Weak: Maher Barotchi and Bonnie Kipperman

The Weak, In Review

June 2, 2018

In my most recent round of Houla Massacre re-education - at the 6-year anniversary, and upon the liberation of Houla from terrorist forces - I alerted several people to my latest article repeating our findings on the event. Several people get the weakest of all rating, not even responding. Maybe they never saw my comments? Nothing to say from:
Hope Sarout https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1001779948485427200
Nino Fezza https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1000757995150589953
Thomas van Linge https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1000756542839259136
Asaad Hannaa https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1000755160170180609
Amer almohibany https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1001329535017598976

One at least responded, and brought in a friend. They both display an unwillingness to even consider the evidence, clearly locked into their consensus view regardless of all logic and evidence. Bonnie Kipperman is a social media warrior taken in by hoaxes - like Damning Assad to Hell over the unclear fate of two little Berber kids from North Africa, as FriedmannWo dug in and discovered. She popped in to promote the Houla Massacre lie, and I helpfully informed her:

Some things they still haven't told you in six years. It may take courage to accept the facts at hand. Here's your chance.  http://libyancivilwar.blogspot.com/2018/05/how-terrorists-were-given-al-houla-in.html … Taking questions, accepting challenges (none yet, just crickets)

She lacked the courage to really look, and replied under another tweet linking to that article that this proved I needed mental help or even commitment. That was her challenge. (can someone send me a screen-grab? I can't see it now.)

Kipperman apparently fetched her Syrian smart tough guy to bail her out, that being Maher Barotchi, an exiled Islamist, apparently, living in the UK  @MaherBarotchi. His LinkedIn profile (apparently) says he's Dr. Maher Barotchi: Managing Director at Universal Computers Ltd (hardware company) in Sheffield, and a fundraiser for The Syria Campaign, an anti-government agency with hands in many aspects of this disastrous intervention.

He too failed to address the specifics, very well anyway, and resorted to insults, repeatedly demanding that I should be ashamed and must stop. And he kept saying "bye" as if blocking me or as if I would just stop on demand. But then I didn't and he didn't; I just explained how that didn't answer any of the valid questions I raised, and Barotchi just insulted me again, demanded I stop, and again bid farewell.

I considered blocking his worthless ass myself, but first I looked him up. I found this hit piece on the Syrian Working Group on Propaganda and Media (of which I'm a signatory last I checked but not much of an active member)

Aha - this clicked with what he was doing. I suspect he deliberately provokes people into blocking him, so he can whine he's been "shut down" by people who "clearly" can't handle being challenged by "facts." As I responded: "lol. and here you are: ignore dismiss, insist stop, bid farewell, over and over. "but I tried so hard." To provoke me into blocking you, which I almost did. Would be worth it [deserved] but fat chance, trapper - whiner - liar."

And then I upped it to a public attack: "Maher Barotchi fake debate methods exposed: see my call here and preceding tweets to bear it out." So I exposed his methods, after he used those methods and insulted me repeatedly. I tried to engage him on the facts, he refused and finally blocked me. Did I win his game? (check out "who to follow")

Weak-minded Bonnie followed suit. She did teach me a line from Jefferson Airplane's White Rabbit that I never understood: 'when logic and proportion have fallen sloppy dead.' What a cool line. Ironically, the woman with no grasp of the evidence, to whom Barotchi is an expert to fetch, used it against me.

Amin2511 noted Barotchi's tantrum-like responses, put it well, and was swiftly blocked himself.

These weaklings could, if they chose, un-block me at any time, and engage me on the evidence in earnest. Or they could keep me out of it and just review the material on their own and show what's wrong (I would appreciate a heads-up if so). But I highly suspect they won't want to do either of these things; they blocked me to shut the issue out of their minds, where it was before and will remain forever, if they have their way. If terrorists really did knock out state security so they could slaughter Shia families and loyalist Sunnis, and fob it off on neighboring Alawites fit for epic "revenge" ... these people really don't want to know about it. They don't like taking even the slightest risk of becoming aware of that. 

So Far Review
What of substance was said? Little, but some. I should have taken more screen-grabs, but I think I remember it all. None came from Bonnie, just from Dr.Barotchi.

Witness Ali: Not Fake?
Here I bring up star witness Ali Al-Sayed, the super-cute 11-year-old miracle survivor I exposed as an apparent fake back in July 2012.


I explained that I know about names now, but didn't in 2012, and this isn't the issue here. Most people there remember their father's given name just fine.  The accepted version is Aref is his father, and Shaoqi his brother. Or rather, I'll add here, he should be a cousin  - he has the middle name Adel in opposition lists, should have a father named Adel, who by some sources this Adel has the same middle name (Mohamed) as Aref (see here, Adel Mouhammed Al-sayed family: 82- Shouqi Adel Al-Sayed, 25 years old, son). So Aref and Adel are likely brothers and Sahoqi would be Aref's nephew. But then the body they refer to is called Imad Mohamed Al-Sayed, Aref's brother, according to SANA, while Ali calls him brother and another son of Aref.

