Forensic Architecture – The Emails

Forensic Architecture is a pseudo-scientific approach to legitimising fraudulent claims. At their head is Eyal Weizman who has been brought in as an advisor to a new “independent” media outlet called “Declassified UK”. What can we expect from this venture when Weizman is advising its board members?

Date of report: March 5, 2020

With the launch of “Declassified UK”, an “Independent” media outlet that will, apparently, act as an outlet for “Public service journalism investigating UK foreign, military and intelligence policies”, according to their Twitter profile, we see Eyal Weizman being added to the team as an “advisor”. Eyal is of course the main man over at Forensic Architecture, an outfit that has provably dabbled in fraudulent reports that supported the official UK and US government positions on what happened at Douma, on April 7, 2018, and Khan Sheikhoun on April 4, 2017.

Given that I had been in contact with Forensic Architecture over their Lataminah investigation several people contacted me recently to ask the extent of that communication and if I could confirm if Forensic Architecture worked directly with Eliot Higgins of Bellingcat for his debate with Professor Ted Postol of MIT.

The reason, I assume, for asking me this is that as Eliot Higgins is funded by both the UK Foreign Office (via the “Open Information Partnership”) and the US State Department (via the “National Endowment for Democracy”) and given that Weizman has worked on a lot of projects with Higgins confirming the UK/US claims on Syria; then what possibly could Weizman have to offer a media group that plans to ‘investigate UK foreign, military and intelligence policies..’? It’s a genuine question that deserves an honest answer.

In a previous report I took a closer look into Forensic Architecture’s fraudulent Douma “investigation”. Under the section entitled, “Forensic Architecture’s Dusty Frost” I ask a two simple questions that Weizman has thus far refused to answer: How did you manage to mistake dust for frost and will you correct your report and thus set the public record straight?

In this report I will be reproducing the full email exchange that I had with Bob Trafford of Forensic Architecture in relation to a commission they received from Eliot Higgins ahead of his debate with Ted Postol at Goldsmiths, University of London, October 20, 2018.

The Email Exchange:

Typos: FI = FA (Forensic Architecture)

The graphic I attached to the email was this:

You will have spotted in the above email Trafford’s desire to seek out an old exchange I had with Higgins and then to offer up, voluntarily, a defence for his (Higgins’) “analysis”. A defence, incidentally, that Higgins himself couldn’t offer up.

We hope that our analysis of this fragment provides a possible resolution to questions that you have previously posed in relation to Eliot’s original analysis. (Emphasis FA’s)

A pertinent question at this stage is, why did Forensic Architecture feel the need to defend Higgin’s theory on this metal piece? Mind you, it does fit in with their very comfortable and close working relationship.

Moreover, Trafford’s decision to offer up apologia for Higgins’ inability to defend his own claims was also contradicted later by Higgins himself, which I detail here.

You will note also in the above email that Trafford attached 4 images to it showing how he made the evidence fit the claim. I provide them here for full disclosure of the email chain.

1- attachment brace found state

2- attachment brace proposed original state

3- attachment brace found state + M4000

4- attachment brace proposed original state + M4000

Let’s continue…

That was the end of the email exchange between Bob and myself and as you will see the entire exchange was carried out in a dignified and respectful manner. Then this happened on Twitter:

Note the date of my final email to Trafford, August 28. Nothing in between then he decides to drop all facade of professionalism and go on the attack. Why?

He seemed to be upset by this tweet I made:

I kept Bob’s name anonymous as I do anyone I work with unless agreed otherwise. Bob didn’t communicate with me in private and I was free to release his identity at any time but I appreciated that he made himself look unintentionally silly a few times so I decided, given how professional our communication was, to save him from any further embarrassment. He forfeited all rights to anonymity when he insulted me on Twitter.

Forensic Fraudulence Exposed

It’s fitting at this stage to give a prime example of the sort of fraudulence that I refer to with regards to Weizman’s Forensic Architecture grouping.

This was the first image to surface from the L2 crater, as far as I’m aware, and is in fact an image taken from a video that was sent to Eliot Higgins from the scene. You will note the discolouration of the cylinder (blackening) is facing down towards the crater in this image.

Now let’s look at the underside of the crater:

The fire damage is plain for all to see. Of this the OPCW-FFM report noted:

The FFM team noted the blackening of the ceiling and the rim of the aperture from the room immediately below the point of impact (see photo above). It also noted the blackened sooty walls in the corner of the room, as well as what appeared to be the ashen remnants of a small fire. One interviewed witness stated that a fire had been lit in the room after the alleged incident, reportedly to detoxify it of the alleged chemical. 

