The State Department has reportedly frozen funding for a humanitarian group working in Syria, threatening the group’s effectiveness.

CBS News reported Thursday that the State Department has put funding for the White Helmets group under "active review" as it determines which foreign aid programs to continue funding.

The White Helmets have essentially served as emergency responders in the war-torn country. In the past, the U.S. had provided roughly one-third of the group’s total funding, CBS reported.

"This is a very worrisome development," an official with White Helmets told CBS about the funding freeze. "Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers' ability to save lives."

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U.S. officials are reportedly working to see if there are alternative funding sources to cover some of the groups in need.

The move comes as President Trump Donald John TrumpTrump awards Medal of Valor, civilian honors to responders in Dayton and El Paso shootings Texas Democrats unveil 'path to victory' plan for 2020 The Hill's 12:30 Report: Congress returns with gun violence, funding atop agenda MORE more broadly weighs the future of U.S. involvement in Syria.

Trump in March ordered the State Department to freeze $200 million in recovery funds for Syria. Trump has also indicated he’d like to wind down U.S. military involvement in the region.

The U.S. carried out targeted missile strikes in coordination with France and the United Kingdom last month in response to a chemical weapons attack on civilians in the Syrian town of Douma.

However, Trump has repeatedly said in recent weeks that he’d like to bring U.S. troops home from the country “very soon.”

He has also suggested that Middle Eastern nations should have to contribute financially and put troops on the ground in Syria in order to help maintain stability in the region.</s>Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom. At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria.

“Our meetings in March were very positive. There were even remarks from senior officials about long-term commitments even into 2020. There were no suggestions whatsoever about stopping support,” Raed Saleh, the group’s leader, told CBS News.

Now they are not getting any U.S funding as the State Department says the support is “under active review.” The U.S had accounted for about a third of the group’s overall funding.

“This is a very worrisome development,” said an official from the White Helmets. “Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers ability to save lives.”

The White Helmets, formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense, are a group of 3,000 volunteer rescuers that have saved thousands of lives since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. A makeshift 911, they have run into the collapsing buildings to pull children, men and women out of danger’s way. They say they have saved more than 70,000 lives.

Having not received U.S. funding in recent weeks, White Helmets are questioning what this means for the future. They have received no formal declaration from the U.S. government that the monetary assistance has come to a full halt, but the group’s people on the ground in Syria report that their funds have been cut off.

The group has an “emergency plan” if the funding is halted for one or two months — but they are worried about the long-term freeze.

“If this is a long-term or permanent halt, it would have a serious impact on our ability to provide the same intensity and quality of services that we currently provide to civilians,” said Saleh.

An internal State Department document said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from the administration to green light funding for the White Helmets in Syria by April 15th or the department would initiate “shut-down procedures on a rolling basis.” That document also said that the department needed to be notified by April 6th that it could continue programs that focus on removing land mines, restoring essential services and providing food to moderate forces and their families or those programs would also have to be shut down.

However, U.S. government officials are not talking on the record about the date of the actual funding cutoff for each program, which is leading to confusion.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has previously called the White Helmets “selfless men” and asked journalists to watch a documentary about their work. But the State Department did not respond to a CBS News inquiry earlier this week about which programs are still receiving funding, and the date for when certain programs will lose their funding.

President Trump put a freeze on the $200 million in U.S. funding for recovery efforts in Syria in late March. This freeze means that U.S. support for the White Helmets is not the only project in jeopardy. There are also many other stabilization efforts that are backed by the U.S. — including the clearing of explosive devices, bringing back electricity, rebuilding schools, and getting water running — that may end soon.

U.S. officials are working to see if there is a way to adjust existing funding to cover the costs for these projects. They are also trying to get other countries, such as Germany, to cover some of the costs. Earlier this year, at the Brussels for the donor conference for Syria, German Foreign Minister Maas pledged more than $1.1 billion to help people in need in Syria. But as of now, Germany has not officially committed to stepping in beyond this initial commitment.

Observers are also increasingly concerned about Syria’s young people, who are more prone to radicalization if they don’t get the security and support that they need. As a result of the fighting in the country, thousands of schools have been destroyed. The handful of schools that opened their doors again have received simple necessities like chairs, tables and blackboards from the U.S. — but in most schools children are still sitting on the ground, and teachers are extremely hard to come by.

