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Politifact in 2013: Kerry claim that 100 percent of chemical weapons were out of Syria 'mostly true'

By Dan Calabrese ——--April 7, 2017

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We tell you every chance we get that politIcal "fact-check" outfits are not what they claim to be. They don't really fact-check. They are liberal opinion writers that cite some sources - not all of them by any means reliable - to support opinions they want you to think are facts. In 2013, then-Secretary of State John Kerry insisted the U.S. and the UN had successfully gotten all chemical weapons out of Syria. This, you will recall, was supposed to fulfill the Russia-brokered deal that justified Barack Obama's inaction after that round of chemical weapons attacks by Bashar Assad. Was it true? Why, Politifact assured us it was:
Kerry said all of Syria’s chemical weapons had been removed. The UN body in charge said that the last of Syria’s declared chemical weapons left the country in late June. There remain, however, some discrepancies in the details of the weapons the Syrians had acknowledged possessing, and some additional work is needed. With that qualification, we rate the claim Mostly True. Sources NBC, Meet the Press, July 20, 2014 Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Syria and the OPCW Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Announcement to media on last consignment of chemicals leaving Syria, June 23, 2014 Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, 8% of Syrian Chemicals Still Remain to be Removed; Fact-Finding Mission in Syria; Some Progress on Syrian Production Facilities, June 17, 2014
Green Cross, Removal of all Syrian chemical weapons completed, June 23, 2014 New York Times, Last of Syria’s Known Chemical Arms Are Shipped Abroad for Destruction, June 24, 2014 Email interview, Brian Finlay, managing director, Stimson Center, July 20, 2014 Email interview, Nicole Thompson, spokeswoman, U.S. State Department, July 20, 2014
I went ahead and included all the sources they listed to show you just how ridiculous a process they use for determining "truth." A "Meet the Press" segment on NBC? The OPCW? A New York Times story? The word of a State Department spokeswoman? Based on these things, Politifact rates a statement "mostly true" when they have not seen the weapons and can't really know where they are?

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Your fact-checkers, America!

Your fact-checkers, America! I think we have a pretty good idea from the events of recent days that Kerry's 2013 claim was not "mostly true," nor was it sort of true, nor was it partially true, not was it even the slightest bit true. It was totally false, sort of like when Obama said if you liked your doctor you could keep him, which Politifact also rated "mostly true" at the time it was said. The way Politifact operates is to cite liberal media sources and liberal government spokespeople, as well as official statistics favored by same. If they say it's true, that's good enough for Politifact. A lot suffering and dead Syrians may quibble today with Politifact's "ruling," you think?
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Dan Calabrese——

Dan Calabrese’s column is distributed by HermanCain.com, which can be found at HermanCain

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