Thread: US's Kerry caught using fake photos to fuel Syrian conflict

US's Kerry caught using fake photos to fuel Syrian conflict


Secretary of State John Kerry opened his speech Friday by describing the horrors victims of the chemical weapon attack had suffered, including twitching, spasms and difficulty breathing. Attempting to drive the point home, Kerry referenced a photograph used by the BBC, illustrating a child jumping over hundreds of dead bodies covered in white shrouds. The Secretary of State forgot to mention, however, that this photo was taken during US intervention in Iraq back in 2003.

The photo which was later retracted was meant to depict victims who allegedly succumbed to the effects of chemical weapons launched by Assad’s regime.

However, it was later exposed that the photograph used had been taken in 2003 in Iraq.

The Secretary of State announced the US will continue “negotiations” with Congress and the American people.
The decision came after the UK Parliament voted against military action in Syria on Thursday evening, refusing to accompany the US in a missile strike against the Middle Eastern nation.

Germany also voiced opposition to a Syrian military intervention saying they have “not considered it” and “will not be considering it”.

France, however, released statements saying they intend to act alongside the US in an attempt to “punish” Syria for the alleged chemical weapons attack.

Despite numerous allies’ refusal to get involved, Kerry argued “Many friends stand ready to respond”.

Kerry alleged that not just one, but several chemical weapon attacks have occurred. The attack last week in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta killed 1,429 Syrians, including 426 children. However, Infowars reveals that the “international aid group, Doctors Without Borders, reported 355 people were killed in the attack last week, not the wildly exaggerated figure cited by Kerry”.

The Secretary of State said the US government has “high confidence” Assad carried out the attack, affirming military intervention would be “common sense”.

He referred to the attack as an “indiscriminate, inconceivable and horrific act,” claiming a Syrian senior regime official admitted responsibility. However, he offered no hard evidence backing this claim.

On Friday Secretary of State Kerry claimed that US intelligence concluded the Assad government is responsible for the chemical attack in Damascus on August 21. Kerry said that the evidence the US has is "clear and compelling" but did not offer and proof. Kerry also added that any action that Barack Obama might decide to take will be limited. "We know there is no ultimate military solution. It has to be political," Kerry said.

According to Kerry, the US knows "where the rockets were launched from and at what time. ... We know where they landed and when."

Kerry claims that 1,429 people were killed in the attack, including 426 children, and said the assessment was based on "multiple" streams of intelligence.

The Assad regime has consistently denied it was responsible.

"Our intelligence community has carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack," Kerry said, referring to last week's alleged chemical strike outside Damascus."It's done so more than mindful of the Iraq experience. We will not repeat that moment."

As Kerry spoke, the White House sent reporters a "unclassified" summary of the US intelligence community's "assessment of the Syrian government's use of chemical weapons on Aug. 21, 2013."

It says, in part that:

"The United States Government assesses with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013."

"A preliminary U.S. government assessment determined that 1,429 people were killed in the chemical weapons attack, including at least 426 children, though this assessment will certainly evolve as we obtain more information."

"We have intelligence that leads us to assess that Syrian chemical weapons personnel – including personnel assessed to be associated with the SSRC – were preparing chemical munitions prior to the attack."

"Satellite detections corroborate that attacks from a regime-controlled area struck neighborhoods where the chemical attacks reportedly occurred – including Kafr Batna, Jawbar, 'Ayn Tarma, Darayya, and Mu'addamiyah."
Voice of Russia, Infowars

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_0...127/?from=menu

So, Secretary of State John Kerry referenced this photograph when making his speech today, trying to drive home how awful the Syrian chemical attack was as he tried to convince us why we should go to war. One problem. The picture isn't even from Syria. It's from Iraq in 2003. The photographer, Marco di Lauro, said he nearly "fell off his chair" when he saw it was being used to promote a war in Syria. It's getting pretty disturbing to see how far our politicians, both Republican and Democrat, are willing to go to drum up support for a war nobody wants.

From 2004 for all those too young to remember.

COMMUNIST MUSEUM REMOVES KERRY PHOTO

Vet discovers manager put it
in drawer after it got publicity

Published: 10/25/2004 at 1:00 AM
ART MOORE

Apparently concerned about influencing the U.S. presidential campaign, Vietnamese communist officials ordered a war museum in Ho Chi Minh City to remove a photograph of John Kerry from a display that was highlighted in “Unfit for Command,” the best-seller challenging the senator’s version of his military service and his antiwar activities.


Vietnam veteran Bob Paris at a Ho Chi Minh City war museum Friday with a photograph formerly on display. At right is a copy of “Unfit for Command.” (Courtesy: Bob Paris)

“Unfit for Command” described the photo as “part of an exhibit honoring heroes who had helped the Vietnamese communists win the war against the United States.”

An angered American veteran of the Vietnam War who learned of the photograph through the book, traveled last week to the former Saigon to see it for himself.

But Bob Paris, an ex-Army helicopter pilot who now lives in Hawaii, said he discovered Thursday that the museum manager removed the picture from the display about one month ago and stuffed it in a desk drawer.

Saturday, however, Paris returned to the museum to find the picture had been put back on the wall – this time in a display clearly designed to emphasize Kerry’s diplomatic efforts as a senator rather than his more controversial antiwar activities.