“The amount of U.S. support is very limited but it is better than nothing, so if that will stop, that will be a disaster. After ISIS they started to open the schools and if money stops, that will be done,” said a senior member of the Deir ez-Zor city council. “Without education the people only have ISIS ideas.”

This week, the State Department said it would continue to defend its partners on the ground in Syria when they announced the final operations to liberate ISIS strongholds in the country.

“The fighting will be difficult, but we and our partners will prevail. We will defend United States, Coalition, and partner forces if attacked. The days of ISIS controlling territory and terrorizing the people of Syria are coming to an end,” wrote State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert. She did not write anything about the stabilization projects.

Meanwhile, much of Syria that has been cleared of ISIS control — such as Raqqa, its self-proclaimed capital — is still in ruins and almost impossible to live in.

“Raqqa is like a sick person in an emergency room. So the money or treatment should come faster than the routine way. He is not a normal sick person,” Abdullah al-Arian, a lawyer in Raqqa advising the governing Civil Council.

“The passion and power the U.S. put in to liberate Raqqa does not at all equal the passion to rebuild Raqqa. It is very much different, much less, much more slow,” says al-Arian. “They give us very beautiful words and promises but not much else.”</s>The Trump State Department has frozen funding to the controversial Syrian aid group known as the White Hemlets, a non-governmental organization (NGO) which provided the sole evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reportedly used chemical weapons on his own people in an April 7 attack on the city of Douma, according to CBS News.

The evidence provided by the White Helmets of the alleged chemical attack was used by the West to justify several airstrikes on Syrian scientific and military facilities throughout April - the first one conducted on Syria's T4 airbase by Israel 48 hours after the White Helmets' report. Many Douma residents, meanwhile - including Hospital personnel, say the chemical attack never happened.

The White Helmets are a 3,000 member NGO formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense. Established in "late 2012 - early 2013" after a group of 20 Syrians were trained and organized by former British army officer James Le Mesurier. The group then received funding from Le Mesurier's Netherlands-based non-profit group, Mayday Rescue - which is in turn funded by grants from the Dutch, British, Danish and German governments.

The US has provided at least $32 million to the group - around 1/3 of their total funding - through a USAID scheme orchestrated by the Obama State Department and funneled to the White Helmets using a Washington D.C. contractor participating in USAID's Syria regional program, Chemonics.

According to their website, the White Helmets have been directly funded by Mayday Rescue, and a company called Chemonics, since 2014. Yet there’s evidence that both of those organizations started supporting the White Helmets back in early 2013, right around the time the White Helmets claim to have formed as self-organized groups. Mayday Rescue, as we said, is funded by the Dutch, British, Danish and German governments. And Chemonics? They are a Washington, D.C. based contractor that was awarded $128.5 million in January 2013 to support “a peaceful transition to a democratic and stable Syria” as part of USAID’s Syria regional program. At least $32 million has been given directly to the White Helmets as of February 2018. -TruthInMedia

So the US, Dutch, British, Danish and German governments have been funding the White Helmets, a non-governmental organization, through proxies for around five years.

Perhaps fueled by troubling reports that the White Helmets have been accused of staging incidents, the Trump administration has now frozen funding to the group, and has placed support under "active review."

Now they are not getting any U.S funding as the State Department says the support is "under active review." The U.S had accounted for about a third of the group's overall funding. An internal State Department document said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from the administration to green light funding for the White Helmets in Syria by April 15th or the department would initiate "shut-down procedures on a rolling basis." -CBS News

"This is a very worrisome development," an official with the White Helmets told CBS. "Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers ability to save lives."

Or not, depending on how one feels about the White Helmets...

Last week, Russian officials brought fifteen people to The Hague from the city of Douma, Syria said to have been present during the alleged April 7 chemical attack, including 11-year-old Hassan Diab who was seen in a widely-distributed White Helmets video receiving "emergency treatment" in a local hospital after the alleged incident.

“We were at the basement and we heard people shouting that we needed to go to a hospital. We went through a tunnel. At the hospital they started pouring cold water on me,” said Diab, who was featured in the video which Russia's ambassador to the Netherlands says was staged.

The boy and his family have spoken to various media outlets, who say there was no attack.

Others present during the filming of Diab's hospital "cleanup" by the White Helmets include hospital administrator Ahmad Kashoi, who runs the emergency ward.

