How the Media Tried to Downplay the UN’s Finding of Evidence that Rebels Used Chemical Weapons

The recent allegation that the Syrian government used chemical weapons is not the first, remember. Recall that this has happened before. The only problem was that the facts weren’t conforming to the official narrative that we were supposed to believe. Here’s how the BBC reported the news in its headline and lede back in May:

UN commission downplays claim Syria rebels used sarin

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria has sought to distance itself from comments made by one of its members that there was evidence of the nerve agent sarin being used by rebels.

Here’s what the member in question, Carla Del Ponte, said:

“Our investigators have been in neighboring countries interviewing victims, doctors and field hospitals. According to their report of last week, which I have seen, there are strong, concrete suspicions but not yet incontrovertible proof of the use of sarin gas, from the way the victims were treated.”

She also said (see video above):

During our investigation for crimes against humanity and war crimes, we collect[ed] some witness testimony that made to appear that some chemical weapons were used; in particular [sarin] gas.  And what appears to our investigation [is] that [chemical weapons] were used by the opponents, by the rebels. And we have no indication at all that the government, Syria, the authority, the Syria government had used chemical weapons.

So, how did the U.N. Commission “downplay” what Carla Del Ponte said? Well, they didn’t “downplay” it at all. It merely reiterated what she said, that there are not yet any conclusive findings as to who was responsible. As the BBC reported:

On Monday, the Commission of Inquiry headed by Brazilian Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, issued a statement “to clarify that it has not reached conclusive findings as to the use of chemical weapons in Syria by any parties to the conflict”.

How is this statement “backing away” from what Del Ponte said when Del Ponte never suggested otherwise? She didn’t after all, say that the Commission had reached a conclusive finding that the rebels were responsible for using chemical weapons. See, the intent here of the BBC and other media reporting this news the same way (like the AP) is to make you think Del Ponte is a loose cannon who doesn’t speak for the Commission, and whose comments are not to be trusted.

The purpose of this kind of reporting is to manufacture consent for criminal foreign policies of the U.S. government and its lackeys like the U.K. It is propaganda, plain and simple.

Now the U.N. is again investigating another chemical weapons attack, but the U.S. government has already dismissed its findings before the investigation is even complete and is preparing to commit aggression, “the supreme international crime”, against the state of Syria.