First we see the munition arriving by truck
Here we see it loaded on the launcher, a tube launcher as predicted, on the back of a truck
The munition is then raised into firing position
And launched
Also note among the group men in red berets
Red berets are worn by members of the Syrian Republican Guard, also known as the Presidential Guard, as well as the military police.
Just to clarify, as it's confused some people, the August 21st CW attack was at night, but this video shows the munition being used by the government forces, something it has used several times before (see here), so while it might not be the CW attack, it shows the government using them. I also believe there's a high explosive version of this munition as well, as seen in Homs.
Nic Jenzen-Jones has more information on this munition on his blog.
Update I've just been contacted by the activists who filmed this, who said "This is fired from the areas to the east and north east of Al-Mezzeh Airport around Daraya."
Update Nic Jenzen-Jones highlights on his excellent blog post on these munitions a photograph from November showing a launcher he identifies as an Iranian Falaq-2 loaded with what could be the same munition. The earliest video of this type of munition is from January 2013.
Related Articles
Preliminary analysis of alleged CW munitions used in Syria
Were The UN Inspectors Examining A Chemical Weapon In Medmah Al Sham?
Finding The Exact Location Of An Alleged Chemical Munition, And What It Could Mean
Images of rockets which 'delivered poison' to Damascus
Claims Of Opposition DIY Weapons Used In This Week's Alleged Chemical Attack
More Videos Emerge Of Chemical Attack Linked Mystery Munitions
Are These The Munitions Used In Today's Alleged Chemical Weapon Attack?
DIY Weapon Linked To Alleged Chemical Weapon Attack in Adra, Damascus
A Mystery Munition - Syrian Army DIY Rockets?
Collected Chemical Weapon Posts
You can contact the author on Twitter @brown_moses or by email at brownmoses@gmail.com
And here are the rebels doing exactly the same
ReplyDeletehttp://t.co/zbOULbS9aB
I'd point out that is a filming of the Hell Cannon, and has no relation to any of the rockets they've found around the CW attack area.
DeleteIts not the same thing
lol -- these weapons are so crude, you can even see where they torch cut the fins with irregular shapes, and where they welded the bars to the propane cans.
DeleteThese are propane tipped canons, detonated with a fuse upon impact.
Wow, you've grown more biased lately, Moses. This seems to be neither an official military operation nor a chemical warhead launch. About 50% of personnel present on the site were in civilian clothing which doesn't match other videos of Syrian army. The launcher looks crude, like a converted concrete mixer truck, something more expected from the rebels. Finally, the people present do not seem to be taking any precautions in case the launch goes pineapple.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to assume that if I was part of the Syrian Gov in charge of this operation I will send as many people in civilians clothes.
DeleteThat the truck appears to be something else will be also a good idea. You will like to disguise a truck that will launch a rocket from anyplace.
I was wondering too about the protection for the people around, but I'm going to guess that they don't have any alternative. They have to do it. Maybe they were told that it is completely safe. What will happen if somebody says NO to Assad's generals?
The launchers are hydraulically operated and anything but crude. The truck is a brand new truck. This is obviously Syrian Army, with probably some intelligence people.
DeleteThe only mystery is why are there so many people around. I think because this is a technical operation, and many of the people there appear Russian, and they need security.
The Attack happened at night 2am so this can't be it. Your claim on twitter is "its not the same attack its the same munition", there was only one gas attack dear. So if it's the same munition then it couldn't have been a gas munition. The most hillarious thing is your last bit of evidence is red berrets? WHAT? The Syrian army has a chemical warefare division and it's not the republican guard. Congrats you have lost all credibility you built up, you were saving yourself up for this.
ReplyDeleteThe point is it's the same kind of munition recovered from the scene of the various attacks in Eastern Ghouta, and there's videos going back to January showing the remains of these munitions, so it's pretty clear that the Syrian military had the capability of launching the munitions linked to the attack on August 21st.