“There were people unknown to us who were filming the emergency care, they were filming the chaos taking place inside, and were filming people being doused with water. The instruments they used to douse them with water were originally used to clean the floors actually,” Ahmad Kashoi, an administrator of the emergency ward, recalled. “That happened for about an hour, we provided help to them and sent them home. No one has died. No one suffered from chemical exposure.” -RT

Also speaking at The Hague was Halil al-Jaish, an emergency worker who treated people at the Douma hospital the day of the attack - who said that while some patients did come in for respiratory problems, they were attributed to heavy dust, present in the air after recent airstrikes, but that nobody showed signs of chemical warfare poisoning.

The White Helmets have previously come under fire for allegations of fabricating evidence and staging bodies. Several of their members have been pictured with, or bear an uncanny resemblance to fighters from the various anti-Assad terrorist groups operating in the region.

Photographic and video evidence gathered over social media and elsewhere depicting White Helmets who appear to be affiliated with terrorist groups can be found here.

And Donald Trump just yanked 1/3 of their funding...</s>Washington has eventually taken a decision to stop financing the volunteer Syria Civil Defence organization also known as White Helmets. The CBS News reported that the U.S funding was stopped as the State Department said the support is “under active review.” Thus the U.S. State Department had accounted for about a third of the group’s overall funding.

This means the group is not likely to stop its activities in Syria. Various European funds and Gulf states are also among the sponsors of White Helmets. So, the war is going and these actors in white helmets with GoPro cameras are still useful.

The other important issue is that the State Department cut off funding, but money is likely to be sent via special services’ secret funds (CIA for example). Also “reviewing” may include the strategy of use of the White Helmets.

As the anti-government forces operating near Damascus lost their last enclave – Eastern Ghouta region (and all the money spent on chemical laboratories, studios, actors, etc.), the White Helmets activists who have close ties with Al Qaeda and Al Nusra terrorists have no opportunity to spread “bloody Syrian regime atrocities” issue.

White Helmets film their evacuating a body of a ‘regime victim’ as the person was executed by a jihadist after Sharia court decision

The White Helmets can’t also operate effectively in Idlib as Turkey keeps on strengthening ties with anti-government groups, backed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, operating in the region. This may cause White Helmets’ relocation to Deir Ezzor province where the Kurdish SDF forces supported by the U.S. control oil wells and a perfect ground for them to stage new “regime atrocities”.

All these reasons may have caused the freezing of funding the White Helmets by the West. Moreover, they became toxic in Western countries. Remember the Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters slamming Syrian airstrikes and White Helmets for spreading fake news.

At the same time the White Helmets may start fabricating fakes more actively to demonstrate their effectiveness.

To sum up, the White Helmets are the media resource of the jihadi groups operating in Syria and supported by the U.S. and Gulf states. They become weaker and the White Helmets may soon disappear as an ineffective instrument of information war.</s>The reputation of the notorious militant-linked White Helmets seems to be falling apart, even the US State Department seems to be having second thoughts about continuing to fund the group.

According to a CBS News report, the State Department’s support for the White Helmets is “under active review”

Meanwhile Moscow would like to know the reasons for Washington’s decision and how much funding they have already recieved.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “Fantastic news came today – the US Department of State has frozen funding for the White Helmets non-governmental organization active in Syria,” she then added “What’s wrong? Didn’t they like the last film? Maybe, there are some other reasons? ….In fact, we would like to know exactly how much money the White Helmets had received from the US government and governments of other countries, including the three states (the US, Great Britain and France) that carried out air strikes on Syria”

RT reports: The group reportedly hasn’t received funding in weeks, but neither has it received formal confirmation that Washington’s financial assistance has come to a complete halt. This would mean a significant blow for the group, as the money accounts for about one-third of the White Helmets’ overall funding.

An internal State Department document cited by CBS said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from President Donald Trump’s administration by April 15 in order to approve funding for the White Helmets. If that wasn’t received, the department would initiate “shut-down procedures on a rolling basis.”

The report comes amid major controversy surrounding the White Helmets, after residents of Douma, Syria, testified in The Hague at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The hearing centered on the alleged chemical attack that was used as a justification for the April 14 strikes by the US, Britain, and France.

In a press conference following the hearing, hospital staff and 11-year-old Hassan Diab – who is seen in troubling White Helmets footage following the alleged attack – said there was no sign of a chemical incident at the time and that the White Helmets’ video with children was apparently staged.