S/1731/2019 Annex 6 page 58 – FFM Report

So it doesn’t take a huge leap of faith to conclude that it was the fire damage that caused the blackening to the cylinder on the balcony. However that image posted by Higgins was quickly deleted by him when he was requested to do so and later was followed by a new tweet from the White Helmets showing the cylinder rotated 180º with the blackening now pointing upwards, away from the crater.

Higgins’ reason for the deletion was that the guy’s legs could have identified him (yes, that’s what he claimed) though he makes no mention of the cylinder being rotated or how identifying the guy at the scene would have made any difference given the area was controlled by Jihadist, Jaysh al-Islam at the time.

But what does Weizman’s Forensic Architecture say of the fire damaged cylinder?

“The nose of the canister is discoloured, this is caused by a corrosive acid created when chlorine gas reacts with the water which condenses on the outside of the canister during rapid decompression.”

Forensic Architecture Douma Investigation

I tweeted to Forensic Architecture the first words that came to my mind – that that claim was purely bullshit. It’s worse than bullshit; it’s fraudulent bullshit. But it’s the sort of bullshit that the corporate media gives a pass to and helps propagate.

Conclusion

At the time of my communication with Trafford I was aware that Koblentz had been channelling someone at the OPCW who had a link to the DAT (Declarations and Assessment Team). Trafford unwittingly confirmed this for me. However, I wasn’t sure if Bob was being generous with his information or naive so I opted to assume the latter and thus decided to protect his identity. In an exchange with a source at the time I wrote:

Trafford (FA) confirmed Koblentz as a source on the M4000. We knew this, I was surprised Koblentz told Trafford though. It’s a tangled web with all the same players spinning. Our friend is ofc his “closed source”. Slamdunk on the M4000 spec leaks goes to you.

Koblentz had also been feeding Higgins with details on the M4000 that he received from Len Phillips and indeed it was Koblentz, I am told, that initially setup contact between his source (Len Phillips) and Eliot Higgins. As Higgins began frequenting The Hague he then made contact with another member of the OPCW who went on to help with articles for Bellingcat in recent times. That man is still a member of the OPCW. Though he has fallen quiet of late as he fears his name being released. As long as he stays that way his name will be withheld. What he did in trying to oust “Alex” and place him in danger should enrage us all who care for and support brave whistleblowers who place the truth above their careers and egos. Should he attempt to channel any further maliciousness through his useful idiot, Brian Whitaker, or anyone else, then he too will forfeit his right to anonymity as far as I’m concerned.

This also goes to show that Eyal Weizman and his Forensic Architecture are no more interested in holding the UK government to account on staged chemical attacks in Syria than they are of admitting their own role in this debacle. If Weizman doesn’t retract these verifiably false claims then it can safely be concluded that his role is to disseminate such fake information to help sell the UK FCO position on Syria and therefore we can also safely assume Declassified UK will just be an extension of this fraudulence, albeit by wearing a different disguise.

Douma was a staged chemical attack – let there be no mistaking that. Forensic Architecture worked tirelessly alongside Higgins and the NYT to prove otherwise. Today Weizman has been signed to advise the latest “Independent” media source lead by Mark Curtis. How, recruiting a man whose organisation has taken part in fraudulent investigations into Lataminah, Khan Sheikhoun and Douma that ALL supported the UK FCO position, can in some way help advance the cause of “investigating UK foreign, military and intelligence policies” has yet to be ascertained. But what is clear, is that having Weizman, who was recently refused a visa to enter the US based upon his “associations” with suspect characters, “advising” this new media group does not bode well for its future or lend its mission statement any credibility. It’s akin to setting up a pressure group against war-criminals and asking Tony Blair to advise its board members.

So between frosting that was really dust; to gas release that was hissing coming from outside; to a reaction that occurred during rapid decompression which was really fire damage; there’s enough evidence to conclude that Forensic Architecture is a fraudulent venture setup to to help prove a narrative that is favourable to NATO countries – when it comes to Syria.

You will find lots of evidence of such fraudulence from Forensic Architecture throughout this blog.

Published by Philip

7 thoughts on “Forensic Architecture – The Emails”

  1. Again, great stuff Philip. Yours is some of the best research I’ve read. Far from being depressed that there are not enough people challenging narratives I’m really encouraged. So many individuals out there doing it in their own different way. Came across an individual for the first time yesterday, Graham Phillips a clip showing him interupting Eliot Higgins press briefing from a year or so back. If you have not seen it, it’s comedy gold. Whether he is right about the Salisbury incident he’s a legend and entitled to pose questions.All the best to you.

    To the people still pushing lies about Syria – you had better start thinking of ways to get out of the mess you’re in. The narrative is unravelling fast and you will be thrown under a bus when people call for justice.