Deletesame munition dosent mean same payload. This can have a conventional payload hence no one is wearing protective gear
DeleteSyriangirl, relax this is just a blog
SyrianGirl - These are thermobaric conventional weapons that have their fuel replaced with liquid nerve agents.
DeleteThis particular launch may be the standard thermobaric rocket being launched. There are many remnants of this type of rocket found and filmed.
On August 21, they replaced the payload of fuel with nerve agents. Nobody at the field can tell that the payload is other than fuel. So they people there believe this is standard thermobaric they are launching.
CWs are not handled by regular forces. It will be highly trained intelligence officers who control the CW, not conscripts in the SAA.
Here's a video
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZwlBZS-jR8
of the same launch location as this video's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ddlAXHmfLQ
outgoing unidentified rocket. This video has incoming rounds.It was uploaded Aug 7th, and the outgoing rocket was uploaded Aug22nd. Note the red roofed house with two chimneys and the launch location behind the trees. They could have been filmed the same day, or not. Regardless this shows that this is an active area of battle, hotly contested. It is still unclear as to who is using these types of rockets.
Brown Moses, you are really digging yourself in with this; just answer this VERY SIMPLE question:
ReplyDeleteWhat is your evidence (if any) that the photos and videos you received from activists who told you they portray the munitions photographed and filmed on the location of the CW attacks are IN FACT the munitions really used in the alleged attacks?
Is it merely the words of the activists? Any evidence linking this munition type with the alleged CW attack of 21/8?
I understand your point that the gov of Syria has this type of munition, please do not repeat yourself. Answer the question. How do you link the munition with the alleged CW attack of 21/8?
Amazing fact: all your web of allegations is constructed on this hearsay, I just cannot believe a rational person would think this constitute solid evidence.
"I understand your point that the gov of Syria has this type of munition, please do not repeat yourself."
DeleteHe seems to need to. His point is that the government uses this same unusual munition which was found at the CW strikes.
"Answer the question. How do you link the munition with the alleged CW attack of 21/8?"
His point is that the government uses this same unusual munition which was found at the CW strikes. Sorry to repeat myself.
This type of munition has been filmed surrounded with animals dead due to nerve agents.
DeleteSnake Oil Baron, I am not asking how is this munition related to the Syrian gov, but how is it related to the alleged CW attack that killed approx. 350 people.
DeleteSo again, you seem not to understand the point. I will try to make myself clear: how does BM know that the munitions shown in the photos and videos he received after the 21/8 events were photographed at the site(s) of the alleged CW attack(s), and not remnants of unexploded munitions used prior to the alleged 21/8 attack(s)?
His evidence seems to be this: just the words of the people who sent him the photos and videos.
Adding insult to injury, notice that the people filmed and photographed with the munitions are handling the munitions without protection whatsoever. Even I saw a video where they were parading this supposedly CW munition like a coffin in the streets, dancing and chanting, and passing it over their shoulder.
Tlon Uqbar - there are videos showing the crimpled munition surrounded by gassed animals.
DeleteKhalid, listen mate, I have seen and reviewed scrupulously each and every one of the videos of the alleged attack(s). Are you really trying a trick on this blog page or do you sincerely believe the two dead birds are the confirmation of the link between the munition and the alleged attack(s)?
DeleteMaybe you have a new videos. Post a link to your video evidence if you dare ;-) and let the Arabic speakers (including myself and maybe yourself?) be amazed (In the known videos which I think you are alluding to, the commentators' narratives are very unrealistic, almost comical if they were not referring to this most tragic event. For example referring to an obvious recently-plowed potato field as a field of green grass that was burned by the sarin missile! Ask Dan Kaszeta about how much this claim makes sense!)
Tlon Uqbar -- That munition in the potato field was not CW. It was thermobaric, and that is why the building is partly demolished and the place is covered with soot, including the burnt field.
DeleteYou are obviously confusing the two weapons, granted they look alike.
