By Brandon Turbeville

Only months after the U.S. government’s “spending freeze” and review of money allocated to the al-Nusra Front propaganda wing known as the White Helmets, the U.S. State Department has announced that it is going to “release” approximately $6.6 million for the terror support group as well as to the UN’s International, Impartial, and Independent Mechanism.

This news comes after the UK has announced it is considering increasing funds provided to the White Helmets after itself being the biggest financial supporter of the terrorist propaganda organization.

A statement issued from the State Department read as follows:

The President has authorized the United States Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State to release approximately $6.6 million for the continuation of the vital, life-saving operations of the Syrian Civil Defense, more commonly known as the White Helmets, and the UN’s International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism (IIIM). The United States Government strongly supports the White Helmets who have saved more than 100,000 lives since the conflict began, including victims of Assad’s chemical weapons attacks. These heroic first responders have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world and continue to be deliberately targeted by the Syrian regime and Russian airstrikes.‎ Since 2013, more than 230 of these brave volunteers have been killed while working to save innocent Syrian civilians. The IIIM’s work is vital to assisting the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for the most serious crimes under international law committed in Syria since March 2011.‎ Their mandate, collecting and analyzing evidence of violations of international humanitarian law and human rights abuses‎ will help ensure those responsible for these crimes are ultimately held accountable.

In other words, after a fake spending freeze, the White Helmets may be getting a raise by the UK to make up for the lack of US funding in addition to receiving its funding back from the United States, a net gain for the White Helmets with which to stage more chemical weapons attacks, rescues, or other propaganda videos.

The Spending Freeze Was Never Really Frozen

Despite the initial announcement that America’s funding to the White Helmets was “under review,” we should remember that “under review” was all it was. Apparently, those funds continued to flow to the White Helmets even as many in the alternative media were hailing Trump’s decision to stop funding them.

As Vanessa Beeley writes in her article, “The John McCain Connections And Is The ‘Funding Freeze’ For Real?”

We should not, however, forget that on the 19th April US State Department spokesperson, Heather Nauert had issued reassurances that wages would continue be paid to the White Helmets while the funding of the Syria stabilisation program was under “review”. “We recognise and appreciate and are very grateful for all the work the White Helmets continue to do on behalf of the people of their country and on behalf of the U.S government (and) all the coalition forces […] I just exchanged emails with them the other day, my understanding is that their work is still going on and we’re proud to work with them […] as far as I am aware all of their work still continues, peoples bills are still being paid […] as far as I know (all U.S. contributions) are still in play” As the U.S government has always denied significant own “boots on the ground” in Syria, we have to assume that the “coalition forces” will include the multitude of U.S alliance-armed, financed & promoted terrorist and extremist factions, including Al Qaeda and a number of splinter groups or rebrands that have their origins in Nusra Front. Nauert is also blatant about the fact that the White Helmets who receive an estimated one third of their funding from the U.S are effectively working for the U.S government in Syria. The U.S objective in Syria is the overthrow of the Syrian government and the carving up of Syria along sectarian lines. Therefore it is logical to assume that the White Helmets are aiding the U.S government to achieve these aims and have been handsomely bankrolled for their efforts. . . . . . On the 4th of May VICE News had already started to back pedal from the initial sensationalist claims of a “funding freeze”: “The U.S. jointly supports the White Helmets with other donors, and we expect their operations to continue as a result of additional multilateral donations,” a State Department spokesperson told VICE News in an email.”

NOTE: This writer recommends reading Vanessa Beeley’s article, “The REAL Syria Civil Defense Exposes Fake ‘White Helmets’ As Terrorist-Linked Imposters,” as well as her other articles related to the White Helmets linked at the end of the article.

Despite the failure to award the White Helmets with the Nobel Peace Prize and the pathetic propaganda film that accompanied the run-up to the decision, there remains a continued effort to not only promote the White Helmets as being a humanitarian organization and hide their actual terroristic nature, but also to conceal the real humanitarian heroes in Syria, the Syria Civil Defense.

Indeed, if one searches the web for Syria Civil Defense, he will be met with links to a White Helmets website operating under the domain of SyriaCivilDefense.org. Wikipedia also lists the Syria Civil Defense as “aka” the White Helmets.

It is, of course, a necessity for the NATO powers to erase the real Syria Civil Defense and replace them with the White Helmets so that the corporate outlets’ information sourcing can come from a “respected” humanitarian organization whenever false claims leveled against the Syrian government. Propaganda sounds so much better when it comes from selfless, humanitarian, rescue operations.

Vanessa Beeley, the researcher who has ripped the mask of the White Helmets numerous times before and who may be the person most responsible for preventing the terrorist support group from receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, describes the real Syria Civil Defense in the following way:

