“False flag (aka Black Flag) operations are covert operations designed to deceive in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities.” (Wikipedia)

It was, in the words of U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, the “tipping point” in the Syria conflict: a savage massacre of over 90 people, predominantly women and children, for which the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad was immediately blamed by virtually the entirety of the Western media. Within days of the first reports of the Houla massacre, the U.S., France, Great Britain, Germany, and several other Western countries announced that they were expelling Syria’s ambassadors in protest. (1)

However, what if this was, in fact, a false flag operation intended to make the Syrian regime the bad guys (not that they need any help)?  In the days following the massacre, stories telling a different side began showing up:

From The National Review, a neo-conservative news organization:

“…according to a new report in Germany’s leading daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the Houla massacre was in fact committed by anti-Assad Sunni militants, and the bulk of the victims were member of the Alawi and Shia minorities, which have been largely supportive of Assad…”

“The massacre occurred after rebel forces attacked three army-controlled roadblocks outside of Houla. The roadblocks had been set up to protect nearby Alawi majority villages from attacks by Sunni militias. The rebel attacks provoked a call for reinforcements by the besieged army units. Syrian army and rebel forces are reported to have engaged in battle for some 90 minutes, during which time “dozens of soldiers and rebels” were killed.”

“According to eyewitness accounts, the massacre occurred during this time. Those killed were almost exclusively from families belonging to Houla’s Alawi and Shia minorities. Over 90% of Houla’s population are Sunnis. Several dozen members of a family were slaughtered, which had converted from Sunni to Shia Islam. Members of the Shomaliya, an Alawi family, were also killed, as was the family of a Sunni member of the Syrian parliament who is regarded as a collaborator. Immediately following the massacre, the perpetrators are supposed to have filmed their victims and then presented them as Sunni victims in videos posted on the internet.”

The National Review article cites Dutch Middle East expert Martin Janssen who writes (2):

“Faith, a Catholic organization, said on 30 May that large groups of Syrian Alawites and Christians began to flee to Lebanon to escape the violence of armed gangs that are specifically directed against them. Christians flee because these armed gangs consider Christians as “protected by the regime of Bashar al-Assad.”

Note that it is a Christian organization that is being targeted by the rebel forces in Syria, presumably because they believe the Syrian government protects them.

Continuing, Martin Janseen next says:

“Eyewitnesses, from villages near Houla, state that the Syrian army on May 25 was completely absent in the whole region. Rastan and Saan are two places that are fully under the control of the rebel Free Syrian Army. Armed rebels, whose number is estimated at between 700 and 800 people, on Thursday, May 24 attacked and killed the guards protecting Hama Al-Watani hospital.

Eyewitnesses explained “They then invaded the hospital, killing all present and afterwards they dragged the bodies outside the hospital, setting them on fire. On video you can see the rebels had the corpses wrapped in sheets with the Arabic inscription “Health Ministry”.

“In Tal Daw, a village near Houla, these armed insurgents then murdered the entire Alawitische family. All these bodies were then collected in Houla for the mosque.”

Note that the sources for the testimony above is a Christian monastery.

“Two Russian journalists Marat Musin and Olga Kulygina were present in Houla on 25 May. Both journalists saw armed rebels around 14:00 at various locations in Houla attacking police posts. Then the rebels gathered local authorities loyal to the Syrian government in some houses where they were all killed.  The two Russian journalists describe how they saw how all the corpses were then shown to the Commission of the United Nations under the claim that they were victims of bombing of the Syrian army.”

So, a side of the massacre in Houla, totally opposite to what the Mainstream Media has reported emerges.  In the corroborated evidence, it was the Rebel forces, not the Syrian government, who attacked and killed in Houla, and then presented the bodies as if the Syrian Army did the killing.  The reason why appears to be two fold; the Rebel forces were handing out sectarian justice, and then using the massacre as a way to “tip the hand” of the United Nations.

But, who is supplying these rebel forces?

In the Christian Science Monitor and the New York Times, we find out it is the CIA:

(CSM) – “According to a report today by The New York Times, the CIA is helping to funnel the arms to rebel groups, vetting potential recipients to avoid arming Al Qaeda-affiliated groups. The weapons include automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition, and some antitank weapons, according to the report, which cited unnamed American officials and Arab intelligence officials…What has changed since March is an influx of weapons and ammunition to the rebels…Turkish Army vehicles delivered antitank weaponry to the border, where it was then smuggled into Syria. Turkey has repeatedly denied it was extending anything other than humanitarian aid to the opposition, mostly via refugee camps near the border. The United States, these activists said, was consulted about these weapons transfers.”

The statement puts in a new light the reasons Syria shot down the Turkish fighter jet, which did not errantly stray into Syrian airspace, as first reported by the MSM.

From the Christian Science Monitor article:

“…Syrian Ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari said that the government has tried unilateral cease-fires, but that the rebels used the lulls in fighting to gather more arms. He also accused Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey of intentionally undermining the observer mission.”

“They are providing weapons, sending in al-Qaeda, giving them haven, allowing them to cross the border with Syria and then run back to neighboring countries, ” Mr. Jaafari said, according to The Wall Street Journal. “This is becoming so blatant and flagrant, it is too much.”

If true, this means that two of our “allies”, Turkey and Saudi Arabia, are sending in Al-Qaeda forces equipped, presumably, with weapons the CIA is funneling to the rebels.  But I thought Al-Qaeda was the ENEMY of Saudi Arabia…

Further sources (German story http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/neue-erkenntnisse-zu-getoeteten-von-hula-abermals-massaker-in-syrien-11776496.html)

(1) http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/302261/report-rebels-responsible-houla-massacre-john-rosenthal

(2) http://opinie.deredactie.be/2012/06/02/de-verschrikkingen-van-houla/