Late at night on April 14, several buses carrying civilians left the terrorist-besieged Kafaria and Foua regions of northern Syria as part of the so-called “Four Towns Deal.” What should have been a 45-minute journey took more than seven hours as the terrorist groups forced the buses to stop in villages they controlled along the way, with armed men taunting and threatening them at each stop.
They were already traumatized by the time they reached the Nusra-controlled compound in Rashidin, their final stop before entering Aleppo. But their trauma was only just beginning as they were held captive on the bus for another day and a half, without food or water.
On the morning of the 15th, the terrorists showed up with big clear bags full of potato chips. The children were taken off the bus and crowded around the men with the chips, as they had not seen such food in over two years. After 10 minutes, the children were forced back on the bus.
At about 3:00 p.m. on the 15th, the children were given more potato chips and were again allowed off the bus, this time with the young men. The children again became excited and crowded around the men with the potato chips. At that moment, having been deliberately taken off the bus with the promise of food, the bomb exploded, killing 126 people, at least 80 of them children.
Then, only the women were allowed off the bus. Already traumatized and now in a state of extreme fear and panic, they frantically searched for their children. As if by magic, the White Helmets appeared with an entourage of videographers, filming them “rescuing” the distraught mothers. After 10 minutes, the women were shoved back on the bus and the doors were locked.
Contrary to media reports, these “first responders” did not help treat the injured or return the dead to their families. Instead, they sent propaganda videos and took approximately 200 injured children to Turkey, many of whom have yet to return home.
The Rashidin bus bombing represents a new low in Syrian tragedy. Based on eyewitness testimony, we can state categorically that it was a planned event, where innocent civilians were used as pawns in a propaganda game to continue to give the White Helmets credibility in the eyes of those fooled by the lies presented by the Western mainstream media.
Chemical weapons
So how does Rashidin position the claims made by Western governments that President Bashar al-Assad attacked his own people with poison gas in Idlib province just over a week ago, when reports describing that “attack” came exclusively from the White Helmets — the same White Helmets who exploited the murder of dozens of children in Rashidin for their own purposes?
It is hard to believe that a group willing to lure children off a bus in order to blow it up would have no qualms about killing others with some kind of gas, lining up the bodies for propaganda purposes, photographing them, and then sending them to Turkey for autopsies.
This propaganda has been used successfully: the White Helmets' report alleging that Assad has gassed his own people could not have come at a better time, after a UK-led resolution was rejected by the UN Security Council in early March.
The UK's permanent representative to the UN Security Council, Matthew Rycroft, launched a verbal attack on Syria and Russia. Boris Johnson continued to make unfounded claims. No evidence was published and no mainstream journalist did their job and asked why.
US President Donald Trump fell for this scam to please his office: he ordered a missile attack on Shayrat Air Base near Homs.
This was quickly followed by another UN Security Council resolution, which was also rejected, with an infuriated Matthew Rycroft accusing Russia of supporting the use of chemical weapons in Syria and claiming that Russia had chosen “the wrong side of history”.
Again, neither Rycroft nor, later, Boris Johnson, presented any evidence to support these accusations. Both relied on the default position that the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said so. And they did so despite never having visited the site. The OPCW's assessment was based on the testimony of the White Helmets and some autopsy findings. To date, they have not visited the site of the alleged bombing to gather actual evidence.
General Election
As Britain becomes increasingly anti-foreign, Prime Minister Theresa May drops bombshell: no chemical bomb, unlike the terrorist assets she funded in Syria, but a whole host of noxious bombast.
Theresa's shocking news came in the form of a general election announcement.
She said she made the decision while on a walk with her husband, but is this believable?
The Fixed-Term Parliaments Act, an act of constitutional subversion, legally mandates that all parliaments serve five-year terms.
The Act allows for early termination of parliament in two circumstances:
- Parliamentary vote of no confidence in the government
- A two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives in favor of dissolving Parliament
How could Theresa May have known, when she was making the announcement outside Number 10, that a two-thirds majority was possible? At the very least, she couldn't have known, unless she had spoken to the leaders of other parties.
And if the polls are to be believed, Labour's popularity is at an all-time low, so why would they support such a vote at this time?
Dissolution of Parliament
Parliament will be dissolved on May 3rd. On that day, MPs will lose their seats and become unemployed.
The executive is independent from the legislature. Government ministers, including the Prime Minister, remain in office until a new Parliament is formed, even though they are no longer members of Parliament.
Perhaps this gives us a clue as to the timing of a general election and whether Labour would be willing to accept it?
Over the past two weeks, government rhetoric on Syria, and in particular Russia's support for the Syrian government, has reached a fever pitch.
Michael Fallon could not rule out a “first-strike nuclear attack”, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson, when asked whether the UK would take part in military action in Syria, said any requirement for parliamentary approval “would have to be tested”.
Subsequent statements by several government ministers made it clear that any further “chemical” incidents in Syria would be enough to trigger intervention in Syria.
What was Matthew Rycroft up to? White Helmets leader with terrorist tiesRaed Saleh, April 25th?
Royal Privilege
In 2013, British military intervention in Syria was blocked by a parliamentary vote, with MPs at the time well aware that there was no support for such action among their constituents – in fact, they were explicitly opposed to it.
Although the latest polls show a slight decline in opposition, there is still no clear support for military intervention in Syria, so Congress is likely to block it.
So what better opportunity than when there is no Congress?
With no one to check the executive, Prime Minister Theresa May could use her royal prerogatives to lead the UK into war in Syria, which could very well mean war with Russia.
The danger is between May 3rd and June 8th.
Vanessa Beeley reported today from Aleppo that a team of White Helmets had arrived in Ariha, Idlib province, and she said we should prepare for “a new chemical weapons movie.”