The REAL Syria Civil Defence was established as an organisation, in 1953, some 63 years before the White Helmets were a glimmer in the eyes of CIA and MI6 operatives. The REAL Syria Civil Defence is a founding member of the ICDO (International Civil Defence Organisation). Other ICDO partners include the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Secretarian of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations of Geneva (UNOG), Red Cross and the Red Crescent. To our knowledge and according to the Head Quarters of the REAL Syria Civil Defence in Damascus, the White Helmets are NOT a member of the ICDO. The REAL Syria White Helmets have received awards for their participation in the training of other member states in USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) and for their contributions to the Civil Defence community, prior to the NATO dirty war on Syria that began in earnest, in 2011. Later in Part II, we will go into further detail regarding this affiliation with the ICDO and the role the REAL Syria Civil Defence has played in global civil defence developments for the last 63 years – which is tremendous, and something the White Helmets could never lay claim to in reality, despite all the superficial accolades being rained down upon them by the US and NATO fueled organisations, foundations and cosmetic award bodies. This is an introduction to the unsung heroes who, unlike the counterfeit White Helmets, do truly risk their lives every day, working not only in government controlled areas, but forging deep into terrorist strongholds to rescue civilians living under the brutal US-NATO-backed terrorist siege and occupation that engulfs all of Syria. When Syrian civilians are at risk, injured, or buried under the rubble of homes, schools and hospitals destroyed by terrorist mortar showers, it’s not Le Mesurier’s White Helmets who rush to their aid – it’s the REAL Syria Civil Defence, a real civic organization who, up until the publication of this article, have never been mentioned by any western media outlets.

Beeley traveled to Syria in 2016 in order to get a firsthand feel for the situation on the ground and to investigate the Syria Civil Defense/White Helmet issue. She traveled all over the country, most notably in Aleppo and Damascus, the latter city being the headquarters of the real Syria Civil Defense. She, along with journalist Eva Bartlett, was able to interview members of the SCD and inspect the organization’s equipment and facilities.

Beeley writes,

On the 15th of August, I entered the work yard of Aleppo’s REAL Syria Civil Defence and was greeted by an exhausted team of about fifteen crew-members. That morning from 11am until around 3 pm, just before our visit, they had been fighting a fire in a cement and plastics factory which had been ignited by Al Nusra Front mortar fire. They were understandably wary, but they still gathered around us (my colleague and independent journalist, Eva Bartlett and our translator) in the searing arid summer heat. Over the course of this 5 years and 6 months of this dirty war against Syria, not one western media journalist had ever asked to speak to them. This extraordinary omission and failure to follow the most rudimentary journalist text book rules by the western media is staggering, but hardly surprising considering the level of spin and propaganda employed daily by the likes of the BBC, CNN, FOX News, The Guardian, New York Times, and Washington Post. Sadly, western media lap dogs end up simply wagging their tails to their masters voice and turning somersaults with the truth to merit reward. Unfortunately for the Syrian people, western pundits have only reported on crucial and pivotal events in the war on Syria based largely on ‘evidence’ supplied by the US-UK-NATO construct, the White Helmets, who are ensconsed only in Al Nusra Front aka Al Qaeda and ISIS held areas. As a result of western media outlets not bothering to make contact with the volunteer Syrians in the REAL Syria Civil Defence, western audiences never received a balanced view of the situation. Instead, western media only disseminates what amounts to a biased, one-sided view which mirrors anti-Syrian state and Syrian Arab Army rhetoric issued by the US State Dept and British Foreign Office. I explained in detail, why I had come to talk with them, that my objective was to find out who were the real heroes inside Syria, the multi million NATO funded White Helmets created in 2013 or the Syrian Syria Civil Defence established in 1953. Aleppo’s REAL Syria Civil Defence informed us there are 150 volunteers working across all units in Aleppo, the headquarters are in the Hamadaniya area which is one of the most severely targeted civilian areas, by Al Nusra Front Hell Cannon mortar fire and explosive bullets. The volunteers ages range between 25-45 years old, and the minimum age for training is 18. All members of the crew were genuine volunteers. They spoke proudly of the intensive training process they undergo before they can be accepted into the unit. They are fully trained in urban search and rescue techniques (USAR). They are also fully qualified paramedics. A glance around their yard revealed that their equipment is tired and worn. The fire trucks were gleaming in the sun but showed signs of heavy use. Tattered jackets hung from the fenders and wing mirrors of the trucks and a Syrian flag had been draped across the radiator of one truck, perhaps in honour of our visit.

She adds,

The West Aleppo crew is forced to attend missions without the standard issue equipment and to deal with situations like chemical weapons attacks with only the ineffectual paper breathing masks. This is another result of the EU-US sanctions being enforced against Syria, and effectively against the Syrian people. The REAL Syria Civil Defence is unable to replace equipment or replenish supplies, unlike the NATO White Helmets who enjoy an endless stream of kit and replacement materials via the Turkey supply chain that has remained unbroken for much of the four years that Aleppo has been under terrorist siege.

Beeley’s article, “The REAL Syria Civil Defence Exposes Fake ‘White Helmets’ As Terrorist-Linked Imposters,” details firsthand accounts of SCD volunteers risking (and sometimes losing) their lives in order to save the lives of civilians. The article also details stories from volunteers regarding the horrific aftermath of terrorist hell cannons, missiles, and other indiscriminate strikes against civilian areas. I would highly recommend reading the entirety of Beeley’s article.

