Tag: white helmets

Internal emails reveal that the Dutch government suppressed White Helmets’ financial fraud – what else are they hiding?

Leave a comment

10 May, 2021 — RT

Internal emails reveal that the Dutch government suppressed White Helmets’ financial fraud – what else are they hiding?Members of Syria’s Civil Defence service (White Helmets) look for wounded people in the rubble after a reported explosion in a depot close to a camp for the internally displaced near al-Fua, in the country’s northwestern Idlib province, on May 3, 2021. © AFP / Omar HAJ KADOUR

By Kit Klarenberg, an investigative journalist exploring the role of intelligence services in shaping politics and perceptions. Follow him on Twitter @KitKlarenberg

The epic establishment clean-up operation launched in the wake of James Le Mesurier’s apparent suicide was effective in the short term, but determined digging by critical journalists means the scandal definitely isn’t over yet.

Continue reading →

What kind of “Peace” are Britain’s Private Military Companies Bringing to the Middle East?

Leave a comment

12 April 2021 — Origin: New Eastern Outlook

Author: Vladimir Odintsov 

BRT5423412

The US government, with the UK hot on its heels, has long viewed the Middle East as a region where the presence of its army is indispensable not only because there are energy resources there, but due to the opportunity to control vast territories under the guise of “spreading democracy”. Therefore, American and British private military companies (PMCs) have been very actively involved in armed conflicts in the Middle East over recent decades, occupying an equal footing with the conventional armies deployed by their respective countries. The activity of PMCs particularly increased after the start of the “war on terror” declared by the West in 2001, when countries began to offer billions of dollars in contracts for PMCs around the world. The large Western PMCs founded during these years began to play a key role in fulfilling the tasks traditionally assigned to national armed forces. Moreover, according to findings from American experts, these military corporations will play an increasingly important role in local armed conflicts and wars in the future.

Continue reading →

Questions about BBC producer’s ties to UK intelligence follow ‘Mayday’ White Helmets whitewash

Leave a comment

7 April 2021 — The Grayzone

The BBC’s Chloe Hadjimatheou produced a podcast serial designed to rehabilitate the White Helmets’ late, scandal-stained founder, while blaming critics for his demise. Was she a channel for a wider British intelligence operation?

White Helmets founder James Le Mesurier falling to his death from the top floor of his Istanbul home in uncertain circumstances in November 2019 created a myriad of extremely serious problems for a great many powerful people.

Continue reading →

Even as a White Helmets boss admits ‘former’ militant links, Canadian national media talks ‘Russian disinfo’

Leave a comment

2 April 2021 — In Gaza (and beyond)

*From Clarity of Signal

April 2, 2021, RT.com

-by Eva K Bartlett

Even when a high-ranking White Helmet admits that some of the ‘rescuers’ came from the ranks of Syrian militants, all he gets from Canada’s national broadcaster is unquestioning praise and concern about “Russian disinformation.”

Continue reading →

The latest evasions and cover-ups by Western governments over their funding of terrorist groups in Syria are starting to unravel

5 Comments

13 December 2020 — RT

Vanessa Beeley

Recently, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte effectively blocked a Parliamentary motion to allow an external independent investigation of Dutch government funding of terrorist groups in Syria.

Rutte initially tried to deny his involvement in the burial of the investigation but tenacious questioning from journalists forced him to admit his personal interference. According to Rutte, such an investigation could result in “tensions with our allies […] the lives of former members of opposition groups could be put at stake.”

Continue reading →

Richard Medhurst: “BBC attacks journalists challenging narrative on Syria and White Helmets”

1 Comment

4 December 2020 — In Gaza and beyond

By Richard Medhurst

The BBC has released a new radio podcast titled Mayday: Investigating The Life And Death Of James LeMesurier. It attempts to tell the story behind former British army and intelligence officer James LeMesurier, co-founder of the “White Helmets” in Syria. While the BBC claims that its new Radio 4 series seeks to “explore the true story” behind the so called “Syria Civil Defence”, its correspondence with journalists critical of the group shows this wasn’t the case.

Continue reading →

Diagnosing Disinformation: a reply to Wilson and Starbird

Leave a comment

2 December 2020 — Tim Hayward

Author’s note: This article was originally due to appear in Misinformation Review, the Harvard-based journal that published the piece it responds to. The editorial board accepted the article for publication, but because of the challenging nature of my critique, they decided it should be published under the rubric of a letter to the editor so as to allow a right of reply to the authors of the article criticised. Three weeks after it was sent out to those authors, I was informed that ‘we are unable to publish letters on our site at this time.’ [Submitted to Misinformation Review 22 August 2020; Accepted for publication 30 October 2020; notified of non-publication 30 November 2020.]

Continue reading →

Questions for BBC on new White Helmets podcast series attacking OPCW whistleblowers

Leave a comment

30 November 2020 — Grayzone

A new BBC podcast, “Mayday,” uses smears, gaping omissions, leaps of logic, and factual errors in a desperate attempt to repair the image of late White Helmets founder James Le Mesurier, and discredit the OPCW inspectors who challenged a cover-up of their Syria chemical weapons probe. Mayday’s producer has failed to answer the following questions.

Continue reading →

If you know anyone who still thinks the White Helmets are “heroes” – show them this 7m video

Leave a comment

27 January 2020 — Off Guardian

Vanessa Beeley presents a condensed overview of the evidence for the White Helmets being a creation of Western governments embedded with terrorist factions inside Syria. Show this to anyone who still can’t believe our leaders would be cynical and psychopathic enough to nominate mercenaries, fakers and mass-murderers for a Nobel prize, or that our media would be craven enough to let this grotesque lie go unquestioned
Continue reading →

Syria – Turkey’s Bluff Is Called – Media Opposition Sources Run By British Intelligence

Leave a comment

19 February 2020 — Moon of Alabama

Russia has called Turkey’s bluff of a wide ranging attack on Syrian government forces. The Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will now have to find a way out of the Idleb trap he set himself in. His excellent Syria adventure is coming to an end.

Continue reading →