US Blames Syria & Russia for Terrorist Chemical Attack on Aleppo in Bid to Stave Off Imminent Syrian Army Operation to Liberate Idlib from Terrorist Occupation

US Accuses Russia & Assad of Staging False Flag Chemical Attack on Aleppo, in Desperate Attempt to Protect Idlib Terrorists in Syria

On Friday December 7, the US State Department released an official statement rejecting the Syrian and Russian narrative that terrorists in Idlib had carried out a chemical attack on Aleppo on November 24 using chlorine-filled shells, instead accusing "the Assad regime and Russia" of using teargas against civilians in Aleppo in order to "falsely accuse" the terrorists of carrying out the chemical attack.

The full text of the statement by State Department spokesman Robert Palladino is below:

On November 24, 2018, the Assad regime and Russia falsely accused the opposition and extremist groups of conducting a chlorine attack in northwestern Aleppo. The United States strongly refutes this narrative and has credible information that pro-regime forces likely used teargas against civilians in Aleppo on November 24. The United States has information indicating Russian and Syrian personnel were involved in the teargas incident, and believes that both countries are using it as an opportunity to undermine confidence in the ceasefire in Idlib.

The United States is deeply concerned that pro-regime officials have maintained control of the attack site in its immediate aftermath, allowing them to potentially fabricate samples and contaminate the site before a proper investigation of it by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. We caution Russia and the regime against tampering with the suspected attack site and urge them to secure the safety of impartial, independent inspectors so that those responsible can be held accountable.

The US claims to have "credible information" to back up their seemingly absurd claims, but no details are given nor mention made of what this mysterious "credible" information is that cannot be released to the public. Russia on the other hand has been very specific about the "irrefutable evidence" it has obtained, including samples of the soil, buildings, and fragments of the shells used in the attack on Aleppo, upon which the Russian military has employed gas analyzers to confirm poisonous chemicals were used.

The Russian MoD responded to the State Department claims by accusing the US of whitewashing the foreign terrorists operating in Idlib and reiterating that Russia has "irrefutable evidence" chemical-filled shells were used in the attack.

"The statement by the US State Department is nothing more than an attempt to whitewash the international terrorists operating in Idlib and associated with the White Helmets pseudo-rescuers, who have put their Western patrons in a bad spotlight with their provocation," the Russian military said in a statement.

"The Russian side has irrefutable evidence of the use of munitions filled with toxic agents against the civilian population on November 24, 2018 in Aleppo," the statement stressed.

Regarding the White Helmets & their false flags - The western White Helmets terrorist propaganda construct has been thoroughly exposed, just follow either of those links.

The Russian MoD further said that it could not be ruled out that these statements are meant to distract the public from ongoing US crimes in eastern Deirr Ezzor, and also pointed out how the supply of poisonous chemicals to the terrorists in Idlib in the past was synchronized with the State Department's statements on Idlib.

"The peaks of these deliveries were synchronized with the bold statements of the US State Department and other US agencies about the readiness to deal a missile strike on Syria in case of the alleged use of chemical weapons by the government," the statement read.

The Russian statement is referring of course to the events of August and early September when the US had repeatedly threatened to strike Syria if the Syrian army used chemical weapons in any offensive on Idlib, which did indeed coincide with Russian intelligence at the time which indicated the terrorists were with the help of foreign agents transferring large shipments of chemicals to be used in future false flag attacks to be blamed on the SAA. The US later broadened its threat, promising to strike Syria if the Syrian army launched any kind of an offensive against the terrorist stronghold at all, demonstrating just how desperate the US is to protect the Jihadist terrorists in Idlib.

The UK Foreign Office’s spokesperson followed up the recent State Department statement and released a statement in support of the US accusations which said: "It is highly unlikely that the opposition was responsible."

"The Syrian regime and its supporters have alleged that opposition forces carried out a chlorine attack on civilians in Aleppo on 24th November. We have seen nothing to support the claims made by Russia and Syria. The UK assesses it highly unlikely that chlorine was used in this incident, as the regime and its Russian allies have claimed. It is highly unlikely that the opposition was responsible," the spokesperson said in a statement.

"We frequently see the Syrian regime and its partners making false claims and using disinformation to cover their tracks. Allegations that the UK or its allies are in any way involved in this, or any other incident involving chemical weapons in Syria, are complete fabrications," the Foreign Office argued.

And we already know why the UK has rejected the Syrian and Russian claims, and it has nothing to do with the available evidence and everything to do with the fact Russia is making the claims, because according to the UK Ambassador in late August, anything Russia says is automatically false just because Russia said it.