So it's all disputed and remains confused. I may tackle this confusion some more if time allows. Ali should know the answer directly, yet he remembers it a few different ways.

In fact, upon reflection, I have a new question regarding names that I didn't have as clearly in 2012:

Here he tacitly acknowledges Ali's middle name Adel was wrongly chosen to be a son of Aref as he claims,  just blames the boy's shattered nerves. But he's introduced by this name by those who spoke with his adult handlers as well - adults refer to him as a "baby, Ali Adel Al-Sayed" who "miraculously survived." He also gives his father's name as Ali Adel; no one names their son after themselves like this in Syria, that I've seen (and it's a good bit). No one lists an Adel al-Sayed as dying, but the VDC do list an adult Ali Adel Al-Sayed as dying, but no one else does (possible phantom entry resulting from some confusion? see comparison list here). Ali takes activists to his home where the killings happened, in a later video. It's the same home where Aref and the rest were seen dead on May 26 videos. So he does claim to be a son of Aref, and he names the younger kids seen there. But some people think/thought his father was named Adel, and the kid thinks it should be Ali Adel, and/or Shaoqi and/or Aref. Hm.

Barotchi seems to agree this isn't correct, but it must be an honest error and I damn well know that and had better just stop. I was being "inhumane." Like the three different ways the men with the scrambled names were killed... must be honest confusion.

Or ...(I got rusty) doesn't he also forget one brother sometimes? The one named Adel or Aden that he might be meant to replace? Except he appeared on video? Yep. He forgets "Aden":

Ali’s mother is always dead and never named, and his younger siblings are a bit more stable. Rasha, 5, and Nader, 6, both killed before his eyes, both mentioned in the video and in both early interviews. To the AP he also adds another brother, Aden, age 8. That’s seven murders minimum, eight if there were two uncles taken. But when he saw the soldiers later “they were describing six people dead in my house. They included me. They thought I was dead.” [7] By this he thinks there were only five people killed, forgetting at least two.

From SANA video, the bodies of Nader and Adel Aref Al-Sayed, as opposition sources give them. Was Ali supposed to be one of them?

If his mind is that unreliable, why should we accept him as a witness to things like the "Alawite accents" of the attacking Shabiha from the Alawi village less than a mile away? Can we trust his story of the evil uncle who worked with the Shabiha to have his kin killed? Ali says he ran there in time to secretly witness that discussion, and then he saw the same uncle go on TV and lie, blaming "terrorists". That's also where he learned his dad and brother and uncle had been killed - taken alive in that story, shown dead on TV (in the home's entry, as the only videos I know of show).

Did he maybe dream these parts? Or maybe some other parts? And why is he so clear on the R2P doctrine, and the world community's obligation to come and "fight for us"? He didn't go into a detailed spiel on expanding Iranian influence and its geostrategic implications, but he's about halfway there, at age 11 (or visually, about 9), and still in such shock he can't even remember how the massacre unfolded or what his or his father's name is or should be. Or was he coached on that part? or, perhaps on other parts?

Videos of Rebel Offensive: Fake?
Obviously if video and eyewitness evidence clash on a point, the video wins; in and of itself, the camera doesn't lie. Barotchi suggested at one point the videos I cite are faked by regime supporters to make their case (screen-grab or quote, anyone? This was my response). But this makes little sense. Most of the videos are uploaded by the FSA's Arabad Bin Souriya Battalion. One scene of interest has 2 videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xovR6GZOauM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqXscOnCUh8
These and others were posted on June 23, 2012 and said to be part of a "battle to liberate freedom circle," meaning the central roundabout with the clocktower and army post.  There were no reports of any fights or victories in Al-Houla on this or the few preceding days, and the only time this spot was "liberated," that I know of, was May 25. The UN's Commission of Inquiry “determined that the clocktower checkpoint was overrun at some point” in the May 25 FSA offensive. It was clearly part of "rebel-held Al-Houla" when Alex Thomson passed it on May 27. It was government held up to mid-day on May 25, but at no time since then that I know of prior to 2018.

We geo-located the scenes to this spot (Wikimapia), so firing roughly south or SSE. The apparent sunlight angle - estimating shadow proportions (from the north vs. east walls) gives two fairly extreme options, giving 212 and 232 degrees - 1:08-1:40 (error in image, giving 2:08-2:40). So I had said 1:25 +/- 20 minutes as a fair and loose range. Re-examining it now, I'm adjusting it a bit. Considering the low wall along the river is not lit on the near face, the azimuth is probably close to right along that wall, so the upper end is likely out; 1:10-1:20 is a better middle.

Add 6/3: Michael Kobs weighs in: I might have measure the wrong stretch of wall, making the time more like 12:50 pm. Will update as needed...

If this video can be placed on another day (a specific day with some reason is a minimum requirement - 'could be anytime' won't cut it), if it's at another spot, or a different time than we or I decided, it might be significant. But until I see otherwise, this seems to be here, on May 25, somewhere between 1:00 and 1:30 pm. And this matters.

