September 15, 2018

The Dike Breaks - Netherland Ends Support For "White Helmets" Terrorist Propaganda

Updated below

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The Netherland just announced that it is ending its support for al-Qaeda's propaganda gang, the "White Helmets". It also ends its support for the so called Free Syrian Police. Last week the Netherlands shut down its "non lethal" support for the Free Syrian Army after Dutch news organizations found that members of these groups were accused of terrorism by their General Prosecutor.

According to the Volkskrant daily (in Dutch), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ended the support for the White Helmets after its Directorate for International Research and Policy Evaluation issued a critical report about them. For the White Helmets, which had received €12.5 million from the Dutch government, it lists the following issues:

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the supervision of the behavior of the rescue workers is 'inadequate' . The organization that supervises, Mayday, based in the Netherlands, is closely intertwined with the White Helmets itself. In practice, donors do not understand the difference between the two organizations.

. The organization that supervises, Mayday, based in the Netherlands, is closely intertwined with the White Helmets itself. In practice, donors do not understand the difference between the two organizations. Mayday wants to spend a maximum of 0.9% of its budget on supervision of the work of the White Helmets. 'That is why there is a lack of independent supervision of the activities and results of the project .'

.' The money for the White Helmets is transferred to the Syrian border in cash or enters the country via the hawala system. It is 'problematic' that Mayday does not know how much money is paid via which route . That is why there is a danger that money has fallen into the hands of armed groups . The cash flow can also indirectly be used for illegal trade. Systematic control of the money flow is missing.

. That is why there is a . The cash flow can also indirectly be used for illegal trade. The White Helmets are active in areas where armed groups are in power that are considered 'unacceptable' for the Netherlands. Contact between the White Helmets and local administrators who work together with extremist organizations is inevitable.

The seemingly intentional lack of transparency practically guarantees that much of the more than $150 million the White Helmets received from various governments will have flown into the private pockets of the people who organize the scam.

This blog published several pieces about the White Helmets, mostly pointing out their obviously faked media productions:

For background information on the White Helmets the earlier pieces by Vanessa Beeley's at 21stCenturyWire´are still the best: Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part I and Part II – Syria’s White Helmets: ‘Moderate Executioners’.

Vanessa Beeley, Eva Barlett (vid) and others have tried for years to point out the nefarious scheme behind the propaganda scam "White Helmets". Roger Waters rightly calls them (vid) a "fake propaganda construct for terrorists". But 'western' media loved the dramatic fake photos and videos the White Helmets produced, partly because they could put them into print and on screen free of any charge. Whoever criticized them and questioned their narratives was publicly smeared and derided.

The Volkkrant notes:

It is the first time that a Western government states that there are problems with the project.

It will not be the last time. More people will take note, look into the issue and pressure their governments to end their support. As the Dutch know well, once the dikes break it is impossible to stop the flood. The relentless work of a few engaged writers put pressure onto the dike and finally broke it. The White Helmet scam will soon come under a flood of public scrutiny and will be swept away into some dark corner of history.

Just a month ago Germany's Foreign Minister Maas, also known as a "well styled NATO call boy", met the White Helmets front man Raed al-Saleh, who was denied entry into the U.S., and promised him more money. Maas also lauded the recent 'evacuation of White Helmets' from the Quneitra and Daraa area to Israel which was just another scam. Israel used the White Helmet cover to evacuated a number of terrorists commanders it had paid and equipped for years in its war on Syria.

Maas and his NATO colleagues in other countries will soon be asked about the Dutch example. Can they refute the analysis the Foreign Ministry of their NATO ally Netherland made? Can Maas explain what happened with the €17 million Germany gave to them? In who's pocket did they end up?



Update (Sep 16, 5:30 utc):

The Netherlands also ends its participation in the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIS:

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 fighter jets will be pulled out of the mission against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria at the end of the year, the Dutch government said Friday, September 14. “Cabinet has decided not to prolong the use of F-16s in the fight against IS past December 31,” the Dutch cabinet said in a statement on Friday.

Some 80 Dutch troops will continue to provide training for the Iraqi army.



Update (Sep 16, 9:10 utc):

The publishing note from the Foreign Ministry on the report discussed above is available in Dutch language. There is a cover letter (pdf) from the Directorate for International Research and Policy Evaluation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also in Dutch. It describes the programs the Netherland contributed to (machine translation):

Since the start of the conflict, the Netherlands has spent more than EUR 70 million in stabilization support in Syria, in consultation with many like-minded international partners and donors. The programs aimed to contribute to some degree of liveability in the opposition area and the prevention of further refugee flows, new power facets and the influence of extremists. This support took place within the complex and fluid context of the Syrian war, during which the situation on the ground has changed drastically in seven years. The Cabinet has informed the House about contributions to the projects. Including the significant contributions to the non-lethal assistance program (NLA), White Helmets, and Access to Justice and Community Security (AJACS) program from 2015.

The evaluation report itself is in English: Review of the monitoring systems of three projects in Syria AJACS, White Helmets and NLA (pdf).

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End Update

Posted by b on September 15, 2018 at 19:30 UTC | Permalink

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