source: https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905618/We-got-a-fuckin-problem.html
Intelligence officials doubted the alleged Sarin gas attack at Khan Sheikhoun. WELT AM SONNTAG presents a chat protocol of a security advisor and an active American soldier on duty at a key base in the region. This conversation was provided to Seymour Hersh. It is betweeen a security adviser and an active US American soldier on duty on a key operational base about the events in Khan Sheikhoun. We have made abbreviations: American soldier (AS) and Security Advisor (SA). WELT AM SONNTAG is aware of the location of the deployment. For security reasons, certain details of military operations have been omitted.
(Note: emphasis in the text added by me, the Saker)
April 6, 2017
American Soldier: We got a fuckin‘ problem
Security-Adviser: What happened? Is it the Trump ignoring the Intel and going to try to hit the Syrians? And that we’re pissing on the Russians?
AS: This is bad…Things are spooling up.
SA: You may not have seen trumps press conference yesterday. He’s bought into the media story without asking to see the Intel. We are likely to get our asses kicked by the Russians. Fucking dangerous. Where are the godamn adults? The failure of the chain of command to tell the President the truth, whether he wants to hear it or not, will go down in history as one of our worst moments.
AS: I don’t know. None of this makes any sense. We KNOW that there was no chemical attack. The Syrians struck a weapons cache (a legitimate military target) and there was collateral damage. That’s it. They did not conduct any sort of a chemical attack.
Anzeige
AS: And now we’re shoving a shit load of TLAMs (tomahawks) up their ass.
SA: There has been a hidden agenda all along. This is about trying to ultimately go after Iran. What the people around Trump do not understand is that the Russians are not a paper tiger and that they have more robust military capability than we do.
AS: I don’t know what the Russians are going to do. They might hang back and let the Syrians defend their own borders, or they might provide some sort of tepid support, or they might blow us the fuck out of the airspace and back into Iraq. I honestly don’t know what to expect right now. I feel like anything is possible. The russian air defense system is capable of taking out our TLAMs. this is a big fucking deal…we are still all systems go…
SA: You are so right. Russia is not going to take this lying down
SA: Who is pushing this? Is it coming from Votel (General Joseph L. Votel, Commander of United States Central Command, editor‘s note) ?
AS: I don’t know. It’s from someone big though. . . . This is a big fucking deal.
AS: It has to be POTUS.
AS: They [the russians] are weighing their options. Indications are they are going to be passive supporters of syria and not engage their systems unless their own assets are threatened..in other words, the sky is fucking blue.’
April 7, 2017
SA: What are the Russians doing or saying Am I correct that we did little real damage to Russia or Syria?
AS: We didn’t hit a damn thing, thankfully. They retrograded all their aircraft and personnel. We basically gave them a very expensive fireworks display.
AS: They knew where ships were and watched the entire strike from launch to end game.
AS: The Russians are furious. Claiming we have the real Intel and know the truth about the weapons depot strike.
AS: They are correct.
AS: I guess it really didn’t matter whether we elected Clinton or Trump. Fuck.
AS: No one is talking about the entire reason we’re in Iraq and Syria in the first place. That mission is fucked now.
SA: Are any of your colleagues pissed or is everyone going along with it and saying this is OK
AS: It’s a mad house. . . .Hell we even told the Russians an hour before impact
SA: But they clearly knew it was coming
AS: Oh of course
AS: Now Fox is saying we chose to hit the Syrian airfield because it is where the chemical attacks were launched from. Wow. Can’t make this shit up.
SA: They are. I mean, making it up
AS: It’s so fuckin evil
SA: Amen!!!
April 8, 2017
AS: Russians are being extremely reasonable. Despite what the news is reporting they are still trying to deconflict and coordinate the air campaign.
SA: I don’t think the russia yet understands how crazy Trump is over this. And i don’t think we appreciate how much damage the Russians can do to us.
AS: They’re showing amazing restraint and been unbelievably calm. They seem mostly interested in de-escalating everything. They don’t want to lose our support in the help with destroying Isis.
SA: But I get the get the feeling are simply trying this approach for as long as they feel it might work. If we keep pushing this current aggressive stance they’re going to hit back.’
Seymour Hersh’s analysis of what really happened.
Source: https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165905578/Trump-s-Red-Line.html
Trump‘s Red Line
On April 6, United States President Donald Trump authorized an early morning Tomahawk missile strike on Shayrat Air Base in central Syria in retaliation for what he said was a deadly nerve agent attack carried out by the Syrian government two days earlier in the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhoun. Trump issued the order despite having been warned by the U.S. intelligence community that it had found no evidence that the Syrians had used a chemical weapon.
The available intelligence made clear that the Syrians had targeted a jihadist meeting site on April 4 using a Russian-supplied guided bomb equipped with conventional explosives. Details of the attack, including information on its so-called high-value targets, had been provided by the Russians days in advance to American and allied military officials in Doha, whose mission is to coordinate all U.S., allied, Syrian and Russian Air Force operations in the region.
Some American military and intelligence officials were especially distressed by the president’s determination to ignore the evidence. “None of this makes any sense,” one officer told colleagues upon learning of the decision to bomb. “We KNOW that there was no chemical attack … the Russians are furious. Claiming we have the real intel and know the truth … I guess it didn’t matter whether we elected Clinton or Trump.“
Within hours of the April 4 bombing, the world’s media was saturated with photographs and videos from Khan Sheikhoun. Pictures of dead and dying victims, allegedly suffering from the symptoms of nerve gas poisoning, were uploaded to social media by local activists, including the White Helmets, a first responder group known for its close association with the Syrian opposition.
The provenance of the photos was not clear and no international observers have yet inspected the site, but the immediate popular assumption worldwide was that this was a deliberate use of the nerve agent sarin, authorized by President Bashar Assad of Syria. Trump endorsed that assumption by issuing a statement within hours of the attack, describing Assad’s “heinous actions” as being a consequence of the Obama administration’s “weakness and irresolution” in addressing what he said was Syria’s past use of chemical weapons.
To the dismay of many senior members of his national security team, Trump could not be swayed over the next 48 hours of intense briefings and decision-making. In a series of interviews, I learned of the total disconnect between the president and many of his military advisers and intelligence officials, as well as officers on the ground in the region who had an entirely different understanding of the nature of Syria’s attack on Khan Sheikhoun. I was provided with evidence of that disconnect, in the form of transcripts of real-time communications, immediately following the Syrian attack on April 4. In an important pre-strike process known as deconfliction, U.S. and Russian officers routinely supply one another with advance details of planned flight paths and target coordinates, to ensure that there is no risk of collision or accidental encounter (the Russians speak on behalf of the Syrian military). This information is supplied daily to the American AWACS surveillance planes that monitor the flights once airborne. Deconfliction’s success and importance can be measured by the fact that there has yet to be one collision, or even a near miss, among the high-powered supersonic American, Allied, Russian and Syrian fighter bombers.
Russian and Syrian Air Force officers gave details of the carefully planned flight path to and from Khan Shiekhoun on April 4 directly, in English, to the deconfliction monitors aboard the AWACS plane, which was on patrol near the Turkish border, 60 miles or more to the north.
The Syrian target at Khan Sheikhoun, as shared with the Americans at Doha, was depicted as a two-story cinder-block building in the northern part of town. Russian intelligence, which is shared when necessary with Syria and the U.S. as part of their joint fight against jihadist groups, had established that a high-level meeting of jihadist leaders was to take place in the building, including representatives of Ahrar al-Sham and the al-Qaida-affiliated group formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra. The two groups had recently joined forces, and controlled the town and surrounding area. Russian intelligence depicted the cinder-block building as a command and control center that housed a grocery and other commercial premises on its ground floor with other essential shops nearby, including a fabric shop and an electronics store.
“The rebels control the population by controlling the distribution of goods that people need to live – food, water, cooking oil, propane gas, fertilizers for growing their crops, and insecticides to protect the crops,” a senior adviser to the American intelligence community, who has served in senior positions in the Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency, told me. The basement was used as storage for rockets, weapons and ammunition, as well as products that could be distributed for free to the community, among them medicines and chlorine-based decontaminants for cleansing the bodies of the dead before burial. The meeting place – a regional headquarters – was on the floor above. “It was an established meeting place,” the senior adviser said. “A long-time facility that would have had security, weapons, communications, files and a map center.” The Russians were intent on confirming their intelligence and deployed a drone for days above the site to monitor communications and develop what is known in the intelligence community as a POL – a pattern of life. The goal was to take note of those going in and out of the building, and to track weapons being moved back and forth, including rockets and ammunition.
One reason for the Russian message to Washington about the intended target was to ensure that any CIA asset or informant who had managed to work his way into the jihadist leadership was forewarned not to attend the meeting. I was told that the Russians passed the warning directly to the CIA. “They were playing the game right,” the senior adviser said. The Russian guidance noted that the jihadist meeting was coming at a time of acute pressure for the insurgents: Presumably Jabhat al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham were desperately seeking a path forward in the new political climate. In the last few days of March, Trump and two of his key national security aides – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley – had made statements acknowledging that, as the New York Times put it, the White House “has abandoned the goal” of pressuring Assad “to leave power, marking a sharp departure from the Middle East policy that guided the Obama administration for more than five years.” White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told a press briefing on March 31 that “there is a political reality that we have to accept,” implying that Assad was there to stay.
Russian and Syrian intelligence officials, who coordinate operations closely with the American command posts, made it clear that the planned strike on Khan Sheikhoun was special because of the high-value target. “It was a red-hot change. The mission was out of the ordinary – scrub the sked,” the senior adviser told me. “Every operations officer in the region” – in the Army, Marine Corps, Air Force, CIA and NSA – “had to know there was something going on. The Russians gave the Syrian Air Force a guided bomb and that was a rarity. They’re skimpy with their guided bombs and rarely share them with the Syrian Air Force. And the Syrians assigned their best pilot to the mission, with the best wingman.” The advance intelligence on the target, as supplied by the Russians, was given the highest possible score inside the American community.
