The Dike Breaks

By Published On: 30. October 2018Categories: Uncategorized

The Netherlands have just announced that they are ending their support for al-Qaeda‘s propaganda gang, the ‘White Helmets’. They are also putting a stop to support for the so-called Free Syrian Police. The Netherlands cut off their support for the Free Syrian Army’s ‘non-lethal’ activities last week after Dutch news organizations discovered that members of these groups had been accused of terrorism by the General Prosecutor of the Netherlands.

 


Screenshot (excerpt) of the report in the daily newspaper „Volkskrant“

 

According to the Dutch daily Volkskrant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ended their support for the White Helmets after the Directorate for International Research and Policy Evaluation issued a critical report about them [1]. Concerning the White Helmets, which had received €12.5 million from the Dutch government, the following issues were listed:

 

• According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the supervision of the behaviour of the rescue workers is ‚inadequate‘. Mayday, the supervising organization based in the Netherlands is itself closely intertwined with the White Helmets. As a consequence, donors are unable to make out any which organisation they are sponsoring.

• Mayday is unwilling to spend any more than 0.9% of its budget on supervising the work of the White Helmets. ‚That is why there is a lack of independent supervision of the activities and results of the project.‘

• The money for the White Helmets is transferred to the Syrian border in cash or enters the country via the hawala system. It is ‚problematic‘ that Mayday does not know how much money is paid via which route. Accordingly, it is highly possible that money has fallen into the hands of armed groups. The cash flow can also indirectly be used for illegal trade. There is no systematic control of the money flow.

• The White Helmets are active in areas where armed groups considered ‚unacceptable‘ by the Netherlands are in power. Links between the White Helmets and local administrators working with extremist organizations are inevitable.

 

The seemingly intentional lack of transparency practically guarantees that much of the more than $150 million the White Helmets have received from various governments will have ended up in the private pockets of the people organising the scam.

 

 

The Twitteraccount of the founder of White Helmets James Le Mesurier (Screenshot)

 

 

This blog has published several pieces about the White Helmets, mostly of them pointing out their obviously faked media productions:

 

• The U.S./UK Financed „White Helmets“ Shtick – Fake „Child Rescued“ Videos – June 1 2016 [2].

• „Dramatic Rescue! Man With Kid Runs Towards Camera!“ – 44 Staged Pictures – June 21 2016 [3].

• How White Helmets Videos Are Made – November 21 2016 [4].

 

For background information on the White Helmets the earlier pieces by Vanessa Beeley at 21stCenturyWire´ are still unsurpassed: Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part I [5] and Part II – Syria’s White Helmets: ‘Moderate Executioners’ [6].

 

Vanessa Beeley, Eva Barlett (video) [7] and others have tried for years to draw attention to the nefarious scheme behind the ‘White Helmets’ propaganda scam. Roger Waters rightly calls them (video) [8] a ‘fake propaganda construct for terrorists. However, the ‚Western‘ media loved the dramatic fake photos and videos the White Helmets produced, partly because they could put them into print and on screen free of charge. Anyone who criticized them or questioned their narratives was publicly smeared and derided [9].

 

The Volkskrant notes:

 

It is the first time that a Western government has admitted that there are problems with the project. 

 

It will not be the last time. More people will take note, look into the issue and pressure their governments to end their support. As the Dutch know well, once the dikes break it is impossible to stop the flood. The relentless work of a few engaged writers has put pressure on the dike and finally broken it. The White Helmet scam will soon come under massive public scrutiny and will be swept away into some dark corner of history.

 

Just a month ago Germany‘s Foreign Minister Maas, also described as a „well styled NATO call boy“ [10], met the White Helmets front man Raed al-Saleh [11], who had previously been denied entry into the U.S. [12], and promised him more money. Maas also lauded the recent ‚evacuation of White Helmets‘ from the Quneitra and Daraa area to Israel, in reality just another scam [13]. Israel used the cover provided by the White Helmets cover to evacuated a number of terrorists commanders it had paid and equipped for years for its war on Syria [14].

 

Maas and his NATO colleagues in other countries will soon be asked to comment on the Dutch example. Can they refute the analysis presented by the Foreign Ministry of their NATO, the Netherlands? Can Maas explain what has happened to the €17 million Germany donated? Whose pockets has the money ended up in?

 

Update (Sep 16, 5:30 utc):

The Netherlands have also ended their participation in the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIS:

 

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 fighter jets will be pulled out of the mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria at the end of the year, the Dutch government said on Friday, September 14.

