In September 2011, Paulo Pinheiro was appointed Chairman of a three-member International Commission of Inquiry for Syria (COI).
Its mandate is investigating human rights abuses. It’s an imperial tool. Pinheiro abhors peace. He turns truth on its head. His reports bear testimony to his bias. He points fingers the wrong way.
He blames Assad for Western-backed terrorist crimes. He does so consistently. On July 30, Syria’s permanent UN envoy Bashar al-Jaafari addressed the General Assembly, saying:
“The Commission of Inquiry on Syria is still deliberately blowing things out of proportion when displaying its findings, also fully disregarding or downplaying core issues.”
”There are blood-curdling scenes that flagrantly contravene the Syrians’ dignity and human rights regarding the crimes of the armed terrorist groups, ranging from eating human flesh, cutting throats, mutilating bodies, beheadings on sectarian and confessional grounds, throwing bodies from rooftops to committing hundreds of suicide bombings using car bombs in populated areas, recruiting children, abducting and slaughtering clergymen, assassinating scholars in mosques, issuing instigative fatwas on ‘sexual jihad,’ killing children on the charges of infidelity, robbing factories and transporting them to Turkey.”
Pinheiro and COI members largely ignore them. Evidence is overwhelming. Syrians demand better. They’re sacrificed to advance America’s imperium.
Pinheiro, other COI members, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, Complicit NATO allies, Israel, and rogue Arab despots are involved.
According to Jaafari:
“How could the international community allow the Saudi, Qatari and Turkish regimes to sponsor fundamentalist terrorism publicly?”
“And how could Western governments which had suffered from terrorism accept to sponsor and support that terrorism?”
”Saudi Arabia’s latest feat in Ramadan was the purchase of Israeli arms worth USD 50 millions to be shipped to the armed terrorist groups in Syria which we hope will be the last one during Ramadan.”
”No sooner was an agreement announced between the Syrian government and the United Nations than the armed terrorist groups entered Khan al-Assal and committed a massacre against civilians and soldiers there to eliminate the witnesses who could have testified against the ones who used chemical weapons there.”
“Massacre of Khan al-Asal has been committed to kill the witnesses who would testify in front of the general secretariat committee on the identity of who has used the chemical weapon in Khan al-Asal.”
Syria rejects COI reports. It does so for good reason. They’re “politicized, non-objective and non-professional,” said Jaafari.
“Syria is not a political regime – as some like to say. Syria is a state, government, people, institutions and national army; this is the true Syria a founding member of the international organization.”
Pinheiro lacks credibility. His reports favors “al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra and other armed terrorist groups.”
On July 29, the UN News Centre headlined “Syria: Head of independent UN panel appeals to Member States to end relentless carnage.”
Pinheiro said crimes in Syria “shock the conscience.” He wrongfully blames Assad. He’s done it for nearly two years. He absolves Western-sponsored death squad killers.
His words ring hollow, saying:
“We cannot continue to recite a litany of violations and abuses to little effect either on the warring parties inside Syria or those walking along the corridors of power.”
“It is not enough to be appalled. There is an obligation to do what you must to bring this war to a close. This will require the international community not only to recognize, but also to demand, a diplomatic solution.”
“It is time to do what you must to bring Syria to a just and lasting peace.”
It’s as simple as Washington calling off its dogs. Syria is America’s war. It was planned years ago. Obama launched it. He can end it.
He’s got other ideas in mind. He wants another imperial trophy. He’s ravaging Syria to get it. He bears fully responsibility for mass killing and destruction.
He’s got lots more blood on his hands. He remains unaccountable.
COI members issued 10 reports and updates. Pinheiro told General Assembly members that civilians “come under sustained unlawful attacks.”
He omitted saying Western-sponsored death squads are responsible.
“This war is a chronicle of missed opportunities on the part of influential States and the international community,” he added.
It’s time “for the international community to act decisively.” It’s time for Pinheiro to come clean. He’s an imperial tool. He lacks credibility.
So does the UN Human Rights Council. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay suppresses truth.
She supports imperial lawlessness. She did so earlier at ICC. She was one of its judges. She absolves major power crimes. She’s always done it. Supporting wrong over right advances her career.
She blames victims for perpetrator crimes. So does Pinheiro. They’re waging war on Syria. They’re paid to lie. They’ve done it throughout the conflict.
They share responsibility for thousands of lives lost. They’re unaccountable for complicity in crimes of war and against humanity.
They support regime change. They spurn international law doing so. Syrians alone may choose who’ll lead them.
Other countries, UN agencies, and appointed commissions have no say. They prevent peace. They’re partnered with Washington’s war to destroy Syria.
Doing so threatens the entire region. It’s the cross millions throughout the Middle East bear. It’s the curse of oil and gas. It’s about replacing independent governments with pro-Western puppet ones.
It’s continued mass killing and destruction. It’s the American way. It’s always been that way. It’s worst than ever now.
A Final Comment
On July 31, London’s Telegraph headlined “West’s main aid group for Syrian rebels collapses into disarray,” saying:
It “failed to channel any substantial aid to fighters on the ground and is ‘struggling to keep the lights on.’ ”
A previous article discussed it. The Western-sponsored Syrian National Coalition lacks legitimacy. It lacks effective leadership.
It’s an artificial construct. It operates extrajudicially. It’s a rogue outlaw gang. It can’t shoot straight. There’s nothing civil about Syria’s conflict. It’s proxy US aggression.
According to the Telegraph, “the Syrian Support Group (SSG) has been riven by internal divisions and struggled to raise funds.”
It spent fruitless months trying “to make millions of dollars from Syrian oil.” According to a staff member, it “lost sight of its core mission.”
It’s not about “liberating” Syria. It’s the money stupid. It’s “obsessed” with cashing in big. Britain’s Foreign Office “demanded the group repay thousands of pounds from a grant.”
It did so after learning it was “improperly spent.” According to SSG whistleblower David Falt, “the group turned its efforts (to) pursuing large and controversial oil deals under the leadership of Brian Sayers, a former NATO official.”
“Brian and some others were obsessed with the oil. The idea they could raise hundreds of millions from the sale of the oil came to dominate the work of the SSG to the point no real attention was paid to the nature of the conflict,” said Falt.
Efforts to cash in failed. According to SSG president Mazen Asbashi:
“There were early preliminary discussions but they were never pursued in any serious way.”
“The oil-related issues are complex and our organisation is focused on facilitating non-lethal support to the Syrian Military Council.”
Sayers and insurgent Gen. Selim Idris supported oil deals. They sought Western support for attacks to control oilfields.
Idris didn’t return Telegraph calls. Walid Saffour is London-based Syrian opposition’s political representative.
He told the Telegraph lack of funds forced him out of his office. “The Foreign Office said it was not currently providing (him) support.”
According to an SSG board member, it’s “struggling to keep the lights on.” Perhaps it’ll collapse altogether. It would be a fitting end to an extrajudicial rogue operation.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at [email protected].
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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