It’s incredible to watch how fake news spreads whether it’s done by paid trolls or someone with a different agenda. Naturally, and not for the first time, the subject of fake news has cropped up in Syria — the Trump administration is now saying that Russia and Syria are engaged in a coverup of last week’s chemical attack “to confuse the world community about the assault through disinformation and ‘false narratives,'” according to a declassified report published by The New York Times.
Trump is no stranger to fake news, but this report is especially interesting since earlier today (before Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s arrival in Moscow), Russian president Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. of faking last week’s chemical attack to frame Syrian president Bashar al-Assad as well as planning further attacks to destroy Assad’s standing in the world. This line of thinking fits in quite nicely with the anonymous White House official who said, “Russia’s goal was to cover up Syrian regime culpability” in last week’s attack.
Per USA Today:
The NSC report said Syria’s use of chemical weapons is “unacceptable” and poses a “clear threat” to the United States and the world. It called on the international community to make a statement that “this behavior will not be tolerated,” though it did not specify possible consequences.
While not specifically mentioning Russia in its call for action, the report said: “This is a critical moment — we must demonstrate that subterfuge and false facts hold no weight, that excuses by those shielding their allies are making the world a more dangerous place.”
One new wrinkle though, was revealed by press secretary Sean Spicer Tuesday when he said there was no agreement inside the intelligence community about whether or not Russia had prior knowledge of the attacks before they occurred last week.
(via The New York Times and USA Today)