Syrian War

[Warren Dew]

(04-11-2017, 06:25 PM)Mikebert Wrote: In the aftermath of the airstrike in Syria I read this from a poster at American Conservative who questions whether Assad was responsible for the recent chemical weapons use since last time we accused of doing this (in 2013) it turns out we were wrong. When questioned on this he responded with

I suggest you take a close look at Robert Parry’s discussion of the matter. As he points out, the NY Times recently dropped the alleged 2013 Syrian use of chemical weapons from its list of atrocities. Why? Because the factual basis for the allegation fell apart. Yet the allegation is still being made, including by people in the media who ought to know better.
See Parry’s article at https://consortiumnews.com/2017/04/06/nyt-retreats-on-2013-syria-sarin-claims/ .
And then take a look at Ray McGovern’s piece at https://consortiumnews.com/2016/12/11/the-syrian-sarin-false-flag-lesson/ .
Look also at the articles linked in both pieces, especially https://consortiumnews.com/2013/12/29/nyt-backs-off-its-syria-sarin-analysis/, discussing how the NY Times backed away from its earlier claims concerning the 2013 chemical attack, and especially at
Seymour Hersh’s article at https://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n08/seymour-m-hersh/the-red-line-and-the-rat-line and the report both Seymour and, eventually but sotto voce, the NY Times cited:
https://www.voltairenet.org/IMG/pdf/possible-implications-of-bad-intelligence.pdf.

What do people think? Particularly Jordan and Warren.

Sorry about the  late response.

I think if the NYT is retreating on a claim, that gives the claim more credibility, not less. At the time I was skeptical about the 2013 claim, but now I may have to reconsider.

Either way, it matters little for the current claim, which is rather better substantiated.