How can you even claim that there is no CW, when you confuse the two munitions? The one with the two dead dogs and a cat is the CW weapon. There are no burn marks. The one in the potato field is thermobaric.
Is it a VL-IRAM?
ReplyDeleteHere's another vid of the strange rocket scraps. It is interesting to note that in many of the vids, the canister has seperated in to equal sized, consistent strips. Perhaps something to do with the design of the canister?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR3Aa6jLtVQ&feature=youtu.be
I think the canister is etched in straight lines to introduce a deliberate weakness so upon intact, the canister opens up consistently and wholly so that the content is released to the maximum. The little bomblets containing nerve agents dropped from helicopter earlier this year also had this design.
DeleteJust to be clear: this is the same type of rocket mentioned in your previous blog post - the 140mm M14 being examined by the UN inspector - correct?
ReplyDeleteHezbollah has also elite troops with red berets. They are operating in Syria. And using civilian looking camouflaged trucks and clothes especially fits Hezbollah operations in South-Lebanon...with all the Israeli "eyes". What proof is there this is not Hezbollah but Assad troops? Hezbollah has the means, has the motivation, and has the will to attack their religious enemies.
ReplyDeleteI've updated the title as it seemed to confuse people who aren't reading the whole post.
ReplyDeleteBut how is this munition linked to the chemical attack of 21/8?
DeleteThe photos and videos you received from "activists"? This is evidence?
Here is a thought: what if there was no munition in the alleged chemical attack of 21/8?
ReplyDeleteI say "chemical attack" and not CW attack because most experts agree there are no hallmark of any weapon-grade chemical payload in these tragic events.
See Gwyn Winfield here: http://www.cbrneworld.com/news/reflections_on_ghouta#axzz2dEoviAAc
And Dan Kaszeta here: http://strongpointsecurity.co.uk/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Revised-Thoughts-on-Damascus.pdf
Both agree there must be another explanation for the large number of deaths, and it is not any known CW. Read the reports, they are very interesting.
What if the rebels were producing some crude chemical weapon from industrial chemicals (like Kaszeta say is a possibility for the murderous payload), and something in their experience went awry. For example, the lab they were using in civilian neighborhood, with maybe civilians hiding from the ongoing battle in the basement of a nearby building. And suddenly, their lab is hit by a conventional weapon and the whole chemicals are spread and descend into the basement where people are huddling and trapped and suffocation ensues?
Most of the videos showed this exact cause of death is a distinct possibility: suffocation.
Where are the 400 dead? Where are the videos of the dead rebels or fighters, activists?
If you think this is merely a scenario, what makes you think that BM's view is anything but another scenario. Which one is more plausible? The Syrian gov signing a CW attack for the UN mission sleeping a few kilometer away, or the rebels eager to get Western intervention to stage a chemical attack to make this same team of UN inspectors accuse the gov?
So the rebels had several lab accidents in close coordination with regime attacks. That's almost as credible as rebels gassing their our controlled areas just before a major air and missile assault by the regime.
DeleteThere were six separate attacks separated by kilometers. So you are saying that the rebels are cooking nerve gas in six different laboratories at the same time and six accidents take place at the same time killing themselves and their family members? This is so clownish.
DeleteBefore saying "clownish", what is your evidence there were "six separate attacks"?
DeleteThis is the main problem with most of these Twitterati and Bloggeratti "experts" and their fans: they keep going round and round starting from a completely unsubstantiated premice that could be true or false.
No evidence. Theories. That's all.
That is why we need to go back to the motives. And this of course points to the rebels, and to none other than the rebels.
Just a theory, like all other claims herein.
Tlon Uqbar - The victims in the hospitals came from different parts and towns.
DeleteThere were a few thousand people injured. There are journalists, medical workers, ordinary people with access to internet. They are saying the same thing.
As far as circumstantial motivation goes - you realize that Assad has been pounding these towns for months now and his progress has hit a massive wall -- while he is losing one base after another and one town after another in the north? If he can't show progress in Damascus and show it fast, his regime will implode.
