by Stephen Lendman

Here we go again. A new London Sunday Times report claims Assad is hoarding WMDs. More on it below.

We've seen it all before. It surfaced earlier against Syria. Obama repeatedly warned Assad against using chemical weapons.

He never did. He never would. Doing so would be suicide. His Foreign Ministry spokesman Johad Makdissi repeated earlier what various Syrian officials stressed, saying:

"No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used...no matter what" happens inside Syria.

For years, Assad urged a WMD-free Middle East. He proposed it. He endorsed it. He promoted it. He was ignored.

He categorically denies Syria ever used chemical weapons. He calls claims otherwise malicious propaganda.

Last September, Britain's Daily Mail suggested he hid chemical weapons in Lebanon and Iraq. It claimed he did so to prevent detection, saying:

"His forces were said to have acted after the US and Russia agreed to secure and eliminate the weapons - a deal hailed by Assad's regime as a victory."

Salim Idris is a US stooge. He heads the so-called Free Syrian Army. At the time, he said:

"We have told our friends that the regime has begun moving a part of its chemical weapons to Lebanon and Iraq, We told them do not be fooled."

Last November, CNN headlined "US Intelligence suggests Syria may hide some chemical weapons," saying:

So-called US "classified intelligence indicat(es) the Syrian government may not fully declare its chemical weapons stockpile, CNN has learned."

"That would mean it will still have a secret cache of chemical weapons ever after the current agreed-upon destruction effort is carried out."

CNN added what's most important, saying: "The intelligence is not definitive." It's fake. At the time, National Security Council spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said:

"We continue to review and assess the completeness and accuracy of Syria's declaration to the OPCW (Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons)."

"However, in accordance with OPCW regulations, Syria's declaration is confidential, and we will not publicly discuss its details or our assessment of it."

Last September, Obama was a hair's breadth from striking Syria. Mass public opposition stopped him.

He said "a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized."

Syria was falsely blamed for numerous false flag chemical weapons attacks. Insurgents bore full responsibility.

What's ongoing now bears eerie resemblance to events preceding Bush's Iraq war. Waging them requires pretexts.

When none exist, they're invented. Lies substitute for truth. Colin Powell won't ever live down his infamous February 5, 2003 Security Council speech.

It was shameless deception. It was weeks before war on Iraq. Media scoundrels supported it. New York Times editors applauded Powell's "powerful case."

Washington Post editors claimed it "hard to imagine anyone (doubting) Iraq('s) possess(ion) (of) weapons of mass destruction."

None whatever existed. Shock and awe followed. Millions were killed and injured. Millions more displaced.

The cradle of civilization was destroyed. Iraq remains an out-of-control cauldron of violence. Powell willfully lied.

He's an unindicted war criminal. He remains unaccountable. So do other complicit Bush administration officials.

All wars are based on lies. Claims about Syria using chemical weapons were false. They proliferated anyway.

John Kerry called it undeniable. So did Joe Biden and other Obama officials. No evidence whatever proved it. Not earlier. Not now. Plenty shows US-backed insurgents used CWs multiple times.

Last December, Seymour Hersh exposed Obama administration lies claiming Assad using sarin gas.

"Whose sarin," he asked? Kerry repeated Powell's infamous moment. He lied claiming Syria used CWs in Ghouta. It's a Damascus suburb.

Fake evidence was used. It was manufactured out of whole cloth. Insurgent forces were responsible. Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan, Craig John Murray, denied Syrian responsibility.

He said British intelligence had no information about alleged "radio and communication intercepts between the Syrians despite having the most modern and advanced electronic tapping post on the Mountainous Troodos region of Cyprus."

He disputed Kerry's allegation, saying:

"It's very strange, to say the least, that John Kerry claims to have access to communications intercepts of Syrian military and officials organizing chemical weapons attacks, which intercepts were not available to the British Joint Intelligence Committee."

Hersh said Obama "did not tell the whole (Ghouta) story."

Claiming Assad's responsibility was false. It was premeditated fraud.

It was malicious propaganda. Media scoundrels regurgitated it for weeks. Intelligence was cooked to fit policy.

"In the months before the attack, (US) intelligence agencies produced a series of highly classified reports, culminating in a formal Operations Order - a planning document that precedes a ground invasion - citing evidence that the al-Nusra Front, a jihadi group affiliated with Al Qaeda, had mastered the mechanics of creating sarin and was capable of manufacturing it in quantity," said Hersh.

"When the attack occurred, al-Nusra should have been a suspect, but the administration cherry-picked intelligence to justify a strike against Assad."

Hersh cited Obama's September 10 address claiming:

"We know the Assad regime was responsible" for attacking Ghouta with sarin gas. He claimed US intelligence evidence.

