It has now been established that the Houla massacre, which has resulted in more than one hundred deaths of men, women and children, was not undertaken by the pro-government militia Shabbiha as claimed in chorus and without evidence by the Western media.



Several authoritative reports, including a recent report of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, confirm unequivocally that "opposition" FSA terrorists were behind these atrocities. (Neue Erkenntnisse zu Getöteten von Hula: Abermals Massaker in Syrien - Politik - FAZ, June 8, 2012)



"Those killed were almost exclusively from families belonging to Houlas Alawi and Shia minorities. Over 90% of Houlas population are Sunnis. Several dozen members of a family were slaughtered, which had converted from Sunni to Shia Islam. Members of the Shomaliya, an Alawi family, were also killed, as was the family of a Sunni member of the Syrian parliament who is regarded as a collaborator. Immediately following the massacre, the perpetrators are supposed to have filmed their victims and then presented them as Sunni victims in videos posted on the internet." (FAZ, op cit. Translated from German).



The FAZ report largely corroborates the report by Russian journalist Marat Musin, which includes detailed testimonies:



"When the rebels seized the lower checkpoint in the center of town and located next to the local police department, they began to sweep all the families loyal to the authorities in neighboring houses, including the elderly, women and children.



Several families of the Al-Sayed were killed, including 20 young children and the family of Abdul Razak. The people were killed with knives and shot at point blank range.



Then they presented the murdered [corpses] to the UN and the international community as victims of bombings by the Syrian army, something that was not verified by any marks on their bodies." (Marat Musin, THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government", Global Research, June 1 , 2012)



These two reports dispel the lies and fabrications of the Western media. Entire pro-government families in Houla were massacred. The terrorists were mercenaries and professional killers operating under the auspices of the self-proclaimed Free Syrian Army (FSA).



An earlier report published in Der Spiegel (March 2012) suggests that the FSA is involved in a routine and organized process of mass-murder. The article focusses on extra-judicial killings in Homs conducted under the mandate of so-called "burial brigades".



A single "burial brigade" in Homs, according to the executioner's testimony, was responsible for the arbitrary execution of 350-400 people including "prisoners" (Shiite and Alawi) and "traitors" (Sunni). The "traitors" are Sunni civilians within the occupied urban and rural areas, who express their opposition to the rule of terror of the Free Syrian Army (FSA):



"Since last summer, we have executed slightly fewer than 150 men, which represents about 20 percent of our prisoners," says Abu Rami. ... But the executioners of Homs have been busier with traitors within their own ranks than with prisoners of war. "If we catch a Sunni spying, or if a citizen betrays the revolution, we make it quick," says the fighter. According to Abu Rami, Hussein's burial brigade has put between 200 and 250 traitors to death since the beginning of the uprising." (Profile of Rebels in Homs and Their Executioners - SPIEGEL ONLINE, March 29, 2012)



The important questions which the Spiegel report does not address are: Who is behind these rebel groups? Who, within the FSA, decides on the categorization of prisoners and "traitors". Bear in mind, the executioner is a young man obeying orders from higher up.



The Houla Massacre: War Propaganda



It is important to underscore the diabolical nature of these killing operations, which are casually blamed on the Al Assad government. They constitute a central component of US-NATO war propaganda. They are intended to trigger "a helpful wave of indignation" against the Al Assad government, thereby harnessing public support for a military intervention on humanitarian grounds. (See Michel Chossudovsky, SYRIA: Killing Innocent Civilians as part of a US Covert Op. Mobilizing Public Support for a R2P War against Syria, Global Research, May 30, 2012)



Without the unbending support of public opinion, the justification to wage war would collapse like a deck of cards.



The Houla massacre was used not only as a pretext to call for regime change, but also as a justification to isolate Syria politically. Immediately following the announcement of the massacre and prior to the conduct on an investigation, several Western governments cut off diplomatic relations with Syria. This decision --coordinated by the US State Department-- was apparently planned well in advance of the Houla massacre: "The United States joined several other nations in expelling a senior Syrian diplomat in response to the massacre of more than 100 men, women and children in the Syrian village of Haoula on May 25.... State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said May 29 that the responsibility for the massacre rests firmly at the feet of the Assad regime and its militia group, the Shabiha."



At the United Nations Security Council, the Houla massacre became a casus belli, the main justification to wage war on humanitarian grounds. The Security Council was called upon to grant the green light to an R2P NATO intervention against Syria in reprisal for the alleged crimes committed by the government of Bashar Al Assad against the Syrian people.



But what happens now?



Atrocities were committed by units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), an armed entity directly supported by the US-NATO-Israel military alliance. The Syrian government cannot be held responsible for killings undertaken by rebel forces which were recruited, trained and financed by the US and its allies.



Who is behind these rebel groups? What is the precise nature of the relationship between the FSA and the Western military alliance?



What is the command structure?



What is the nature of this diabolical covert operation?



Who ordered these atrocities against the Syrian people?



Were these issues to be fully revealed to the broader public, the lies and fabrications of the Western media would be exposed. In turn, the pretext to wage an R2P war on Syria would fall flat.



One suspects, in this regard, that a renewed wave of media lies and fabrications will be launched to quell the truth.



But the question remains.



If the Al Assad government is not behind the massacre, what actions should be taken against those who ordered this massacre? Western governments (US, France, Britain), with the support of Turkey, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are the prime suspects.



Mercenaries and death squads including al Qaeda affiliated militia were dispatched to Syria as part of a covert intelligence operation. Special forces from several Western countries are acting as military advisers on the ground inside Syria.



What we are dealing with is a criminal undertaking in blatant violation of international law. Those who ordered the killings are the self proclaimed members of the international community.



What stance should be taken by the United Nations against the governments of member states which are complicit in these horrendous crimes against humanity. Perhaps this is a hypothetical question because three of these complicit member states are permanent members of the UN Security Council.



There can, however, be no double standards in international law with regard to crimes against humanity.



The same criteria used, without proof, against president Bashar al Assad, should be applied to those who ordered this diabolical covert operation.



What was the role of the "US regime" and its allies (including its various military and intelligence entities) in channelling covert as well as overt support to the FSA death squads?



Should "regime change" be contemplated in countries whose elected governments are directly or indirectly complicit in the conduct of crimes against humanity? The answer to this question will not come from the UN Security Council, it will emerge from country-level grass-roots actions, in Europe and North America, directed against a criminal and corrupt political system.



There are indications as well as documentary evidence that, from the outset of the insurgency in the border city of Daraa in mid-March 2011, terrorists supported by foreign powers have been involved in the killings of innocent civilians. Israeli intelligence sources (August 2011) confirm an organized process of recruitment of terrorist fighters by NATO:



NATO headquarters in Brussels and the Turkish high command are meanwhile drawing up plans for their first military step in Syria, which is to arm the rebels with weapons for combating the tanks and helicopters ...



Also discussed in Brussels and Ankara, our sources report, is a campaign to enlist thousands of Muslim volunteers in Middle East countries and the Muslim world to fight alongside the Syrian rebels. The Turkish army would house these volunteers, train them and secure their passage into Syria. (DEBKAfile, NATO to give rebels anti-tank weapons, August 14, 2011, emphasis added)





The selected articles below provide details on the Houla massacre as well as an analysis of the covert operations and media disinformation campaigns.



The Truth is ultimately a powerful instrument.



Confronting the lies and dismantling the process of media disinformation is an essential component of the anti-war movement.



Michel Chossudovsky, June 10, 2012