The footage, which showed Diab and other children being hosed down with water, was the only publicly available “evidence” that the attack ever took place. Still, Trump and his British and French counterparts deemed it sufficient proof to launch over 100 missiles on Syria on April 14, accusing the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad of being behind the alleged attack. The three allies were so keen to bomb Syria that they refused to wait for the results of an OPCW investigation before doing so.

If the report from CBS News is true, it could represent a significant U-turn for Washington. Just last month, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert called the group “an incredible group of individuals.” At that time, she also stated that as far as she was aware, the White Helmets were still being paid by Washington, despite a $200-million freeze in US funding for recovery efforts in Syria in late March.

Although the White Helmets says it acts solely as a makeshift emergency response team in a time of crisis, claiming to have heroically saved more than 70,000 lives in war-torn Syria, others disagree with its motives. Footage from Syria repeatedly showed members of the White Helmets assisting jihadist groups, while multiple accounts from civilians suggested they only helped “their own” and used civilians caught in the battle only for publicity. Russia has stated that the Douma “chemical attack” was staged by the White Helmets, with the UK pressuring the group to “speed up the provocation.”

The group has enjoyed celebrity status in the West, with a documentary praising it even winning an Oscar. However, some artists have refused to give in to peer pressure and publicly spoke out against endorsing the shady group. Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters recently lambasted White Helmets at a concert in Barcelona, calling the group a “fake organization that exists only to create propaganda for jihadists and terrorists.” His remark came after emails emerged showing that the White Helmets tried to lobby Waters with Saudi money.</s>As the U.S. moves closer toward all out war in Syria, a lot of what our government seems to base its intelligence on, especially claims of chemical weapon use by they Syrian government, is from an impartial humanitarian group called the White Helmets.

You’ve no doubt, heard of the White Helmets. They have been praised in the media as heroes and have reportedly saved more than 100,000 lives as of April 2018.

But who are the White Helmets really? Are they a legitimate organization or pawns, funded for the purpose of regime change?

Despite a recent U.S. funding freeze for humanitarian aid for Syria, the U.S. continues to fund the controversial group, known as White Helmets.

The White Helmets claim to be a neutral entity in Syria. They say they are just helping people caught in the middle of a civil war. But are they?

Follow the money and you will find numerous ties to government funding from not only the U.S., but the U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany.

Untangling these ties to the White Helmets is complicated, so stay with me.

According to their website, the Syria Civil Defense, nicknamed the White Helmets, formed in “late 2012- early 2013” as self-organized groups.

Realizing they needed training, 20 Syrians went to Turkey back in March 2013 to learn from a former British army officer named James Le Mesurier.

Le Mesurier has ties to the failed NATO intervention in Kosovo. He developed a training program for Syrians that included trauma care, command and control and crisis management courses.

He is credited for helping form the White Helmets’ structure and operations.

Le Mesurier was able to fund this training program through Mayday Rescue, his Netherlands-based non-profit funded by grants from the Dutch, British, Danish and German governments.

Now, this brings us to December 2013, when the U.K.-based PR machine backing the White Helmets was established.

It’s called the Voices Project, set up as a private limited company for public relations and communications activities.

Part of the Voices Project’s articles of incorporation state that the organization seeks to “influence public opinion” and “influence governmental and other bodies and institutions regarding reform … legislation and regulation.”

Who set up the Voices Project? The first listed director on the articles of incorporation is Jeremy Heimans, the co-founder and CEO of the global PR platform “Purpose” and a co-founder of controversial online activist network “Avaaz”.

Though Heimans stepped down from his position with the Voices Project in 2015, his connection to the project is worth noting. Here’s why.

In February 2014, New York-based “Purpose” listed a job posting for interns to “help launch a new movement for Syria.”

By March 2014, the Voices Project set up The Syria Campaign NGO, which they describe as “a human rights organisation that supports Syria’s heroes in their struggle for freedom and democracy.”

This, coinciding with the graduates of the Mayday Rescue training establishing new teams in Syria.

Six months later, in October 2014, a conference of these teams came together to establish the Syrian Civil Defense as an official, national organization. They then became known as the White Helmets, thanks to The Syria Campaign.

According to their website, the White Helmets have been directly funded by Mayday Rescue, and a company called Chemonics, since 2014.

Yet there’s evidence that both of those organizations started supporting the White Helmets back in early 2013, right around the time the White Helmets claim to have formed as self-organized groups.