When Beeley asked the volunteers their opinions on the White Helmets, an image was painted that appears much different from the fantasy portrayed by Western media and Hollywood film sets as well as the Nobel Prize committee. She writes,

When we got on to the subject of NATO’s White Helmets, the West Aleppo REAL Syrian Civil Defence crew became animated. One of them, stepped forward and began to talk excitedly to our translator. He had been stationed in East Aleppo at a REAL Syrian Civil Defence unit based in an area that has since been overrun by Al Nusra Front and their associate terrorist gangs. Again, we are unable, as we have said, to provide names of the men we spoke with. They are prime targets for the Al Nusra Front and company in East Aleppo. This crew member, lets call him ‘Khaled,’ described what happened when the terrorists (western media still call them “opposition” or “moderate rebels”) started to invade East Aleppo in 2012. “They came in and they drove us out of our homes and they came to the Syria Civil Defence yard and they killed some of my comrades, they kidnapped others. They wanted to force me to work with them. I escaped at night. I was forced to leave my teenage sons behind. They burned my house to the ground and they put my name on all the terrorist checkpoints so if I go back, they will kill me.” Khaled went on to explain how those men who later became the White Helmets were among this first wave of terrorists: “They are terrorists, not rescuers. They stole our ambulances and three of our fire engines. They don’t do any rescue work. They drive round with guns in the back of their car like any other terrorist. Some are from East Aleppo, some are from Syria but not from Aleppo and some are even coming in from abroad.” Granted, this might come as a shock to anyone who has already bought into the public relations image of the group that’s already been developed over three years by various agencies in New York, Washington DC and London, but these are the real accounts regarding what one might say is the true unmasked nature of the west’s White Helmets.

Beeley also writes that the volunteers of the SCD had a chance to view some of the White Helmets’ “rescue videos” and found a number of oddities if the White Helmets were truly rescuing trapped civilians or even simply retrieving bodies.

Beeley continues,

At this point other crew members interjected and told me that they had watched the White Helmet “rescue” videos. “They are fake. They don’t carry out any correct procedures, either as paramedics or as search and rescue experts.” They described how the White Helmets use a heavy-duty power drill to dig down for civilians buried under the rubble of homes allegedly targeted by “Syrian or Russian airstrikes.” “It’s the wrong equipment to use. It is not sensitive enough and because it vibrates powerfully, it can displace the rubble which is dangerous if anyone is genuinely buried beneath it.” They went on to describe other aspects of the White Helmet videos that they believe contravene all standard procedures that are followed by genuine search and rescue experts, paramedics and first responders. In the following very recent video made by a White Helmet camera crew, men pretending to be genuine rescuers attack an area of rubble where they seem to know where a body buried. They start with a mint condition JCB digger, which attacks the heap of rubble with gusto. Then, alarmingly, they begin to pound the rubble with a heavy duty mallet without employing any devices to actually determine where the body is located, under the impenetrable concrete blocks. Finally, the JCB digger returns to the mound of rubble and enters the teeth of its bucket into the rubble without any hesitation, surely not standard procedure if there is a chance of a body being under the debris. Miraculously, as with all White Helmet videos, they seem to find exactly where the bodies are, despite having displaced the majority of the rubble in the process. They also, miraculously, avoided staving in the first body’s head with the mallet. There is no intention to downplay or belittle the deaths that have obviously occurred but we do ask the questions: 1. How did the White Helmets know the bodies would be exactly where they found them? 2. Where is this rescue being filmed? 3. “Activists”, “citizen journalists”, the White Helmets and western media would have us believe that East Aleppo is under almost constant Russian or Syrian aerial attack yet the White Helmets make, on average, 4 or 5 films per day and we never see or hear any sign of an attack, only the “aftermath”. 4. Where do these bodies come from? Are they victims of air strikes as we are told by these NATO funded “activists” and “first responders” or are they taken from among the thousands of “disappeared” that have been kidnapped by Nusra Front and other terrorist gangs in East Aleppo? Are they gruesome props being used inhumanely, to polish the image of this faux NGO embedded in East Aleppo, HQ for Al Nusra Front.

Indeed, upon my own travels to the Middle East, I spoke with Syrians (not volunteers with the SCD) who had similar questions about White Helmets rescues. How do they always know right where to find the bodies? How do they not kill living victims or damage dead bodies with the equipment they are using in the videos? Why are they always videotaped? These were all questions the individuals that I spoke with were asking about the White Helmets. Another issue was the extraordinary budget this group receives from the U.K. and the U.S., a budget that is more akin to a military coffer than a humanitarian one.

Beeley went further, however, and met with the real Aleppo Medical Association. She asked them about the White Helmets and the alleged work they do in East Aleppo (they only operate in terrorist-held territory). Interestingly enough, according to Dr. Bassem Hayak, the man in charge of the medical teams that assess civilians fleeing East Aleppo to West Aleppo, stated that the White Helmets are unknown to civilians in East Aleppo.

