USAID Funds White Helmets aka Al Qaeda with a Facelift

v4vapid (72)in #propaganda • 7 years ago (edited)

In the wake of the false flag Syrian gas attack in Idlib and the ensuing tomahawk missile barrage ordered by the Trump administration, it's crucial that we understand the propaganda machine that has been perpetuated for years aimed at the American public wary of another Middle-East invasion.

For years now, we have heard of the heroic and selfless efforts of the Syrian Civil Defence aka The White Helmets. The Netflix documentary won the Academy Award telling the 'harrowing' story of ordinary Syrian volunteers, the White Helmets, risking everything to save the lives of injured civilians caught in the ravages of the country's hellish civil war.

The Syrian Civil Defence claims to have saved the lives of more than 50,000 Syrians lives since the beginning of the conflict.

If only this were true...

The White Helmets: First Responders or Al Qaeda Paramedics?

Al Qaeda with a Facelift

Syrian Civil Defence

According to their website the completely 'neutral' White Helmets receive financial support from 2 major sources: Mayday Rescue and Chemonics. Chemonics is a US government contractor specializing in international development and management. Following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Chemonics won the single largest USAID contract for that period worth an estimated $700 million.

The White Helmets were founded in collaboration with USAID’s Office of Transitional Initiatives—the wing that has promoted regime change around the world—and have been provided with $23 million in funding from the department. USAID supplies the White Helmets through Chemonics, a for-profit contractor based in Washington DC that has become notorious for wasteful aid imbroglios from Haiti to Afghanistan. While members of the White Helmets have been implicated in atrocities carried out by jihadist rebel groups, the names of many of the firms that supposedly monitor and evaluate their work have been kept secret by USAID on unspecified security grounds.

...

USAID relies on Chemonics to deliver resources to the White Helmets. The company’s contract with the group is part of the $339.6 million committed by USAID for “supporting activities that pursue a peaceful transition to a democratic and stable Syria.” This whopping sum of money supplements the reported $1 billion the CIA spent in the past year supplying and training the rebel forces attempting to overthrow the Syrian government, fueling a grinding civil war that necessitates the presence of thousands of first responders.

Source: Alternet.org
Source 2: Counterpunch.org

It has also been reported that the White Helmets receive additional funding from the UK and Dutch governments, pouring in $29 and $4.5 millions respectively. Those who seek to gain from an overt war in Syria, such as oil and gas interests are unsurprisingly linked to much of the funding, including the Asfari Foundation.

Though the organization claims to be completely neutral they operate exclusively in rebel or ISIS held areas, which up until recently included Aleppo. Furthermore, members of the White Helmets have been affiliated with 'rebel' group Al Nustra which has significant ties to Al Qaeda.