Debunking the White Helmet Myth in Syria

Rasa - The US State Department is telling us now what we already knew from day one of the US-led war and propaganda campaign against Syria that Washington is the largest funder of the White Helmets group in Syria.

News ID: 437561

Date: 07 May 2018 - 23:07

RNA - It gets interesting when we also hear the State Department saying that it has frozen all funding to the organization indefinitely. US officials say the group is “under active review,” but provide no specifics on when this might be lifted. No sweat here:

1- White Helmets are receiving direct funding and logistical support from the United States, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Even when it is not “direct,” the funding is funneled through contractors and other third parties, i.e., Daesh and Qaeda-allied opposition forces in Syria. Nonetheless, the White Helmets get one-third of their funding from the US, and according to the State Department, this is being frozen as part of a general Trump administration freeze on so-called Syrian “recovery efforts.” But the group is not worried at all, as Doha rushed to declare that Qatar and Turkey would replace the US to continue the funding.

2- It would be an insult to public understanding if media outlets in the West still suggest that the White Helmets are an unarmed, neutral organization or primarily a search and rescue group in certain rebel-held parts of Syria. The claims of not being funded by Western governments are an attempt to maintain the illusion of neutrality. This is important because the White Helmets are often used as a primary source for baseless Western claims of Syrian war crimes, such as chemical attacks on rebel-held areas.

3- While White Helmets leadership is downplaying the frozen funding, this may not impact US influence over the group in advancing such narratives. This is because the Qaeda-linked group is also being bankrolled by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey which means even if the White Helmets quickly fall out of their good graces when the money dries up from Washington, the United States' regional allies will be around to ensure their cameras continue to stage photo ops in false-flag operations to accuse the Syrian government of chemical attacks.

4- It is not unreasonable, based upon the statements given by eminent members and doctors of medical groups in different parts of Syria to draw the conclusion that the White Helmets are nothing more than common terrorists, being paid by the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey to present themselves as respectable first responders when the need arises for reports from inside rebel-held areas or elsewhere in Syria.

5- The White Helmets, led by Raed al-Saleh, is also funded by Mayday Rescue, an organization founded by James Le Mesurier, a former intelligence officer with the British military. According to the website for his Mayday Rescue organization, funding for the program comes largely from the UK, Denmark, the Netherlands, Japan, and Germany. These countries should also weigh the credibility of statements made by civilians in terror-held territories and in the presence of terrorists, considering they may have been made under duress.

6- The White Helmets only exist as gophers who stage photo ops with “crisis actors” and “chemical attack victims” or stolen bodies; where do these bodies come from? Are they victims of air strikes as we are told by these US-Israeli-Saudi-NATO-Qatari-Turkish funded “activists” and “first responders” or are they taken from among the thousands of “disappeared” that have been kidnaped by Nusra Front and other terrorist gangs in Syria?

7- Despite their positive recognition in the West, there is also a counter-narrative pushed by a vocal network of individuals who write for alternative news sites countering the American-Saudi-Israeli-Qatari-Turkish agenda. Their views align with the positions of Iran, Syria and Russia. The way the US-led propaganda machine has targeted the Syrian government for alleged chemical attacks is a neat case study in the prevailing information war. It exposes just how rumors, conspiracy theories and half-truths bubble to the top of Western news hours to tarnish the image of a government that has been doing everything it can to save a war-torn nation from foreign-backed terrorist groups and Takfiri-Wahhabi extremists.

But now Washington has decided to stop funding this fake humanitarian group for now as one of the first moves made by the Trump administration to cut the spending in Syria and force allies to pay for the costs. In the meantime, the US has already made use of the group in false-flag operations in the war-torn country and now that Russia has proved at the Organization on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that the allegations made by the same group in Eastern Ghouta last month - that played as an excuse for a later missile attack by the US, France and Britain against the Syrian army - were all false and a mockery of truth, Washington is desperate for a face saving move.

Whatever this is, it still doesn’t change the fact that the White Helmets group is indeed a fake organization that provides propaganda for jihadists and terrorists. It also provides fake evidence of gas attack to encourage the US and company to bomb Syrian government positions. At any rate, it is time for the international civil society to call out the Qaeda-linked White Helmets group for what it is - a fake organization.

847/940