Stephen Lendman

Throughout over six years of conflict, Syria was accused of using chemical weapons (CWs) numerous times - no evidence presented proving it. None exists.

US-supported terrorists conducted numerous CW attacks. These elements, Washington or its coalition partners were likely responsible for Tuesday’s Khan Sheikhoun incident - killing scores, injuring many more, large-scale enough to generate anti-Assad furor.

As expected, Western media, in unison, on cue, automatically blamed him for what happened - what’s most important never asked after these type incidents.

Cui bono? What strategic benefit could Assad achieve by killing his own people - with chemical or other weapons? None, of course.

Washington, its rogue allies and terrorist foot soldiers have plenty to gain by staging these incidents, blaming Assad with plenty of scoundrel media help.

Government and allied forces, greatly aided by Russian airpower, changed the dynamic on the ground, foiling Washington’s aim so far to replace sovereign Syrian independence with pro-Western puppet rule.

The CW attack on Khan Sheikhoun was likely staged to draw America and its rogue allies into greater aggression to oust Assad.

Tuesday’s incident was timed with the start of a two-day EU/UN conference on Syria’s future in Brussels, US and Russian representatives attending - dark forces wanting it used to rev up escalated anti-Assad fervor, including support for greater US-led military intervention.

Syria’s military categorically denied using CWs in Khan Sheikhoun or anywhere else through over six years of war.

Since it destroyed its CW stockpile under Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) supervision, it’s been falsely accused repeatedly of using these weapons.

Its Foreign Ministry said new accusations come “after the achievements gained by the Syrian Arab army and the backing forces in the war against terrorism during the last days and weeks, in addition, those fabrications come prior to the convening of an EU meeting tomorrow about Syria in order to launch an attack on the country and justify the hostile resolutions that will be adopted in this meeting.”

“The Syrian Arab republic stresses that all those fabricated allegations will not prevent it from continuing its war on terrorism, their supporters and sponsors in Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar and some of the EU countries, and from working for a political solution to the crisis in Syria.”

Secretary of State Tillerson called Tuesday’s incident “brutal, unabashed barbarism.” He shamefully blamed Damascus for what happened, adding Russia and Iran bear “moral responsibility.”

Trump issued a statement, calling the incident “reprehensible and cannot be ignored by the civilized world.”

“These heinous actions by the Bashar al-Assad regime are a consequence of the last administration’s weakness and irresolution. President Obama said in 2012 that he would establish a ‘red line’ against the use of chemical weapons and then did nothing” - a sinister warning of possible greater US intervention than already.

France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault challenged the Trump administration to “support a political transition in Syria,” meaning hostile regime change.

Russia’s Defense Ministry spokesman General Igor Konashenkov said “(a)ccording to Russian airspace monitoring systems, yesterday between 11.30 and 12.30 local time, the Syrian aviation carried out an airstrike on the eastern outskirts of Khan Sheikhun, targeting a major ammunition storage facility of terrorists and a cluster of military hardware.”

“The territory of this storage facility housed workshops to produce projectiles stuffed with toxic agents.”

“From this major arsenal, chemical-laden weapons were delivered by militants to Iraq. Their use by terrorists was confirmed on numerous occasions by international organizations and official authorities of the country.”

“Video footage from social networks shows that those affected in Khan Sheikhun demonstrate the same symptoms of poisoning as the victims of the Aleppo (terrorist) attack had last fall.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry rejected accusations about Syrian warplanes using toxic agents in Khan Sheikhoun, calling reports “fake,” adding no Russian aircraft were in the vicinity of the area attacked at the time of the incident.

So what’s next? Multiple rounds of Astana, Kazakhstan and Geneva peace talks so far achieved no breakthroughs.

Will they flounder entirely in the wake of Tuesday’s incident? Will escalated US-led aggression follow?

Obama’s war on Syria, now Trump’s, looks certain to continue with no prospect for resolution as far ahead as it’s prudent to predict.

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

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

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

Visit his blog site at http://www.sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.