That one of the go-to sources for western propaganda on Syria, the pro-opposition leaning UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) actually confirmed opposition militants had carried out a chemical attack against civilians in Aleppo on November 24, is a clear sign of the US desperation to protect the terrorists in Idlib seen in this recent statement.

"The United States has information indicating Russian and Syrian personnel were involved in the teargas incident, and believes that both countries are using it as an opportunity to undermine confidence in the ceasefire in Idlib, the State Department read, alleging that Russia and Syria are directly responsible for staging this attack in order to sabotage and derail the ceasefire. As if it was just this one attack alone that has created the opportunity for the undermining of the so-called ceasefire in Idlib which the terrorists have never recognized or adhered to...

One might be compelled to ask the US State Department if Russia and Syria also staged the terrorist attack on a Syrian power plant the very next day after the attack on Aleppo, to give themselves even more opportunity to "undermine confidence in the ceasefire," and if it was also Russia and Syria who carried out hundreds of attacks on Syrian army positions since the 'ceasefire' was implemented on September 17. Was it also Syria and Russia who repeatedly attacked their own positions over a dozen times in the days immediately following this false flag "teargas" attack on Aleppo to further "undermine confidence in the ceasefire", and did they also carry out dozens of attacks on their own positions in the weeks leading up to this attack on Aleppo in their bid to derail the ceasefire?

Given the history, it's no surprise that the US has blamed this attack and the ceasefire collapse on Assad, but it is a bit surprising they took so long to parrot these claims circulated by the opposition Jihadists immediately following the attack. I was also a little surprised they didn't jump to use the occasion to blame Iran when they could have easily followed the lead of those in the 'opposition' who blamed Iran for being behind the attack in an attempt to derail the ceasefire.

Maybe with time they will develop the narrative to also blame Iran for being behind the Syrian and Russian staging of a teargas attack on Aleppo with the intent to sabotage the ceasefire...

They do seem desperate, and the delayed western response to this attack doesn't follow the pattern of the typical planned false flags, so it may be that the US has been forced to use the attack to push this narrative now in a desperate attempt to prevent an imminent Syrian army offensive on Idlib. It may be that the US was waiting for a 'better' chemical attack scenario, one staged inside terrorist-controlled territory like in the past, but now that a Syrian offensive looks inevitable and imminent, and no such chemical scenario has yet unfolded, maybe the US was forced to adopt the old narrative to fit this new scenario of an attack on Syrian territory. Regardless, this is a new stretch in war propaganda even for the US, to claim that Assad gassed his own people on Syrian government-controlled territory. This is another indication of just how desperate the US is to hinder the coming military operation against the terrorists in Idlib.

For some further good reading on this latest US propaganda stunt, I recommend Caitlin Johnstone's blogpost on the subject:
https://steemit.com/politics/@caitlinjohnstone/the-largest-conspiracy-theory-peddlers-are-msm-and-the-us-state-department

On the Idlib Front

There can be no doubt that the US is using its narrative of this attack on Aleppo as war propaganda in its attempt to politically counter the coming military offensive to liberate Idlib from terrorist control. The Syrian army has continued its preparations to launch a larger-scale military operation against the terrorists in Idlib, which now looks like it could be launched at any time. In reality, the ceasefire has already completely collapsed following the chemical attack on Aleppo, with both the terrorists and the SAA having already stepped up their offensive operations against each other inside the so-called 'demilitarized' buffer zone.

(source)

In a recent interesting development signaling the imminent nature of this coming offensive, a Syrian newspaper reported on Sunday that Turkey had delivered a final ultimatum to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the al-Qaeda terrorist group in de facto control of the province, to withdraw its forces from the 'demilitarized' zone or face the full military power of the Syrian army and Russian air force in a coming military operation.

Syria's state-owned al-Watan daily quoted sources affiliated to Tahrir al-Sham as disclosing that the Turkish army has warned the terrorist group to withdraw from its positions in the demilitarized zone as soon as possible otherwise they will face a large-scale operation by the Syrian troops and Russian warplanes.

It went on to say that the Turkish army officers, in a meeting with Tahrir al-Sham commanders in one of the observation posts, announced that the Turkish army will take no sides once Syrian army starts the operation and will not provide backup for the terrorist group.

The Turkish side has informed Tahrir al-Sham of the vast deployment of Syrian Forces in contact lines with the terrorists in the demilitarized zone from Northeastern Lattakia up to Western Aleppo, the daily added. - FNA

The daily went on to disclose that the Syrian army has deployed almost 120,000 soldiers in 232 points, laying siege on the terrorists in the demilitarized zone from 3 directions.

