SYRIAN OPPOSITION FIGHTERS COMMITTED WAR CRIMES, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORTS

SHADES OF BOSNIA, KOSOVO: US GOVERNMENT-BACKED FIGHTERS COMMIT WAR CRIMES WHILE BLAMING OTHERS 

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: “The individuals or countries that are supporting these groups (i.e., the US, France, Britain, Saudi Arabia, UAE among others), are now on notice about the type of violations they are committing, and could be complicit in war crimes or crimes against humanity if they continue.”

Talks about a pot calling the kettle black. It turns out the US government and its allies (France, Britain, Saudi Arabia, UAE among others) may have been complicit in the war crimes its proxies in Syria had committed.  Syrian opposition groups killed at least 190 civilians during an operation against a regime stronghold in early August, according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch. Fighters reportedly also seized over 200 hostages, some of whom remain in captivity.

The human rights organization writes in its new report that on Aug. 4, the fighters of 20 armed opposition groups launched a coordinated offensive in the Northern coastal province of Latakia that lasted several days. Note that these atrocities were committed several weeks BEFORE Obama and his warmongering advisors started to threaten military action against the Syrian government (see Syria: Soldiers find chemical agents in rebel tunnel).

Over a month ago, the US government threatened military action against Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons against civilians.  Russian president Putin called the US Secretary of State a liar and said his country would come to Syria’s defense. Eventually, Obama and his hawks backed down and worked with Russia on a peaceful solution to the crisis they created out of thin air themselves.

It is all chillingly reminiscent of some 1990s wars in Bosnia and Kosovo which writer covered as war correspondent.  The US-backed Muslim insurgents would commit atrocities, sometimes against their own civilian population, so as to blame their adversaries for it. And CNN and other western cameras were on hand to record and spread the lies and deceptions (see the old Truth in Media web site).

Fortunately, there are now more brave journalists and humanists who are willing to risk their lives so as to report the full truth.

“When I was in the Latakia countryside, people came up to us and they described in detail finding dead relatives either in a mass grave or in their homes in the village,”said Lama Fakih, a Syria researcher for Human Rights Watch. “Village after village, homes had been destroyed. Homes had been burned and the population was by and large not around.”

“One of the patterns that emerged was that opposition fighters were systematically killing adult men and trying to keep women and children alive as hostages,” Fakih explained.

According to Joe Stork, acting Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, the abuses were not the action of rogue fighters but part of a coordinated, planned attack on the civilian population.  The Human Rights Watch broadcast ends this video with the following warning:

“The individuals or countries that are supporting these groups (i.e., the US, France, Britain, Saudi Arabia, UAE among others), are now on notice about the type of violations they are committing, and could be complicit in war crimes or crimes against humanity if they continue.”

And now, here’s the Human Rights Watch video report:

Direct Youtube link: http://youtu.be/U10D0-wiJ8A

Ironically, in mid-September, several countries decided to increase their support for these murderous criminals (see France to increase support for Syrian rebels, Sep 14, 2013). Which leaves little doubt about these governments’ complicity in the war crimes the Syrian rebel forces are committing.