MIT professor finds errors in US report on chemical attack in Syria

SOURCE

I'm surprised that a professor at MIT has the courage to challenge the assertions being made by the intelligence community & the deep state.

In a six-page addendum written in reaction to the US government report on the incident, MIT Professor of Technology and National Security Policy Theodore Postol examined photographs of the the alleged attack site and concluded that the report endorsed by the White House “could not be true,” RT reported on Saturday, noting that Postol had shared his findings with the Russia-based news outlet.

Not surprising that he shared his paper with RT.

The professor’s key argument, according to the report, is based on a series of photographs of the crater where the container holding sarin was purportedly air-dropped, pointing out specifically to a photograph of several men inspecting the site while wearing loose clothing and medical gloves.

“If there were any sarin present at this location when this photograph was taken, everybody in the photograph would have received a lethal or debilitating dose of sarin,” he wrote. “The fact that these people were dressed so inadequately either suggests a complete ignorance of the basic measures needed to protect an individual from sarin poisoning, or that they knew that the site was not seriously contaminated.”

And let's not forget the presence of the White Helmets.

The White House report, however, cited “a wide body of open-source material” and “social media accounts” from the area occupied by foreign-backed militants in the country, including footage provided by the White Helmets rescue group, which has been documented to have ties with anti-Damascus militant groups as well as Western and Persian Gulf Arab governments backing the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Remember that doctor on the ground live tweeting his experience of the gas attack? You know, the one that was involved in a kidnapping in London and that has documented ties to Al Qaeda?

When is there going to be an official investigation into this attack? There has to be at least one other person in the White House besides Bannon that can see that the deep state is trying to lure Trump into a military conflict with Assad.

Crickey, he did all this by not getting up from his arse, proving that being an armchair investigator does not require anything other than a few photos and a cheque from Russia.

Forgive me for being cynical, but…

originally posted by: ColdWisdom
SOURCE

I'm surprised that a professor at MIT has the courage to challenge the assertions being made by the intelligence community & the deep state.

In a six-page addendum written in reaction to the US government report on the incident, MIT Professor of Technology and National Security Policy Theodore Postol examined photographs of the the alleged attack site and concluded that the report endorsed by the White House “could not be true,” RT reported on Saturday, noting that Postol had shared his findings with the Russia-based news outlet.

Not surprising that he shared his paper with RT.

The professor’s key argument, according to the report, is based on a series of photographs of the crater where the container holding sarin was purportedly air-dropped, pointing out specifically to a photograph of several men inspecting the site while wearing loose clothing and medical gloves.

“If there were any sarin present at this location when this photograph was taken, everybody in the photograph would have received a lethal or debilitating dose of sarin,” he wrote. “The fact that these people were dressed so inadequately either suggests a complete ignorance of the basic measures needed to protect an individual from sarin poisoning, or that they knew that the site was not seriously contaminated.”

And let's not forget the presence of the White Helmets.

The White House report, however, cited “a wide body of open-source material” and “social media accounts” from the area occupied by foreign-backed militants in the country, including footage provided by the White Helmets rescue group, which has been documented to have ties with anti-Damascus militant groups as well as Western and Persian Gulf Arab governments backing the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Remember that doctor on the ground live tweeting his experience of the gas attack? You know, the one that was involved in a kidnapping in London and that has documented ties to Al Qaeda?

When is there going to be an official investigation into this attack? There has to be at least one other person in the White House besides Bannon that can see that the deep state is trying to lure Trump into a military conflict with Assad.

Basically he's echoing what's already been said by many researchers. But to see an actual MIT professor step up to the plate definitely refreshing!

Yeah he will be dead soon. Or it won't matter cause someone's gonna step up and drop a real bomb.... Maybe.

originally posted by: paraphi
proving that being an armchair investigator does not require anything other than a few photos and a cheque from Russia.

Soooooo the people in the photos with no protective gear were actually zombies having been killed by Sarin or... what exactly do you find wrong with his views?

originally posted by: paraphi
Crickey, he did all this by not getting up from his arse, proving that being an armchair investigator does not require anything other than a few photos and a cheque from Russia.

Forgive me for being cynical, but…

If you believe the official story your cynicism is already broken.

originally posted by: Taggart
If you believe the official story your cynicism is already broken.

I did not say which story I believe, or think is more plausible. I am just commenting on a person reaching conclusions based on photos where there is no real sense context, scale or anything else. Armchair investigators. I was also commenting that he is just parroting Russia's opinion, hence the reason why RT.com have used (and paid) him.

He's a professor in "science and technology", which I suppose makes him an expert in explosives and nerve agents.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

So wheres the actual "2017" report from MIT Professor Theodore Postol ?

your SOURCE , Press TV is affiliated with Islamic Republic of Iran ....and mainly references the fake 2013 Syrian chemical attack...

in spite of the fact that the "2017" chemical attack apparenty appears to be fake also, this looks to be propaganda by trying to confuse the two incidents....

originally posted by: paraphi
Crickey, he did all this by not getting up from his arse, proving that being an armchair investigator does not require anything other than a few photos and a cheque from Russia.

Forgive me for being cynical, but…

Says the armchair investigator....

a reply to: Tellurian

So wheres the actual "2017" report from MIT Professor Theodore Postol ?

Link

It's in my source at the top of my OP.

a reply to: paraphi

I was also commenting that he is just parroting Russia's opinion, hence the reason why RT.com have used (and paid) him.

Do we have evidence that RT paid him? The article seems to allude to the fact that he shared his report with them, but mentions nothing about receiving payment.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

this "addendum" looks like a cut and paste job,,, I think you've been had... It happens to everybody...

originally posted by: paraphi
Crickey, he did all this by not getting up from his arse, proving that being an armchair investigator does not require anything other than a few photos and a cheque from Russia.

