2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumBernie Sanders Getting Advice From Former Colin Powell Aid, Conspiracy Theorist
Senator Bernie Sanders, looking to shore up his credentials on foreign policy, is seeking advice from a patchwork of experts, including Lawrence Wilkerson, who was chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell and who has speculated that Israel might have carried out chemical attacks in Syria.
This couldve been an Israeli false-flag operation, it couldve been an opposition in Syria, he added, saying that the attacks also could have been carried out by Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president. (The United States believes the Syrian government was in fact behind the chemical attacks.)
But we certainly dont know with the evidence weve been given, he added. And what Im hearing from the intelligence community is that that evidence is really flaky.
In an interview on Friday, Mr. Wilkerson was not remorseful about suggesting that Israel might have played a role in the attacks. But he said he was merely listing those who could have played a part, and wasnt trying to fan flames against Israel.
An aide to Mr. Sanders did not respond to a request for comment on Friday.
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/02/26/bernie-sanders-is-getting-advice-from-expert-who-cited-possible-israeli-ties-to-chemical-attacks/
monicaangela
(1,508 posts)newthinking
(3,982 posts)He has been posted a fair amount here. He is a regular on many liberal news and analysis sites.
He has done a service to the nation by coming forward and exposing the darker side of US MIC.
Lawrence Wilkerson, Collin Powell's former Chief of Staff, reflects on his life journey from "cold warrior" to harsh critic of US foreign policy Pt1
newthinking
(3,982 posts)So they use what looks to be trumped up claims to call him a conspiracy nut. Heaven knows that those who have been in high office know that we and others have created false flags or lied about intelligence.
Given that the claims about the gas attacks were first debunked by Seymore Hersh and then followed up by an MIT study it does sound at least like the claims are war propaganda:
http://web.mit.edu/sts/Analysis%20of%20the%20UN%20Report%20on%20Syria%20CW.pdf
Fair.org (Longstanding liberal media factcheck site)
Which Syrian Chemical Attack Account Is More Credible?
http://fair.org/blog/2013/09/01/which-syrian-chemical-attack-account-is-more-credible/
Fair exposes both sides of the war narrative:
UPDATE 2: Dale Gavlak, whose track record was one of the main reasons to give credence to the Mint Press piece, says in comments below that she had little if anything to do with the piece:Mint Press News incorrectly used my byline for an article it published on August 29, 2013, alleging chemical weapons usage by Syrian rebels. Despite my repeated requests, made directly and through legal counsel, they have not been willing to issue a retraction stating that I was not the author. Yahya Ababneh is the sole reporter and author of the Mint Press News piece. To date, Mint Press News has refused to act professionally or honestly in regards to disclosing the actual authorship and sources for this story.
and this:
http://fair.org/blog/2013/09/17/un-report-provides-information-not-intelligence/
FAIR criticized US media for insufficient skepticism in its coverage of the US government report on Ghouta released on August 30 by Secretary of State John Kerry (FAIR Blog, 9/1/13), which explicitly blamed the Syrian government for the attack. The contrast between the two reports is striking: While Kerrys report avoided providing specific details to back up its claimsin order to protect sources and methods, Kerry saidthe UN report strove for maximum transparency, describing, for example, where samples were taken, how they were handled to avoid contamination, how they were tested and what results were obtained.
I did not travel to Syria, have any discussions with Syrian rebels, or do any other reporting on which the article is based. The article is not based on my personal observations and should not be given credence based on my journalistic reputation. Also, it is false and misleading to attribute comments made in the story as if they were my own statements.
I would appreciate your removing all references to me from your story.
Without Gavlaks byline, and with the allegations of unprofessional behavior on the part of Mint Press News, theres little reason to take the Mint Press story seriously. We leave this post up for the historical record.
What we do know is that essentially we don't know which side used the weapons. We may never know thanks for the prevalence of war narratives and lack of honest and thorough investigations and reporting.
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)eating, sadistic, soulless, genocidal old corpse like holiday vacay buddy, Kissinger.
whatchamacallit
(15,558 posts)nichomachus
(12,754 posts)Hillary getting advice -- and six-figure checks -- from the people who destroyed the economy for profit? Heaven knows, she profited from it. From "dead broke" to multi- multi-millionaire in a few years.
Aren't you dizzy?
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)He was one of the first insiders to blow away the Iraq WMD lie.
Weaksauce is weak.
Depaysement
(1,835 posts)He had the decency to express remorse for the war your candidate heartily supported, solely for political reasons.
What libelous crap.
beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)Now that's some Truthiness in reporting right there, with a capital T!
UglyGreed
(7,661 posts)it's way the world works
Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)Not sure why you think doing so makes him a conspiracy theorist, but to each his own.
I certainly find Wilkerson far more palatable than Henry Kissinger!
roguevalley
(40,656 posts)Last edited Fri Feb 26, 2016, 10:36 PM - Edit history (1)
vote for a war lie to protect his ass from then prevailing public wrath. He wouldn't talk to someone who wasn't credible. He's that smart and people canny.
edited: added war for clarity
Fawke Em
(11,366 posts)One of the biggest reasons I can't vote for Hillary is that she's a neo-con. My son is half Arabic, ergo, he has family there. What the neo-cons have done to the region is inexcusable to me.