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Aaron Maté Profile picture
@aaronjmate
Nov 11, 2021 • 7 tweets • 3 min read • Read on X
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1/ David McCloskey is a former CIA analyst on Syria & author of "Damascus Station", a new spy thriller drawing on his experience.

We did a long interview that I think upends conventional narratives around the 10-year Syria war. thegrayzone.com/2021/11/09/fmr…

Some highlights:
2/ I asked ex-CIA analyst David McCloskey if there was any debate over the fact that, as Jake Sullivan told Hillary Clinton in Feb 2012, "Al Qaeda is on our side in Syria." Heavy US weaponry even ended up in AQ's hands.

Were there any misgivings about siding with Al Qaeda?
3/ Ex-CIA analyst David McCloskey: the US effectively siding with Al Qaeda in Syria was "a tremendously problematic aspect of the conflict."
4/ Ex-CIA analyst David McCloskey: "I think there’s an understanding that al-Qaeda affiliated groups and Salafi jihadist groups were the primary engine of the insurgency."
5/
AM: "Why is it preferable to continue to fuel an al-Qaeda dominated insurgency than just leave Syria alone and let Syrians handle their own government?"

Ex-CIA analyst David McCloskey: "Yeah, well, I’m not sure I would disagree with that statement."
6/ I also asked ex-CIAer David McCloskey about chemical weapons in Syria, & whether he's followed the OPCW cover-up.

He says he thinks that Syria is guilty of CW attacks, but also said that for insurgents, "there would be plenty of reason to try to frame the Syrian government."
7/ Full interview, with transcript: thegrayzone.com/2021/11/09/fmr…

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More from @aaronjmate

Aaron Maté Profile picture
Jan 8
.@democracynow recently host a BBC journalist in Syria who spread outright sectarian incitement, without any pushback.

Here, Lina Sinjab claims that: "Most of the Alawite community are supportive of... former President Assad, and they had contributed or been part of the crackdown, the brutal crackdown, on the Syrians’ arrests, torture in prison and killing."

Note how she separates "the Alawite community" from "the Syrians", as if they're separate groups. She also declares that "most" of their community is complicit in crimes, as is regular Alawites are responsible for the Assad government.

To the extent that Alawites and other minority groups did "support" the government, that's mainly because they were under threat from the sectarian insurgency dominated by foreign-backed groups like Al Qaeda, a reality that is completely whitewashed here.
Here, Lina Sinjab dog-whistles more incitement against Alawites and Shia in Syria by declaring that: "many of the Alawites and the Shia in Syria have always been affiliated to foreign powers, like in Iran", which is the "most feared" foreign power in Syria.

Painting entire communities as "affiliated" with nefarious "foreign powers" is straight up sectarian incitement. This has real life consequences, as we're seeing in the regular videos of attacks on Shia and Alawites in Syria. Again, no pushback from @democracynow.
It's also telling that in discussing the threat from foreign powers meddling in Syria, this BBC journalist makes no mention of the UK government and its US, Gulf, and NATO allies, who spent tens of billions of dollars arming a sectarian insurgency in Syria. Not to mention the US sanctions and ongoing US military occupation that has crushed Syria's economy and prevented recovery.

I understand why a UK state media employee would omit this inconvenient reality. Why a historically noble independent media outlet like @democracynow chooses to go along is a different question.Image
Read 4 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
Feb 28, 2024
Guess who was an advisory board member for ZAKA, the scam Israeli "rescue" group that's spread fake Oct. 7th claims including beheaded babies, “mass rape”, and a fetus cut from its mother?

This guy: Image
It's right here on : ZakaWorld.org
archive.is/AfuYq
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Here's a picture from the Feb. 12, 2018 ceremony "to officially install the members of the ZAKA Board."

Is that Stuart Seldowitz second from left? Regardless, he was there as a new ZAKA board member.
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Read 4 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
Jan 29, 2024
.@gettleman, lead author of the NYT article that weaponized sexual violence to baseless claim that "Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7th", is on the defensive -- and doubling down on his fraud. ()

In a new article, he attempts to rebut unspecified "critics" -- whom he tellingly never names or cites.

That's because if he actually acknowledged and linked to the debunking by @TheGrayzoneNews, @intifada, and @Mondoweiss of his scam "reporting," it would be obvious that he can't refute it.

This comes one day after The Intercept reported that @gettleman's own NYT colleagues have raised serious concerns about his "reporting." ()nytimes.com/2024/01/29/wor…
theintercept.com/2024/01/28/new…Image
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.@gettleman faced a serious problem: He led his story with a slain Israeli woman, Gal Abdush, and claimed she was a "symbol" of Oct. 7th sexual violence. He even all but declared that she was raped.

But then Gal's sister, Miral Alter, called out @Gettleman as a fraud. She said that "there is no proof that there was rape" and accused @gettleman of misleading their family.

Playing damage control, @gettleman went back to Miral and tried to get her to back down. The result is more scumbag journalism.
In his initial article, @Gettleman prominently featured the claims of Yossi Landau, Southern Commander of the scandal-plagued ZAKA. (pic 1)

But Haaretz has already exposed Landau as a liar for falsely claiming that he saw burned babies and a fetus cut from a dead woman’s womb on October 7. ()

So now, in his new attempt to defend his original article, how does the NYT fraudster @Gettleman handle relying on the Zaka fraudster Landau? He simply pretends he doesn't exist.

According to @Gettleman, two of the people he interviewed who described witnessing sexual assault "have since come under intense scrutiny." (pic 2)

This allows @Gettleman to omit that Yossi Landau has also come under "intense scrutiny" -- and found to be a flat-out liar.

Memo to @gettleman and his NYT editors: you don't get to escape accountability for relying on fraudulent sources by suddenly omitting that you relied on them. That shows you're only doubling down on your fraud.archive.is/H6rAmImage
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Read 4 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
Jan 2, 2024
A major embarrassment for NYT's @gettleman
and his story on "How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence."

Gal Abdush is the Oct. 7th victim whose story leads and is featured throughout the NYT article. Her family is even featured as the cover image. NYT describes her as a "symbol" of Oct. 7th sexual violence.

But Abdush's sister says "there is no proof that there was rape." She also accuses the NYT of manipulating their family. They didn't know that she would be presented as a rape victim.

In other words, NYT weaponized both a dead woman and sexual violence to spread propaganda in the service of a genocide.
The instagram post with the sister's statement is here: instagram.com/p/C1lk5qzocmK/
Read 4 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
Dec 20, 2023
@noam_dworman No I don’t.

“So far, there was only one direct eyewitness testimony” — whose tale was outlandish and had zero evidence. Image
@noam_dworman Now we got two new purported male witnesses. One isn’t identified. The other happens to be an officer from an elite Israeli military unit. Image
@noam_dworman The head of Israel’s rape commission says “we will never know neither the numbers or the scope” of these alleged rapes. Why not? And why should I buy these claims if so?
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Read 7 tweets
Aaron Maté Profile picture
Nov 14, 2023
“CNN got an exclusive look on the ground in Gaza” by embedding with the IDF and letting it exclusively approve everything CNN puts on air.

Stenographers for mass murder:
“As a condition to enter Gaza under IDF air support, outlets have to submit all materials and footage to the Israeli military for review prior to publication. CNN has agreed to these terms....”

Read 4 tweets

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