Disinfo: Using chemical weapons in Syria was part of an information war

Summary

Syrians have gained new experiences over the past decade through the war. Even information wars are no longer able to have an impact and have lost credibility, especially after false accusations of using chemical weapons, which were destroyed in Syria at the request of the Russian side. Not because of Assad, but in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of organisations designated as terrorist.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative absolving the Syrian regime of responsibility for chemical attacks in general.

The declared Syrian chemical weapon stockpile was reported to be completely destroyed in 2014. However, the inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) could only authenticate that declared chemical weapons had been destroyed, even though there were suspicions in the West that Syria had hidden as much as 10% of its stockpile.

The OPCW’s Fact-Finding Mission confirmed that people in Khan Shaykhun were exposed to sarin, a chemical weapon, on 4 April 2017. The JIM found Syria’s Government responsible for the attack.

And in September 2017, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria summarised 33 separate incidents where it had found the use of chemical weapons.

On April 10 2018, Russia vetoed a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution that would have created a new inquiry to ascertain responsibility for chemical weapons attacks in Syria. In June, the OPCW members granted it the power to assign blame for chemical attacks.

The United Nations Human Rights Council blamed the Syrian government forces for the attack.

Read more about chemical attacks in Syria here and here, and other cases claiming that Syria does not possess any chemical weapons, that the White Helmets used chemical weapons in Syria in order to accuse the Assad government and that the White Helmets have falsified chemical attacks evidence.

publication/media

  • Reported in: Issue 251
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 21/06/2021
  • Article language(s) Arabic
  • Countries and/or Regions discussed in the disinformation: Syria, Russia
  • Keywords: Chemical weapons/attack, Information war, Syrian War
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Disinfo: The West is letting the Syrian people starve because of sanctions

The West could not destroy Syria with war - now it is letting the people starve with sanctions.

Sadistic because, while the sanctions provided by this law ostensibly target the Syrian government and its allies to punish alleged "war crimes" against civilians and deter further ones - in reality, they inflict endless suffering on those same Syrian civilians.

Sanctions are among the deadliest of all weapons that can be used in hybrid warfare against the people of an attacked country. At the same time that sanctions are in place, the West is stealing the oil, burning the food, or creating it outside of Syria to sell-all to rob the Syrian people of their own resources, of the wealth of their own country.

And may such Western representatives, completely devoid of any moral integrity, continue to bombard Syria and Russia with one accusation after another: It is abundantly clear that the suffering of Syrians is a product of the illegal war against Syria and the murderous, criminal sanctions against the Syrian people.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about the Syrian war and the belligerent intentions of the West towards Syria.

Within the context of the Syrian conflict, EU sanctions, imposed since 9 May 2011, respond to the repression perpetrated on the Syrian people by the Syrian Assad regime and its supporters, including through the use of live ammunition against peaceful protesters and the regime’s involvement in the proliferation and use of chemical weapons.

Disinfo: Ukrainian regime is a terrorist organisation

The regime in Kyiv did not start yesterday its crimes, which cannot be interpreted otherwise than acts of terror. From the beginning of its existence, the militants of the "Maidan", the main component of the coup d'etat, have committed terrorist acts. For seven years, the post-Maidan authorities have acted and are acting as a terrorist organisation.

Disproof

Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative alleging that Ukraine is a state supporting terrorism and that the Ukrainian government assumed power after the coup d'etat.

Ukraine is not a terrorist state, it does not support terrorism in any form. The Ukrainian government does not support or finance terrorist groups. The Ukrainian government is recognised by other governments across the world.

Disinfo: Russian-speakers are still openly discriminated against, especially in the Baltic states

Russian-speaking people are still openly discriminated against in some countries. Discrimination is aimed at the Russian language and education in the Russian language. The Russian-speaking people are forced to sever the link with the historical homeland.

The scandals linked to the discrimination against the Russian language permanently happen in the Baltic states and, especially, in Latvia.

Disproof

Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation on the Baltic countries, accusing them of violation of human rights of the Russian-speaking minority.

The Baltic states are democratic countries, which respect human rights and do not discriminate or oppress any persons because of their citizenship and political opinions. In the ranking Freedom in the World (by Freedom House) Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia marked as “free” countries. Read more about the real situation with human rights in LithuaniaLatvia and Estonia.