The OPCW IIT has concluded its investigation in to the 2018 Saraqib chlorine attack, which we investigated back in February 2018 with @STJ_SYRIA_ENG. The OPCW IIT has concluded this is yet another chemical attack by the Syrian Air Force.
The OPCW IIT report is not public yet, but in the Bellingcat + STJ investigation we identified a number of details, such as the impact site of the munitions used, in a field in between buildings in Saraqib.
Photographs of the munitions used clearly show they're the same sort of yellow chlorine cylinders used in many other chlorine attacks in Syria.
Alongside the chlorine cylinders, metal fragments consistent with the metal frames placed around chlorine cylinders to turn them into improvised chemical bombs were also documented.
I also expect the usual suspects who dismiss chemical weapon attacks as being false flags will struggle with their theories around this one, as they probably haven't heard about it until today because it wasn't a big news event, and they only care about those ones.
Here's the summary of the findings, @tobiaschneider probably has something to say about the Tiger Forces and their use of chlorine.
Various debris found around the impact site related to the metal frame used with Syrian chlorine (although observed at the Douma chemical attack a few weeks later). For the nerds, the metal front plate detail is probably the most interesting.
Also nice to see how they show how evidence was collected, packaged and transported to the FFM, showing the packing tape wasn't altered after collection.
The OPCW IIT also tested the scenario that cleaning chemicals could have been used to create the presence of chlorine, no doubt to address the usual suspects who would claim that's actually what happened. Bad luck to those folks, I guess.
I'm impressed by the thoroughness of the OPCW IIT. They've clearly learnt the lessons of previous investigations, in particular how to address conspiracy theories about chemical attacks, and have pre-emptively addressed them. Plus included some handy graphics like this:
This report builds on the growing body of evidence that Syria's Tiger Forces are using chemical weapons, in particular chlorine filled munitions.
Also relevant to the the Tiger Force's use of chemical weapons is this investigation by Bellingcat, relating to the 2017 March Al Lataminah chlorine attack bellingcat.com/news/2020/04/1…
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For some reason, @elonmusk's X is now claiming the link to this article about Russia bombing a children's hospital is unsafe, because apparently it has "been identified by X or our partners as being potentially spammy or unsafe". Unsafe to who, Putin? 🤔
Seeing @elonmusk already thinks Bellingcat is a "psy-op" you have to wonder if this is deliberate censorship from the so proclaimed free speech absolutist. Based on his recent behaviour I guess that only counts when you're a far right grifter posting CSAM.
Here's more evidence of Russia's involvement in the bombing of the children's hospital, but look at it before @elonmusk blocks that too
🧵 I think what's key to answering this question is recognising that how we encounter and consume information has changed dramatically over the last 15 years, and this has particularly impacted Gen Z and Gen Alpha
We’ve shifted from a top-down, gatekeeped model of information consumption (for example getting our news from newspapers and TV news), to a more peer-to-peer relationship with information thanks to social media.
That also changes how we interact with information, where we’re more active participants in that flow of information, in both how we respond to it, and how we share it. Importantly, we have to understand that for Gen Z and Gen Alpha this is their default state.
Reposting this to make the point clearer, this is a real image that is being dismissed as AI because of a crap AI detection website that doesn't actually work, because AI gives people a permission structure to deny reality. A video of the incident is here aljazeera.com/program/newsfe…
It's not the first time I've seen someone do this with Israel and Gaza. Bad AI detection tools are used to deny reality, but ultimately people who don't want to believe something is true will just dismiss it as AI generated anyway.
It's no different from calling every video from Gaza Pallywood, or claiming the White Helmets fake videos in Syria. It's just propagandists creating a permission structure to deny reality.
🧵 I've been digging into this, and it's pretty clear that part of this campaign against Graham Phillips is driven by an article on a fake news website that appears to be run by John Mark Dougan himself.
I'm not sure where this all started, but the first time the spat appears to have gone public is this post by Graham Phillips about John Mark Dougan, stating "Dougan is accused of having 'gone rogue', and suspected of having taken money from western agencies." t.me/grahamwphillip…
The following day, John Mark Dougan posted this now deleted Telegram post, making various allegations and linking to an article on a site called "ukpoliticking", published on the same day. t.me/BadVolfNews/16…
Several weeks ago the FvD's @PvanHouwelingen submitted questions to the Ministry of Justice based on reporting by @AndereKrant and @TheGrayzoneNews. Last week those answers were received, but neither Pepijn nor the two publications cited have reported on them. Let's find out why.
Just before Christmas the @AndereKrant and @TheGrayzoneNews published false claims that Bellingcat had submitted an article to the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) ahead of publication to allegedly ‘attack journalists’.
@AndereKrant @TheGrayzoneNews These allegations appear to have been entirely based on claims made by @CeesCees72, apparently without any attempt to fact check the claim made in his tweet:
The new OECD report is one of the better examples of an intergovernmental report on dealing with disinformation, and actually gets it's not just about factchecking, but also creating a cycle that includes transparency and accountability. oecd.org/publications/f…
I believe that the current issues we face with disinformation are symptoms of a broader social and cultural shift that has occurred over the last 15 years, and Bellingcat and open source investigation is also part of the same shift.
One fundamental issue is people, especially in Western democracies, feel increasingly detached from political process, and don't feel part of the democratic process. It creates a sense of total disempowerment, and that draws them to online communities.