Khalid, where to start?
DeleteYou know what, I concede the argument to you, I am tired.
I remind people reading this though that the so-called rebels have only one medium-sized town firmly in their hands: Raqqa, where US terrorist-classified organizations rule.
All major cities of Syria are firmly and stubbornly loyal to the Syrian government, except Aleppo which is sadly divided, and a martyr city now.
The link is that these munitions aren't very common, and have only been seen in use by regime forces.
ReplyDeleteThey have been seen at the sites of previous, smaller scale CW attacks.
The remains found are too intact to have been at the center of a HE or thermbaric detonation. That suggests that the warhead dispersed its payload, and that it was minimally destructive.
Really? You call this collection of SUPPOSED circumstances evidence?
DeleteAnd what is the evidence they were really found on the site of the alleged CW attack? The words of the same people who filmed them (singing and carrying them on their shoulders like the trophee they are)? But those people are one side in the war.
What is your evidence there were other "smaller scale CW attacks"? You think by adding unfounded allegation you make this allegation more true?
Come on, this is not serious, not even for a teenager to consider.
"The remains found are too intact to have been ..."
DeleteHave you heard of unexploded munitions before?
By the way, how many of these do you have, now 8 days after the event?
Read Dan Kaszeta's thoughts and how he positively assures that hundreds of these munitions would be required if they really were used in this attack.
I'll ask Dan and Gwyn for their thoughts when they are next free, I'm in frequent contact with them over this issue.
DeleteWell that missile is like at least 3-4 times bigger than anything show on the "chemical attack" pictures.... most be totally different kind.
ReplyDeleteLook at the one from Homs, how big do you think it is?
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThtLIc0iEzc&list=PLPC0Udeof3T4_ws0Xhv4O2ABwjrxYJVK9
That rocket's OD is about the length from the rifle(background), butt to clip.
DeleteThe launcher in the video could comfortable fit a full grown man.
Honestly...
I still think whatever this video shows the US and pals should wait for the UN team to do their job.
ReplyDeleteThe one in your clip form Homs somehow looks smaller to me.... there's not much to scale it to, but the AK-47 propped up in the background...
ReplyDeleteNic Jenzen-Jones estimated it's at least 2800mm, possibly longer. He'll be doing a new post on it tomorrow at some point, I'll link it here.
DeleteThe weapon indeed appears larger in the video than those found on the ground in rebel territory. Since these are originally thermobaric rockets, they may come in a larger size with more payload and longer range.
DeleteThe smaller ones probably don't need a crane to load and are much more mobile and suited better for a nerve agent payload.
Allow me to add a few comments on the launcher. It's obviously a truck with an attached frame that easily allows it to be camouflaged as a civilian vehicle by adding a tarpaulin.
ReplyDeleteWe have already seen something similar in the shape of the Syrian Maysaloon missile launcher (probably a copy of the Iranian Zelzal missile)
http://tinyurl.com/qdpr9x4
The Syrians seem to have acquired this modus operandi from the Iranians. For comparison see this picture of a cleverly disguised Iranian anti-ship missile launcher:
http://media.farsnews.com/Media/8902/ImageReports/8902051611/1_8902051611_L600.jpg
Some Iranian Shahab launchers spot frames for adding plates or tarpaulins, too.
http://www.farsnews.com/plarg.php?nn=205616&st=460965
Of course this doesn’t mean the launcher is Iranian-made. But what it shows is that the system, despite its DIY look, is not an improvised construction. The only reason you build launchers with integrated camouflage function is being afraid of enemy air superiority. In my opinion this rocket system represents a form of asymmetric chemical warfare strategy devised against Israel a long time ago, well suited for hit and run attacks in the face of enemy air superiority.
One of those creepy obsessive types has reared his ugly head, so I'm pre-moderating comments for now until they get back on their medication.
ReplyDeleteHere's some videos showing some dead animals around the site of claimed missiles.