    1. Thanks for kind words Kevin. You find that when you begin to scrape away at the facade presented by this cabal of chemical staging denialists you quickly see how fickle and fragile their claims really are.

  2. Did you find any evidence that Bellingcat and Forensic Architecture have any more information than the Russian slide (that Koblentz had to point them to), photos from the FFM report and confirmation the “M4000” name appeared in the leaked DAT report written about by Colum Lynch (which could equally be described as a “closed source”)? I can’t see anything to indicate ‘insider information’ in their work?

    1. Overtly we know the DAT had a leak, as you referred to, with the Lynch article. However, Lynch’s documents didn’t go into the details of the M4000. It just confirmed their existence and use for sulphur-mustard. The DAT leaked the specs of the M4000 to the FFM who was then lead by Len Phillips. This is why the fuss was made over the filler caps. They were specific in design to the M4000. Scott Cairns filed his report on their specs for the DAT in 2014. Information gathered by the DAT is (supposedly) held in the strictest of confidence. Phillips was in contact with Koblentz at this time but unlikely with Higgins and not with Forensic Architecture. In 2017 as Phillips’ tenure as FFM-TL was coming to an end he pushed for the JIM report into Khan Sheikhoun to be leaked to Higgins a day early to give him a head’s up on the media spin. Philips did this via Koblentz. So, yes there’s evidence that Koblentz was informed on the matters of the M4000. Measurements carried out by FA were then past back to Koblentz to confirm they matched the original specs. Bizarrely, the filler cap was ignored but that’s a story for another day.

      1. The JIM report was 26 October but on 13 November Koblentz is still asking for “a higher res version of the video” and for someone to “decipher the text”:

        https://twitter.com/gregkoblentz/status/929933306388508672

        The link to the slides on the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs site still works nearly 3 years later and the video of the presentation is still on Youtube so it seems no-one has ever demanded the information be removed.

        “Details” on Google Drive shows that the JIM leaked report linked to by Bellingcat and friends was uploaded by Nabil Abi Saab.

        Past leaks have apparently been down to the diplomats:

        https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-mideast-crisis-syria-chemicals-exclus/exclusive-weapons-inspectors-find-undeclared-sarin-and-vx-traces-in-syria-diplomats-idUKKBN0NT1Z120150508

        Measurements of the parts are in Annex 4 of the FFM report so surely they’d just make something vaguely-similar-sized – as is apparently good enough for Bellingcat in other cases (who then claim everything ‘confirms’ they are right regardless).

        1. It’s a bit more involved than that and some of which I cannot discuss. What appears to be on the surface isn’t necessarily underneath.

          The JIM report made its first appearance on 27/10/17 when it spoke of the filler cap found at Khan Sheikhoun being “uniquely consistent with Syrian chemical aerial bombs.” The JIM would not have been privy to information from the DAT, yet they received the information saying; “According to information obtained by the Mechanism..”

          The Russians being acutely aware of this then responded by holding their MOD presser on 2/11/17 showing the three types of aerial CW munitions that Syria declared to the DAT. The reason here was to show the M4000 was used as a bulk fill munition and therefore ruling out sarin use. Yes, it had characteristics of being adaptable for unitary, but there is no evidence it ever was. The only evidence that exists was for its use as bulk-filled and conventional use. This declaration would have ONLY been known by the DAT. It was this information that leaked out to Lynch thus authenticating his leaks. The Syrians declared the M4000 as a bulk-filled munition that had been repurposed in the early years of the war, 2011/12, and all of which had already been spent.

          The source that leaked the specs of the M4000 to the FFM also did to others. The filler cap was obviously planted at KS to make it appear that an M4000 had been used there. So the leaked DAT info also made its way to Syria, via Turkey and the White Helmets, ahead of April 2017. The best guess is around the beginning of 2017 to allow for time to prep. Whoever staged the scenes at Lataminah 30/3 and KS in April knew the specs of the M4000 ahead of time. What they wouldn’t have known was its designated use (bulk).

          I am told here that the MYM6000s had been verifiably destroyed and accounted for hence why they never factored in the conspiracies. But given the discrepancy over the M4000s, grey area existed to be exploited.

          Koblentz tweeted: “These designations match bombs declared by Syria to the OPCW.” 13/11/2017.

          “M4000 is only for bulk agent.”

          This was the purpose of the Russian presser – to drive these points home but only those in know would have comprehended what they were doing. It escaped many of us at that time. However the purpose of their presser has been confirmed to me.

          On that note I will close by thanking you again for your input. Hopefully you appreciate that I cannot be as detailed as you may like in my responses given time constraints. That said, all input is valued and appreciated.

          Philip

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