Syria: who are the White Helmets?

Many people buy the line on White Helmets as heroes doing Good Works to alleviate a Syrian nightmare caused by Assad’s “bloody crackdown on Arab Spring protests” at Daara in 2011, and refusal since then to ‘step down’ as western leaders would have him do. I don’t blame those people, guilty only of an excess of trust. But for The Guardian, which last October nominated White Helmets for Nobel Peace Prize, or a BBC that ran this report last month, no such excuses apply. These media still claim, albeit with shrinking plausibility – here and here – investigative zeal and fearless impartiality.

On the Arab Spring aspects, do try this 3,000 word account. For fuller treatment, Professor Tim Anderson’s impressively documented book, Dirty War on Syria, is a must-read. And for a quick peek into why a growing number are refusing to accept yet another ‘regime change’ in the middle east, see this revelation by former French Foreign Minister, Roland Dumas.

But what of those White Helmets? Ever wondered why we’ve had no vox pops with ordinary Aleppians following the city’s “fall” – aka  liberation from a western backed Islamist reign of terror? No interviews with citizens lining up to pour out undying gratitude to these saints? They had $100 million from USA, Denmark, Britain and other nations determined Assad must go – while maintaining on their website they take no funding from any government – so why so little to show for it? As with reasons for the war itself, we now have alternative sources on the White Helmets. Try here. Or here. Or here. Or simply watch this video …