[GPSCC-chat] Syrian Rebels Admit That THEY Were Responsible For Chemical Weapons Use In August 2013

[John Thielking]

Ok, so the news source is a bit new.  The reporters who wrote the original source article are mentioned in the bio at the end of the article.  One is a student and the other is a regular reporter with a masters degree who writes for major news outlets.  But as far as fact checking goes, you might want to examine the following photograph that has been waived around by John Kerry as "evidence" of a major chemical weapons attack in Syria. It turns out that it is actually from Iraq circa 2003.

https://sphotos-b-sjc.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1240499_582710218441965_260957735_n.jpg



The post I got this from off of Facebook is located here:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=582710218441965&set=a.195185000527824.48209.195181403861517&type=1&theater 


The caption on Facebook reads:


Photography by hamde abu rahma .
Like This Page · 10 hours ago 
IMPORTANT TO KNOW !
So, Secretary of State John Kerry referenced this photograph when 
making his speech today, trying to drive home how awful the Syrian 
chemical attack was as he tried to convince us why we should go to war. 
One problem. The picture isn't even from Syria. It's from Iraq in 2003. 
The photographer, Marco di Lauro, said he nearly "fell off his chair" 
when he saw it was being used to promote a war in Syria. It's getting 
pretty disturbing to see how far our politicians, both Republican and 
Democrat, are willing to go to drum up support for a war nobody wants.

Of course it is hard to know the veracity of a posting on Facebook, but it is either that or rely on the drivel from CNN or the not too detailed rebuttals available on rt.com, which rarely touches on these details.

John Thielking



________________________________
 From: Gerry Gras <gerrygras at earthlink.net>
To: John Thielking <pagesincolor at yahoo.com>; Greens Discussion List <sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org>; Donna Wallach <palestineis at dslextreme.com> 
Sent: Saturday, August 31, 2013 2:42 PM
Subject: Re: [GPSCC-chat] Syrian Rebels Admit That THEY Were Responsible For Chemical Weapons Use In August 2013
 


The examiner article referred to a Minnesota article.
It took a while to get through to the Minnesota article,
but with patience I finally did:

http://www.mintpressnews.com/witnesses-of-gas-attack-say-saudis-supplied-rebels-with-chemical-weapons/168135/

I wonder about the credibility of a news source I have
never heard of.  So I did some searching for info about
Mint Press News.  I have not found anything conclusive
but here's some info about MintPress News:
http://www.mintpressnews.com/about-us/
http://www.cjr.org/news_startups_guide/2012/03/mint-press-news.php
http://uk.linkedin.com/company/mint-press-news
https://twitter.com/MintPressNews
http://www.youtube.com/user/MintPressNews
http://www.glassdoor.com/Interview/Mint-Press-News-Interview-Questions-E496652.htm
https://plus.google.com/110548700815669751131/posts


Some things I observed.  It's supposed to be progressive.
It has a special interest in the Middle East.  It's
about 2 years old.  I have not found any info about who's
funding it.

I noticed that the CJR page mentioned a "Mnar Muhawesh",
but the "About Us" page of the MPN does not.  So I did a
search for "Mnar Muhawesh" and found:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mnar-muhawesh/20/880/73
http://www.minnpost.com/david-brauer-blog/2012/01/who-mintpress-and-why-are-they-doing-all-hiring
http://maplegrovemag.com/article/brendan-loney/maple-grove-young-entrepreneurs?page=0,3
http://www.startribune.com/nation/129467228.html
(The Star Tribune item is about the effect of 9/11 on Minneapolis
area people, including Mnar Muhawesh.  Apparently it increased
her interest in Islam.)
http://islamicinsights.com/news/community-affairs/hijabi-news-anchor-breaking-barriers.html

Gerry


John Thielking wrote:
>
> See:
>
> http://www.examiner.com/article/syrian-rebels-admit-to-being-behind-chemical-weapons-attack?cid=rss
>
> for more information. Thanks.
>
> John Thielking
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> sosfbay-discuss mailing list
> sosfbay-discuss at cagreens.org
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