“Unfit for Command” co-author Jerome Corsi believes the removal and recasting of the photo is indication Vietnamese officials don’t want to embarrass Kerry.

“The communists don’t want to do anything that would be detrimental to him being elected,” Corsi told WND. “If he wants foreign leaders to support him, he can certainly count on Vietnam’s communist regime.”

As WND reported in June, the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum – formerly known as the “War Crimes Museum” – displayed the picture in a hall that, according to a plaque, honored activists around the world for their “wholehearted support and strong encouragement to our people’s patriotic resistance against the U.S. for national salvation.”
The photograph shows Sen. Kerry meeting communist officials in 1993 as a member of a U.S. delegation.

The English placard below the photo read: “Mr. Do Muoi, Secretary General of the Vietnamese Communist Party met with Congressman and Veterans Delegation in Vietnam (July 15-18, 1993).”

In an e-mail obtained by WND, Paris said that when he arrived Thursday, he couldn’t find the photo and began searching the grounds.
He found the manager and asked about it.

“This is when I witnessed [the manager] take the picture out of his desk drawer, and I was told that he had been directed to remove the picture a month earlier,” Paris said.

The veteran said he was able to get permission to have himself photographed with the Kerry picture Friday afternoon.

border=0/> Vietnam veteran Bill Lupetti took this photograph of a display at a Ho Chi Minh City museum honoring war protesters.

The first documentation of the picture was acquired by Vietnam veteran Bill Lupetti and publicized by Vietnam Vets for the Truth, a group that held a rally against Kerry’s candidacy in Washington in September.

The group said the photograph’s “unquestionable significance” lies in its placement in the American protesters’ section of the museum.

“The Vietnamese communists clearly recognize John Kerry’s contributions to their victory,” group spokesman Jeff Epstein said in June.

Now, according to a report from Paris yesterday, “There was a new display of pictures and the hard communist war rhetoric that was present in the old display is now been changed. Kerry is no longer featured as a North Vietnamese war hero, but as a visiting American diplomat.”

Corsi believes Vietnamese officials’ attempt to modify the display reinforces a major point made in “Unfit for Command.”

“The Vietnamese communists have always seen John Kerry as their go-to guy,” he said.
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2004/10/27165/#Epe30g4CBAuwiUCs.99

He is right there with Jane Fonda. Every politician that voted to confirm hism as Secretary of State is culpable. JMO

KERRY HONORED AT COMMUNIST MUSEUM
Photograph hangs in section devoted to war protesters

Published: 06/01/2004 at 12:14 PM

A Ho Chi Minh City museum that honors Vietnam war protesters features a photograph of Sen. John Kerry being greeted by the general secretary of the Communist Party, Comrade Do Muoi.

A snapshot of the display in the Vietnamese Communist War Remnants Museum – formerly known as the “War Crimes Museum” – was acquired over the weekend by Jeffrey M. Epstein of Vietnam Vets for the Truth, a group opposing Kerry’s campaign for the presidency.

Vietnam veteran Bill Lupetti took this photograph of a display at a Ho Chi Minh City museum honoring war protesters.

A spokesman with Kerry’s national campaign did not return a call from WND seeking comment.

The snapshot of the display, which depicts a July 1993 meeting, was forwarded to Epstein by Bob Shirley, one of more than 200 members of Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth who signed an open letter questioning Kerry’s fitness to serve as commander in chief.

Epstein said the picture of the display was taken by Bill Lupetti, a Swift Boat Veteran who currently is visiting Vietnam.

Epstein said the display photograph’s “unquestionable significance lies in its placement in the American protesters’ section of the War Crimes Museum” in Ho Chi Minh City, the former Saigon.

“The Vietnamese communists clearly recognize John Kerry’s contributions to their victory,” he said. “This find can be compared to the discovery of a painting of Neville Chamberlain hanging in a place of honor in Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in 1945.”

Below the display photograph are explanatory placards in English, French, Vietnamese and Chinese.

The English placard reads: “Mr. Do Muoi, Secretary General of the Vietnamese Communist Party met with Congressman and Veterans Delegation in Vietnam (July 15-18, 1993).”

Epstein’s group says the exhibit refutes Kerry’s insistence his anti-war protests did not render support to the enemy in time of war.

“The Vietnamese communists clearly feel that the American anti-war protesters were a very important force in undermining support in the United States for American war efforts, a force that contributed materially to ultimate communist victory in 1975,” the group said in a statement.

Vietnam Vets for the Truth says it was established to organize a rally publicizing “Kerry’s lies” during the “Winter Soldier” hearings in the U.S. Senate in 1971. The rally, called “Kerry Lied,” will be held on Capitol Hill Sept. 12.

The Swift Boat Veterans also have called on Kerry to stop unauthorized use of their images in national campaign advertising.The group says only two of the 20 officers in one photo support him and 11 have signed the letter condemning the candidate.

One veteran in the photo, William Shumadine, said Kerry’s use of the photo “is a complete misrepresentation to the public and a total fraud.”

Related stories:
‘Kerry lied while good men died’
Vets to Kerry: Stop using photos
Vet: Officers told Kerry to leave Vietnam
Kerry ‘loose cannon,’ says ex-commander
Kerry unrepentant for pro-Hanoi activism

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2004/06/24870/#JZd4LFc1xVTwXoUy.99