Cooking the Intelligence for War on SyriaStephen Lendman It bears eerie resemblance to events preceding Bushs Iraq war. Pretexts are needed to sell wars. When none exist theyre invented. Lies substitute for truth. So-called intelligence is cooked to fit policy. Ahead of Bushs Iraq war, Colin Powell knew Saddam had no WMDs. He lied claiming otherwise. He faked evidence to justify the unjustifiable. He claimed facts and Iraqs behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction. (E)very statement I make today is backed up by sources, solid sources. These are not assertions. What were giving you are the facts and conclusions based on solid intelligence. The gravity of this moment is matched by the gravity of the threat that Iraqs weapons of mass destruction pose to the world. No threat whatever existed. Powell lied claiming otherwise. John Kerry replicated his infamous moment. He did so four times. Hes making the rounds abroad selling war. Hes doing it based on lies. Lying is official US policy. Kerry lied blaming Assad for the August 21 suburban Damascus chemical weapons attack. We have physical evidence of where the rockets came from and when. Not one rocket landed in regime-controlled territory. Not one. All of them landed in opposition-controlled or contested territory. No evidence whatever exists. Kerry lied. Ghouta civilians were killed while they slept. Insurgents were responsible. Rockets were launched from territory they held. Credible evidence proves it. A previous article said the following: On August 29, Mint Press News headlined Exclusive: Syrians in Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack, saying: Rebels and local residents in Ghouta accuse Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan of providing chemical weapons to an al-Qaida linked rebel group. Abu Abdel-Moneim lives in Ghouta. Hes the father of an insurgent fighter. My son came to me two weeks ago asking what I thought the weapons were that he had been asked to carry, he said. Some were tube-like in structure. Others were like a huge gas bottle. They were stored in tunnels. Mint Press reported: Doctors who treated the chemical weapons attack victims cautioned interviewers to be careful about asking questions regarding who, exactly, was responsible for the deadly assault. More than a dozen rebels interviewed reported that their salaries came from the Saudi government. Prince Bandar bin Sultans directly involved. Hes Washingtons point man against Syria. Hes advancing the kingdoms top goal destroying Assad, Irans government and Hezbollah. Doing it involves arming and funding some of the most extremist elements. Theyre cutthroat killers. Theyre committing outrageous atrocities. They brag about them. Media scoundrels give them short shrift. Most often their crimes go unreported. Assads wrongfully blamed repeatedly. He had nothing to do with attacking Ghouta. So-called intelligence claiming otherwise is fake. Its cooked. Its manufactured out of whole cloth. Its pretext for lawless aggression. US and UK intelligence officials admitted theyre unsure whos responsible for attacking Ghouta. What motive could Assad have to kill Syrian civilians? Why would he do it while UN inspectors were investigating evidence of chemical weapons use? Why would he launch an attack close to where they were working? Why would he shoot himself in the foot? Kerrys undeniable proof doesnt exist. Its fake to fit policy. On September 8, Londons Guardian headlined Assad did not order Syria chemical weapons attack, says German press. Germanys Bild am Sonntag newspaper cited high-level national security sources saying Assad didnt order Ghoutas chemical weapons attack. Bild said German naval reconnaissance close to Syrias coast intercepted radio communications. It absolved Assad of responsibility. No evidence links him to it. Germanys foreign intelligence agency (BND) couldnt be reached for comment. Assad told CBS News: There has been no evidence that I used chemical weapons against my own people. Correspondent Charlie Rose interviewed him. On CBS News Face the Nation, he said: (H)e denied that he had anything to do with the attack. He denied that he knew, in fact, that there was a chemical attack. He suggested, as he has before, that perhaps the rebels had something to do with it. The most important thing as he basically says is that there has no evidence that I used chemical weapons against my own people. There is no evidence of that. (I)f the evidence (exists), then they should show (it) and make their case, he said. (H)e was calm. He knew the situation he was in. In fact, Damascus seemed