Russia Responsible for Violence in Eastern Ghouta?
by Stephen Lendman (stephenlendman.org – Home – Stephen Lendman)
Countless thousands of Syrian civilians have been held hostage as human shields in Eastern Ghouta by US-supported terrorists.
Syrian forces, greatly aided by Russian airpower, are conducting a campaign to free the enclave from its terrorist infestation – a noble effort warranting high praise, not condemnation.
According to State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert, the Trump administration is considering options to hold Russia accountable for ongoing military operations in Eastern Ghouta, saying:
“…I can tell you that there are a lot of options that there are now being considered…We are investigating various mechanisms that would hold Russia and (Syria) accountable for using chemical weapons on its own people.”
The long ago discredited canard continues to be raised unaccountably – by US and other Western officials, along with media scoundrels.
No evidence suggests Syrian use of CWs any time during seven years of US-led aggression on the country. Terrorists supported by Washington and its rogue partners alone used toxic agents numerous times, falsely blamed on Damascus.
On Friday, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported US-supported terrorists in Eastern Ghouta preparing to stage another CW attack, citing an unnamed military source, saying:
Al-Nusra and other terrorists “received instructions from the United States, the United Kingdom and its allies to use chemical agents near the front lines with the Syrian army, as well as to target civilians and accuse Damascus of those actions,” according to SANA.
Days earlier, Russia’s Defense Ministry said militants in Eastern Ghouta are preparing to launch a provocative CW attack to be blamed on Syrian forces.
Nauert further disgracefully denigrated Russia, calling its humanitarian corridor “a joke,” adding “people are not using” it – because US-supported terrorists are shelling it with mortar fire.
They’re preventing enclave residents from leaving, intimidating and threatening them with live fire, she failed to explain.
Nauert: “People are afraid…to leave Eastern Ghouta,” claiming “they could be conscripted into working with Bashar al-Assad, that they…may not be able to go home or they could be killed.”
“What needs to happen instead is a nationwide ceasefire that was voted upon unanimously at the United Nations last Saturday.”
Eastern Ghouta residents fear US-supported terrorists, not Assad.
Resolution 2401 excludes operations against ISIS, al-Nusra, al-Qaeda and elements connected to them.
Russian and Syrian forces are adhering to Res. 2401 principles. US terror-bombing continues, massacring civilians. So does Turkish naked aggression against Kurdish YPG fighters.
Nauert pretended not to notice. Russia’s embassy in Washington issued a blistering statement, saying:
“The sweeping propaganda campaign launched by Washington, consisting of accusations that Russia had failed to comply with its obligations in Syria, suggests that it is not a matter of concern for lives of peaceful Syrians, but a cold-blooded political forethought: to keep the extremist enclave in a suburb of the Syrian capital whatever it takes,” adding:
“Recent calls by the US administration representatives to hold Russia accountable for the alleged use of chemical weapons by Damascus is a graphic illustration of pure cynicism.”
“This occurs as the administration itself acknowledges the absence of related evidence. This evidence never existed before.”
“Fake claims by the (al-Qaeda-connected) ‘White Helmets,’ that have totally discredited themselves, as well as other pseudo humanitarian non-governmental organizations that receive Western allowance are nothing, but cheap farce.”
“We warn the US against temptation to use such (fake) ‘evidence’ as a pretext to attack Syrian government facilities.”
Warnings aren’t good enough. Washington ignores them. Forceful action is needed, the only thing neocons hardliners understand.
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