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Poison Watch Title: White House Officials Misstate the Number of Chemical Attacks by Assad In the aftermath of the chemical weapons attacks in Idlib province and the subsequent response of cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase authorized by President Trump, both National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have asserted that the Syrian government has perpetrated in excess of 50 chemical weapons attacks going back to 2013. In September of that year, Bashar al-Assad struck a deal, with Russia's assistance, to rid Syria of chemical weapons to avoid air strikes threatened by then-President Obama. However, the actual number of confirmed chemical attacks by the regime appears to be significantly lower than McMaster and Tillerson claimed, and the documentation provided to THE WEEKLY STANDARD by the State Department actually refers to chemical attacks by ISIS, not the Syrian regime. The reference to 50 attacks was made first by McMaster on April 6 at a joint appearance with Secretary Tillerson in Palm Beach, Florida, after the cruise missile strikes. In response to a question about how the cruise missile strikes might affect Assad's ability to carry out chemical attacks, McMaster said: When asked that evening about the source of the "over 50 attacks" figure, the State Department referred questions to the White House. Over the next several days, however, the White House ignored several requests for documentation of the claim. Then in Moscow on Wednesday, April 12, at a press briefing with Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, a reporter asked Secretary Tillerson about the harsh rhetoric coming from the Trump administration regarding Syrian president Assad. Tillerson responded: "Well, I think the perspective from the United States, supported by the facts that we have, are conclusive that the recent chemical weapons attack carried out in Syria was planned and it was directed and executed by Syrian regime forces, and we're quite confident of that. This is just the latest in a series of the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, notwithstanding their use on more than 50 occasions of chlorine bombs, and cluster bombs, and other types of weapons that are intended to maim and kill in the most horrific ways. So I think the characterization is one that President Assad has brought upon himself." This time when asked about the source of the 50 attacks claim, the State Department directed THE WEEKLY STANDARD to Page 16 of the statement of Gen. Joseph L. Votel, Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 9, 2017. While updating the committee on Operation Inherent Resolve, Gen. Votel said (emphasis added): When asked about the discrepancy and if the error might undermine the administration's case, a State Department spokesperson replied, "We can't speak for Votel or McMaster, or the Administration as a whole. That's a question for NSC [National Security Council] and DoD [Defense Department]." The spokesperson did not respond to a further question about whether Secretary Tillerson would stand by his remarks despite the problem with the source for his remarks. THE WEEKLY STANDARD also contacted the White House again for comment on the discrepancy, and this time an NSC official responded and acknowledged McMaster's misstatement: The White House has not yet responded to a follow up request for documentation of the 30 attacks cited by the NSC official given that the original claim of 50-plus attacks was in reality a reference to attacks by ISIS and not the Syrian regime. THE WEEKLY STANDARD also reached out to CENTCOM for the source of Gen. Votel's statement that "ISIS has reportedly used chemicals, including sulfur mustard and toxic industrial chemicals, in attacks more than 50 times in Iraq and Syria" on March 9. CENTCOM has not yet responded. Poster Comment: A fairly shocking admission coming from a neocon flagship that undoubtedly celebrated the missile strike on Assad and want him deposed by any means possible. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 10.
#1. To: A Pole, Deckard (#0)
So they are mistakenly assigning blame for 50 ISIS gas/WMD attacks to Assad. And they persisted in this error even after the press started asking questions pointedly. Interesting datapoint, I think. What did they know and when did they know it when they were persuading Trump to take their word for Assad's guilt? Just what did they tell Trump and how much of it was true or just "misremembered"?
You know the difference between mistake and a lie, don't you? Thank you for the ping.
A mistake is what they call it when the lie has been found out.
A mistake is what they call it when the lie has been found out.
There are no replies to Comment # 10. End Trace Mode for Comment # 10.
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