The Execute Order governing U.S. military operations in theater, which was issued by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provide instructions that demarcate the relationship between the American and Russian forces operating in Syria. “It’s like an ops order – ‘Here’s what you are authorized to do,’” the adviser said. “We do not share operational control with the Russians. We don’t do combined operations with them, or activities directly in support of one of their operations. But coordination is permitted. We keep each other apprised of what’s happening and within this package is the mutual exchange of intelligence. If we get a hot tip that could help the Russians do their mission, that’s coordination; and the Russians do the same for us. When we get a hot tip about a command and control facility,” the adviser added, referring to the target in Khan Sheikhoun, “we do what we can to help them act on it.” “This was not a chemical weapons strike,” the adviser said. “That’s a fairy tale. If so, everyone involved in transferring, loading and arming the weapon – you’ve got to make it appear like a regular 500-pound conventional bomb – would be wearing Hazmat protective clothing in case of a leak. There would be very little chance of survival without such gear. Military grade sarin includes additives designed to increase toxicity and lethality. Every batch that comes out is maximized for death. That is why it is made. It is odorless and invisible and death can come within a minute. No cloud. Why produce a weapon that people can run away from?”
The target was struck at 6:55 a.m. on April 4, just before midnight in Washington. A Bomb Damage Assessment (BDA) by the U.S. military later determined that the heat and force of the 500-pound Syrian bomb triggered a series of secondary explosions that could have generated a huge toxic cloud that began to spread over the town, formed by the release of the fertilizers, disinfectants and other goods stored in the basement, its effect magnified by the dense morning air, which trapped the fumes close to the ground. According to intelligence estimates, the senior adviser said, the strike itself killed up to four jihadist leaders, and an unknown number of drivers and security aides. There is no confirmed count of the number of civilians killed by the poisonous gases that were released by the secondary explosions, although opposition activists reported that there were more than 80 dead, and outlets such as CNN have put the figure as high as 92. A team from Médecins Sans Frontières, treating victims from Khan Sheikhoun at a clinic 60 miles to the north, reported that “eight patients showed symptoms – including constricted pupils, muscle spasms and involuntary defecation – which are consistent with exposure to a neurotoxic agent such as sarin gas or similar compounds.” MSF also visited other hospitals that had received victims and found that patients there “smelled of bleach, suggesting that they had been exposed to chlorine.” In other words, evidence suggested that there was more than one chemical responsible for the symptoms observed, which would not have been the case if the Syrian Air Force – as opposition activists insisted – had dropped a sarin bomb, which has no percussive or ignition power to trigger secondary explosions. The range of symptoms is, however, consistent with the release of a mixture of chemicals, including chlorine and the organophosphates used in many fertilizers, which can cause neurotoxic effects similar to those of sarin.
The internet swung into action within hours, and gruesome photographs of the victims flooded television networks and YouTube. U.S. intelligence was tasked with establishing what had happened. Among the pieces of information received was an intercept of Syrian communications collected before the attack by an allied nation. The intercept, which had a particularly strong effect on some of Trump’s aides, did not mention nerve gas or sarin, but it did quote a Syrian general discussing a “special” weapon and the need for a highly skilled pilot to man the attack plane. The reference, as those in the American intelligence community understood, and many of the inexperienced aides and family members close to Trump may not have, was to a Russian-supplied bomb with its built-in guidance system. “If you’ve already decided it was a gas attack, you will then inevitably read the talk about a special weapon as involving a sarin bomb,” the adviser said. “Did the Syrians plan the attack on Khan Sheikhoun? Absolutely. Do we have intercepts to prove it? Absolutely. Did they plan to use sarin? No. But the president did not say: ‘We have a problem and let’s look into it.’ He wanted to bomb the shit out of Syria.”
At the UN the next day, Ambassador Haley created a media sensation when she displayed photographs of the dead and accused Russia of being complicit. “How many more children have to die before Russia cares?” she asked. NBC News, in a typical report that day, quoted American officials as confirming that nerve gas had been used and Haley tied the attack directly to Syrian President Assad. “We know that yesterday’s attack was a new low even for the barbaric Assad regime,” she said. There was irony in America’s rush to blame Syria and criticize Russia for its support of Syria’s denial of any use of gas in Khan Sheikhoun, as Ambassador Haley and others in Washington did. “What doesn’t occur to most Americans” the adviser said, “is if there had been a Syrian nerve gas attack authorized by Bashar, the Russians would be 10 times as upset as anyone in the West. Russia’s strategy against ISIS, which involves getting American cooperation, would have been destroyed and Bashar would be responsible for pissing off Russia, with unknown consequences for him. Bashar would do that? When he’s on the verge of winning the war? Are you kidding me?”
Trump, a constant watcher of television news, said, while King Abdullah of Jordan was sitting next to him in the Oval Office, that what had happened was “horrible, horrible” and a “terrible affront to humanity.” Asked if his administration would change its policy toward the Assad government, he said: “You will see.” He gave a hint of the response to come at the subsequent news conference with King Abdullah: “When you kill innocent children, innocent babies – babies, little babies – with a chemical gas that is so lethal … that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line . … That attack on children yesterday had a big impact on me. Big impact … It’s very, very possible … that my attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much.”
Within hours of viewing the photos, the adviser said, Trump instructed the national defense apparatus to plan for retaliation against Syria. “He did this before he talked to anybody about it. The planners then asked the CIA and DIA if there was any evidence that Syria had sarin stored at a nearby airport or somewhere in the area. Their military had to have it somewhere in the area in order to bomb with it.” “The answer was, ‘We have no evidence that Syria had sarin or used it,’” the adviser said. “The CIA also told them that there was no residual delivery for sarin at Sheyrat [the airfield from which the Syrian SU-24 bombers had taken off on April 4] and Assad had no motive to commit political suicide.” Everyone involved, except perhaps the president, also understood that a highly skilled United Nations team had spent more than a year in the aftermath of an alleged sarin attack in 2013 by Syria, removing what was said to be all chemical weapons from a dozen Syrian chemical weapons depots.
At this point, the adviser said, the president’s national security planners were more than a little rattled: “No one knew the provenance of the photographs. We didn’t know who the children were or how they got hurt. Sarin actually is very easy to detect because it penetrates paint, and all one would have to do is get a paint sample. We knew there was a cloud and we knew it hurt people. But you cannot jump from there to certainty that Assad had hidden sarin from the UN because he wanted to use it in Khan Sheikhoun.” The intelligence made clear that a Syrian Air Force SU-24 fighter bomber had used a conventional weapon to hit its target: There had been no chemical warhead. And yet it was impossible for the experts to persuade the president of this once he had made up his mind. “The president saw the photographs of poisoned little girls and said it was an Assad atrocity,” the senior adviser said. “It’s typical of human nature. You jump to the conclusion you want. Intelligence analysts do not argue with a president. They’re not going to tell the president, ‘if you interpret the data this way, I quit.’”
The national security advisers understood their dilemma: Trump wanted to respond to the affront to humanity committed by Syria and he did not want to be dissuaded. They were dealing with a man they considered to be not unkind and not stupid, but his limitations when it came to national security decisions were severe. “Everyone close to him knows his proclivity for acting precipitously when he does not know the facts,” the adviser said. “He doesn’t read anything and has no real historical knowledge. He wants verbal briefings and photographs. He’s a risk-taker. He can accept the consequences of a bad decision in the business world; he will just lose money. But in our world, lives will be lost and there will be long-term damage to our national security if he guesses wrong. He was told we did not have evidence of Syrian involvement and yet Trump says: ‘Do it.”’
On April 6, Trump convened a meeting of national security officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The meeting was not to decide what to do, but how best to do it – or, as some wanted, how to do the least and keep Trump happy. “The boss knew before the meeting that they didn’t have the intelligence, but that was not the issue,” the adviser said. “The meeting was about, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do,’ and then he gets the options.”
The available intelligence was not relevant. The most experienced man at the table was Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who had the president’s respect and understood, perhaps, how quickly that could evaporate. Mike Pompeo, the CIA director whose agency had consistently reported that it had no evidence of a Syrian chemical bomb, was not present. Secretary of State Tillerson was admired on the inside for his willingness to work long hours and his avid reading of diplomatic cables and reports, but he knew little about waging war and the management of a bombing raid. Those present were in a bind, the adviser said. “The president was emotionally energized by the disaster and he wanted options.” He got four of them, in order of extremity. Option one was to do nothing. All involved, the adviser said, understood that was a non-starter. Option two was a slap on the wrist: to bomb an airfield in Syria, but only after alerting the Russians and, through them, the Syrians, to avoid too many casualties. A few of the planners called this the “gorilla option”: America would glower and beat its chest to provoke fear and demonstrate resolve, but cause little significant damage. The third option was to adopt the strike package that had been presented to Obama in 2013, and which he ultimately chose not to pursue. The plan called for the massive bombing of the main Syrian airfields and command and control centers using B1 and B52 aircraft launched from their bases in the U.S. Option four was “decapitation”: to remove Assad by bombing his palace in Damascus, as well as his command and control network and all of the underground bunkers he could possibly retreat to in a crisis.
“Trump ruled out option one off the bat,” the senior adviser said, and the assassination of Assad was never considered. “But he said, in essence: ‘You’re the military and I want military action.’” The president was also initially opposed to the idea of giving the Russians advance warning before the strike, but reluctantly accepted it. “We gave him the Goldilocks option – not too hot, not too cold, but just right.” The discussion had its bizarre moments. Tillerson wondered at the Mar-a-Lago meeting why the president could not simply call in the B52 bombers and pulverize the air base. He was told that B52s were very vulnerable to surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) in the area and using such planes would require suppression fire that could kill some Russian defenders. “What is that?” Tillerson asked. Well, sir, he was told, that means we would have to destroy the upgraded SAM sites along the B52 flight path, and those are manned by Russians, and we possibly would be confronted with a much more difficult situation. “The lesson here was: Thank God for the military men at the meeting,” the adviser said. “They did the best they could when confronted with a decision that had already been made.”
Fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles were fired from two U.S. Navy destroyers on duty in the Mediterranean, the Ross and the Porter, at Shayrat Air Base near the government-controlled city of Homs. The strike was as successful as hoped, in terms of doing minimal damage. The missiles have a light payload – roughly 220 pounds of HBX, the military’s modern version of TNT. The airfield’s gasoline storage tanks, a primary target, were pulverized, the senior adviser said, triggering a huge fire and clouds of smoke that interfered with the guidance system of following missiles. As many as 24 missiles missed their targets and only a few of the Tomahawks actually penetrated into hangars, destroying nine Syrian aircraft, many fewer than claimed by the Trump administration. I was told that none of the nine was operational: such damaged aircraft are what the Air Force calls hangar queens. “They were sacrificial lambs,” the senior adviser said. Most of the important personnel and operational fighter planes had been flown to nearby bases hours before the raid began. The two runways and parking places for aircraft, which had also been targeted, were repaired and back in operation within eight hours or so. All in all, it was little more than an expensive fireworks display.