Beeley writes,

One of the other meetings we had during our time in Aleppo, was with the Aleppo Medical Association. We met with the Director, Dr Zahar Buttal and Dr Bassem Hayak, who is in charge of the medical teams assessing refugees from East Aleppo who fled to West Aleppo via the Russian and Syrian state humanitarian corridors, created on the 29th July, which have allowed over 2000 people to escape the terrorist strongholds to safety, food and medical care in government-protected West Aleppo. These figures were given to us by the Aleppo Medical Association on the 15th August 2016. One of the questions I asked Dr Hayak, who spoke good English, was what he knew of the White Helmets. His response was concise and without preamble. His family is still in East Aleppo and although he has not been able to get back into East Aleppo for the last year, his family have told him that the White Helmets are not known in East Aleppo. I asked again to be sure, and was told again, people, civilians do not know of the White Helmets in East Aleppo. Any actual first response work is carried out by foreign workers from various countries, Pakistan and the Gulf region among them. These foreigners work with Syrian people who are not properly trained in first response. They might only receive 2 or 3 months training before being allowed to work. Dr Hayak says, “Even with our relationship with WHO (World Health Organisation) and the UN, we still didn’t hear about the White Helmets.” Are the White Helmets, NATO ghosts? Dr Hayak also states quite clearly, he has a cousin, working as a surgeon in East Aleppo. ISIS and other terrorist factions have forced her to stay in East Aleppo by threatening to kill her family, should she leave for West Aleppo. Dr Hayak also said that the majority of civilians in East Aleppo are “hostages”of the NATO/US allied terrorists. In East Aleppo, civilians living under Al Nusra Front occupation, do not know the White Helmets. It is possible to view her interview with Dr. Hayak here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G66GSSwpc_w

The History And Formation Of White Helmets – The Founders And Directors

White Helmets was founded by James Le Mesurier, an admitted former British army officer and mercenary with the Olive Group, a private contracting organization that is now merged with Blackwater-Academi into Constellis Holdings.[1] Although White Helmets half-heartedly attempts to hide its source of funding, the organization is linked to George Soros through a PR firm named Purpose Inc., a pro-war firm that argues for Western intervention against Assad. The co-founder of Purpose is Jeremy Heimans, who also helped found Avaaz, a “pro-democracy” group connected to Soros’ Open Society Foundation, SEIU, and MoveOn.org.

In her exposé of White Helmets, “White Helmets: War By Way Of Deception,” Vanessa Beeley summarizes the history and funding of the organization when she wrote:

The White Helmets were established in March 2013, in Istanbul, Turkey, and is headed by James Le Mesurier, a British “security” specialist and ‘ex’ British military intelligence officer with an impressive track record in some of the most dubious NATO intervention theatres including Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine. Le Mesurier is a product of Britain’s elite Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, and has also been placed in a series of high-profile pasts at the United Nations, European Union, and U.K. Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The origins of The White Helmet’s initial $300k seed funding is a little hazy, reports are contradictory but subsequent information leads us to conclude that the UK, US and Syrian opposition [Syrian National Council] are connected. Logistical support has been provided by given by Turkish elite natural disaster response team, AKUT. A further $13 million was poured into the White Helmet coffers during 2013 and this is where it gets interesting. Early reports suggest that these “donations” came from the US, UK and SNC with the previously explored connections to George Soros in the US. However, subsequent investigations reveal that USAID has been a major shareholder in the White Helmet organisation. The website for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) claims that “our work supports long-term and equitable economic growth and advances U.S. foreign policy objectives by supporting: economic growth, agriculture and trade; global health; and, democracy, conflict prevention and humanitarian assistance.” In a USAID report update in July 2015 it is clearly stated that they have supplied over $ 16m in assistance to the White Helmets.

In addition to Soros and the $16 million, White Helmets is known to receive approximately $23 million dollars from the U.S. State Department via USAID, a figure that was confirmed more recently by Deputy State Department Spokesman Mark Toner when questioned by reporters at a State Department briefing on April 27, 2016.

It is thus no surprise that White Helmets have been publicly calling for Western intervention in Syria, particularly a No-Fly Zone since their creation. The organization is, after all, a fully funded arm of U.S./Western imperialism. It is, therefore, reasonable to expect the group to publicly call for the same desires as their bosses in the United States and Europe.

Raed Saleh, head of White Helmets (aka Syrian Civil Defense) has publicly called for the implementation of a “No-Fly Zone” over Syria by the United Nations Security Council, an act that is tantamount to direct military warfare, an example of which can be seen in the rubble of Libya. Indeed, such a decision would simply be a repeat of the Libyan tragedy.

Saleh has stated on the White Helmets website:

Barrel bombs – sometimes filled with chlorine – are the biggest killer of civilians in Syria today. Our unarmed and neutral rescue workers have saved more than 40,823 people from the attacks in Syria, but there are many we cannot reach. There are children trapped in rubble we cannot hear. For them, the UN Security Council must follow through on its demand made last year to stop the barrel bombs, by introducing a ‘no-fly zone’ if necessary.”

Saleh himself is an interesting case. Content to shower Saleh and his organization with millions of dollars and flattering public relations material, the United States apparently does not trust Saleh enough to allow free access to American soil. In April, 2016 Saleh was set to receive another typical back-slapping award in Washington, D.C. However, Saleh’s visa was canceled and he was forced to go back to Istanbul. The New York Times reported,

The leader of a Western-backed rescue organization that searches for survivors of bombings in Syriawas denied entry into the United States this week, where he was to receive an award recognizing his contributions to humanitarian relief. Raed Saleh, the head of the Syria Civil Defense, was to accept the award from InterAction, an alliance of aid agencies, at its gala dinner Tuesday night in Washington. The dinner’s keynote speaker was Gayle Smith, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. But when Mr. Saleh, who works in Syria and Turkey, arrived Monday at Washington’s Dulles International Airport on a flight from Istanbul, the authorities said he could not enter the United States. He was told his visa had been canceled. It was unclear whether Mr. Saleh’s name might have shown up on a database, fed by a variety of intelligence and security agencies and intended to guard against the prospect of terrorism suspects slipping into the country. The State Department declined to give specifics, but a spokesman, John Kirby, said that “the U.S. government’s system of continual vetting means that traveler records are screened against available information in real time.” “While we can’t confirm any possible specific actions in this case, we do have the ability to immediately coordinate with our interagency partners when new information becomes available,” he added.