relatively calm, the places that I was today. But theres a clear sense they are closely watching what is happening in Washington. I think the reason they did this interview today weve been trying for a long time, but did it today because theyre watching what happens in Washington. White House chief of staff Dennis McDonough appeared on five Sunday talk shows. He was selling war. He repeated the official lie. He equivocated, saying: Proof links Assad to attacking Ghouta. Its based on a common sense test rather than irrefutable, beyond a reasonable doubt evidence. Weve seen the video proof of the outcome of those attacks. All of that leads to a quite strong common-sense test irrespective of the intelligence that suggests that the regime carried this out. Now do we have a picture or do we have irrefutable beyond-a-reasonable-doubt evidence? This is not a court of law and intelligence does not work that way. Nobody is rebutting the intelligence. Nobody doubts it, he claimed. Attacking Assad creates an opportunity to be bold with the Iranians, he added. Fact check Syria is prelude to attacking Iran. It bears repeating. The road to Tehran runs through Damascus. Iran is Washingtons prime target. Its Israels main regional rival. At issue is toppling Assad, isolating Iran, then pursuing regime change belligerently. Its longstanding US policy. McDonough practically admitted it. He cited fake evidence against Assad. He lied claiming nobody doubts it. Overwhelming domestic and world opinion rejects it. Hundreds, perhaps a majority, on Capitol Hill do. On August 30, Infowars headlined Bombshell: Kerry Caught Using Fake Photos to Fuel Syrian War, saying: He referenced a photograph used by the BBC illustrating a child jumping over hundreds of dead bodies covered in white shrouds. We saw rows of dead lined up in burial shrouds, the white linen unstained by a single drop of blood, he said. The photo was fake. Its unrelated to Syria. It was taken in Iraq. It was in 2003. It was recycled. Its used against Assad. Kerry did so to justify war. It bears repeating. All wars are based on lies. Truth defeats the purpose of waging them. McDonough followed John Kerrys lead. He repeated Big Lies on five Sunday talk shows. Expect lots more ahead of Obamas 9/11 anniversary nationally televised address. Hes selling war. Hes going all out to do it. So are other administration officials. Theyre conducting a PR blitz. National Security Advisor Susan Rice will address a hawkish Washington think tank. Obamas hitting the airwaves, said AP. Top administration officials are heading to Capitol Hill for more classified briefings. Scores of AIPAC lobbyists are doing the same thing. Kerrys in Europe selling war. He appeared with UK Foreign Minister William Hague in London, saying: We know (Assads) regime gave orders to prepare for a chemical attack. We know they deployed forces. (We know) where the rockets came from and where they landed and it was no accident that they all came from regime-controlled territory and all landed in opposition-held territory. So the evidence is powerful and the question for all of us is what are we going to do about it. Turn our backs? Have a moment of silence? Fact check Credible evidence proved rockets were fired from insurgent held territory. Defenseless civilians were attacked. Doing so was a classic false flag. Assads wrongfully blamed for Western-enlisted death squad crimes. They admitted responsibility for Ghoutas incident. Claiming it was accidental doesnt wash. It was well-planned and executed. If Kerry had verifiable proof otherwise, hed reveal it. He cant. None exists. Lies substitute. So-called classified Capitol Hill briefings repeat them. Many, perhaps most, senators and congressmen arent buying them. Some outspokenly said so. Heavy pressures being applied to sway them. Obama wants congressional authorization for war. Hell wage it whether or not he gets it. Without it his plans may be delayed. They wont be deterred. Perhaps another major false flag is planned. Toppling Assad is policy. Obama wants him dead. He wants Syrian sovereignty destroyed. He wants pro-Western vassal governance replacing it. He wants Iran isolated. He wants Shah era harshness restored. Longstanding war plans are readied to be implemented. Obama intends destroying the Islamic Republic. Doing so may ignite conflict globally. It doesnt matter. US imperial priorities come first. Sacrificing humanity is a small price to pay. Washington policymakers think this way. Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity. http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html 