“It was a totally Trump show from beginning to end,” the senior adviser said. “A few of the president’s senior national security advisers viewed the mission as a minimized bad presidential decision, and one that they had an obligation to carry out. But I don’t think our national security people are going to allow themselves to be hustled into a bad decision again. If Trump had gone for option three, there might have been some immediate resignations.”
After the meeting, with the Tomahawks on their way, Trump spoke to the nation from Mar-a-Lago, and accused Assad of using nerve gas to choke out “the lives of helpless men, women and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many … No child of God should ever suffer such horror.” The next few days were his most successful as president. America rallied around its commander in chief, as it always does in times of war. Trump, who had campaigned as someone who advocated making peace with Assad, was bombing Syria 11 weeks after taking office, and was hailed for doing so by Republicans, Democrats and the media alike. One prominent TV anchorman, Brian Williams of MSNBC, used the word “beautiful” to describe the images of the Tomahawks being launched at sea. Speaking on CNN, Fareed Zakaria said: “I think Donald Trump became president of the United States.” A review of the top 100 American newspapers showed that 39 of them published editorials supporting the bombing in its aftermath, including the New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
Five days later, the Trump administration gathered the national media for a background briefing on the Syrian operation that was conducted by a senior White House official who was not to be identified. The gist of the briefing was that Russia’s heated and persistent denial of any sarin use in the Khan Sheikhoun bombing was a lie because President Trump had said sarin had been used. That assertion, which was not challenged or disputed by any of the reporters present, became the basis for a series of further criticisms:
– The continued lying by the Trump administration about Syria’s use of sarin led to widespread belief in the American media and public that Russia had chosen to be involved in a corrupt disinformation and cover-up campaign on the part of Syria.
– Russia’s military forces had been co-located with Syria’s at the Shayrat airfield (as they are throughout Syria), raising the possibility that Russia had advance notice of Syria’s determination to use sarin at Khan Sheikhoun and did nothing to stop it.
– Syria’s use of sarin and Russia’s defense of that use strongly suggested that Syria withheld stocks of the nerve agent from the UN disarmament team that spent much of 2014 inspecting and removing all declared chemical warfare agents from 12 Syrian chemical weapons depots, pursuant to the agreement worked out by the Obama administration and Russia after Syria’s alleged, but still unproven, use of sarin the year before against a rebel redoubt in a suburb of Damascus.
The briefer, to his credit, was careful to use the words “think,” “suggest” and “believe” at least 10 times during the 30-minute event. But he also said that his briefing was based on data that had been declassified by “our colleagues in the intelligence community.” What the briefer did not say, and may not have known, was that much of the classified information in the community made the point that Syria had not used sarin in the April 4 bombing attack.
The mainstream press responded the way the White House had hoped it would: Stories attacking Russia’s alleged cover-up of Syria’s sarin use dominated the news and many media outlets ignored the briefer’s myriad caveats. There was a sense of renewed Cold War. The New York Times, for example – America’s leading newspaper – put the following headline on its account: “White House Accuses Russia of Cover-Up in Syria Chemical Attack.” The Times’ account did note a Russian denial, but what was described by the briefer as “declassified information” suddenly became a “declassified intelligence report.” Yet there was no formal intelligence report stating that Syria had used sarin, merely a “summary based on declassified information about the attacks,” as the briefer referred to it.
The crisis slid into the background by the end of April, as Russia, Syria and the United States remained focused on annihilating ISIS and the militias of al-Qaida. Some of those who had worked through the crisis, however, were left with lingering concerns. “The Salafists and jihadists got everything they wanted out of their hyped-up Syrian nerve gas ploy,” the senior adviser to the U.S. intelligence community told me, referring to the flare up of tensions between Syria, Russia and America. “The issue is, what if there’s another false flag sarin attack credited to hated Syria? Trump has upped the ante and painted himself into a corner with his decision to bomb. And do not think these guys are not planning the next faked attack. Trump will have no choice but to bomb again, and harder. He’s incapable of saying he made a mistake.”
The White House did not answer specific questions about the bombing of Khan Sheikhoun and the airport of Shayrat. These questions were send via e-mail to the White House on June 15 and never answered.
Despite what the lying media say, the millions of veterans and serving military presonnel will be aware that there was no sarin present and that their government lied about that.
Well the White House is dragging the chemical attack story out again:
https://www.rt.com/usa/394194-us-syria-another-chemical-weapons-attack/
Interesting the timing of this Sy Hersh article and today the “new potential chemical attack” story is being pushed. Where is the intelligence? Where is the investigation?
Pres Assad and SAA are making gains and winning in Golan Heights and elsewhere.
Hope the Russians are gathering and watching this because we can see Trump will attack again…..and the financial collapse is coming again…..they are desperate for war.
Yes, this Hersh disinfo crap and the vulgar lies coming out of the White House belong together.
It is the Nazis threatening the world with another brutal attack or war of aggression, which they invariably precede with a false flag or hoax.
As _smr and vot tak say. Apolitical buffoon, ‘moderate’ Nazi, casino mobster Trump is an irrelevant cr-ISIS actor. He delegated his job to the establishment and doesn’t care – or maybe he’s learning how to be a real Nazi. He’s probably gone golfing.
The account of the dialogue between the AS and SA reads like bad Tom Clancy (good Tom Clancy is already bad enough!) I don’t buy it.
I agree. Definitely scripted.
Yes Ed I do believe you are correct…The dialogue just seems too contrived to be believable.
I too found the tone odd and maybe scripted.
Since I trust Sy Hersh, my inference is that maybe the “scripted” quality is a result of editing down original chat protocols.
From a technical point of view I am not clear on what a “chat protocol” is.
I wonder if editing was done by Germans at Die Welt am Sonntag?
More informed commentary from experienced media watchers might help put this “protocol” into perspective.
Katherine
PS.
” I was provided with evidence of that disconnect, in the form of transcripts of real-time communications, immediately following the Syrian attack on April 4.”
Are the comments drawn from these transcripts? Are they the “chat protocols”?
Perhaps extraneous material was deleted?
If that is so, it might have been a good idea to use ellipses to indicate how the bits were strung together. Just an editor, guessing.
Katherne
I think the first hunch is right. It is rubbish. A pastiche written to order by a very, very low-grade hack. There is no verisimilitude whatsoever.
The Empire seems incapable of getting good help these days.
Interesting (to this observer) the way a matter of verifiable (actually, verified) fact is transformed into an issue of belief simply by implying that it is one.
This is the way “tobacco science,” “global warming/cooling/whatever” and (in the US) “political analysis” are conducted. What’s surprising is that the pattern (a simple, basic one) isn’t more immediately noticed and commented-on.
Then again, the people whose mission is to get there first and deflect the narrative into the MSM talking points picture aren’t there to deal with facts. It’s to replace them . . . with (as always) unfounded beliefs. They even brag that “reality” is whatever they say it is.
you guys are idiots – the script was transcribed – translated into German – tr-translated into English and then published –
sigh
I meant to say re-translated into English –
In other words – the script sounds stiff because its been worked over at least 3 times – not because its fake news.
Get on the right side of the fence guys.
It is not feasible that a US soldier and a ‘security advisor’ would talk over an unencrypted chat protocol, particularly when referring to the forbidden-to-the-public underlying policy of this being all about Iran and thus all about Israel.
So either the US military encrypted protocols can be broken by third parties (“Houston, we have a problem”) or the secnario is a pure pretext allowing the message to be passed to the public whilst protecting the originators.
So true.
I think it is made up, though I found it rather amusing…
Re “You guys are idiots; Get on the right side of the fence guys.”
I very much doubt that the transcripts were translated into German and then “retranslated” into English.
If you check at the site there is no German version of the piece (at least, not that I saw).
The only English-language page I see that Die Welt has does not contain the Hersh piece;
it contains news of interest to UK readers.
The Hersh piece appears in the “Ausland” section of the website (which BTW contains a lot of i nteresting items; I am bookmarking it); the other items are in German.
The other stuff on the pages with the Hersh pieces is in German (photo Quellen, usw), also the Kommentare.
It is possible that Die Welt is purposefully making these pieces available to English speakers—that is, that would be their priority, not to make them available to German speakers via a translation into German. I don’t see any German version of the pieces.
Therefore, I think the “stiffness” might be a product of editing, for pithiness, length, etc. I doubt that the transcripts of either of the dates consisted of only these exchanges, which last a few seconds. Whereas I read somewhere else (maybe somewhere on this thread?) that there was a total of 30 minutes of transcripts.
Katherine
It is not that it sounds stiff… it is that it smells like BS (Edited,MOD).
Die Welt is a zionist controlled Newspaper. Every job-seeker in the editorial house “Axel Springer Verlag” signs a declaration of adherence to the German-US common friendship and to the German-Israel friendship. Nobody inside this editorial house dares to counterdict nothing of the zionist or the US-american narrative.
If this conversation comes in “Die Welt” it is a sign that the zionists wanted exactly that it should be published.
If the conversation is real or not , is irrelevant.
I think this report is a part of an internal struggle between a zionist faction and an US-faction which want to throw shit to each other.
” between a zionist faction and an US-faction”
Factions where?
Within the paper? Or within the US ?
Or elsewhere?
Katherine
Between elements inside the Deep State.
There is an undeclared Civil War raging inside the US govt at the moment.
No civil war inside the US government.
The Deep State is fighting the People. There are no White Hats in the government.
The government is a total Tyranny.