Mayday Rescue, as we said, is funded by the Dutch, British, Danish and German governments. And Chemonics?

They are a Washington, D.C. based contractor that was awarded $128.5 million in January 2013 to support “a peaceful transition to a democratic and stable Syria” as part of USAID’s Syria regional program. At least $32 million has been given directly to the White Helmets as of February 2018.

The firm has been funded by USAID for years, and carries a record of failures in supporting so-called humanitarian interventions, including in Libya.

What you need to know is that first, this was only part one of our look at the White Helmets.

There are even more dots to connect here, including the relationship between USAID, Chemonics, Jeremy Heimans and Azaaz. We will make those connections in another episode of Reality Check.

But for today, let’s make this clear: there are very real questions about the authenticity of the voice of the White Helmets as representative of the Syrian people.

It is also clear that the White Helmets have ties to organizations that are being funded by governments that have been seeking, and right now continue to, seek to overthrow the Assad government and to establish a new regime in Syria.

And yet our media and government act as if the information coming from the White Helmets is coming from an impartial observer. When in fact, it appears to actually be coming from an organization that is being funded with an agenda to see the Syrian government overthrown.</s>A major victory for the truth in Syria may be on its way, as the legitimacy of the terrorist-linked “White Helmets” finally begins to crumble, and the US Government is revaluating their support and freezing their funding.

The White Helmets are of course the so-called “Syrian” organization which claims to selflessly rescue civilians trapped under fire without bias, however, they have been revealed to be a soft-power support of terrorist factions. The secret goal of the White Helmets has always been to create a friendly front for terrorists, in order to gain the support of foreign powers, and to stage false flags in order to trigger western action against the Syrian government.

To this end, they were behind the false flag attack in Douma, which was claimed to have been a Syrian chemical attack on civilians, which caused Trump to controversially bomb Syria. President Trump made this ill-advised choice even though the main evidence for the attack was provided by the White Helmets, a group known for staging false attacks. Below is an example of their handy work, in the video, they train children to assist them in staging a fake chemical attack.

Now it seems the White Helmets will finally pay the price for their actions, as RT reports their funding has been frozen:

The State Department’s support for the White Helmets is “under active review,” according to a CBS News report. The group reportedly hasn’t received funding in weeks, but neither has it received formal confirmation that Washington’s financial assistance has come to a complete halt. This would mean a significant blow for the group, as the money accounts for about one-third of the White Helmets’ overall funding. An internal State Department document cited by CBS said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from President Donald Trump’s administration by April 15 in order to approve funding for the White Helmets. If that wasn’t received, the department would initiate “shut-down procedures on a rolling basis.”

It is important that their funding as not been officially cut-off for any reason – terrorist links or otherwise, so we should not be so quick to declare all is well and the truth has finally been admitted by the western entities funding them. At worse case, this may be a temporary cut-off, and funding could resume later, and even optimistically speaking, its highly unlikely the West will ever admit the White Helmets were terrorist affiliated. US Officials would likely have too much pride to admit this, much less to publically declare Douma was a false flag attack, as this could do irreparable damage to narrative credibility, however it does seem that someone deep within the US Government is changing their mind about the White Helmets, even if for the sake of optics.

There has been a media blackout concerning the freezing of funding to the White Helmets, probably because the corporate media rely on their credibility even more than the governments that back them, due to all their White Helmet stories about dying Syrian children get them lots of nice views and add revenue to boot. As a result, there is not much reporting on the freeze of funding, and one could question whether it is even real, or if this story is based on the same ominously “anonymous officials” as the US reports.

But that isn’t where this story ends, it appears confirmation that White Helmet funding is crumbling, comes from unwitting agents of truth, none other than former US officials, venting their frustration at their favorite shady NGO being under fire. A slew of tweets seems to confirm the White Helmets have a lot to be worried about, including those from former UN Ambassador Samantha Power, and former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul.

Mr. McFaul would perhaps be advised to be very careful with his words, saying he donated in the past is one matter of fact, but declaring his intention to donate again, to a group under possible review by US Government for terrorist links could be unwise. If President Trump and/or the State Department actually call them terrorists, that would be very awkward.

Middle East political writer and commentator Marwa Osman came out and directly called the White Helmets terrorists, taking a diametraclly opposed view to that of Power and McFaul.

