Syria where the efforts of countries to overthrow, to topple the Damascus government have used claims, accusations of chemical weapons usage, and the OPCW have been a part of that,” Sterling believes.