Thanks for your insight on this — I fear that years ago, anyone inside the government who may have gone against their evil plans was purged from the “government” . So This is we are “left with”: the freight train from hell has pulled into the station and we don’t really want to see the toxic sludge that’s getting dumped off of it! Yeah, buddy–they are here, Been here a long time, actually. Read about “Operation Paperclip”, and how high ranking Nazi scientists who were specialists in murdering people were brought right into the US post-WW2 so they could provide “Our” government with their Horrible expertise….guess who the guinea pigs were for their awful experiments? the American people…of course……………….some victory, eh?. I fear that by any means available, these demented freaks are finally going to get their long-awaited real live shooting war with the Russians. Here is what I hope will happen: the Russians carefully target the deep bunkers these snakes have slithered into, so that at the very least, it takes them a real long time to slither their way back out. actually, I give the folks down in the bunkers 3 days. On day one, they will all be lifting their glasses, toasting their brilliance. Oops, then their colossal egos get unpacked, and by day three they will be at each others throats , fighting to establish who is the greatest, and killing each other off in the process. I can hope for this.
Sy Hersh is Jewish, fella.
What does the truth have to do with the publisher?
We understand that Germany is a vassal state.
So what?
By the way, US-faction most likely is Zionist also. We understand that.
So what?
Also worth adding here that it was German press, and no one else, reporting the suspected excess deaths count of 50,000+ from Donbass war (presumably a lot of displaced pensioners who died early from the stress, loss of pensions, and destruction of their homes) on top of the 18,000 UAF KIA and 7-8,000 KIA from the LDNR republics’ and Russian/foreign (including Serb) volunteer forces. Der Spiegel also initially cast doubt on the claim that Bellingcat and others sought to vigorously impose on the media before the JIT rubber stamped it that the BUK that allegedly shot down MH17 came from Russia rather than being captured by the LDNR from Ukraine, with the Ukrainians conveniently not blowing the thing up but doing a half-assed sabotage job and declaring it inoperable outside Donetsk sometime in late spring 2014.
larchmonter445:
Sy Hersh may be a trueful reporter and who has disclosured his source to the editor, ok , but the point is that “Die Welt” would not publish the story , neither the “conversation” putting Trump for hang out to dry , without getting the “placet” in Tel Aviv or Langley.
Someone in Langley or TelAviv wants to hurt Trump , and this “someone” is big enough so that Ulf Poschardt calles him to look for the “placet”.
just to make clear the ‘essential’! rules DIE WELT, as part of the axel springer publishing company (which btw, was the first publishing company the ‘allies’ allowed after ww2 !) follows with every publication, here a direct link to it :
http://www.axelspringer.de/en/artikel/The-Essentials_40219.html
so it’s very obvious that the publication of this piece has a agenda beyond the obvious for the reading sheeples.
to me the whole text looks like a complete whitewash of the military, whatever the real reason is behind.
funny that still 50y after the cointel pro watergate ‘scandal’ , the same old guys (lifetime actors anyone?) are meant to be the ‘whistleblowers’ the public should trust……laughable
Exactly my feeling as well.
You are right.
it can be real, but i see only one option for it: they were recorded and they knew it, so they staged the show “for the record”
But definitely not the casual practical working-room exchange.
I agree. The conversation sounds fake to me.
Yeah, there is something about this dialog that lacks the ring of authenticity about it, despite the fact that Khan Sheykoun is undoubtedly a psyop of the first order, almost tailor made to suit the needs of the evil Neocon faction.
The second part of this post on “Trump’s red line” really made my blood boil over.
When are we in the rest of the world going to get rid of these arrogant criminal Americans?
I really wish it will happen in my life time.
If God blesses me with a long life and I do not live to see the day America ceases to exist as an arrogant opressor state super power, then I would die with a unfullfilled wish and a yearning of justice. The same yearning that the parents of the dead Iraqi, Afghan and Vietnamese children have.
May God guide the opressors to the right path, but if they are not guided, may he destroy them and make them an example to all other present and future opressors on Earth.
That closing prayer hasn’t been answered for a lifetime, although it has been mine, as well.
I afraid that this quote is the only concept that will work and the whole of humanity will have to act in sync because the Tyrants are everywhere in the “civilized” world.
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/thomas_jefferson.html
STEP 1: Remember every “news” outlet that told you a different story, then turn them off.
Don’t watch them, don’t listen to them, don’t read them. Only if they 1) republish Mr. Hersh’s excellent reporting, 2) admit they were incorrect before, and 3) fire people or make other serious changes to make sure it doesn’t happen again ….. only if they do this does it make any sense to watch them ever again. A “news” source you can not trust is worthless, at best. And quite harmful at worst.
As a bonus, you get to see stories about how the NY Times is laying people off because of declining income. :)
This report could find the only taker in Germany. Actually, I believe Die Welt is more a conservative newspaper. It is published by the Springer Verlag.
Originally the story was commissioned by the London Review of Books. Then they declined to publish it. For reasons unknown.
Seymour Hersh used to write for the New Yorker.
You remember him from the My Lai and Abu Ghraib exposes.
That was then; this is now.
The New Yorker has changed its spots.
They have become basically IMO a crypto-Zionist media base.
A man of Hersh’s caliber now has to find a place to publish outside the USA.
No info that I know of (as an LRB subscriber) as to why the LRB, after commissioning this piece, declined to publish it.
Katherine
This further shows Trump’s limitations: If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. He will apply the same logic to everything; and follow neocons’ “strategy” of doubling down instead of backing up. Truly, Trump’s only virtue is that he is not Hillary Clinton.
Rick,
There is one place he has found the hammer won’t work: North Korea.
The US military understands that a massive war will result from dropping the hammer.
Also, the same military knows it cannot directly confront either Russia in Ukraine or China in Asia Pacific.
It is trying to figure out where it can drop a hammer on Iran, but that, too, is not a winning move.
So, Trump, hammers and US policy is really about to run out of small nation targets.
They are doubling down where they have wasted 6 Trillion Dollars over 16 years, and have nothing to show for it.
The shelf life of ISIS is about 2-3 more years. The US is moving some to Afghanistan, hoping a proxy will work where NATO hasn’t defeated the Taliban.
AQ will be bolstered in North Africa, but as Syria settles down, Russia will join with Egypt and Haftar’s Libyan Forces and do to Libyan ISIS and AQ what they did to
those terrorists in Syria.
NATO and AFRICOM will want to own Libya, but Egypt needs a cleaned up western neighbor. And al Sisi has observed closely the wars in Iraq, Syria and Yemen and understands the West will not help him defeat the MB, AQ or ISIS.
Russia will move slowly. But the rewards are huge with trade, arms deals, gas and oil and the prestige of being the go-to superpower for security against terrorism.
I really hope you are right Larchmonter, so that Russia keeps its momentum going and becomes the reliable option for erradicating terrorists. The US will try to stall this as much as possible, but given the current course of events, they are poised to ultimately be defeated.
While it seems the military have realized that they cannot drop the hammer against any nation with capability of retaliating, I just hope the neocons won’t become desperate enough to actually try to enforce a conflict in order to salvage the situation.
This is very important about Hersh and how he writes the Truth.
He gives up his sources to the publisher/editors he trusts and they do verification of his quotes, facts, source material. This is what makes him so profoundly important.
He is relaying the facts of the situations he exposes. He always has allies inside.
For this story, he passed scrutiny at London Review of Books which passed on it, and Welt which published it. Thus, you can be certain it is all solid facts.
https://www.welt.de/politik/ausland/article165906452/The-Fog-of-War.html
“As has always been his practice, Hersh has told Welt am Sonntag the identities of all the sources he quotes anonymously in his story about Trump’s retaliatory strike against Syria. The paper was thus able to speak independently to the central source in the U.S.
Hersh had also offered the article to the London Review of Books. The editors accepted it, paid for it, and prepared a fact checked article for publication, but decided against doing so, as they told Hersh, because of concerns that the magazine would vulnerable to criticism for seeming to take the view of the Syrian and Russian governments when it came to the April 4th bombing in Khan Sheikhoun.
Hersh had met a few times with Stefan Aust when he was editor of Der Spiegel and followed his career. According to Hersh, he knew Aust to be someone who was unafraid of the consequences of publishing stories that, when verified and checked, he knew to be true. It was a natural move to send the story, as edited, to him.”
Sy Hersh is exceptional, a treasure. And salutes go to his publisher and his sources who twice verified the facts.
Heroes are rare, but the Truth now may stop a rash, desperate move against Assad. Macron hinted. It is probably always just a few hours away while the fighting continues in Syria.
Sadly, his publishers have lost nerve and integrity over the years. NY Times, WaPo, New Yorker, London Review of Book. He had to leave the US and now his new outlet is two more nations further away from where he should be published.
But at the least, Welt and Herr Aust distinguished themselves with this report.
Danke!
Amen Larchmonter445 … Echoing Minister Louis Farrakhan sentiments who in January 2016 was berating US media reporters during a commercial break on a local Chicago radio station, WVON AM 1690 :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12flvdHsHAI
Larchmonter: Thanks for this perspective on Hersh.
I checked out the Wikipedia entry on him, and Remnick said the same about Hersh’s MO: that his editors always know who the sources are.
Here it is FYI:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Hersh
To me Hersh is kind of like Pilger.
Too bad the Remnick has changed his political colors.
However, I don’t see why the LRB is so timid.
They have collected enough points with the American elite to get out of jail.
But perhaps they are still trying to get out from under the American cloud for for publishing Mearsheimer’s and Walt’s work on the Israel Lobby. Which no American outlet would touch.
During the election they certainly seemed to me to “toe the line” on the mainstream view, which back then was that Trump was a joke. That is, the LRB did no real analysis or investigating at the time as to what might be the real political undercurrents of the US election. They had published far more searching and thought-provoking analyses of Obama (by David Bromwich) than anything I saw in the US media. But they didn’t question the Democratic orthodoxy regarding Clinton and when they did publish anything on the US electoin Trump was more or less treated like a cheap running joke. It was pretty superficial journalism. I had expected a lot more.
Now that ever more nuanced analysis is needed to get a handle on what is really going on in Syria and the ME and in the factions in DC, the LRB drops the ball? Because they might be seen to loft the possibility that Putin was–gasp–telling the truth? This is so dispiriting. And a more or less right-wing paper in Grmany is the only one with the balls to publish Hersh’s story?
And people wonder why concepts of left and right are losing any usefulness in describing anyone’s personal politics. At this point I’ll vote for anyone who has the courage to tell the truth, and the hell with the “consequences.”
As Malcolm X said: The truth, wherever it leads.
I wonder what longtime LRB subscribers think of this cringing before. . . before what or whom? American “consent” manufacturers?
