How the US Trained the Afghan Mujahideen To Produce War Propaganda

Behind The Headlines’ Dan Cohen explains a little known effort to train Afghan Islamic fundamentalists in propaganda, and how that effort created a blueprint for the White Helmets in Syria.

Dan Cohen
By Dan Cohen
Afghan War Propaganda Feature photo

By now, everyone knows about the White Helmets – the State Department’s propaganda operation to manufacture consent for the U.S.’s dirty war on Syria. But long before the White Helmets were the Afghan mujahideen. Quick review: The White Helmets were presented as laudable rescue teams who operated in opposition-held territory in Syria. They

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After His Mysterious Death, the Media Scrambles to Get its Story Straight About White Helmets Founder James Le Mesurier

Almost immediately after Le Mesurier’s alleged plunge to his death, reports began to emerge of tampering and the removal of details about the controversial “private security” operative’s career.

Vanessa Beeley
By Vanessa Beeley
James Le Mesurier Feature photo

On November 11, 2019, the British founder of the notorious White Helmets, James Le Mesurier, died in Istanbul, Turkey. The circumstances surrounding his death immediately elicited a flurry of Turkish and corporate media reports, many of them contradictory, as the details of his final hours came to light.  Mark Urban, the diplomatic editor at BBC

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The White Helmets, Hala Systems and the Grotesque Militarization of “Humanitarianism” in Syria

Vanessa Beeley looks at how the now-infamous White Helmets partnered with Chicago-based Hala Systems to militarize so-called humanitarian efforts in Syria.

Vanessa Beeley
By Vanessa Beeley
Hala White Helmets Feature photo

Syria, August 2019 - reports came in that Russian warplanes had destroyed two terrorist-manned early warning radar posts in the Northern Hama countryside, known as the 20th post and the Eagle post. According to an article published by South Front, these early warning posts are “tasked with monitoring flights of Russian and Syrian warplanes” and

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Faux Humanitarian Irwin Cotler, the White Helmets, and the Whitewashing of an Appalling Agenda

Cotler’s campaigns for foreign regime change or intervention almost always march in lock-step with neoconservative U.S. foreign policy. His “humanitarian” branding is but a thin veneer of hypocrisy to conceal his establishment policies — policies that almost always serve the interests of Israel.

Vanessa Beeley
By Vanessa Beeley
Irwin Cotler Feature photo

On July 22, 2018, Israel organized and facilitated an exceptional evacuation of White Helmet operatives from southern Syria, claiming the operatives were at risk from an advancing Syrian Arab Army. A number of NATO member states backed the move, calling on Israel to bring their intelligence assets to safety.  The White Helmets have been

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The Oligarchs Behind the “Humanitarian” Regime Change Network Push for UK Labour to Split

In light of recent news of UK Labour MPs leaving the party over Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, this October 2018 investigation by Whitney Webb and Vanessa Beeley is more relevant than ever. Beeley and Webb uncover how influential oligarchs and the non-profits they fund pushed many of the very same MPs who have now left Labour to cut ties with the party.

Vanessa Beeley
Whitney Webb
By Vanessa Beeley
And Whitney Webb

LONDON -- Jo Cox, the late Labour MP whose tragic death in 2016 shocked Britain and the world, has recently become a rallying cry for forces within the U.K. Labour Party who seek to weaken Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership and to return the party to the pro-intervention Tony Blair era. As this article (the final installment of our three-part series) will

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As Mainstream Journalists Acknowledge Douma Attacks Were “Staged,” the “Humanitarian” Syria Regime-Change Network Tries to Save A Sinking Ship

There is increasing desperation on the part of the “humanitarian” regime-change network to protect its influence and the power of its narratives, not just in Syria but in future conflicts.

Whitney Webb
Vanessa Beeley
By Whitney Webb
And Vanessa Beeley
Syria | Douma | Chemical Attack

LONDON -- Over the past few days, notable journalists and other figures in mainstream media have acknowledged that the alleged chemical weapons attack that occurred last April in the Damascus suburb of Douma, Syria was likely “staged” by “activist” groups such as the White Helmets. Their comments and investigations have largely vindicated the many

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