Fake News from the BBC

No one could miss the enormous publicity given by the BBC and other state propaganda services concerning an alleged chemical weapons attack by the Syrian Government in the province of Idlib, Syria. No evidence has been adduced as to whether there was in fact a chemical weapons attack and, if so, by whom. We have photographs of alleged victims and some alleged injuries were displayed. It's not too difficult, and filmmakers do it all the time, to use makeup techniques to indicate injuries. If there were injuries, the lay observer might think they were more likely to be caused by explosives than by poison gas. What is remarkable is how quickly social media was flooded with images allegedly from the site of the incident. The Syrian Government says that gas was released as a result of their military striking a terrorist arms store where the terrorists were filling landmines with poison gas. No investigators have been allowed to visit the site of the alleged attack which is controlled by the terrorist forces. The BBC repeats over and over again the allegations. The fake news item produced by the BBC called "Saving Syria's Children" and shown on BBC Television's Panorama programme on 30 September 2013 is relevant here. That report promoted the idea that there was a napalm attack by the Syrian Government on a school in Syria.

On 9 April 2017 I wrote to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and the email is below. I received a very prompt reply dated 10 April 2017. I think it is very professional. As far as I know the BBC has never mentioned the role of the OPCW.

Older readers will remember that the invasion of Iraq by the US and the UK was "justified" by Saddam Hussein's production of "weapons of mass destruction" which were variously described by British media such as the Guardian as being nuclear and chemical. No one now suggests that these reports were genuine and Colin Powell was very embarrassed when his evidence to the UN General Assembly in New York was shown to be completely false. This story will run and run and it's only three days old so far!

From:   Colin B Bennett 
To:     public.affairs@opcw.org, 
Date:   09/04/2017 13:31
Subject:        Alleged poison gas attack allegedly by Syrian Government 
forces on 5 April 2017

Dear Sir or Madam,

I've been in correspondence with the OPCW and in particular Michael 
Luhan in 2014 concerning alleged attacks by chlorine and other chemical 
agents by the Syrian Government.

The OPCW is obviously sceptical about the claims made by the BBC and by 
Mr Hamish de Bretton-Gordon.

Since Friday 7 April 2017 the BBC have been saturated with reports of an 
alleged poison gas attack in Idlib. The Western governments and the 
terrorists who control the area all claim it was done by the Syrian 
Government but no evidence has been produced. The Syrian and Russian 
Governments state gas was emitted as the Syrian military struck an arms 
depot and workshop where the terrorists who control the area were making 
landmines and filling them with this gas.

Has the OPCW been invited to investigate physically and in other ways? 
Have you issued statements on the matter? Are you seeking to visit the 
area which I believe is Khan Shaykhun? My understanding is that as a 
result of the 2014 Russia-US agreement all chemical weapons hitherto 
held by the Syrian Government were removed under the auspices of the 
OPCW and taken by lorries to the coast where they were put on ships to 
be destroyed elsewhere. Was there any indication then or subsequently 
that the Syrian Government had stocks which were not revealed to the 
OPCW? It seems to me that it would have been possible for the "rebels" 
to hide stocks of chemical weapons as presumably they did not allow 
inspections of the areas they controlled.

This is a very important matter and I urge the OPCW to play a bigger 
role in the world by way of publicity and dissemination of the truth.

Thank you very much.

Yours faithfully,

Colin Bennett

Subject:	Re: Alleged poison gas attack allegedly by Syrian Government forces on 5 April 2017
Date:	Mon, 10 Apr 2017 14:36:10 +0200
From:	Public.Affairs@opcw.org
To:	Colin B Bennett

Dear Sir,

The OPCW is investigating the incident in southern Idlib under the on-going mandate of the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM), which is “to establish facts surrounding allegations of the use of toxic chemicals, reportedly chlorine, for hostile purposes in the Syrian Arab Republic”. The OPCW cannot and will not release information about an on-going investigation. This policy exists to preserve the integrity of the investigatory process and its results as well as to ensure the safety and security of OPCW experts and personnel involved. All parties are asked to respect the confidentiality parameters required for a rigorous and unimpeded investigation.

Sincerely.

OPCW Public Affairs