Shame on the LRB.
You have betrayed your principles and your readership.
Katherine
I used to be a regular reader of the LRB, but around three years ago they suddenly seemed to have joined the anti-Putin bandwagon. This was very disappointing, though it was part of what led me to the Saker’s site.
hahahaha – finally figured out that London is London
Meaning what?
So, OBL was living in Pakistan when the US took him out foa a burial at sea?
Ok, what else am I supposed to beleive?
What I predicted on this blog has come to pass. We learn that the bufoon in chief can’t read and prefers pictorial and verbal briefings. Hooked on phonics presidential briefiengs for the front goy while the permanent bureaucracy and think tanks infested with neo-cons, hard core zionists and liberal r2p’ers run circles around him. We’re really in deep deep trouble, the only way out of a future crisis for Chump and his neo-confederate minions will be to take the United States to war against Iran. The outcome of military confrontation with the persians might not be what the declining hegemon excepts… Empire seldom learn form their mistakes.
This is a Late Response with Seymour Hirsch’ integrity attached . Most astute observers knew and stated more or less what is being attributed ‘here’ to begin with ,when it happened . Why such a late Story?
Because it takes time. First, people who are in the inside need to decide to leak what’s going on. Then they have to pick who they want to tell, and communicate it to him. Mr. Hersh has a reputation going back to Vietnam, so his value these days is that important people know they can tell him the story and trust him.
Then, they need to communicate this to him. In a day when the NSA listens in on everything, that’s not always simple. Probably needed to arrange a face to face meeting where they could talk.
Then, Mr. Hersch isn’t like the people at CNN. He doesn’t just run to the press with a story someone tells him. He’s been doing this for decades, and I’d bet that in the past people have tried to attack his credibility by giving him a fake story. So, Mr. Hersch needs to do his research. He likely want corroboration on the story. He wants other people to confirm it.
Then, there was obviously some deal with the London Review of Books that originally commissioned the story. But then they backed out. So, Mr. Hersch now has to find another outlet who’s willing to publish the truth. Isn’t there a quote that says that telling the truth in a time of lies is a courageous act. It probably took a little time to find someone with the courage to tell the truth. Although I wonder if Trump’s constant attacks on German industry might have something to do with why this was published in Germany.
Anyways, all of this obviously takes time to get it right.
Thanks for your reply . Although I have a lot of respect for Seymour ,the lateness in the analysis does not bode well . Events are moving too quickly as we speak – as they unfold. Late responses are in essence too late so to speak.
Hersh is supposed to have all his research in place BEFORE the event ?
Unless this article is being used to thwart another chemical attack . It seems that another is being set up.
As usual, Ray McGovern’s piece about the Hersh revelations is worth reading.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/06/26/hershs-big-scoop-bad-intel-behind-trumps-syria-attack/
Yes it was.
You just cant make this stuff up.
Here we are discussing the complete debunking of the previous US claims of chemical use against the Syrian President and befotre we can get even half way through the discussion we get this piece of news just breaking:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-40413563
Essentially, what we have is the US making a similiar claim against the Syrian Government and threating to exact a “heavy price”, if chemical weapons are “again”used by Assad.
How do they even make this stuff up? Talk about chutzpah.
I have a feeling that the US like all bullies will eventually have to be confronted and a “firm slap” – to quote the Iranians – be delivered, in order for this madness to stop.
Question is; which country or coalition of countries or entities is gonna step forth and administer the treatment?
They are selling this new chemical preparation story on Fox tonight.
Trump and the warmongers have lost Syria. Friend Bibi is scared.
He’s shooting his tiny wad at Golan. He knows it will be gone in a few years, one way or the other.
He also knows the US military does not want a wide war with Iran.
It will lose big ships if it strikes Iran.
And the Saudi coalition of goat lovers and camel lickers can’t win anywhere.
You got ahead of me. What I see in this BBC piece is the “preparation” for another false flag attack on some rebel/insurgent/jihadist target with sarin or other chemicals. The question is: what is intended with such an attack and what is the hoped for outcome. Try to set up the Russians??
You beat me on that. The BBC piece was the reason to check on the Saker. So another false flag is being planned and even announced?! It can serve only one purpose: to prepare the American ignorant population for a confrontation with Russia in the Syrian theater.
And now the US is faking “another” false chemical weapons story. This BS must stop or “be stopped”. Its long past time to stop the “diplomatic talk”. And to do “real talk” to the US. Publicly tell them to “stop the lies” and announce they won’t be tolerated for one more second. That any more attacks on Syrian forces will be “stopped”. And the burden of WWIII will fall on the US’s back.If that doesn’t stop the US. Then it is proof that “only” war will stop them.And that means there is “no” possibility to avoid it.If the Hersh story is correct. The US military understands that. And doesn’t want that. By letting them understand that they must prevent their regime from causing a war. Or it will be started. Is the only way to stop this coming war.
https://www.rt.com/usa/394194-us-syria-another-chemical-weapons-attack/
Nikki Haley, Israel’s UN ambassador was in Israel recently for consultations, so these developments should not come as a surprise.
Israel’s interests always take precedent over US interests, and US officials have come recognize this humiliating fact.
Until Americans get up from couches and give vent to their collective anger by stringing up the traitors in Washington,we will continue to have to put up with stupid fools like Nikki Haley.
Since her tenure at the UN she has not once sought to represent the interests of the country she is supposed to be representing: the USA.
Her every utterance has been about Israel.
I hear AIPAC now weilds a solid veto over who can get the job of US representative to the UN – this is in addition to several such high level positions, like Treasury Secretary and US ambassador to Israel etc. etc.
That isn’t going to happen,no matter how much we hope it will. The Germans didn’t rise against Hitler,even at the end (the 1944 inside attempted military coup was small and a total failure) and the Japanese never attempted to overthrow their militarist leaders either. While the Italians only kicked Mussolini out of power after allied troops invaded Italian soil. The people in the US are even more brainwashed than the Germans were. I doubt more than half (it that) of the Germans truly believed the nazi “master race” propaganda. But in the US the “exceptional” ideology,in one form or the other is pervasive.No,for the US neo-cons to be stopped will take a nuclear superpower (or two) to stand up and say “no more”.If they are willing to do that. Then the game is over.And the World either moves to WWIII in the near future. Or the surrender of the rest of the World to US domination.The US will leave no other choices available.US thinking is much like the saying in the Highlander movie,”there can be only one”.
The simplest and easiest way to prevent this war would be for Russia to sign a military alliance with Syria.That would put the US on notice to stop their aggression.Without the need to threaten them. It would be “implied” that the US can’t attack a formal military ally of Russia’s with impunity. The US military would understand that at once.And just as the USSR’s presence in Cuba stopped the US military aggression against Cuba. Russia’s alliance with Syria would stop it against Syria. Right now Syria is considered “up for grabs” by the US. Russia doesn’t have a formal alliance with them. And the US see’s that as room for them to destroy Syria’s government and seize the country. They believe (rightly? maybe,maybe not,its unclear) that Russia won’t stop them. And they can “impose their will” on Syria without Russia lifting a finger to stop them.Unless another state falls to the empire something needs to be done to get the US to understand to keep “their hands off”.
Coming soon to a theatre of war near you: “Sarin Part II, the sequel” starring Oscar winning Wyatt Helmet!
WASHINGTON—The White House says it has found “potential” evidence that Syria is preparing for another chemical weapons attack.
U.S. Press Secretary Sean Spicer issued an ominous statement Monday evening that says the U.S. “has identified potential preparations” for another chemical attack by the Assad government that it says “would likely result in the mass murder of civilians, including innocent children.”
Syria still has chemical weapons, U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis says
He says the activities are similar to those made before an April chemical attack. The Trump administration launched missile strikes in retaliation for that attack, which it blamed on Assad.
Spicer warns that “if Assad conducts another mass murder attack using chemical weapons, he and his military will pay a heavy price.””
From a trashy tabloid:
https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2017/06/26/white-house-says-syria-may-be-preparing-another-chemical-attack.html
Can you spell false flag?
Seems like Trump is taking his orders from someone else, not his staff or his intelligence staff or anyone in those meetings.
And it was a expensive fireworks display –
Hi USA! with such a worthless president as yours and cannot do anything better than twitting, you are absolutely IN for nuclear showdown with the russians. the russians are afraid of war but they are well prepared and will never back down. no amount of security briefings can educate your con man artist in the white house because he will do his bombings again on Syria to prove to world he “guessed” it much better this time. A perfect recipe for disaster.
Since when us
https://www.welt.de/politik
considered to be a viable source for the saker blog?
Seymour Hersh’s distinguished track record of truth telling from Vietnam to present is what made the Saker decide to post the link to the article at Welt.
Outside of that, Welt’s reputation as a pro-Zionist propaganda outfit is well known.
So Hersh is the “viable source” here, not Welt. Please get that throught your (Removed,please don’t insult your fellow commentators.MOD) .
Oscar, normally I would agree with your point, but I’m wondering if ferkel didn’t have something to do with this in retaliation against Trump?
Saker,
Thanks for publishing this as it neatly coninvides with White House statements from Sean spicer backed up by that loud mouth niki haley – that they have intelligence that Assad is planning a chemical attack.
They are preparing the ground for all out war and giving the signal for a false flag to take place.
The idiot in chief in the White House will follow the neo con plan to widen the war in Syria. And the USA public will rally round the president.
“The issue is, what if there’s another false flag sarin attack credited to hated Syria? Trump has upped the ante and painted himself into a corner with his decision to bomb. And do not think these guys are not planning the next faked attack. Trump will have no choice but to bomb again, and harder. He’s incapable of saying he made a mistake.”
An almost certainty. The US is not going to let its proxy salafists lose, that much is clear; even if this means an escalation of the situation and a deeper involvement of the US in the Syrian war. This is openly throwing down the gauntlet to Russia. Russia can only retreat so far and still retain credibility and we could be coming to that moment.
As for Europe, they have to face the possibility of a salafist/jihdadist victory courtesy of the Pentagon and an ISIS black flag in Damascus.