State Department Spokesman Mark Toner was also questioned about the details surrounding Saleh’s visa but Toner found it difficult to answer any questions regarding this incident in a coherent fashion. According to the State Department’s own published transcripts the reporter/spokesman interaction went as follows:

QUESTION: On the last one — MR TONER: Yes, sir. QUESTION: — you commend this group, you’re going to continue to support them, and yet you revoked the visa of their leader. I don’t – that makes zero sense to me. MR TONER: Well — QUESTION: What – what’s exactly going on? MR TONER: Well, I mean, this group, and I would precisely make that — QUESTION: Yeah, but this is the guy who is the leader of this group who the head of USAID lionized in a – and her – that she lauded him — MR TONER: Sure. Sure. QUESTION: — in a speech at the event that he was supposed to be accepting — MR TONER: Sure. QUESTION: — an award that he couldn’t get here for because the State Department canceled his visa while he was in the middle – while he was in midair, presumably, over the Atlantic so that when he arrived at Dulles, he was promptly thrown on the next plane back to Turkey. And now here you are talking about how wonderful his group is. I just don’t understand how it works. MR TONER: So a couple responses. One is, unfortunately, we can’t speak to individual visa cases. I think broadly speaking, though, on any visa case we are constantly looking at new information, so-called continually vetting travel or records. And if we do have new information that we believe this – an individual — QUESTION: But — MR TONER: — let me finish – would pose a security risk, we’ll certainly act on that. I can’t speak again specifically to this case, but what I can talk about is this group. And this group, as I said, has saved some 40,000 lives, that are first responders, they operate in a combat zone, and the fact that they’re being singled out and hit by the Syrian regime is, frankly, cause for a concern. And we do support this group. We do support their efforts to save lives in what is admittedly a very complex and convoluted battlefield scene. And to speak to your broader – to say that this group’s – which I think is the implication of your question, that they somehow have ties to — QUESTION: No, I’m not suggesting that at all. MR TONER: Then – okay. QUESTION: I’m saying that it just strikes me as a bit odd that you’re saying that this group is wonderful and does such a great job and you’re commending them for their heroism, and yet, this – you’re doing this just 10 days after the leader of this group, who was supposed to be – who got his visa revoked and wasn’t allowed to travel here. I understand there was an attack that killed some of its members, and I know that that’s the immediate cause of it — MR TONER: Right. QUESTION: — but it just strikes me as being a bit inconsistent if you say that this group is wonderful, and yet, you also ban its leader from coming to the States to collect an award for which – and you say you’re going to continue to support the group. I mean, if you have reason to revoke his visa, that he could be a security threat or something like that, why would you continue to support — MR TONER: But again – but again, I’m trying to separate this individual from the group, which we believe is — QUESTION: All right. So the guy is – you’re saying that basically he is suspect but his group is not? MR TONER: Well, again, I can’t speak to the specific allegations against him, Matt. QUESTION: Well, not if I — MR TONER: No, I’m sorry, I – my hands are tied too but — QUESTION: All right. The other thing — MR TONER: — but yes, we’re not condemning the group in any way whatsoever. QUESTION: Off — MR TONER: We believe it’s doing good work. QUESTION: Could I — QUESTION: (Off-mike.) QUESTION: If he is the leader of the group, how do you support this group and he is not allowed to get into the States? This is the question. MR TONER: I understand that and all I can say is that — QUESTION: How can you separate the leader of the group from the group? MR TONER: Well, he’s one individual in the group. QUESTION: But the leader of the group. MR TONER: And any individual – again, I’m broadening my language here for specific reasons, but any individual in any group suspected of ties or relations with extremist groups or that we had believed to be a security threat to the United States, we would act accordingly. But that does not, by extension, mean we condemn or would cut off ties to the group for which that individual works for. QUESTION: Okay. It just seems a little odd. QUESTION: Could I just follow up on the group? Which group is — MR TONER: Sophisticated. (Laughter.) QUESTION: I mean, they are a civil defense group, right? They are — QUESTION: The White Helmets? QUESTION: Who are — MR TONER: The White Helmets. So this is a group — QUESTION: White Helmets. Okay, I understand. MR TONER: So, yeah, this is the Syrian Civil Defense Group. Yeah. QUESTION: Do you know – I understand about the White Helmets. Do you know who finances them, how they operate, who are they supported by, what kind of organization they have? How do you get your information from them and so on? MR TONER: Well – well, I can say we provide them with — QUESTION: We – you do know a little bit. MR TONER: Well, I can tell you that we provide, through USAID, about $23 million in assistance to them.