 

‘Cabinet has decided not to prolong the use of F-16s in the fight against IS past December 31,” the Dutch cabinet said in a statement on Friday.

 

Some 80 Dutch troops will continue to provide training for the Iraqi army [15].

 

Update (Sep 16, 9:10 utc):

The publishing note on the report discussed above issued by the Foreign Ministry is available in the Dutch language [16]. There is a cover letter (pdf) [17] from the Directorate for International Research and Policy Evaluation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also in Dutch. It describes the programs the Netherlands have sponsored (machine translation):

 

Since the start of the conflict, the Netherlands have spent more than EUR 70 million in stabilization support on Syria, in consultation with many like-minded international partners and donors. The programmes aimed to help establish some degree of normalcy so that normal life could resume in the opposition area, preventing further refugee flows, new alignments of power and the influence of extremists. This support took place within the complex and fluid context of the Syrian war, during which the situation on the ground has changed drastically during the past seven years. The Cabinet has informed the House about contributions to the projects, including the significant contributions to the non-lethal assistance program (NLA), White Helmets, and Access to Justice and Community Security (AJACS) program from 2015.

 

The evaluation report itself is in English: Review of the monitoring systems of three projects in Syria AJACS, White Helmets and NLA (pdf) [18].

 

Sources:

[1] Van Es, Ana, „Nederland stopt steun aan Syrische oppositie wegens gebrekkig toezicht op hulpprojecten; Britse organisatie ontkent kritiek“, in de Volkskrant [10. Sept. 2018], <https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/nederland-stopt-steun-aan-syrische-oppositie-wegens-gebrekkig- toezicht-op-hulpprojecten-britse-organisatie-ontkent-kritiek-~bda7b84e/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[2] Moon of Alabama, „The U.S./UK Financed „White Helmets“ Shtick – Fake „Child Rescued“ Videos [1. Jun. 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/06/the-usuk-financed-white-helmets-shtick-fake-child-rescued-videos.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[3] Moon of Alabama, „Dramatic Rescue! Man With Kid Runs Towards Camera!“, [21. June 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/06/gallery-dramatic-rescue-man-with-kid-runs-towards-camera-43-staged-pictures.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[4] Moon of Alabama, „How White Helmets Videos Are Made“, [21. Nov. 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/11/how-white-helmets-videos-are-made.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[5] Beeley, Vanessa, „Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part I“, [23. Oct. 2015] 21st Century Wire, <https://21stcenturywire.com/2015/10/23/syrias-white-helmets-war-by-way-of-deception-part-1/>, zuletzt gesichtet 20.09.2018.

