Thread by @aaronjmate

Updating this thread on OPCW scandal in advance of a new story this week. Recent developments:

My Nation article summarizing scandal: (thenation.com/article/world/…)
My UN testimony: (thegrayzone.com/2020/09/29/gra…)
Ex-OPCW chief's testimony, blocked by US-allies: (thegrayzone.com/2020/10/05/ex-…)

US & allies attack whistleblower, ex-OPCW chief at UN:
(thegrayzone.com/2020/10/07/opc…)

Ex-OPCW chief defends whistleblowers, reveals pre-Iraq spying:
(thegrayzone.com/2020/10/18/ex-…)

Chomsky speaks out for OPCW whistleblowers: (thegrayzone.com/2020/10/20/cho…)

Bellingcat caught in fake attack on OPCW whistleblower: (thegrayzone.com/2020/10/28/dra…)

BBC recycles Bellingcat hoax, dodges critical questions: (thegrayzone.com/2020/11/30/que…)

Stay tuned to @TheGrayzoneNews for a new exclusive soon.

New @TheGrayzoneNews exclusive: Before the scandal blew open, OPCW executives privately criticized the Syria probe cover-up and supported the veteran inspector who led the protest against it. One of the execs also feared helping the "Russian narrative."
thegrayzone.com/2020/12/07/opc…

These private admissions, contained in leaked emails and documents obtained by The Grayzone, further expose the public whitewash of the Douma cover-up, and undermine the ongoing attacks on the whistleblowers who challenged it.

One OPCW exec criticized the censorship of the Douma evidence & "the selective nature of presenting the facts" in a bogus report. They also praised OPCW inspector Brendan Whelan's protest of the cover-up: "You took all the steps to maintain your moral and professional integrity."

This same exec reported that another top official was "also full of skepticism" about the Douma probe. Yet the exec feared that raising alarm about the scientific fraud would help the "Russian narrative" — a tacit admission that politics had trumped science.

In a glowing August 2018 appraisal, a second OPCW director paid tribute to Whelan's contributions to the organization and his protest of the Douma probe cover-up.

In addition to revealing praise by certain OPCW execs for Whelan’s attempt to protect the investigation, these leaks provide a new window into how other top officials compromised it.

After Whelan wrote an email protesting the doctoring of the Douma team's original report, the OPCW Chief of Cabinet did not deny that the report had been doctored. Instead, he replied that the doctoring was not done on the Director General’s behalf.

But after denying that the Director General was responsible for the censorship, Fairweather initiated another act of censorship himself: requesting that Whelan's email of protest be "recalled" and erased from the OPCW's servers.

In addition to the two known dissenters, we previously heard two other OPCW officials voice alarm about the cover-up. (thegrayzone.com/2020/03/12/opc…)

These new leaks show that concerns about the Douma probe extended to the highest levels of the organization. (thegrayzone.com/2020/12/07/opc…)