Vanessa Beeley also exposes Mosab Obeidat, White Helmets Project Officer and Farouq al-Habib. She writes,

Mosab Obeidat, previous Assistant Chief of Mission with the Qatar Red Crescent, one of whose officials, Khaled Diab was accused of supplying $ 2.2 m to secure arms for the terrorist groups in Syria. Details of this transaction and its exposure can be found in this Al Akhbar article from June 2013. http://english.al-akhbar.com/node/16160 At least three other members of the team were a part of the Syrian “revolution” including Farouq al Habib, one of the 3 most prominent White Helmet leaders who was also a leader of the Homs uprising against the Syrian government and according to his testimony, was tortured by the Syrian “regime” security forces in 2012 for smuggling a journalist into Syria to “cover” the “peaceful protests”. Habib was a founder member of the ‘Homs Revolutionary Council’ (the CIA have been linked to nearly all ‘Revolutionary Councils in Syria) before fleeing to Turkey in 2013 (A more in-depth analysis of his anti-Syrian government testimony will be presented in Part II of this article).

Fraudulent Photos: White Helmets And The Propaganda Machine

In addition to calling for the implementation of a “No-Fly Zone,” the White Helmets have also gone so far as to post fraudulent photos so as to blame the Syrian military for civilian casualties and intentional targeting of civilians when such is not the case. In October, 2015 White Helmets released pictures on its Twitter account purporting to show the aftermath of the Russian bombing campaign against ISIS and assorted terrorists launched on September 30. “Russia strike in Homs today. 33 civilians killed including 3 children and 1 @SyriaCivilDef volunteer” the caption read.

The picture showed a bleeding girl being held by a “Civil Defense” volunteer and claimed that the child was injured along with a number of other civilians.

Unfortunately for the White Helmets, Twitter users immediately exposed the photos as a fraud, since the pictures were actually taken five days prior on September 25, 2015.

Interestingly enough, the White Helmets, in an attempt to assist drumming up opposition to Vladimir Putin and Russia’s attack on jihadists, also managed to tweet about the horror of Russia’s air strikes hours before Russia’s parliament even granted Putin the authority to use the Air Force in Syria, according to Sputnik.

White Helmets: Anti-Assad Propaganda, Support And Rescue Team For Al-Nusra

Despite being routinely cited as a “humanitarian” organization, however, the White Helmets appear to be much more than even a wolf in sheep’s clothing in the NGO world. Not only providing the basis for carefully crafted propaganda opportunities, the organization appears to actually work side by side with terrorist outfits like Jobhat al-Nusra both on the propaganda angle and the battlefield.

For one, it is important to note that the area of operation for the White Helmets is never within territory controlled by the Syrian government. It is without deviation solely located within territory held by “moderate terrorists,” Nusra, or other related Western-backed terrorist groups. Obviously, if White Helmets truly represented the Syrian people, they would be operating in both territories. As Rick Sterling wrote in his article “Highly Effective Manipulators,”

The trainees are said to be ‘nonpartisan’ but only work in rebel-controlled areas of Idlib (now controlled by Nusra/Al Queda) and Aleppo. There are widely divergent claims regarding the number of people trained by the White Helmets and the number of people rescued. The numbers are probably highly exaggerated especially since rebel-controlled territories have few civilians. A doctor who recently served in a rebel-controlled area of Aleppo described it as a ghost town. The White Helmets work primarily with the rebel group Jabat al Nusra (Al Queda in Syria).

White Helmets: ‘Unarmed And Unbiased’

While the White Helmets’ tag line is “unarmed and unbiased,” nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, the organization is incredibly biased and visibly armed. In the second part to her exposé of White Helmets, “Part II: Syria’s White Helmets: War By Way Of Deception,” Vanessa Beeley writes,

As part of the myth-building process, White Helmet members are repetitively described as ‘ordinary people’, specifically, “bakers, tailors, engineers, pharmacists, painters, carpenters, students”, and are relentlessly depicted as heroes, miracle workers, saints and super-humans scaling the “Mount Everest” of war zones with impartiality and neutrality. “Unarmed and unbiased” is their strapline, as they sacrifice themselves for the “Syrian People”. Indeed, those same Syrian people who have never heard of them. The myth-making continues… . . . . . Can a organisation rightly be called an ‘independent relief organisation’ when it is being funded by a foreign government who is directly involved in the military over-throw of Syria’s government? Most intelligent people should have no problem answering that question. . . . . . This video below reveals a White Helmet operative describing the “throwing of Shabiha bodies in the trash”. Shabiha is a derogatory term for Syrian Government militia or state-employed security forces but is liberally applied by terrorist aka “rebel alliance” factions to any member of the Syrian military, irrespective of whether they are Alawite, Sunni, or Shia. Let’s remind ourselves of White Helmet claims on their websites of how its ‘aid workers’ “have risked sniper fire to rescue SAA bodies to give them a proper burial.” Watch this shocking video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOz0jt_wA8w This same neutral White Helmet operative goes on to pledge allegiance to the terrorist forces in the region stating: “They are our role models, the best of people and we have the honour to serve them”