RT reports, saying the freezing of White Helmet funding:

…comes amid major controversy surrounding the White Helmets, after residents of Douma, Syria, testified in The Hague at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The hearing centered on the alleged chemical attack that was used as a justification for the April 14 strikes by the US, Britain, and France. In a press conference following the hearing, hospital staff and 11-year-old Hassan Diab – who is seen in troubling White Helmets footage following the alleged attack – said there was no sign of a chemical incident at the time and that the White Helmets’ video with children was apparently staged. The footage, which showed Diab and other children being hosed down with water, was the only publicly available “evidence” that the attack ever took place. Still, Trump and his British and French counterparts deemed it sufficient proof to launch over 100 missiles on Syria on April 14, accusing the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad of being behind the alleged attack. The three allies were so keen to bomb Syria that they refused to wait for the results of an OPCW investigation before doing so. If the report from CBS News is true, it could represent a significant U-turn for Washington. Just last month, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert called the group “an incredible group of individuals.” At that time, she also stated that as far as she was aware, the White Helmets were still being paid by Washington, despite a $200-million freeze in US funding for recovery efforts in Syria in late March. Although the White Helmets says it acts solely as a makeshift emergency response team in a time of crisis, claiming to have heroically saved more than 70,000 lives in war-torn Syria, others disagree with its motives. Footage from Syria repeatedly showed members of the White Helmets assisting jihadist groups, while multiple accounts from civilians suggested they only helped “their own” and used civilians caught in the battle only for publicity. Russia has stated that the Douma “chemical attack” was staged by the White Helmets, with the UK pressuring the group to “speed up the provocation.” The group has enjoyed celebrity status in the West, with a documentary praising it even winning an Oscar. However, some artists have refused to give in to peer pressure and publicly spoke out against endorsing the shady group. Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters recently lambasted White Helmets at a concert in Barcelona, calling the group a “fake organization that exists only to create propaganda for jihadists and terrorists.” His remark came after emails emerged showing that the White Helmets tried to lobby Waters with Saudi money.

As stated, officially, this hasn’t happened yet, but the freezing of funding has all but been confirmed by Tweets from former high-ranking state department officials, who certainly have more inside connections.

If this sticks, it’s a major step and sign that there may finally be accountability for the actions of at least some groups.</s>As the reputation of the controversial militant-linked White Helmets continues to crumble, even the US State Department seems to be having second thoughts about supporting the group, reportedly placing a freeze on its funding.

The State Department’s support for the White Helmets is “under active review,”according to a CBS News report. The group reportedly hasn’t received funding in weeks, but neither has it received formal confirmation that Washington’s financial assistance has come to a complete halt. This would mean a significant blow for the group, as the money accounts for about one-third of the White Helmets’ overall funding.

An internal State Department document cited by CBS said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from President Donald Trump’s administration by April 15 in order to approve funding for the White Helmets. If that wasn't received, the department would initiate “shut-down procedures on a rolling basis.”

Online reaction to the report has been mixed, with some continuing to hail the work of the White Helmets. Among them was Samantha Power, the former US ambassador to the UN.

The former US ambassador to Russia, Michael McFaul, also took to Twitter to say that he has donated to the White Helmets in the past and "will do so again."

Meanwhile, Middle East political writer and commentator Marwa Osman took an entirely different approach towards the group which many hail as heroes. She referred to the White Helmets as "Al-Qaeda terrorists."

The report comes amid major controversy surrounding the White Helmets, after residents of Douma, Syria, testified in The Hague at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). The hearing centered on the alleged chemical attack that was used as a justification for the April 14 strikes by the US, Britain, and France.

In a press conference following the hearing, hospital staff and 11-year-old Hassan Diab – who is seen in troubling White Helmets footage following the alleged attack – said there was no sign of a chemical incident at the time and that the White Helmets’ video with children was apparently staged.

The footage, which showed Diab and other children being hosed down with water, was the only publicly available “evidence” that the attack ever took place. Still, Trump and his British and French counterparts deemed it sufficient proof to launch over 100 missiles on Syria on April 14, accusing the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad of being behind the alleged attack. The three allies were so keen to bomb Syria that they refused to wait for the results of an OPCW investigation before doing so.

If the report from CBS News is true, it could represent a significant U-turn for Washington. Just last month, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert called the group “an incredible group of individuals.” At that time, she also stated that as far as she was aware, the White Helmets were still being paid by Washington, despite a $200-million freeze in US funding for recovery efforts in Syria in late March.