[6] Beeley, Vanessa, „Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part II“ [28. Oct. 2015] 21st Century Wire, <https://21stcenturywire.com/2015/10/28/part-ii-syrias-white-helmets-war-by-way-of-deception-moderate-executioners/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[7] Bartlett, Eva, „On the White Helmets Hoax and the Information War against Syria“, Interview mit Eva Bartlett at RT, published on Youtube [21. Oct. 2016], <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pCr315h9Tw>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[8] Waters, Roger, „White Helmets are Fake Propaganda Construct for Terrorists“, published on Youtube [15. Apr. 2018], <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnUhjN3Vu6c>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[9] Moon of Alabama, „The Media War On Truthful Reporting And Legitimate Opinions – A Documentary“ [21. Apr. 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/the-media-war-on-truthful-reporting-and-legitimate-opinions-a-documentary.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[10] Sputnik News, Interview with Diether Dehm [05. Apr. 2018], <https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20180405320204986-nato-deutschland-hauptfeind/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[11] Twitter Account from German Foreign Office, @GermanyDiplo [17.08.2018], <https://twitter.com/GermanyDiplo/status/1030423384998506496>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[12] Westcott, Lucy, „Syrian Humanitarian Raed Saleh Is Denied Entry to U.S.“ in Newsweek [22. Apr. 2016, 15h55], <https://www.newsweek.com/raed-saleh-syrian-civil-defense-denied-entry-us-451637>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[13] Twitter Account from German Foreign Office, @GermanyDiplo [22. Juli 2018] @heikomaas on the Evacuation of #WhiteHelmets, <https://twitter.com/GermanyDiplo/status/1021051613950201856>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[14] Tsurkov, Elizabeth, „Inside Israel’s Secret Program to Back Syrian Rebels“, Foreign Policy [6. Sept. 2018],  <https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/06/in-secret-program-israel-armed-and-funded-rebel-groups-in-southern-syria/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[15] The Defence Post, „Netherlands to pull F-16 fighter jets from ISIS mission in Iraq and Syria. Dutch cabinet decided ‚not to prolong the use‘ of F-16s against ISIS after December 31.“, in The Defence Post [14. Sept. 2018]  <https://thedefensepost.com/2018/09/14/netherlands-end-isis-airstrikes-f-16/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[16] Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, «Evaluatie van de monitoringssystemen van drie projecten door Nederland gesteunde projecten in Syrië (AJACS, Witte Helmen en NLA)» [01. Aug. 2018], <https://www.iob-evaluatie.nl/publicaties/evaluaties/2018/08/01/423-%E2%80%93-iob-%E2%80%93-review-of-the-monitoring-systems-of-three-projects-in-syria-%E2%80%93-ajacs-white-helmets-and-nla>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[17] Ministerie van Buitenlands Zaken, «Beleidsreactie», [7. Sept. 2018], <https://www.iob-evaluatie.nl/binaries/iob-evaluatie/documenten/brieven/2018/09/07/423-%E2%80%93-beleidsreactie/423+%E2%80%93+Beleidsreactie.pdf>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[18] Dutch Foreign Ministry, «Review 423 – IOB – Review of the monitoring systems of three projects in Syria – AJACS, White Helmets and NLA», August 2018. Download at <https://www.iob-evaluatie.nl/binaries/iob-evaluatie/documenten/evaluaties/2018/08/01/423-%E2%80%93-iob-%E2%80%93-review-of-the-monitoring-systems-of-three-projects-in-syria-%E2%80%93-ajacs-white-helmets-and-nla/423+%E2%80%93+IOB+%E2%80%93+Review+of+the+monitoring+systems+of+three+projects+in+Syria+%E2%80%93+AJACS%2C+White+Helmets+and+NLA.pdf>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018

 

 

This text was first published on 15. Sept. 2018 on www.moonofalabama.org at the URL <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/09/netherland-ends-support-for-white-helmets-terrorist-propaganda-scam.html>. License: Moon of Alabama

The Dike Breaks

By Published On: 30. October 2018Categories: Uncategorized

The Netherlands have just announced that they are ending their support for al-Qaeda‘s propaganda gang, the ‘White Helmets’. They are also putting a stop to support for the so-called Free Syrian Police. The Netherlands cut off their support for the Free Syrian Army’s ‘non-lethal’ activities last week after Dutch news organizations discovered that members of these groups had been accused of terrorism by the General Prosecutor of the Netherlands.

 


Screenshot (excerpt) of the report in the daily newspaper „Volkskrant“

 

According to the Dutch daily Volkskrant, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs ended their support for the White Helmets after the Directorate for International Research and Policy Evaluation issued a critical report about them [1]. Concerning the White Helmets, which had received €12.5 million from the Dutch government, the following issues were listed:

 

• According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the supervision of the behaviour of the rescue workers is ‚inadequate‘. Mayday, the supervising organization based in the Netherlands is itself closely intertwined with the White Helmets. As a consequence, donors are unable to make out any which organisation they are sponsoring.

• Mayday is unwilling to spend any more than 0.9% of its budget on supervising the work of the White Helmets. ‚That is why there is a lack of independent supervision of the activities and results of the project.‘

• The money for the White Helmets is transferred to the Syrian border in cash or enters the country via the hawala system. It is ‚problematic‘ that Mayday does not know how much money is paid via which route. Accordingly, it is highly possible that money has fallen into the hands of armed groups. The cash flow can also indirectly be used for illegal trade. There is no systematic control of the money flow.

• The White Helmets are active in areas where armed groups considered ‚unacceptable‘ by the Netherlands are in power. Links between the White Helmets and local administrators working with extremist organizations are inevitable.

 

The seemingly intentional lack of transparency practically guarantees that much of the more than $150 million the White Helmets have received from various governments will have ended up in the private pockets of the people organising the scam.

 

 

The Twitteraccount of the founder of White Helmets James Le Mesurier (Screenshot)

 

 

This blog has published several pieces about the White Helmets, mostly of them pointing out their obviously faked media productions:

 

• The U.S./UK Financed „White Helmets“ Shtick – Fake „Child Rescued“ Videos – June 1 2016 [2].

• „Dramatic Rescue! Man With Kid Runs Towards Camera!“ – 44 Staged Pictures – June 21 2016 [3].