The CoI dismissed witness we dubbed Arifah, but they missed this video, and probably wouldn't have bothered analyzing it to see it shows just what she describes. Attackers first fired on the clocktower post and/or Baath party headquarters (they're next to each other) at around 1 or 2 pm (she gives both times, rounded off or unclear). They attacked from the northwest, in fact. She says they fired a mortar from here first, then kept up with gunfire, which these videos show, at around 1:15.

This video probably isn't faked to fit her story, nor is her story faked to fit the video; it was only posted June 23, just shy of the one-month anniversary of the events it probably portrays (or exactly one month by the Islamists' lunar calendar?). Arifah's account was already published 20 days earlier. Therefore, I conclude this is genuine vide evidence in support of her narrative. She says this was a distraction attack to allow others to bypass the checkpoint and move down Saad road towards the bulk of the massacre victims. At 2 pm the clocktower post remained in government hands, but she says they attacked it more fiercely and overran it later, around 7pm.

Another case: this video widely cited as a Houla Massacre scene showing horrible army shelling - no one has called this fake, and it's posted by another account, not that suspected video fakery brigade. It was released on and claims to show May 25, and The Guardian used it heavily in their "reconstructing the events" report. Yet pre-government activists also cite this video as proof of a terrorist offensive that led to the massacre, and they have a better case. The only shelling is a blast very nearby, just about where a dude tips over, losing his white jihadist headscarf. He stands up with the RPG launcher he just fired, suffering recoil. Was the RPG launcher added? It's about 6:15 pm by sun angles, just south of "freedom circle" on Saad Road, as 70+ from the Abdulrazaq families were being finished off a ways south. The same video shows some Abdulrazaq-related victims dumped on the sidewalk, loaded into a van that drives south. The same bodies are seen later alongside their slain relatives.
http://acloserlookonsyria.shoutwiki.com/wiki/Houla:_Saad_Street_RPG_Incident

L: falling, head scarf, a friend covers his ears - R: After rising, no scarf, speaking w/friend, who then runs off-screen

rising, with a thing at shoulder-level - walking towards us with .. what is that? Oh, is that why he tipped over?

This guy doesn't seem worried about being identified. The resolution doesn't seem to allow that. But maybe he didn't realize his head cover had fallen off?

Shutting Down Debate and Critical Thought

Dr. Barotchi presented me several times with the UN CoI findings (or news reports about them anyway) as proof, and all I should need, and therefore "bye." He was appalled to learn I already read their TWO reports and assessed the problems with them, like the one I just explained (dismissing "Arifah" when the video evidence agrees with her), among many others. Shame on me! What kind of whitewashing is that? That stuff was meant to be TRUSTED, not critically analyzed! (so long as it blames the "Assad regime" anyway).

Some closing remarks I left:
https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1001832129590845441
Bye, and thanks for the delayed ignore. (right?) If I can, you still don't know how the regime lies got into rebel videos. Don't worry your head about why. Your heroes got the bodies, told a story, folks acted like they believed it, all's good. Peace.

https://twitter.com/CL4Syr/status/1002515740224716800
other than to say what a jackass: "Hi, I can't address a single point coherently but hey, I'm the boss o something and some die-hard Islamist, and you, stop! I demand it! Just stop now!" Well, SIR!! Uh, no. And as you say, bye.

But I remain open to more constructive engagement. I remain dedicated to what I see - with good reason - as the truth. I'll accept any valid, relevant criticism or corrections. (Insisting I had no right to ask these questions or find these answers is not relevant. What's relevant is the truthfulness of those answers.) But no one has yet tried. Like these two weaklings, the best I can get so far is self-assured ridicule and shaming. Even worse, total silence.

All these terrorist apologists cannot explain why their witnesses are so unreliable, nor how these regime lies got worked into rebel videos of the day's events. They can't say why the government would shell the area they controlled on the same day as an Islamist offensive on the same area, and massacre people there the same day, when they could have done it easier at any other time, with less chance of the left-behind bodies being found as proof by mobile militants with enough access to the crime scenes to load truck after truck with corpses.

I mean, how can you explain all that, within the confines of their inadequate view of the situation? Obviously, they can't, and don't want to be seen trying and failing. So they find a way (easy) to put the issue out of mind. It's just super-crazy, ignore it. Giggle, have a cup of tea. So nice to be comfortably certain you're on the good guy side in all this, and being so vigilant against those who whitewash horrific crimes like this.

Everyone knows it's those damn Shi'ites/Alawites who are hacking up the other sect. Sunnis just don't do things like this ... except maybe in revenge, which this could be... but they say Alawites did this to Sunnis and Sunnis don't lie to us infidels ... but those damned Shi'ites would ... Hey, have another giggle. The heroes got the bodies and told their story and it's all "documented" and "proven." We know who started the worsening sectarian war in the Middle East, who killed the randomly-picked Sunni families in Taldou, Al-Houla on May 25, 2012. We'll make Iran pay, and Saudi Arabia will keep on helping.

Now go feel good about yourselves. That's the easy, prepared answer anyway. All you have to do is stand back and LET IT HAPPEN. Like you have been.

But no, I don't like that formula. Now in order to let it happen unchallenged, you have to stand back and you also have to push back people like me. We're here to make this harder to ignore.