Russia and Syria have been pulling stories out of every corner to fabricate false narratives about the chemical weapons attack in order to put the blame on other parties and off of themselves, according to a recent unclassified White House report.
In the report, the White House formally declared the collusion of Russia and Syria in the attack and suggested confirmation of the use of the nerve agent sarin, based on various intelligence means. They also countered the false narratives that Russia and Syria have been releasing, stating that this attack was not done by the power of the militants (ISIS), but rather of the Syrian government itself, propped up by the Russians.
Detailed in the report was how the Russians continuously claimed that the opposition had fabricated the massive amounts of open source intelligence (including videos, pictures, etc), and that it was a "prank of provocative nature." However, the intelligence community has asserted that it is close to impossible for the opposition to create such a massive amount of videos and reports in such a small amount of time, as the open-source documentation included reporting from the main attack site and from medical facilities in both Turkey and Syria.
Another false narrative that was suggested by Russia was that the terrorists had an "ammunition depot" in which they were creating and holding shells which contained toxic chemicals. They then asserted that the Syrian government conducted airstrikes on the facility, and that is what caused the release of the chemicals. However, it was reported that a Syrian military official stated that Syrian regime forces didn't carry out any attacks in that area, thus refuting that narrative themselves. And further, open-source intelligence collected by the intelligence community clearly documents a crater directly in the vicinity of the attack, thus suggesting that is where the munition landed.
The report goes into depth detailing social media posts and exact time stamps from open-source intelligence to refute the multiple narratives that Russia and Syria have released to confuse the international community about the attack, and subsequently announcing the intelligence behind the claim that the Russians aided in the deadly attack.
The document finished with a call to the international community.
"The United States calls on the world community in the strongest possible terms to stand with us in making an unambiguous statement that this behavior will not be tolerated. This is a critical moment-- we must demonstrate that subterfuge and false facts hold no weight, that excuses by those shielding their allies re making the world a more dangerous place, and the Syrian regime's use of chemical weapons will not be permitted to continue."
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