• How White Helmets Videos Are Made – November 21 2016 [4].

 

For background information on the White Helmets the earlier pieces by Vanessa Beeley at 21stCenturyWire´ are still unsurpassed: Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part I [5] and Part II – Syria’s White Helmets: ‘Moderate Executioners’ [6].

 

Vanessa Beeley, Eva Barlett (video) [7] and others have tried for years to draw attention to the nefarious scheme behind the ‘White Helmets’ propaganda scam. Roger Waters rightly calls them (video) [8] a ‘fake propaganda construct for terrorists. However, the ‚Western‘ media loved the dramatic fake photos and videos the White Helmets produced, partly because they could put them into print and on screen free of charge. Anyone who criticized them or questioned their narratives was publicly smeared and derided [9].

 

The Volkskrant notes:

 

It is the first time that a Western government has admitted that there are problems with the project. 

 

It will not be the last time. More people will take note, look into the issue and pressure their governments to end their support. As the Dutch know well, once the dikes break it is impossible to stop the flood. The relentless work of a few engaged writers has put pressure on the dike and finally broken it. The White Helmet scam will soon come under massive public scrutiny and will be swept away into some dark corner of history.

 

Just a month ago Germany‘s Foreign Minister Maas, also described as a „well styled NATO call boy“ [10], met the White Helmets front man Raed al-Saleh [11], who had previously been denied entry into the U.S. [12], and promised him more money. Maas also lauded the recent ‚evacuation of White Helmets‘ from the Quneitra and Daraa area to Israel, in reality just another scam [13]. Israel used the cover provided by the White Helmets cover to evacuated a number of terrorists commanders it had paid and equipped for years for its war on Syria [14].

 

Maas and his NATO colleagues in other countries will soon be asked to comment on the Dutch example. Can they refute the analysis presented by the Foreign Ministry of their NATO, the Netherlands? Can Maas explain what has happened to the €17 million Germany donated? Whose pockets has the money ended up in?

 

Update (Sep 16, 5:30 utc):

The Netherlands have also ended their participation in the U.S. bombing campaign against ISIS:

 

Royal Netherlands Air Force F-16 fighter jets will be pulled out of the mission against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria at the end of the year, the Dutch government said on Friday, September 14.

 

‘Cabinet has decided not to prolong the use of F-16s in the fight against IS past December 31,” the Dutch cabinet said in a statement on Friday.

 

Some 80 Dutch troops will continue to provide training for the Iraqi army [15].

 

Update (Sep 16, 9:10 utc):

The publishing note on the report discussed above issued by the Foreign Ministry is available in the Dutch language [16]. There is a cover letter (pdf) [17] from the Directorate for International Research and Policy Evaluation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also in Dutch. It describes the programs the Netherlands have sponsored (machine translation):

 

Since the start of the conflict, the Netherlands have spent more than EUR 70 million in stabilization support on Syria, in consultation with many like-minded international partners and donors. The programmes aimed to help establish some degree of normalcy so that normal life could resume in the opposition area, preventing further refugee flows, new alignments of power and the influence of extremists. This support took place within the complex and fluid context of the Syrian war, during which the situation on the ground has changed drastically during the past seven years. The Cabinet has informed the House about contributions to the projects, including the significant contributions to the non-lethal assistance program (NLA), White Helmets, and Access to Justice and Community Security (AJACS) program from 2015.

 

The evaluation report itself is in English: Review of the monitoring systems of three projects in Syria AJACS, White Helmets and NLA (pdf) [18].

 

Sources:

[1] Van Es, Ana, „Nederland stopt steun aan Syrische oppositie wegens gebrekkig toezicht op hulpprojecten; Britse organisatie ontkent kritiek“, in de Volkskrant [10. Sept. 2018], <https://www.volkskrant.nl/nieuws-achtergrond/nederland-stopt-steun-aan-syrische-oppositie-wegens-gebrekkig- toezicht-op-hulpprojecten-britse-organisatie-ontkent-kritiek-~bda7b84e/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[2] Moon of Alabama, „The U.S./UK Financed „White Helmets“ Shtick – Fake „Child Rescued“ Videos [1. Jun. 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/06/the-usuk-financed-white-helmets-shtick-fake-child-rescued-videos.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[3] Moon of Alabama, „Dramatic Rescue! Man With Kid Runs Towards Camera!“, [21. June 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/06/gallery-dramatic-rescue-man-with-kid-runs-towards-camera-43-staged-pictures.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[4] Moon of Alabama, „How White Helmets Videos Are Made“, [21. Nov. 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/11/how-white-helmets-videos-are-made.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[5] Beeley, Vanessa, „Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part I“, [23. Oct. 2015] 21st Century Wire, <https://21stcenturywire.com/2015/10/23/syrias-white-helmets-war-by-way-of-deception-part-1/>, zuletzt gesichtet 20.09.2018.