ReplyDeletethe chemical attack happened on rebel held towns in the ghouta farmbelt.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF4GF1ysNm8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0mA8iS2ItQ
I think the first video is of a thermobaric nature as you can see some incineration and that the sheep are tightly clustered. If it were CW, you would think the animals would be dispersed before they become immobilized.
DeleteNow that I see this, it is clear that thing has nothing to do with chemical weapons. The warhead must weight several hundred kilograms. A huge team and a crane is needed to set this up for launch.
ReplyDeleteThere is no need to deliver this much of sarin or other chemical agent in one punch. The same amount of toxin could far more easily and accurately be delivered in mortar rounds, or 140 mm artillery rockets.
This is termobaric weapon. The true use for the huge cylinder is to create a huge blast. The likely use is a bunker buster; caving in underground tunnels. The range is most likely limited to a few kilometers, accuracy is minimal. Useful in open, unpopulated (or depopulated, as in Syria) areas, but genocidal if fired on civilian neighborhood.
Huh, just as thought: No Fajr-5 launcher (which would have been overkill for such a relatively crude munition). And no other Iranian launcher, either.
ReplyDeleteAs expected, it's an improvised, single tube launcher.
Also, many of the so-called FSyA types as well as Takfiri rebels sport SyA gear, and of course if the object of this exercise were to incriminate SyG, they'd be clad this way.
An indicator, at most, but certainly not conclusive evidence.
Yeah, the rebels are known to drive immaculate new Mercedes Benz trucks with hydraulic lifters and new crane trucks and wear spiffy clean attire.
DeleteGuys, guys... I understand your skepticism, i really do. I'm guilty of being of big offender especially when both parties have been engaged in false-flag operations and black propaganda.
ReplyDeleteBut there is a difference when someone sees the smoking gun and shifts his views upon it and when someone rejects what he sees outright because he doesn't want to believe it.
This is a case of smoking gun.
1- It is not the CW munitions because obviously no one is wearing protective gear, and because of that yellow band stenciled across the body. The same yellow marking we saw in the Homs video where this type of rockets was packed with conventional explosives.
2- I agree, the area is contested and this also could be rebels posing as government soldiers (despite the massive gear they're operating and the large footprint they're leaving). But look closely around 3:48 at your the lower right corner of the video. You'll start partially making out a Syrian government flag fluttering.
There is no question about it and i've honestly buried all doubts i might have had about a rebel false-flag operation. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the smoking gun.
I offer the following theory:
ReplyDeleteThese rockets are indeed Fuel-Air Explosives (FAE or thermobaric). However, the fuel has been drained and replaced with a liquid nerve agent.
An FAE rocket disperses the fuel in air as it approaches the target. When it hits the target a small HE charge goes off, resulting in the detonation of the fuel-air mixture causing the thermobaric action.
As a CW, the rocket disperses the nerve agent, and there is nothing to detonate. But the nerve agent gets distributed over a large area close to the ground and then move according to prevailing winds.
This explains why we see the same rocket causing huge thermobaric explosions, while at other times releasing nerve gas with a small explosion.
I think some of the people there may be foreigners/Russians.
ReplyDeleteAt 2:00 you see the balding chief with a bag strapped on shoulder, white shirt and talking on the cellphone. He is also the last man to leave the area before the launch.
At 4:30 you see a heavy set guy black short sleeve shirt and green khaki pants.
At 6:40 you see another heavy set man white shirt and khaki pants on the platform jumping down and then straightening his attire.
These people appear heavy set, clean and tidy, have a certain swagger you don't see in the ME, and seem to have a supervisory role.
This may be an experimental/training launch of a larger thermobaric requiring a lot more personnel.
Khalid. You're describing a group of Soviet Advisors, as seen in various trouble spots round the world between the fifties and the late eighties.
DeleteRussia herself has largely stopped doing this kind of thing, unless spanking new factory-made ordnance is being purchased. And I think any Poles of Ukranians involved in such an endeavour would have have to be mercenaries.