None whatever existed. He lied claiming otherwise. War nearly followed. Mass public opposition prevented it.

Will the new London Sunday Times article help change things? Will other bogus reports?

A late January one was fake. It was strategically timed. Its release was two days before sham Syrian peace talks began.

It contained spurious allegations. Its so-called evidence claimed Assad's responsibility for killing 11,000 detainees.

Three former establishment prosecutors were complicit. Fake documents and photos were used.

Qatar is militantly anti-Assad. It actively aids extremist anti-government death squads. It funded the report. It has no credibility whatever.

Propaganda wars precede hot ones. They accompany them. Lies and distortion substitute for truth.

Media scoundrels regurgitate them ad nauseam. They violate core journalistic principles doing so. Aggressive wars are called liberating ones.

Victims are called villains. Aggressors are called freedom fighters. One war segues to others. They rage without end.

Washington wants Assad toppled. Obama's going all out to remove him. He wants Syrians having no say on their future.

He wants Syria raped and pillaged. Is he heading for direct US intervention? Is he looking for another pretext as justification?

John Kerry lied about Assad not moving fast enough "to move the chemical weapons out of Syria." Security Council Resolution 2118 calls for their expeditious elimination.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is handling their removal. Efforts to do so are proceeding responsibly.

Not according to Kerry. He suggested non-compliance. He threatened UN Charter Chapter 7 action.

It allows for military force to "restore international peace and security." Doing so would launch aggressive war.

Invoking Chapter 7 requires Security Council authorization. Russia and China won't permit it. Or approval to intervene for so-called humanitarian reasons.

America wages wars without UN authorization. Presidents do so without congressional approval. Perhaps Obama has that in mind now.

He ravaged and destroyed Libya this way. He's using proxy death squads against Syria. They can't topple Assad on their own.

They're no match against Syria's superior military. They need US air power support. Or a coalition of NATO countries providing it.

The London-based Sunday Times is a Murdoch publication. He's a media scoundrel writ large. He's a global pirate. His empire features psuedo-journalism.

It includes demagoguery, propaganda, warmongering, scandal, sleaze and celebrity gossip. He disdains truth and full disclosure. Real news, information and honest opinion are verboten.

On February 2, The Sunday Times headlined "Assad hoards WMDs in heartland," saying:

He's "accused of stockpiling advanced weaponry, including chemical and biological arms, in the heartland of his Alawite sector as an insurance policy in case his country is eventually partitioned."

Unnamed "Israeli and Russian sources say the weapons are being upgraded with the help of North Korean and Iranian experts."

No evidence was cited. Just unsubstantiated allegations. An unnamed Israeli intelligence source said the country's Alawite region is "totally fortified and isolated from the rest of Syria."

"The most advanced weapons manufactured in Syria and imported from Russia are kept there."

Another unnamed source claimed Assad "probably will miss the June 30 deadline when the entire 1,300 tons of lethal chemical weapons were due to be destroyed."

Deadlines are flexible, not firm. Key is assuring safety. It's keeping CWs out of insurgents' hands. It's eliminating them responsibly. It's no easy task under conflict conditions.

Syria and OPCW officials are taking proper precautions. Doing otherwise would entail dangers too irresponsible to risk.

At the same time, so-called peace talks are deadlocked. Syrian National Council (SNC) delegates are US stooges.

They take orders from Washington. Obama wants war, not peace. Last week's talks ended in acrimony. It's unclear what's next.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem was right saying there's "no moderate opposition in Syria, only terrorists."

Washington actively funds, arms, trains and directs them. It's done so throughout nearly three years of conflict. It shows no signs of ending.

Expect intensified fighting ahead. It raged during so-called peace talks. No letup in sight looms.

On Saturday, al-Moallem rejected directed direct talks with John Kerry. He did so regarding outrageous comments he made.

He said there's "no way, not possible in the imagination, that the man who has led the brutal response to his own people could regain legitimacy to govern."

Blaming victims is longstanding US policy. Washington bears full responsibility for Syria's war.

Al-Moallem dismissed the "coalition of the so-called 'opposition,' ' saying:

"If they do not abandon their illusions, they will get a rude shock because we are a country of institutions and a constitution, and we have a president of the republic.

Foreign invader terrorism requires addressing. Al-Moallem is right wanting it prioritized. SNC stooges want talks focused on regime change. Deadlock conditions remain.

Resumed talks are tentatively scheduled to begin in days. German diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger said from February 6 - 8. Whether or not they'll proceed remains to be seen.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is right saying "we have to help the Syrians determine their future by themselves."

They alone must decide. Outside interference won't be tolerated. International law prohibits it. Enforcing it matters most.

The alternative risks all-out war. It risks destruction of another independent state. It threatens regional conflict. It risks spreading it globally. It risks what can't be tolerated.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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