One question. The propaganda pictures of children dying of exposure to chemical attacks was a coordinated effort. Is it possible that this whole campaign about human suffering was conducted without US intelligence overseeing it? To me the answer is no. Such propaganda is highly sophisticated and intricate process and Jihadist and white helmets can’t manage it themselves; nor do they have influence over western MSM media to make it sell the story. Furthermore, time is needed to put all the pieces in place so that as soon as the strike occurred, the victims pictures’ and videos are flooded on internet and media and all indicators start pointing towards Assad. With Americans knowing of Russians spying on the site days in advance and informing the US, the intelligence had enough time to plan the propaganda campaign.
This article conveys the message that US intelligence was trying to convey to Trump to be patient and realistic and and show restraint vis-a-vis Tomahawk missile attack. On the other hand they were coordinating a propaganda campaign in MSM implicating Assad. Seems contradictory.
It seems as if the US intelligence first used the Khan Sheikhoun incident to malign Assad and Russia(as a backer of this atrocity). Now they are trying to settle a score with Trump in the ongoing deep-state–Trump dispute by selling this picture of him being foolish and dumb using the same incident. Pretty smart.
Trump invoked Ivanka…I bet that was not his own idea…a perfect mousetrap if ever there was one…fatherly instincts and political/reputational self preservation…fell weapons both…so now her man floats about, a moth tending the father in law’s flame…and who needs that…and why…I don’t believe/think/feel he should be anywhere near such things…it presents opportunities for unhinging the mind of the old man…swooning tot by his side…and as for she, Hersh’s tale evidently expected…because…a few days before…we learnt of a wish to be outside of politics…I hope this trap’s clock runs out…a huge mistake to enter it…but even so, some traps must be worked through…if he can wiggle out of this and if living through it can teach him right from wrong…he may still live up to his promise of peace…I hope.
Just why Sy Hersh was fed this story…truth mayhap that it may be…is another story…methinks old Sy hath been sorely used…grabbed it in hopes of detailing Armageddon…but such well crafted bait…truth…seems to me a blackmail threat…triggering paternal instincts uncovered in extensive profiling of the wheeler and dealer in chief.
One of the interesting things about the US cruise missile strike was the high failure rate. I see a couple of possibilities. One, the missiles were all targetted correctly and the high number of misses really reflects US capabilities (ouch) or two, the US military deliberately fired some into the middle of nowhere to minimize damage and potential for Russian retaliation. The ‘chat’ conversation suggests that some of the US military/intelligence system knows that the US is fscked in Syria and wants to get out without being trashed by the Russians. That suggests the second option may be possible, but it would be a career ending move for those involved if it did happen. Then there is the recent supposed S-300 launch from Tartus against a US Global Hawk. Normal protocol for Russian missile launches is to fire two to give ~100% certainty of a hit. Firing one, assuming it happened, suggests they were just sending a warning.
RT German uses a word they have not previously used, to describe the good fellas in the White House…https://deutsch.rt.com/international/53061-weisses-haus-halluziniert-erneut-von/
Yup. They a bold enough to say the bald truth, white house hallucinates.
Nothing new about the hallucinations, but it seems new to me to read the word in print as applied to the fat guy…whatisname
And yes, you couldn’t make this up…the processions of crimes and violations and smashing and totally nutty stuff is frankly without a rational aspect, it is chaos.
Best to All, Friends and Comrades
LZ
Maybe some secret addictive hallucinogenic drug is secretly being pumped in the air….how often do we commentate about someone changes as soon as they get in there?????
Just remembered….been proven that power changes brain chemistry……..sighs.T here must be a psychologist out there somewhere who can say how power must be sensibly and responsibly used….pretty sure VVP knows all about that.
The first thing that changed in Trump’s life when he entered the Oval Office was his diet. He is off fast-food. So, his brain chemistry is definitely altered.
When he flew in his plane, it was McDonald’s, Wendy’s and KFC.
So, he lost Flynn and he lost his Big Mac and fries.
Explains how he is easily fooled. BS briefings from Pompeo and McMasters and that deep hunger for junk food.
That and the obvious threats the Deep State made on his grandchildren and children.
Then his personality traits, studied for years by CIA experts, was fed ego pills of policies and tactics. Chocolate cake and Tomahawks. Well done steak and MOABS. Two scoops of ice cream and he’s putty in the hands of the Deep State handlers.
Every man has his weaknesses and sometimes those are his strengths—manipulated by the clever.
A Cloak of Words.
Since the loss of Crimea and Sevastopol, Zion has been unusually fidgety, squeamish, hysterical.
Having assimilated the whole Western world leisurely over centuries without hardly any opposition, Zion isn’t used anymore to organic resistance – that is, resistance it hasn’t manufactured itself for its own amusement.
Seeing the Russians taking a stance, un-fathomed by Zionstream’s daily dreck that keeps the goy populations in an eternal state of paralyzing disorientation, and calling bluff, has irritated the self-declared masters of this and that to no end.
“Let’s pull a hoax or two and mix in a bunch of false flags” were Zbig’s alleged last words before folding-up his traveling grand chess board for the final time.
The hoaxes were duly pulled, the false flags kabbalistically mixed in. And yet and yet. Nobody felt any better. The elation and exaltation that engulfs the assembled parasites like a sweet wind after a successful spirit cooking party, didn’t manifest this time. Yet again.
Sy Hersh, the word magician, had to be summoned as a last resort, to cover the embarrassing episode with a cloak of impenetrable words. And so he did to everybody’s satisfaction. But the satisfaction lasted only a day or two.
The phrase “military grade sarin” by usa person really scares me….rt reporting today white house saying preparations are being planned by Assad for a chemical attack on civilians…….you are kidding me……connection????
Some people here start with saying that Hersh is Jewish.
So what? Being Jewish or a citizen of Israel doesn’t automatically mean being a Zionist.
I believe in the integrity of Hersh. Just read his novel ‘The target is destroyed’, where the Americans played a dirty game resulting in the downing of a Korean airliner over Kamchatska. It was really embarassing (for the USA) what Hersh put into daylight.
Thanks, Saker. I already posted it, but it belongs to be on top and I agree this is a must read.
The nasty piece is on the bottom:
“The issue is, what if there’s another false flag sarin attack credited to hated Syria? Trump has upped the ante and painted himself into a corner with his decision to bomb. And do not think these guys are not planning the next faked attack. Trump will have no choice but to bomb again, and harder. He’s incapable of saying he made a mistake.”
And just today the announcement of the WH that Assad is preparing another gas attack. Really, you can’t make this stuff up.
But this is also getting dangerous, while he now has to opt for option 3 or 4 as the militaries proposed, and also Iran was named (what do they have to do with it?). They are already gearing up for a confrontation that they are going to regret.
It’s just waiting until the first USAF airplanes are shot out of the sky, and/or a US Navy ship is simply sunk.
Isn’t it about time to have a UNSC meeting? Just plan it as a videoconference…
I do not believe that chat was genuine.
That is not how people in working environment communicate. Neither exchanging opinions, nor planning future steps.
That is at best some show. intentionally made “for the record”.
But maybe it was just invented by mr. Hersh out of thin air.
Is it fake script ?
what we are seeing today with the crazy chemical threats stuff looks to me like this:
It is strategy.
US AF cannot operate west of E.
Now, if Syria (or RuF?) bomb anybody west of E that will be falsely named as a chemical attack. Of course US has, if they need it, CW “assets” – in case they need victims…
And then USA fires rockets…
That’s the gambit, Comrades.
PAX
LZ
That is exactly my thought.
The US has put an HIMARS system at Al-Tanf. It can now throw missile-artillery wherever they want in Syria. I don´t know if HIMARS is capable of being loaded with chemical warheads.
If the answer is “yes” than this is one strong option for a Falseflagattack.
Hersh is a cia/mossad disinfo distributor. He’s a good one, very believable. Though in this case, not very. Some mentioned the conversation at the beginning looked scripted, well the whole article reads like a poorly scripted novel.
Hersh’s MO is to protect the western establishment. Period. For answers about who, and what, he is providing cover for, look at who provides the “sane” views in his analysis and who he pretends were out of the decision making loop.
“To the dismay of many senior members of his national security team, Trump could not be swayed over the next 48 hours of intense briefings and decision-making.”
“a senior adviser to the American intelligence community, who has served in senior positions in the Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency, told me.”
“On April 6, Trump convened a meeting of national security officials at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The meeting was not to decide what to do, but how best to do it – or, as some wanted, how to do the least and keep Trump happy. “The boss knew before the meeting that they didn’t have the intelligence, but that was not the issue,” the adviser said. “The meeting was about, ‘Here’s what I’m going to do,’ and then he gets the options.”
The available intelligence was not relevant. The most experienced man at the table was Secretary of Defense James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general who had the president’s respect and understood, perhaps, how quickly that could evaporate. Mike Pompeo, the CIA director whose agency had consistently reported that it had no evidence of a Syrian chemical bomb, was not present.”
These passages provide insight of who hersh’s “sources” are and who he is providing cover for.
The purpose of the piece is to exonerate the people making these war criminal decisions, especially the security/military establishment, and make it look like the work of an amateur rogue imposing policy upon the establishment experts.in this case, put everything on trump and make it look like he “forced” the establishment experts to go alonng.
Which is pretty much the exact opposite of what happened, though trump wasn’t forced, he’s essentially a useful idiot, like raygun and bush, jr, and happily played his part in the war crime.
Hersh wants people to believe the u.s. attack on Syria was the result of blunders and the inexperience of a few rogue outsiders, not a planned part of a strategy worked out by the whole zionazi-nazi club that runs the usa. Trump is just an expendable flunky, but those pulling his strings are not expendable.
Yes, looks like they paint trumpster as the pharmacos-fool-danger etc etc, thus moving the war along and escalating aggression while imagining nobody sees them as they are…and moving T man into the path toward jail…which they promised right after the ppe (phoneyphuckinlection)…
How does that affect RuF air superiority and strategy?
Not very much, would be my guess… But we’ll soon see.
At least your post put me to thinking about that.
Thanks, Rob
Yes, like most of the Controlled Opposition that masquerades as political dissent in America, Seymour Hersh is a limited hangout artist.
On the big issues like 9-11 false flag terrorism, Hersh repeats the mainstream American lies.
That said, this article is useful in raising the idea for the general public that these so-called WMD attacks in Syria (or elsewhere) are possibly false flag attacks designed to justify American military aggression–and thus, anytime these attacks occur, they should be questioned.