But Belarus is another matter. It is the only former Soviet Republic that is run as a Soviet Republic, and has been described as Europe's last dictatorship. In addition, it has been involved in disputes about potash and other minerals, rather than oil, of which Syria has almost none. It's possible that Syria (or it's ally, Iran) can supply something which Belarus actually needs, or that Iran is buying something, other than arms, that Belarus needs to sell.
They had a lot of Soviet arms on independence, but I don't think they had as much of the Soviet arms industry as Russia and Ukraine.
These munitions are not really improvised: they are value-engineered versions of more sophisticated Russian munitions. Perhaps more suited to Belarusian industry and Syria's bank-balance, which is under enormous strain.
The leader of Belarus is a bit, well, colourful:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Lukashenko
He is hostile to Israel, and might not be too squeamish about arming one of Israel's more hostile neighbours.
It might be worth looking into the possibility that Lukashenko is sponsoring Assad in a much more direct and lethal way than Mr Putin is prepared to. Especially given that Cameron and Obama are inclined to regard Syria as one of Mr Putin's client states, so the chances of Lukashenko getting clean away with it must be pretty good.
I agree that we're looking at an experiment or field trial here, too.
Maybe the Baltic states need to look much harder at everything being shipped across their territory by Belarus.
any on the text on the side of the truck?
ReplyDeleteThe video is too blurry to recognise the letters visually or with OCR. There are obviously 8 Latin or Cyrillic letters. Letters 2 and 6 seem to be triangular, and I think only letter A could produce such shape. Letter 3 seems to be T, especially when the image is deblurred a little. The width and squareness of letter 5 suggests it's either M or Latin W or Cyrillic Ш. Other letters could be anything as far as I can tell.
DeleteThe usual practice is for firms owning and operating the truck to print their name or logo. There's probably hundreds or thousands small firms like this so identifying one is probably impossible. I guess it could also be related to the manufacturer of the crane if the whole vehicle wasn't manufactured by Mercedes. I've done some googling about this and I could only come up with a German company that installs electrical upgrades into cranes, but that's quite a far shot.
I believe I understand now - there appear to be two distinct munitions associated with the chemical attack being discussed here. The first munition was shown in the previous blog post and is the Soviet M-14 140mm rocket. The second munition is the one being fired in the video in this blog post and is fired from the Iranian 333mm Falaq-2 launcher. I believe this will eliminate the confusion that people are having.
ReplyDelete(M-14 Schematic: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YOJnt5pruzM/UhzAsjnD87I/AAAAAAAAFHo/hCSD8te27L0/s1600/1235990_4603830592386_2050791626_n.jpg)
(Falaq-2 Launcher Advertisement: http://rogueadventurer.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/falaq-2-falagh-2-iran-333mm-rocket-launcher.jpg)
"The second munition is the one being fired in the video in this blog post and is fired from the Iranian 333mm Falaq-2 launcher. I believe this will eliminate the confusion that people are having."
DeleteThe launcher in the video is MUCH larger than 300mm, closer to 600, or Syria has TINY men, like 1/2 size.
Apparently, it used to be soviet practice (likely to be followed in Belarusians training Republican Guard) to fire a marker smoke round before a chemical strike, so that wind direction and speed could be confirmed.
ReplyDeleteSome of the naysayers were claiming that because some victims reported choking orange smoke, which isn't nerve gas, the whole thing was made up. That sounds like marker smoke to me, though I'd expect it to stain the impact area?
Anyway, there's bound to be a ready-made marker round for the BM14.
Why is it that you are clearly linking this video(with a launcher that has a bore that would fit a full size man), with the photos of the much smaller outer diameter "CW" rockets?
ReplyDeleteN.R. Jenzen-Jones, at least, barely, noted:
[UPDATE: it appears increasingly likely that these munitions have been produced in at least two sizes. Whilst Falaq-2 launchers, or close copies or derivatives appear to be in use with munitions of this type (see below), this launcher may be a larger calibre system developed along similar lines.]