It's hard to know what to make of this news, as Turkey deployed several large military convoys to Idlib over the past days amid Syrian army preparations to launch this operation, in an apparent attempt to deter the Syrian offensive. Turkey has in the past always strongly opposed any kind of Syrian military offensive on Idlib, and has been unable or unwilling to get the Jihadists to comply with the terms of the ceasefire and to withdraw from the buffer zone. Time will tell if Turkey truly gives no backup to the terrorists when the SAA offensive kicks off, terrorists who are sure to dismiss this demand just like all the previous ones before it.

Ankara is just as adamantly opposed to the establishment of a US-backed independent Kurdish state in the occupied northeastern Syria as Damascus is. Turkey launched a military operation against the US-backed Kurdish militias in Deirr Ezzor last month but halted the attacks when the US began to use its troops as human shields. The US then also set up military observation posts along the Turkish border in occupied northern Syria, a move which has angered the Turkish government very much. Maybe this ultimatum is a sign that Turkey is finally realizing it is in its own regional best interests to align itself with Russia and Syria over the US and the Jihadists, in order to ensure that the US plans to partition Syria and create an autonomous Kurdish state in the northeast will be foiled. A US general just revealed that US forces in northeastern Syria are training a force of 35,000-40,000 militants for this purpose. How Turkey continues to respond as the situation develops and the Syrian offensive is launched will be quite telling.

Meanwhile on Saturday morning, a Russian spy plane was spotted circling a number of HTS positions in the deescalation zone for the third day in a row, according to a military source speaking to Al Masdar News (AMN).

According to the military source, the Russian IL-20 spy plane was conducting flights early this morning around the demilitarized zone; they would often circle certain areas with a large presence of Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham militants.
...
The military source says the Russian Air Force is conducting these flights in order to gather new information about the jihadist rebels before the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) launches their upcoming offensive.

The new Syrian Army operation will target the jihadist rebels that have refused to leave the Idlib buffer zone, despite repeated warnings by their forces and the Russian military.

Later in the day the SAA launched a rare drone attack against terrorist positions in the Idlib buffer zone in northwestern Hama.

On Sunday the SAA clashed with and repelled a number of terrorist attacks on army positions in the buffer zone, with most of the fighting taking place in areas across the northern and northwestern Hama countryside.

Additionally: "Later in the day, army units conducted operations against the terrorist fortifications in al-Lataminah town and Maarkaba village in Hama northern countryside, inflicting heavy losses upon them in personnel and ordnance," SANA reported.

The Jihadists have used the ceasefire conditions to further fortify their positions and stock up on weaponry, and they have been preparing for this war on the Syrian army for over two months now, and are unlikely to back down. Just last week HTS deployed 8,000 more of its fighters to the Idlib front lines including 5,000 ISIS terrorists. The Syrian offensive is coming, as it certainly does not look like HTS or any of the other Jihadists are going to heed the Turkish advice to retreat from the buffer zone, and in fact one of the biggest instigators among the ceasefire saboteurs besides HTS is the Turkish-backed National Liberation Front (NLF). It makes for an interesting situation, with Turkey a key player to keep an eye on.

Meanwhile on Sunday the SAA also heavily targeted ISIS positions in the last remaining ISIS pocket in Syrian government controlled territory in the eastern Homs Desert north of the US-occupied al-Tanf zone.

According to a military report, the Syrian Army heavily targeted the Islamic State’s positions near the key town of Al-Sukhnah, which is located north of the U.S.-held Al-Tanf region of Homs.

The report said that the Syrian military struck the Daesh defenses with heavy artillery and airstrikes in this vast desert area. - AMN

A number of terrorists fled from the SAA offensive which successfully defeated ISIS in al-Safa last month to the vast desert region of eastern Homs to join their comrades there.

Last week the SAA kicked off the operation against this ISIS desert pocket with a well-planned ambush of an ISIS convoy which killed 23 Daesh terrorists. That airstrikes are now being employed is a sign this operation is now in full swing and the SAA is serious about crushing this last remaining ISIS pocket as quickly as possible.

The terrorist reign in Syria is quickly coming to an end, with the SAA putting heavy pressure on the Jihadists on all fronts. I would expect more Israeli airstrikes as the Idlib offensive kicks off, and increased western propaganda. The Empire isn't going to let Syria go without a desperate fight, but it looks like it will lose in the end. It's been slow and steady, but Syria's winning the war against the foreign terrorists no matter what the US or Israel throws at her. The terrorists will be defeated and Idlib will eventually be fully liberated, it's only a matter of time.