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Pushback with Aaron Mate

Syria scandal: New whistleblower claims chemical weapons watchdog OPCW suppressed Douma evidence

Pushback with Aaron Mate

Pushback with Aaron Maté

News

4.7594 Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2019

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

A whistleblower from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) is accusing top officials of tampering with evidence collected at the scene of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Syrian city of Douma in April 2018. The official, a senior scientist who collected samples at the scene, is the second with the OPCW's Douma team to allege that evidence was suppressed. His testimony raises new doubts about the claim that the Syrian government carried out a chemical attack in Douma, which led to US-France-UK airstrikes -- and with it, new concerns that the world's chemical weapons watchdog is politically compromised. We discuss the whistleblower's findings with award-winning MIT Professor Emeritus Theodore Postol, whose scientific studies have also raised doubts about allegations of chemical weapons attacks by the Syrian government. One of his studies was recently at the center of an academic controversy, as we also address during this interview. Guest: Theodore Postol, award-winning Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy at MIT. Pushback on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pushbackshow Aaron Maté on Twitter: https://twitter.com/aaronjmate Pushback on Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lu7MGQ Pushback on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/pushbackshow Pushback on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2mpwIQm Pushback on Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/s?fid=465855 Find transcripts and more at https://thegrayzone.com/pushback ||| The Grayzone ||| Find more reporting at https://thegrayzone.com Support our original journalism at Patreon: https://patreon.com/grayzone Twitter: https://twitter.com/grayzoneproject Facebook: https://facebook.com/thegrayzone Minds: https://minds.com/thegrayzone

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to pushback. I'm Aaron Mate.

0:05.0

A second whistleblower is raising new doubts about an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria,

0:11.3

and with it, new concerns that a top UN watchdog is compromised.

0:16.6

Just like the first whistleblower, the new whistleblower is an official with the Organization

0:21.6

for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, or OPCW.

0:25.9

This person, a senior scientist, was on the ground when the OPCW investigated allegations

0:32.6

that the Syrian government killed dozens of people in the city of Duma in April 2018.

0:39.1

This allegation prompted the U.S., France, and Britain to bomb three sites in Syria one week later.

0:46.4

The OPCW later pinned blame on the Syrian government, lending justification to the U.S.-led

0:51.3

strikes.

0:52.5

But earlier this year, a member of the OPCW team leaked a suppressed engineering assessment

0:58.0

that challenged the OPCW's conclusions.

1:01.0

The leaked report found that the gas cylinders at the scene in Duma were likely, quote, manually placed.

1:08.0

This suggested the attack was staged. And now another member of the OPCW

1:13.6

team, the second whistleblower, has come forward. This whistleblower recently delivered

1:19.9

testimony in front of a panel convened by the Courage Foundation, a journalist and whistleblower

1:26.3

protection organization founded by Wikileaks.

1:30.5

In a statement, the panel said this, quote, we are unanimous in expressing our alarm over

1:36.9

unacceptable practices in the investigation.

1:40.7

We became convinced by the testimony that key information about chemical analyses, toxicology

1:47.5

consultations, ballistic studies, and witness testimonies was suppressed, ostensibly to favor

1:53.9

a preordained conclusion."

...

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