“Assad’s military has gained a decisive advantage over the rebels and he had just scored a major diplomatic victory with the Trump administration’s announcement that the U.S. was no longer seeking ‘regime change’ in Syria. The savvy Assad would know that a chemical weapon attack now would likely result in U.S. retaliation and jeopardize the gains that his military has achieved with Russian and Iranian help. (…) But logic and respect for facts no longer prevail inside Official Washington, nor inside the mainstream U.S. news media.” Robert Parry

Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson — Former Chief of Staff to Colin Powell — does not believe the official narrative of the ‘Syrian chemical attack’. Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi agrees and describes the story as nothing short of a “sham”. Follow us on Twitter: @INTEL_TODAY

Last Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson claimed the U.S. Intelligence Community had assessed with a “high degree of confidence” that the Syrian government forces had unleashed a toxic chemical bomb against innocent civilians in Khan Sheikhoun in Syria’s Idlib Governate.

However, it is now quite obvious that “a number of intelligence sources have made contradictory assessments, saying the preponderance of evidence suggests that Al Qaeda-affiliated rebels were at fault, either by orchestrating an intentional release of a chemical agent as a provocation or by possessing containers of poison gas that ruptured during a conventional bombing raid.” [Robert Parry — Trump’s ‘Wag the Dog’ Moment]

According to Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson’s well informed sources, the explanation presented by the Russians is the most likely scenario. Wilkerson also confirmed that the intelligence on this ISIS depot had been shared prior to the strike with both US and Russian Military.

“In fact most of my sources are telling me — including members of the team that monitor global chemical weapons, including people in Syria, including people in the US Intelligence community — that what most likely happened (and this intelligence was shared with the US by Russia in accordance with the de-conflicting agreement) is that they hit a warehouse that they intended to hit and had told both sides, Russia and the US, that they were going to hit. This is a serious air force, of course. And this warehouse was alleged to have ISIS supply in it and indeed it probably did. And some of these supplies were precursors for chemicals (or possibly an alternative they were phosphates for fertilizing)… Conventional bombs hit the warehouse and the wind dispersed these ingredients and killed some people.” RELATED POST: Former CIA Analyst Ray McGovern debunks the alleged Syria ‘Chemical Attack’

Former CIA officer Philip Giraldi

Giraldi told Scott Horton’s Webcast:

“I’m hearing from sources on the ground in the Middle East, people who are intimately familiar with the intelligence that is available who are saying that the essential narrative that we’re all hearing about the Syrian government or the Russians using chemical weapons on innocent civilians is a sham.” “The intelligence confirms pretty much the account that the Russians have been giving … which is that they hit a warehouse where the rebels – now these are rebels that are, of course, connected with Al Qaeda – where the rebels were storing chemicals of their own and it basically caused an explosion that resulted in the casualties. Apparently the intelligence on this is very clear.” RELATED POST: Former CIA Analyst Philip Giraldi: “Morell’s bluster deserves a bit of a fact check”

Former DIA Colonel Pat Lang

Yesterday, the former DIA officer posted the following analysis:

“The American media and many American political leaders, Republicans and Democrats, are a complete disgrace as they have cheered Donald Trump’s illegal and unjustified order to launch of cruise missiles against a backwater Syrian Air Force outpost. The American public are being sold a profound and dangerous lie via a massive propaganda campaign that, without one shred of empirical evidence, insists that the Air Force of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad dropped a chemical weapon for the express purpose of killing civilians. That did not happen. There is no intelligence supporting this claim by the Trump Administration.” [Where Are the Heroes?] RELATED POST: Former DIA Colonel: “US strikes on Syria based on a lie”

A cryptic statement

Around the 5′ mark, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson drops a strange comment:

“Assad has a number of ways to achieve this — Including artillery — which by the way a no-fly zone would not stop…”

I would probably have missed the meaning of these few words if it was not for the fact that a well informed source has told me last night that the US will indeed seek a no-fly zone on the entire part of Syria West of the Euphrates.

About Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson

Lawrence B. “Larry” Wilkerson (born 15 June 1945) is a retired United States Army Colonel and former chief of staff to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell. Wilkerson has criticized many aspects of the Iraq War, including his own preparation of Powell’s presentation to the UN.

“My participation in that presentation at the UN constitutes the lowest point in my professional life. I participated in a hoax on the American people, the international community and the United Nations Security Council.” RELATED POST: TURKEY — Former US Secretary chief of staff: “The CIA knew about the coming coup…”

Interview: “Trump Attack on Syria Driven by Domestic Politics”

REFERENCES

Lawrence Wilkerson — Wikipedia

Ex-CIA Agent: The Official Story of Syria Govt “Gassing Innocent Civilians is a Sham”

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Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson: “The Syrian chemical attack story is a hoax.”