What gives?
The Rogue Adventurer site:
ReplyDelete“the launcher in the video at the top of this page may in fact be a larger calibre system developed along similar lines.”
This should really be the title of this entire blog post. A fact not clearly stated here. A fact that means the system in the video has ZERO connection to the CW attacks, and has no value, other than to show Assad is using DIY/value stuff.
Ok, I think I've finally debunked this video, although it is late here and I got up early and I might be missing something.
ReplyDeleteThe author claims the video shows a launch from Al-Mezzah Military Airport with Eastern Ghouta as target, around 6 AM on the day of chemical massacre.
Al-Mezzah Military Airport is located in the western part of Damascus. Ghouta is the farmland to the south and east of the city, with the author of the video specifically mentioning Eastern Ghouta as the target.
At 6 AM, the sun is in the east. If you watch the video carefully and look at the lighting and the shadows cast by people, the sun is shining directly at the back of the launcher truck. This is most obvious around 5:00 with the back of the white truck cabin brightly illuminated and shadows of the people working on the launcher clearly visible on it.
With all this in mind, the launcher is either facing almost straight to the west in the morning or it's not facing west and it's not morning at all. Take your pick, either way, the author is lying, the lies having been hastily made up once he realized the "chemical attack" actually took place during the night.
There's one more clue that could give insight into the recorded launch. The delay between the visual launch and the sound of rocket being launched is roughly 2 seconds. Knowing the speed of sound and obviously without a wind strong enough to influence it, we could put the author at 600 to 800 meters from the launch site.
We can also hear a number of engine sounds. While some of them may come from planes flying over the site and the large crane truck on the site itself, the majority seem to come from road vehicles very close to the author. Since we don't see any road close to the site or between the author and the site, it is safe to assume that the road is behind the author or that he is recording from the road. Judging by the frequency of traffic in the crisis situation, it would have to be a major road. The only major road close enough to the airport shown on Google Maps would be the one marked as Kafar Sousah. This would put the road south of the author, the site north of the author, and the launcher indeed facing roughly to the west or northwest.
I don't think anyone in the West is claiming this to be a chemical attack. Nobody is wearing gas masks. And there are Belorussians there.
DeleteThis rocket is larger then what SAA has been firing so far, although it appears the same.
Most likely this is a field trial or the firing of an experimental weapon which could very well be HE or thermobaric. I don't believe this is being linked to the chemical massacre.
If you look at the video closely, it shows the rebels, despite the so-called red berets on few heads. And the rocket is not BM-14!!! It is a larger, much larger do-it-yourself rocket of the type which the UN investigation team described in East Ghouta. In the video, many of the "soldiers" have undone uniforms. Many are in civilian clothes. The key personnel actually arming the rocket are either in civilian clothes or in fatigues and black armor vests, which strongly suggests that they are "civilian contractors." The black armor vest is the one which the rebels are using--it is a Western black armor vest, which is common among US troops and US contractors. All the vehicles are civilian vehicles, non-standard, adapted for the purpose. My guess is that this is actually one of the chemical attacks of the rebels. Note that the camera or the grainy picture makes sure that none of the faces are clear--they have all smudged, unfocused smudge ... very convenient and very understandable for the purpose of the picture. Only an idiot would call this BM-14. The video does show a notably larger version of the same do-it-yourself rocket found by the UN investigators in Ghouta. Brown Moses tried very hard to link this rocket to some Iranian missile, completely ignoring the utter in-congruence and lack of any connection. Yet, the fact remains that, like the Ghouta rocket, this bigger sister of hers is also based on the same old U.S. model from the 1970s.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y6CZtF6pGvQ
Also, see:
http://killerapps.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/08/28/were_syria_s_nerve_gas_rockets_based_on_an_american_design
No one has claimed this is a BM 14, two types of munitions were used, this is the type not launches by the BM 14.
Delete