“SERVE THEM [armed terrorists, Al Nusra/Al Qaeda]”, curious turn of phrase for a neutral, impartial humanitarian “moderate” organisation? Watch here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qM0Xu4Sz80 He also congratulates the Mujahadeen for liberating Jisr al Shugour from Assad’s forces. “Glad tidings have reached us in Jisr al Shugour by the hands of our Mujahadeen brothers. May Allah strengthen them and make them steadfast on the correct way and soon, insh’Allah, the strongholds of the Assad regime in Latakia and Damascus will be liberated.” It should be clear that these alleged “moderates” you are watching here are actually moderate extremists and jihadists, and the western media has been very careful in hiding this fact. Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiRquhd50mc . . . . . Moving on to another video, this time revealing White Helmet operatives standing on the discarded dead bodies of SAA [Syrian Arab Army] soldiers and giving the victory sign. This display of support for the Al Nusra extremist terrorists who have just massacred these soldiers once again demonstrates where their true allegiances lie. Numerous photos and large amounts of video footage is available showing the alleged “unarmed” White Helmets parading about with rifles, virtually indistinguishable in their appearance and actions from the terrorists they are working with except for their actual white helmets. In at least on instance, White Helmets members were videotaped apparently taking part in the execution of a man condemned to death by Nusra/ISIS fighters. In this video, the execution of the man who is shot in the head by the terrorists is clearly shown. Before his body is even fully still, the White Helmets arrive at the scene, within seconds, to collect the body as if they were on standby. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96AcFZ32RRE

Conclusion

While the continuation of funding to the White Helmets is not surprising, one point of interest to keep in mind is the previously advertised potential false flag event mentioned by the Russian and Syrian governments and subsequently reported on by the Russian, Syrian and Western alternative medias.

According to a report by Arabi Souri of Syria News, the Syrian National Committee on Implementing the Chemical Weapons Convention is warning that the United States is preparing a new false flag chemical attack to use as a justification for an attack on Syria.

The SNCCWC, according to a statement provided to Syria News, stated:

‘Families were brought from areas under SDF control to the illegal base set by the USA in the al-Jafra Oil field northeast of Syria where they have been trained for about 5 days on how to act like the fake chemical attack in Douma‘ the committee citing reliable information in its possession.

The SNCCWC told SANA (Syrian Arab News Agency) that ISIS will act in coordination with the SDF and U.S. forces in the base in order to stir up provocations with the SAA near the al-Jafra oil field. Specifically, a false flag chemical attack will be staged in a village near the oil field.

As Arabi Souri writes,





Brave - The Browser Built for Privacy It will be the 3rd time the current regime of Donald Trump to use a false flag chemical attack to justify, in its opinion, an attack on the Syrian state and its armed forces. The first such bombing was carried out by the Trump regime alone against the SAA’s al-Shuayrat Air Base in April 2017, claiming to be in retaliation for a false flag chemical attack carried out in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province northwest of Syria, and the second one with its accessories in NATO crimes the UK and France against research centers and multiple posts of the SAA in the country on April 14th, last month, and this time claiming to be in retaliation of the false flag chemical attack carried out in Douma, Damascus Countryside. Both false flags were exposed, but that doesn’t stop the pariahs ruling the USA, France, and Britain from continuing their crimes.

The warning comes as Russia highlighted “suspicious movements” of “militant groups” in the area of al-Tanf, near the US military base there.

As has been highlighted throughout this article, the White Helmets’ propaganda skill and usefulness as a “humanitarian rescue organization” stage prop is highly important to a successful propaganda campaign to be waged on Western public and justification for military action in the halls of the United Nations.

For those unfamiliar with the true nature of the White Helmets, the following articles are recommended reading:

The Real Syria Civil Defense VS The White Helmets – Brandon Turbeville

MSM Attempts To Promote White Helmets While Hiding Syria Civil Defense – More ‘Fake News’ From Corporate Press – Brandon Turbeville

White Helmets NGO: A “Rescue And Assist” Operation Under Guise Of Human Rights – Brandon Turbeville

White Helmets Video And Supporters’ Demonstrations Confirm Lack Of Credibility – Brandon Turbeville

The REAL Syria Civil Defense Exposes Fake “White Helmets” As Terrorist-Linked Imposters – Vanessa Beeley

The White Helmets “Black Record:” Vanessa Beeley Talks To RT About French Gov’t Collusion With Al-Qaeda-Linked Group – Vanessa Beeley

Who Are Syria’s White Helmets? – Vanessa Beeley

Interviews With Syrian Civilians Reveal White Helmets And Nusra/al-Qaeda Are The Same Thing – Brandon Turbeville

UK Gov’t Exposed For Funding Terrorist “Councils,” “Police,” And “White Helmets” – Brandon Turbeville

Social Media Research Shows At Least 65 White Helmets Members Support ISIS, Nusra, Extremism – Brandon Turbeville

I Visited East Aleppo – There Is No Doubt Nusra And White Helmets Are The Same Organization – Brandon Turbeville

Additional articles by writers at 21st Century Wire:

BBC and Guardian Whitewash of UK FCO Funding Scandal in Syria

What to Expect From BBC Panorama and Guardian’s Whitewash of UK Gov’t Funding Terrorists in Syria

White Helmets Evidence Presented at Geneva Press Club:

Vanessa Beeley Presents Exposé on White Helmets at Swiss Press Club in Geneva

‘Global Britain’ – UK Funding a Shadow State in Syria

‘Global Britain’ is Financing Terrorism and Bloodshed in Syria and Calling it ‘Aid’

White Helmets – Hollywood Poster Boys:

WHITE HELMETS: State Sanctioned Terrorism and Hollywood Poster Boys for War

21st Century Wire:

New Report Destroys Fabricated Myth of Syria’s ‘White Helmets’

Initial Investigation into White Helmets:

Who are Syria’s White Helmets?

21st Century Wire article on the White Helmets:

Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception ~ the “Moderate” Executioners

Who Funds the White Helmets?

