Sides Interested in Douma Attack REVEALED as 'Unpublished OPCW Report' Leaked

The Engineering Assessment of two chlorine cylinders observed at the scene of the reported chemical attack in Douma, Syria last April suggests that “neither cylinder was dropped from a helicopter” and that they were placed there by anti-government forces,  Piers Robinson, co-director of the Organisation for Propaganda Studies, says.

READ MORE: Damascus Accuses OPCW of Distorting Facts in Report on Douma Chemical Attack

Robinson, who is a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media that shed light on what is believed to be an unpublished OPCW report, says that he has “reliable confirmation” from several sources regarding the document’s authenticity.

The assessment was conducted to evaluate the possible means by which the cylinders could have been delivered to locations, with engineering experts setting out competing hypotheses to establish whether the holes in the roof were made by the cylinders being dropped from aircraft, or were pre-existent.

One theory, which is consistent with the claims that the alleged chemical attack was carried out by Syrian government forces, suggests that the yellow cylinders were dropped from the sky.

A second hypothesis is that the cylinders were placed there by someone, and if proven true, the alleged attack would appear to be a staged one, “carried out by anti-government armed groups and designed to frame the Syrian government”, Robinson noted.

Having conducted some modelling studies, the experts came to a conclusion that a hole in the roof could have occurred from a blast rather than from the impact of a falling cylinder. What is more, similar craters were spotted on the roofs of nearby buildings.

“Of course, ever since the alleged attack in Douma, sceptical voices have raised questions about the cylinders, especially the cylinder which appears to have punched through a roof and then to have bounced sideways across a room to land on top of a bed: an extraordinary feat! So, this engineering report suggests what many have long suspected, that the cylinders were placed there by anti-government forces”, he continues.

As Robinson and his colleagues have emphasised in their briefing note, the OPCW final report on the Douma incident has raised many questions, including “a real lack of transparency” with regard to how they made their assessments.

The professor cited a remark by Riam Dalati, a BBC producer, who has recently said that the hospital scenes filmed at Douma were staged, which substantiates eyewitness accounts presented by Russia last April.

According to Robinson, certain powers might be interested in the OPCW excluding the engineering assessment on the cylinders which was not used in the final report, while including other assessments conducted by unnamed experts.

“Because the US, France and UK bombed Syria in response to the alleged Douma attack, they have a powerful political interest in the OPCW issuing a report that justifies their attack on Syria. Naturally, the question arises as to whether pressure has been exerted on the OPCW to use one set of assessments rather than another. Interestingly, we saw this kind of dynamic in the run up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, when experts were sometimes pressured and/or side-lined when the UK and US governments were making their false claims regarding alleged Iraqi WMDs”, he elaborates.

The professor urged for an independent investigation into the organisation’s work, and, subsequently, a “properly independent, transparent and scientifically valid” probe into what actually happened in Douma.

READ MORE: OPCW Report Fails to Provide Enough Evidence of What Happened in Douma — Scholar

He pointed out that the mainstream media has been reluctant to cover the story, which, he says, is not really surprising.

“But what happened at Douma was a war crime, and until we have established exactly what happened and who was responsible those guilty of this crime will not be exposed or held to account”, he concludes.

The OPCW has yet to respond to the revelation, but by the time of publication, they have not denied the authenticity of the report or that the named individual on the report is with the OPCW, but have denied that the report and the individual were part of the fact-finding mission.

In April 2018, several Syrian opposition media outlets cited militant sources as claiming that Syrian government forces had carried out a chemical attack on Douma.

The reports spread quickly, with the notorious White Helmets, which have on a multitude of occasions been busted faking videos of their rescue operations, publishing footage and photos of alleged victims of the chemical attack.

The Syrian government has vehemently denied the allegations, insisting that they were made by terrorists in a bid to halt the advance of Syrian forces.

However, this didn’t stop the United States, the UK, and France, which accused Damascus of using chemical weapons against civilians, from carrying out coordinated airstrikes on a number of targets, launching over 100 cruise and air-to-surface missiles at civilian and military facilities.

The strikes were conducted hours before the OPCW was supposed to arrive in Douma to determine whether chemical weapons had been used there. Two months ago, the organisation released a report by its fact-finding missions on the results of the probe that claimed that a toxic chemical, most likely chlorine, was used in the alleged incident.

READ MORE: Russian Envoy Suggests West Would Ignore Findings on Douma Chemical Attack

Weeks prior to the purported attack, both Syria and Russia repeatedly warned the international community of an upcoming false flag chemical attacks on Douma, stressing that such moves were aimed at covering up terrorists and justifying military action.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Sputnik.