So in this limited sense, this limited hangout can advance some critical thinking among the sheeple.
vt – you probably think Pepe is working for Mossad too hahahaha
Follow up.
Trump is now claiming the Russians colluded with the obama regime to influence the pindo elections. His zionazi clear channel bullhorns (“conservative” talk radio in pindoland) are also hyping this sodding bs. Same zionazi strategy to demonize Russia by any means. Trump is, and has been all along, just a mouth and face to present prepared zionazi policy to the public.
US’ Claims Assad Planning Chemical Attack in Syria Aimed to ‘Justify Aggression’
https://sputniknews.com/politics/201706271055001895-chemical-attack-assad-trump/
“Washington is preparing an act of military aggression against the sovereign state of Syria by claiming President Bashar Assad is allegedly preparing the chemical weapons attack, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian lower house’s Defense Committee Andrey Krasov told Sputnik Tuesday.
“They need to somehow justify this military aggression toward the sovereign state, that is why they are laying the groundwork for it,” Krasov said, noting that Washington was constantly using such “pseudo news” to “destabilize the situation in a number of states.”
“Nothing new, I think that the global community must condemn all these ill-judged actions of the US administration. You see, the actors are changing in the [US] administration, while the play is performed by the same ones,” the parliamentarian stressed.”
The main role of Hersh is to obfuscate what Krasov spells out here.
Of course the US will keep on attacking the Syrians and also the Russians. As Saker has described they are irrational actors, with no sense of loyalty to their country. The ziocons have created deep underground military bases for their self preservation and not for the people, they don’t care about preventing WW3, they just want to destroy the Russians and any opposition. The future false flag will happen, Syrian positions will be attacked, Russians will blow up US jet, ziocon media will go hysterical that Russia is the bad guy and WW3 will ensue. US is a mental patient, not a rational player, very dangerous.
Apparently they claim the same airfield as before is the site of preparation according to a reply to Matt Lee AFP at a briefing….gets stranger than ever….better check that “Bible code” website…….
<>
This is called sycophancy.
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So here is a world leader who gets his info and makes decisions on what he saw on TV and disregards what his own intelligence advisors tell him. They know that his understanding is at the level of a child. And this is ‘not unkind and not stupid’?
Interesting point.
In the article of Hersh, you can find that Trump never reads. It must be spoken to him, maybe enlightened with some photographs.
This is not really different from Ronald Reagan, who loved to read Reader’s Digest. And already during his presidency he was clearly showing signs of dementia. Still, many Americans consider him as one of the best presidents ever.
More and more I get the picture that an American president is a kind of janitor. Just take care that the garbage is taking care of, and decisions are made elsewhere.
Btw, and highly OT, but this is too funny.
A brand new british aircraft carrier (HMS Queen Elisabeth), and an entire british class (Vanguard) of nuclear armed submarines, have one thing in common: they run on the already dead and buried software of Windows XP…
I always thought that highly critical systems never ran on Windows.
For instance, the ISS Space station runs on Debian stable. The critical systems of the stock exchange bourses in e.g. New York and Frankfurt run on RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linux).
See for yourself: https://www.rt.com/uk/394237-queen-elizabeth-windows-cyberattack/
Ok, enter Russian hackers in 3… 2… 1… (/OT)
It is incredible….note Fallon was do quick to support years proposed action…….so he hadbeen briefed in advance . Maybe this ship is heading to Syria assuming in cruise just to over s symbolic support and as a back up landing pad or supply vessel…..
The aircraft carrier the British are featuring runs on Windows XP.
Hackable by 8 year olders. What a joke! Is it a 386 or 486 engine in that computer system?
“Btw, and highly OT, but this is too funny.”
Well, not really that funny. Kind of logical, if you stop to think about if for about 30 seconds.
Do you really think the whole British Navy, or American Navy, for that matter, can “upgrade” all of their extrememly complex and intertwined systems at Microsoft’s snap of a finger? They have special contracts with MS for ongoing security support.
I ran XP for a long time after it was supposedly “de-supported” my MS.
I knew that MS was still supporting XP for many big users (not to mention that millions worldwide are still using XP). Not that it affected me particularly, but I just found it interesting because my local computer nerds kept dissing me for still using XP, and they snorted with laughter at me, dumb broad, when I said that XP was still being used by millions, including some very big organizations. They said, and I quote, “You shouldn’t believe everything you read on the Internet.”
That Microsoft is still supporting XP for some very big users such as the US military and portions of the British military was confirmed this past spring when “We Cry” malware was attacking computeres all over the place, and to help stop it MS, in a spirit of . . . community spirit, released to the public the patches etc. they had developed post “de-support”) that were needed to help stop the spread of this malware.
Organizations that were still using XP as of 2015 for a larg proportion of their operations:
the US Navy
the US Army
the NHS (UK)
various banks’ ATMs in Europe
many water utility companies
electrical energy industry in the USA
As of Feb. 2017, XP had 8.45 % of the desktop market .
kind of a janitor…like the goat selected to be pharmacos, and carry away all sin and blame in a farcical freak show, behind which some, ah…other affairs go on non-stop, and in media they blather about some wondrous posterior that some woman is with windowed, briefly.
yes, indeed, a janitor…and he can be replaced and the process repeated in endless series…
In the face of Comey, Brennan, Crapper… in short, all of the 19 branch heads of the US Gestapo are you sure you want to claim that watching cartoons on TV is any worse than listening to them?
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-27/after-getting-busted-bombing-syria-based-lie-trump-doubles-down-%E2%80%A6-threatens-bomb-syr#comment-9787937
“All Risk No Reward Jun 27, 2017 8:47 AM
The point is that the Debt-Money Monopolists want a central bank in Syria and they are used to getting whatever they really want.
No effects of a root cause can be remedied without addressing the root cause.”
Please read moderation policy about use to ‘caps’ .. mod-hs
Bro93……there would not be any secret encryption or code words in latest White house statement re possible planning , would there? Maybe it is just do obvious anyways…..
after reading Mr. Hersh latest work, i must admit the embecile in the white house is a murderer! he knew what he was doing despite the security briefings. but he bombed syria “anyway” and people at the airport lost their lives.
he is warning again,obviously, a false flag and the american public is doing nothing.
Everyone should slowly read vot tak’s comment stamped
June 27, 2017 · at 10:48 am UTC
/seymour-hersh-leaks-the-true-story-about-the-pseudo-chemical-attack-in-khan-sheikhoun-must-read/#comment-371184
vot tak has got Hersh’s number, he describes exactly what Hersh is doing, which, if you think of it for a moment, should be plain as daylight, and it is amazing that Hersh is able to maintain his reputation as a honest provider of “bombshell” scoops.
Mr. Hersh is again the go to limited hangout mouth piece for the neo cons and Trump is their excuse patsy and an even a bigger idiot than I first thought. Aren’t the neo con’s spy agencies made to look like paragons of virtue as they back track and blame Trump for the missile attack. This after again using another poison gas false flag again as their casus belli and ‘repeat the big lie often enough’ meme.If their narrative, backed to the hilt by their MSM Had it not hadn’t fallen apart so quickly that time around they wouldn’t now be doing this bovine by product back tracking. And what is their plan to rescue their situation in Syria? Why they issue the ‘ol’ red line’ again, and again we can anticipate that the Syrian civilian population and beautiful babies will die in the repeating of this big lie that Assad’s forces use poison gas attacks on primarily civilians for no military sound reason, as they roll up IS and any excuse for the US led coalition to be in Syria.
The western Deep State’s reaction to the military situation in Syria reminds me of a ‘Bunker’ scene as they contemplate the illusion of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat being dissolved but thinking using the poison gas meme will turn the situation around.
“Limited hangout” is an excellent phrase and one that I should keep in mind. Hersh obviously has real intelligence sources that he trusts. And the chatlog shows that they are playing him. But they also probably gave him and Die Welt some kind of real, private proof of some discrepancies in the official sarin story. Who knows what the reality of this incident is.
This latest “threat” is really directed at the Russian Military and the S-400 system, and lesser defense systems.
If an attack is launched against the Syrian airbases and other military installations, perhaps even government buildings and infrastructure, it will violate the Russian’s West of the Euphrates rule. That rule now does not say it is in place to protect only Russian assets and personnel. It is Syrian assets also. Anything West of the Euphrates.
So, there could a be a US tactical reason for this attack if it comes. To get the “signatures” of the S-400 defenses. Then electronic countermeasures could be created. This is the replay of 1973 when Soviet SAMs were devastating IDF jets in their attack against Egypt.
The other thing is the Global Hawk “shootdown”. The US, if they did lose a huge drone to Russian missile strike in the East Mediterranean, would want to get payback on the Russians. They don’t want to escalate directly, but they would want to hit the proxy air force of Syria and diminish the Syrian government and its success on the battle field. If they wipe out the Syrian AF, the ground game changes instantly. It also forces Putin to bring back 30 planes and fly all the attacks and cover sorties the Syrians would be flying. It then exposes the Russians to more loses, and I would predict MANPADs would be suddenly a feature of al Nusra and ISIS.
The US has lost Syria. But that does not mean they won’t try to disrupt the Astana process and kill Assad or at least cripple his strong hold. The US has a losing situation that it and the Israelis cannot abide. Desperation is seen in al Tanf, in Golan and now, with this threat. This is NSC, neocon, Russophobic hegemony at its wits end.
Another bigger strike suits Trump’s needs. He wants to have the upper hand if and when he talks with Putin. He has only 2 weeks until Hamburg and the G20. All the lunatics in the Situation Rooms know that Trump will want to fire 200 or more Tomahawks and even fly bombers over Syria. The military would fly over the east, not West of the Euphrates. Deir ez Zor would be where Syrians and Iranians get targeted by those bombers. It would be great relief for ISIS and serve CENTCOM to save ISIS.
This time there won’t be any “heads up” warning to anyone.
If Lavrov can’t get Tillerson to stop the attack, an attack which is highly likely, expect a concurrent unleashing in Ukraine of the Ukie-mercenary assault along the entire front. It would stress the Russians, burn down the Minsk 2 Accords with EU approval, and scramble the facts on the ground in Syria.
Why wouldn’t the US do all this madness?
They lose nothing if they stick to cruise missiles. 200-300 might allow 20-30 to get through. Chest-pounding time, and no meeting with Putin. Mission accomplished.