Forgive me for being cynical, but…

The Russians are saying exactly the same thing ... how cynical.

Moscow calls for transparent investigation of Syria chemical incident

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. Moscow is opposed to the remote work of experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in Syria, and an investigation into the April 4 incident in the city of Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib province, should be transparent, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday.

"Another strange thing about this story. The US began demanding full access not only to al-Shayrat airfield (Homs province - TASS) but to other facilities as well, for some reason," he noted. "Yesterday (on April 13) at the meeting of the OPCW Executive Council, the organization’s senior officials began to say, "No, we should only investigate the April 4 incident in Idlib, there is no need to go to the airfield." I cannot understand why, the more so since the US initially demanded to examine this airfield, and the Syrian government is ready to accept such an inspection."

"Such inconsistencies make us confident that there is something shady about the whole affair," Lavrov went on to say. "When we say that the scene of the incident should be visited, we are told that the samples had already been taken. Taken by whom? When?"

a reply to: Tellurian

Are you not at all concerned about the lack of a competent investigation into this chemical attack?

Or do you actually have some proof that this was a cut & paste job?

a reply to: ColdWisdom

your ignoring the legitimate concern about a competent investigation

what...wait , thats why I was questioning this,.. oh gawd..nvm

As a former Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician. (military bomb squad) here's my analysis.

A chemical weapon is generally designed to detonate in the air, not on impact with the ground. So a crater would not be created.

The ordnance carrying the chemical weapon will have enough explosives to open and disperse the payload, too much explosives would destroy the gas. Generally there is just a burster with a low net explosive weight (NEW).

The picture from the source shows considerable damage to the road and looks more consistent to me with that of a surface laid explosive device with at least a 1 - 5 pound explosive main charge.

Just my observations from the photo.

Also should be noted Sarin evaporates very quickly, so an individual like in the photo would be fine as he is dressed just a few hours afterwards. Though personally I would probably wait at least 24 hours just for my peace of mind.

a reply to: ColdWisdom

So on the day of the retaliation on the airfield and a couple of days afterwards, all we heard was Nikki Haley stating that the US was "fully justified in doing so", and that the American IC had 100% proof that Assad dropped a chemical weapon.

Why do they even need an investigation then. Just show the rest of the world this proof, it shouldn't be that hard if you already have it, right?

I find these constant claims that it could not have been a chemical attack because people were not wearing protective gear to be absurd.

This is Syria. Why do people think that everyone has a haz-mat suit in their closet and would have donned it immediately?

If my child, or anyone's child, was screaming in agony from chemical burns, my last thought would be to stop and get some non-existent haz-mat suit before helping. I would have risked my life to help those kids.

Those inspecting the site as mentioned could have been at a time after the gas had dissipated into the atmosphere.

I have seen enough of liberal colleges to doubt this professor's claims. There are some that will draw any conclusion that fits their agenda.
How liberal or conservative is your university?

originally posted by: Balans
a reply to: ColdWisdom

So on the day of the retaliation on the airfield and a couple of days afterwards, all we heard was Nikki Haley stating that the US was "fully justified in doing so", and that the American IC had 100% proof that Assad dropped a chemical weapon.

Why do they even need an investigation then. Just show the rest of the world this proof, it shouldn't be that hard if you already have it, right?

i wont hold my breath. when we got osama bin laden, the most wanted man in recent history we didnt even get one image of his corpse.

originally posted by: BlueAjah
I find these constant claims that it could not have been a chemical attack because people were not wearing protective gear to be absurd.

This is Syria. Why do people think that everyone has a haz-mat suit in their closet and would have donned it immediately?

If my child, or anyone's child, was screaming in agony from chemical burns, my last thought would be to stop and get some non-existent haz-mat suit before helping. I would have risked my life to help those kids.

Those inspecting the site as mentioned could have been at a time after the gas had dissipated into the atmosphere.

I have seen enough of liberal colleges to doubt this professor's claims. There are some that will draw any conclusion that fits their agenda.
How liberal or conservative is your university?

So Assad gassed these folks why?

To bring more international precesence?

The view that this could be a false flag has nothing to do with liberal or conservative views. You will find many accounts of this on conservative conspiracy driven sites.

This is something an Intel agency could easily do to create the reaction they need.

My guess this was 100 percent Turkey. It serves their interests the best. They have the Intel capability to do it. Sarin is a very easy gas to make if you only need to keep it a few days or a week. This could easily be made on the ground.


Watch Erdogan, Putin, very closely. Trump being brought in from the minors is a frightening thing. Thank god for Mattis but I certainly think Trump is easily fooled or manipulated

Press TV (stylised PRESSTV) is a 24-hour English language news and documentary network, affiliated with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

Theodore A. Postol (born 1946) is a professor emeritus of Science, Technology, and International Security at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a prominent critic of U.S. government statements about missile defense.He has also criticized the US narrative of the 2013 Ghouta chemical attack in Syria. He has argued that the Ghouta chemical attack does not seem to have been launched by the Syrian government. He has also criticized the US narrative of the April 4, 2017, Khan Shaykhun chemical attack in Syria. Working in collaboration with Maram Susli (known online as 'Syrian Girl' and 'PartisanGirl')[1] and Richard Lloyd, he has argued that the Ghouta chemical attack does not seem to have been launched by the Syrian government.

both from their wikis, so you have a professor that is always going after the U.S. Government, and watches youtube to analyze weapon effects and a Iranian state run news outlet, no bias there.


that's all i got to say about that.