Although the White Helmets says it acts solely as a makeshift emergency response team in a time of crisis, claiming to have heroically saved more than 70,000 lives in war-torn Syria, others disagree with its motives. Footage from Syria repeatedly showed members of the White Helmets assisting jihadist groups, while multiple accounts from civilians suggested they only helped “their own” and used civilians caught in the battle only for publicity. Russia has stated that the Douma “chemical attack” was staged by the White Helmets, with the UK pressuring the group to “speed up the provocation.”

The group has enjoyed celebrity status in the West, with a documentary praising it even winning an Oscar. However, some artists have refused to give in to peer pressure and publicly spoke out against endorsing the shady group. Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters recently lambasted White Helmets at a concert in Barcelona, calling the group a “fake organization that exists only to create propaganda for jihadists and terrorists.” His remark came after emails emerged showing that the White Helmets tried to lobby Waters with Saudi money.

Like this story? Share it with a friend!</s>The White Helmets claim to be a neutral entity in Syria….. But are they?

The group, formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense, have ties to organizations that are being funded by governments that have been seeking, and continue to seek, the overthrow of the Assad government and to establish a new regime in Syria.

You’ve no doubt, heard of the White Helmets. They have been praised in the media as heroes and have reportedly saved more than 100,000 lives as of April 2018.

But who are the White Helmets really? Are they a legitimate organization or pawns, funded for the purpose of regime change?

Let’s give it a Reality Check you won’t get anywhere else.

Despite a recent U.S. funding freeze for humanitarian aid for Syria, the U.S. continues to fund the controversial group, known as White Helmets.

The White Helmets claim to be a neutral entity in Syria. They say they are just helping people caught in the middle of a civil war. But are they?

Follow the money and you will find numerous ties to government funding from not only the U.S., but the U.K., the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany.

American television news anchor and journalist Benn Swann follows the money in this episode of Reality Check</s>The Syrian Civil Defence - or White Helmets - says its work in rebel-held parts of Syria "has not been disrupted" after reports emerged the US had frozen support for the search-and-rescue group and placed it "under active review".

The head of the humanitarian group's unarmed volunteers, which is made up of former teachers, bakers and ordinary citizens, said it "did not receive any direct funding from the US or any other country".

"The White Helmets receives funding from organisations and associations," Raed Saleh told Al Jazeera.

"Our work has not been disrupted and all the projects we are working on will not be halted. Our volunteers are still operating on the ground."

On Thursday, CBS reported that the state department, which provides about a third of White Helmets' funding, had placed it "under active review".

An internal state department document reportedly said that the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, which has played an important role in US foreign policy in Iraq, Libya and Yemen, required confirmation from the Trump administration by April 15 "to green light funding for the White Helmets" or it would initiate "shut-down procedures".

Last month, the White House instructed the state department to freeze over $200m in funds earmarked for "recovery efforts," a day after President Donald Trump declared that the US would be quitting Syria "very soon".

Saleh told Al Jazeera that while the US had decided to freeze so-called stabilisation projects in Syria, "the Syrian Civil Defence had not been informed that it would no longer receive funds".

According to their website, the White Helmets have been directly funded by Mayday Rescue, a UK-based company, and Chemonics, a US government contractor that works in Rwanda, Honduras and the Maldives and specialises in international development and management.

"The Syrian Civil Defence recently signed contracts with Turkish and Qatari organisations to carry out new projects," Saleh added.

"They have still to be announced."

Speaking to Al Jazeera on Friday, a White Helmets member in Aleppo said a funding squeeze could affect the group's humanitarian work.

"This could become a big problem for us, our operations in rescuing people and [maintaining] our vehicles, equipment," said Ismael al-Abdullah, a rescue worker based in the Aleppo countryside.

"But all our volunteers and centres will continue working ... and saving people across all of Syria."

The White Helmets came to prominence in 2012 for their work rescuing those trapped in rubble after air strikes by Syrian government and Russian warplanes

Despite having saved an estimated 100,000 lives since the outbreak of the Syrian uprising, and earning two Nobel Peace Prize nominations, the group has been the target of several disinformation campaigns by pro-government journalists and Russian media outlets.
The United States Department of State freezes funding to the White Helmets humanitarian group, which conducts urban search and rescue in rebel-held areas of Syria. The U.S. provides one-third of the group's total funding.