And in Ukraine? Another disaster for the Ukies but more Russophobic sanctions.
And there’s North Korea.
Add that in.
A feint at NK gets China’s attention.
Interesting that Hersh’s story appeared in a German newspaper. The Germans were quite upset with the Senate’s latest sanctions which would impact their energy supplies. Add to that trump denouncing them for their trade surplus with the US. The Euro helps German exports but hurts France, Italy, Spain, and Greece, so Eurozone net does not affect US Europe trade. When Chancellor Merkel visited D.C. Trump asked her 11 times if he could do a trade deal with her, and 11 times she had to reply that Germany is part of EU and only EU could do a trade deal. Maybe the Germans are planning on revising their relationship with the US.
In hindsight I believe that this article is about President Trump’ thought process .Will this lead towards his impeachment .That is the question?
Generally, Trump is not an ideologue. He is pragmatic, common sense “thinker”. He is goal oriented, knows what he wants to “get” from his decisions/actions.
However, he is very susceptible to ideologues on certain issues.
Hegemony: he loves being the winner, #1, the best, the biggest, exceptional.
Israel: he is a product of NYC affinity, relationships, daughter’s marriage and sons’ marriages (all to Jews). His sentiments are with “good Israel”. That sentiment dismisses “bad Israel”.
Military solutions: he was in military school for five years, idolizes “attack” Generals and is comfortable among Brass and the hierarchy of command.
Put those together and Trump is easily led into hegemonic military solutions that protect Israel and promote USA as #1.
Bibi has enormous influence because he is a 20-year friend of Trump and goes back even further in close relationship with Jared Kushner and Kushner’s father.
When it comes to the ME, picture Bibi sitting at Trump’s side, closer than any Oval Office advisor.
The only good thing is both Trump and Bibi have militaries that don’t want to put boots on the ground. All they can do is missile strikes and air platform launches, mostly from standoff positions. They need large proxy armies to fight for them.
AQ and ISIS are getting liquidated severely as proxies.
So, whatever the mindset, thought process, flawed decisions, or demonic plans, it is highly unlikely that any sustained military action will follow on the next Shock and Awe attack.
Six Iranian missiles fired from Iran over Iraq to Syria, at Mayadin, next to Deir ez Zor, and six Kalibr missiles Russia fired from two ships and one sub at ISIS in Hama are their own Shock and Awe to both CENTCOM and IDF. They killed a lot of ISIS fighters and altered the calculus of the US tactics by demonstrating the US was in a crossfire.
L445
“Generally, Trump is not an ideologue.”
True, to the extent servents are, he is a servent boy. A servent boy with a delusional view of his own worth and abilities. He got to where he is by use of daddy’s money and a well honed sense of who to suck up to. There is about as much there as one would find in cal worthington or his dog spot.
Vot Tak,
He multiplied the loan from his day 1000x actually.
He changed four neighborhoods in NYC with his projects over 40 years.
He is regarded by all his competitors and everyone who understands the building and developing industries as the tops. Daddy did nothing of the sort.
Just look at the bankruptcy period in Atlantic City and his debt. One billion, personally. And in three years he was back. Got the loan from Wilbur Ross at Rothschild who believed he would come back.
So he did it not once, but twice. And daddy had nothing to do with his TV success.
15 years, number one show in the time slot.
It’s dangerous to underestimate someone because you are focused on one aspect of his life.
He serves no one. That’s why the Deep State is still trying to get rid of him.
We see his complicity with some of the Hegemonic policies.
But he is still determined to get to his goals. And they are his goals.
Only his voters are with him on those goals.
I worry about him now that Flynn is not there and plenty of the worst are all around him. I’m not diminishing that concern.
And the whole Bibi thing is bad. But Putin is 100 times smarter than both Trump and Bibi put together.
Trump has about 10-15% of the Power of the Executive Branch. He really has not been able to control his Presidency and agenda. The MIC, Pentagon, IC are running circles around him. He can’t even set a meeting with Putin.
The thing to worry about is the Deep State. All Khazarians and reckless in their Russophobia.
Trump probably has no idea exactly what is power is, as the head of the executive branch of government.
It might be a very wise investment for him to read the Wikipedia page on the executive branch of government.
He might learn how much power he has as president, and even get some clues as to how to wield it.
It is weird that since the presidency (at least) of Bush II there has been a lot of handwringing about the expansion of the powers of the executive.
Now we have a president who doesn’t seem to have a clue about this.
If he only knew his actual powers, wuld things get better . . .or worse??
He needs advisors who also understand the genuine powers of the exec. branch.
Katherine
Set aside hopes and beliefs and canon about Trump, and his characteristics. What’s left is the man himself…never mind the realpolitik of his present “position” – that’s another matter.
As to that man, be realistic…and about his character…also be realistic, and recall a bit of Marx – “man is a product of his environment” … What in Trump’s past environments, his life-pathway, were the salient forces of his environment ?
American Indian myths say Marx another way, better, I think, when they say the story of the two wolves inside man – which will dominate, the good wolf, or the evil wolf? They ask this…and of course you know, don’t you? Feed the wolf that’s good, starve the wolf that’s evil… And the strong wolf prevails in the character of the man… Contra-wise… Yes… That’s true too.
Which wolf in T Man’s vast gut got fed, and on what meat? Who’s meat?
As to the objective spot T man’s in, pity, but if this were a classic Greek play it would be natural to have a character like T Man as the Idiot-Emperor presiding over a vast collapse of morals…and economic chaos, and brutality, and…well, you know…
Some say they voted for T Man for this reason, swiped from Robert Graves….”…let all the poisons that lurk in the mud – hatch out!…”, well that’s what somebody said, I think…
;)
Let us hope the business global settles down , looks very grave… and perhaps the poisons are going to hatch out.
I hope not.
LZ
Thanks for the reply Larchmonter. Your analysis is highly regarded by many bloggers that frequent this site. Yet I believe that the analysis by the Saker and other bloggers that responded to the chemical attack shortly after it occurred in early April still rings true . Seymour’ article doesn’t deviate very much from what was written ‘then’ except for his addition of the Transcripts and his apparent connections to people in the know with regards to President Trumps military advisors . As an aside its rather questionable or would seem to be a detriment to inform the US military in advance to proposed air strikes . If the Russians did give a ‘heads-up’ to the US side in order -like Sy says – to get the Americans out of the strike zone .Then this can only mean that the US is cooperating with the so called opposition . Additionally it means that someone or group had enough time to set up the chemical attack canard against both Syria and Russia. How was it that the white helmets ‘assholes’ were there to pounce on the story in such short time .
Cheers
I view Hersh’s article as proof of what you said back in April. Trump did it to counter Russiagate and the intel was not of interest to him. He was more concerned about Russiagate than what Mattis and McMaster said so he did it to get the media off his back, and that is what happened.
You’re right ! Stick to your guns as they say. It makes more sense than taking a walk down the garden path.
It seems that only the US military uses common sense. Washington seems not to have much of it. Remarkable and very, very dangerous… for the rest of the world.
Where is your planet?
God sent powerful Alien to assist Earth presidents.
Alien: how can I serve you?
Russian President: give us wisdom to reform our country.
China President: give us the time to continue our reforms.
India President: give us mutual tolerance and love.
Iran President: give us courage to protect our culture.
Israel President: give us one more Holocaust to improve public support for our liberation of Palestine.
ISIS Caliph: put Earth 1000 years back in time.
USA President: I am a God. If you interfere, your boss will be sanctioned.
Alien: good, good … but do you have a knowledge?
USA President: I watch TV shows. Our journalists are trained to make up market quality facts …
USA President: … by the way, did you already have an Orange Revolution? Where is you planet?
Alien: ask your journalists …
This Hersh article with its many, suspect dark dimensions and glimmers of truth, published in the notorious Zionist lugenpresse ‘Welt am Sonntag’ in occupied Germany, as well as the many splendid and not-so-splendid comments it engendered on The Saker site, made me think of a poem.
I know that poetry is usually sent to the cafe and I will post it there too, but this particular poem seems to capture the call heavy labor which everyone here has chosen to undertake in the quest for truth. Until a critical mass of people within a nation become aware of the enormity of seeking for, let alone finding, the Truth, yet do so, that nation will fall, through a death spin, to oblivion.
It is only by enough minds pursuing the quest that a nation is upheld in time and space.
A Little Learning
A little learning is a dangerous thing ;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring :
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts,
In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts ;
While from the bounded level of our mind
Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,
But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise
New distant scenes of endless science rise !
So pleased at first the towering Alps we try,
Mount o’er the vales, and seem to tread the sky ;
The eternal snows appear already past,
And the first clouds and mountains seem the last ;
But those attained, we tremble to survey
The growing labours of the lengthened way ;
The increasing prospect tires our wandering eyes,
Hills peep o’er hills, and Alps on Alps arise !
Alexander Pope
I’m not buying it. Hersh is almost certainly being fed anti-Trump propaganda by the CIA. What a shocker.
1 – In the 2013’s false flag gas attack, the CIA was trying to push Obama into escalation with false intel. He didn’t buy it because of one single dissenter in the intelligence community (can’t remember who). In this story, all the intel guys around trump are angels but they can’t stop the madman. Smells like disinfo to me.
2 – Trump lacks knowledge and he knows it. There’s no way he’d go against every intel bigwig, and his campaign promise, because of a few TV images. Psychologically, it doesn’t fit.
Always propaganda features prominently a part which is true. I call this “the author establishing his bona fides.” Then while you are all happy and relaxed with him he slips in some lies. Certainly it’s true that Syria didn’t use a chemattack (Hersh’s bona fides). But the bit about Russia being more powerful militarily? No. US military budget always needs a powerful enemy. US & Western allies withdrew the Patriots so Russia cd enter the Syrian war. US & Brit intel established the jihadist takedown of the Russian passenger plane over the Sinai– and it was phoney. LOOK at the pictures. How could a heavy plane engine leave not the slightest dent in the sand. Etc. Just LOOK at the photos. Everything’s wrong w them.
And how about those wings that landed themselves, unscathed? But the wings were blackened w fire– yet there is no damage from exploding wing tanks.
The oligarchs of Russia, US, China are all working together. They have a common plan & enemy– us!