[6] Beeley, Vanessa, „Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception – Part II“ [28. Oct. 2015] 21st Century Wire, <https://21stcenturywire.com/2015/10/28/part-ii-syrias-white-helmets-war-by-way-of-deception-moderate-executioners/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[7] Bartlett, Eva, „On the White Helmets Hoax and the Information War against Syria“, Interview mit Eva Bartlett at RT, published on Youtube [21. Oct. 2016], <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pCr315h9Tw>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[8] Waters, Roger, „White Helmets are Fake Propaganda Construct for Terrorists“, published on Youtube [15. Apr. 2018], <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnUhjN3Vu6c>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[9] Moon of Alabama, „The Media War On Truthful Reporting And Legitimate Opinions – A Documentary“ [21. Apr. 2018], <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/the-media-war-on-truthful-reporting-and-legitimate-opinions-a-documentary.html>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[10] Sputnik News, Interview with Diether Dehm [05. Apr. 2018], <https://de.sputniknews.com/politik/20180405320204986-nato-deutschland-hauptfeind/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[11] Twitter Account from German Foreign Office, @GermanyDiplo [17.08.2018], <https://twitter.com/GermanyDiplo/status/1030423384998506496>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[12] Westcott, Lucy, „Syrian Humanitarian Raed Saleh Is Denied Entry to U.S.“ in Newsweek [22. Apr. 2016, 15h55], <https://www.newsweek.com/raed-saleh-syrian-civil-defense-denied-entry-us-451637>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[13] Twitter Account from German Foreign Office, @GermanyDiplo [22. Juli 2018] @heikomaas on the Evacuation of #WhiteHelmets, <https://twitter.com/GermanyDiplo/status/1021051613950201856>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[14] Tsurkov, Elizabeth, „Inside Israel’s Secret Program to Back Syrian Rebels“, Foreign Policy [6. Sept. 2018],  <https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/06/in-secret-program-israel-armed-and-funded-rebel-groups-in-southern-syria/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[15] The Defence Post, „Netherlands to pull F-16 fighter jets from ISIS mission in Iraq and Syria. Dutch cabinet decided ‚not to prolong the use‘ of F-16s against ISIS after December 31.“, in The Defence Post [14. Sept. 2018]  <https://thedefensepost.com/2018/09/14/netherlands-end-isis-airstrikes-f-16/>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[16] Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, «Evaluatie van de monitoringssystemen van drie projecten door Nederland gesteunde projecten in Syrië (AJACS, Witte Helmen en NLA)» [01. Aug. 2018], <https://www.iob-evaluatie.nl/publicaties/evaluaties/2018/08/01/423-%E2%80%93-iob-%E2%80%93-review-of-the-monitoring-systems-of-three-projects-in-syria-%E2%80%93-ajacs-white-helmets-and-nla>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[17] Ministerie van Buitenlands Zaken, «Beleidsreactie», [7. Sept. 2018], <https://www.iob-evaluatie.nl/binaries/iob-evaluatie/documenten/brieven/2018/09/07/423-%E2%80%93-beleidsreactie/423+%E2%80%93+Beleidsreactie.pdf>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018.

[18] Dutch Foreign Ministry, «Review 423 – IOB – Review of the monitoring systems of three projects in Syria – AJACS, White Helmets and NLA», August 2018. Download at <https://www.iob-evaluatie.nl/binaries/iob-evaluatie/documenten/evaluaties/2018/08/01/423-%E2%80%93-iob-%E2%80%93-review-of-the-monitoring-systems-of-three-projects-in-syria-%E2%80%93-ajacs-white-helmets-and-nla/423+%E2%80%93+IOB+%E2%80%93+Review+of+the+monitoring+systems+of+three+projects+in+Syria+%E2%80%93+AJACS%2C+White+Helmets+and+NLA.pdf>, last viewed on 20. Sept. 2018

 

 

This text was first published on 15. Sept. 2018 on www.moonofalabama.org at the URL <http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/09/netherland-ends-support-for-white-helmets-terrorist-propaganda-scam.html>. License: Moon of Alabama