Secret £1bn UK War Chest Used to Fund the White Helmets and Other ‘Initiatives’

Original investigative report:

The REAL Syria Civil Defence Exposes Fake White Helmets as Terrorist-Linked Imposters

Irish Peace Prize Farce

Tipperary’s White Helmets Peace Prize: A Judas Kiss to the Antiwar Movement and Syria

White Helmets Executions

WHITE HELMETS: Severed Heads of Syrian Arab Army Soldiers Paraded as Trophies

CNN Fabricate News About the White Helmets

A NOBEL LIE: CNN’s Claim That ‘White Helmets Center in Damascus’ Was Hit by a Barrel Bomb

White Helmets Links to Al Nusra

WHITE HELMETS: Hand in Hand with Al Qaeda and Extremist Child Beheaders in Aleppo

Report by Patrick Henningsen

AN INTRODUCTION: Smart Power & The Human Rights Industrial Complex

Open Letter by Vanessa Beeley

White Helmets Campaign for War NOT Peace – Retract RLA & Nobel Peace Prize Nominations

Staged Rescue Videos

(VIDEO) White Helmets: Miraculous ‘Rag Doll Rescue’

White Helmets Oscar Award Farce:

Forget Oscar: Give The White Helmets the Leni Riefenstahl Award for Best War Propaganda Film

Cory Morningstar report:

Investigation into the funding sources of the White Helmets, including Avaaz, Purpose, The Syria Campaign

Open letter to Canadian MPs from Stop the War Hamilton (Canada):

Letter from the Hamilton Coalition to Stop War to the New Democratic Party in Canada ref the White Helmet nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize:

Open letter to Canada’s NDP Leader on Nobel Prize:

Letter to NDP from Prof. John Ryan protesting White Helmet nomination for RLA and Nobel Peace Prize.

LAST MEN IN ALEPPO: Al Qaeda Presented as ‘White Helmets’ for the Annual Terrorist ‘Oscar’ Nomination

LAST MEN IN ALEPPO: Al Qaeda Presented as ‘White Helmets’ for the Annual Terrorist ‘Oscar’ Nomination

WHITE HELMETS: The John McCain Connections and is the “Funding Freeze” for Real?

BBC and Guardian Whitewash of UK FCO Funding Scandal in Syria

What to Expect From BBC Panorama and Guardian’s Whitewash of UK Gov’t Funding Terrorists in Syria

White Helmets Evidence Presented at Geneva Press Club:

Vanessa Beeley Presents Exposé on White Helmets at Swiss Press Club in Geneva

‘Global Britain’ – UK Funding a Shadow State in Syria

‘Global Britain’ is Financing Terrorism and Bloodshed in Syria and Calling it ‘Aid’

White Helmets – Hollywood Poster Boys:

WHITE HELMETS: State Sanctioned Terrorism and Hollywood Poster Boys for War

21st Century Wire:

New Report Destroys Fabricated Myth of Syria’s ‘White Helmets’

Initial Investigation into White Helmets:

Who are Syria’s White Helmets?

21st Century Wire article on the White Helmets:

Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception ~ the “Moderate” Executioners

Who Funds the White Helmets?

Secret £1bn UK War Chest Used to Fund the White Helmets and Other ‘Initiatives’

Original investigative report:

The REAL Syria Civil Defence Exposes Fake White Helmets as Terrorist-Linked Imposters

Irish Peace Prize Farce

Tipperary’s White Helmets Peace Prize: A Judas Kiss to the Antiwar Movement and Syria

White Helmets Executions

WHITE HELMETS: Severed Heads of Syrian Arab Army Soldiers Paraded as Trophies

CNN Fabricate News About the White Helmets

A NOBEL LIE: CNN’s Claim That ‘White Helmets Center in Damascus’ Was Hit by a Barrel Bomb

White Helmets Links to Al Nusra

WHITE HELMETS: Hand in Hand with Al Qaeda and Extremist Child Beheaders in Aleppo

Report by Patrick Henningsen

AN INTRODUCTION: Smart Power & The Human Rights Industrial Complex

Open Letter by Vanessa Beeley

White Helmets Campaign for War NOT Peace – Retract RLA & Nobel Peace Prize Nominations

Staged Rescue Videos

(VIDEO) White Helmets: Miraculous ‘Rag Doll Rescue’

White Helmets Oscar Award Farce:

Forget Oscar: Give The White Helmets the Leni Riefenstahl Award for Best War Propaganda Film

Cory Morningstar report:

Investigation into the funding sources of the White Helmets, including Avaaz, Purpose, The Syria Campaign

Open letter to Canadian MPs from Stop the War Hamilton (Canada):

Letter from the Hamilton Coalition to Stop War to the New Democratic Party in Canada ref the White Helmet nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize:

Open letter to Canada’s NDP Leader on Nobel Prize:

Letter to NDP from Prof. John Ryan protesting White Helmet nomination for RLA and Nobel Peace Prize.

Brandon Turbeville writes for Activist Post – article archive here – He is the author of seven books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 and volume 2, The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria, The Difference it Makes: 36 Reasons Why Hillary Clinton Should Never Be President, and Resisting The Empire: The Plan To Destroy Syria And How The Future Of The World Depends On The Outcome. Turbeville has published over 1000 articles on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s radio show Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. His website is BrandonTurbeville.com He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.

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Image credit: 21st Century Wire