A U. S. Senator from California is claimed to have said, “The first casualty when war comes is truth.” No, it wasn’t Senator Dianne Feinstein; it is attributed to Hiram W. Johnson in 1917. This was upon the U. S. entry into World War I. Before World War I, the U. S. declared war against Spain. Our warship, the USS Maine, exploded and sank in the Havana, Cuba, harbor in 1898. Spain was blamed for it, and war was declared. Historians now acknowledge that Spain was not at fault. Nevertheless, it was a war the U. S. Government wanted–in order to gain colonies. Newspapers through out the U. S. unquestionably published the Government spin.
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, The New York Times front page lead article blamed the Syrian Government–without citing any evidence–for a chemical weapons attack on civilians, in the rebel-held Ghouta area of Damascus. The article was written by Anne Barnard and Michael R. Gordon from Beirut, Lebanon. It opens as follows: “One of the worst chemical bombings in Syria turned a northern, rebel-held area into a toxic kill zone on Tuesday, inciting international outrage over the ever-increasing Government impunity shown in the Country’s six year war.” Perhaps slightly one-sided.
They continue, “The opposition-run Health Department in Idlib province, where the attack took place, said 69 people had died….”
They go on, “The Government of Mr. Assad, who renounced chemical weapons nearly four years ago after a large chemical attack that American intelligence agencies concluded was carried out by his forces, denied that his military had been responsible, as he has done every time chemical munitions have been used in Syria.”
Not stated is the fact that the United Nations sent in teams of experts from the World Health Organization (WHO), aided by a team of experts from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), to investigate the August 21, 2013 chemical attack in the Ghouta area of Damascus. OPCW determined that mustard gas had been used, but they were unable to determine who used it. These teams are still on the ground in Syria.
The Director-General of OPCW, Ahmed Uzumcu, was interviewed May 11, 2016, by Tomaz Murkovic of the Slovenia Press Agency. Uzumcu stated, “Our team found out that sulphuric mustard had been used both in Syria and Iraq.” He noted, while the OPCW team did not have the mandate to attribute the use to any group, “there are strong suspicions that IS may have used the mustard gas.” He also stated, “The Islamic State probably managed to manufacture the weapons on its own.”
There are several things to consider. First, why is President Trump quoting “Fake News?” His hostile attitude toward The New York Times is well known. The Times article seems not to question U. S. intelligence, the same group that was so positive Saddam Hussein’s Iraq had “weapons of mass destruction.” Second, how can we believe anything Trump says, since he has shown contempt for the truth and never bothers to check facts?
Finally, and of considerable importance, who benefited most from this sorry attack? Several days ago Trump changed U. S. foreign policy regarding President Assad, saying he could stay in power. Now, [on Thursday, April 6,] the chemical attack happens, and Trump changed his mind–to the rebels’ benefit. Will we ever know the truth of the matter? I doubt it.
If we really wanted to stop the killing, it makes sense to stop selling the killing machines, a.k.a. weapons. As well as other countries, the United States exports violence. People suffer, and the weapons industry makes a fortune. So much for truth. God have mercy on us all!