Massive Propaganda Push Re. Syria Gas Attack

There is a thread currently trending about the most recent Syrian gas attack and I can't really tell if its populated by people with a serious deficiency in critical and analytical thought or whether its a deliberate attempt to control the narrative. However, after reading more comments than I ever want to repeat I have to assume this is a coordinated effort.

Looking at whats indisputably clear about the situation:

1. There appears to have been a gas attack targeting civilians in Syria.

2. If true, it constitutes a war crime.

3. There has been no investigation and no evidence exists to assign responsibility.

There are a great many tangents this could take in terms of discussing who was responsible for past gas attacks in Syria, suffice to say there was a massive effort by Western governments to link them to the Syrian government and thus provide legitimation for greater direct intervention.

Given this there are a few extra points that are very clear:

1. The Syrian Government was very clearly winning the military conflict by a wide-margin.

2. Even the US is very clear in admitting the Syrian Government is not fighting against 'rebels' but against IS and Al Qaeda offshoots.

3. These latter groups are equally open about their willingness to target civilians and have no qualms about slaughtering women and children. Whether the Syrian Government can be accused of similar crimes is a matter of debate, with the terrorist groups it is established fact.

4. Despite this, the Syrian Government has repeatedly, and very recently, offered ceasefires that allowed these same terrorist fighters (and their families) to leave areas in which they were surrounded and almost certain to be overrun.

5. The Syrian Government would have nothing at all to gain from using gas in the manner of the recent attack. It would generate no strategic military benefits, it would turn the civilian population against the government (bear in mind, the majority of the Syrian people, even the ones who dislike Assad, support the government as a far better alternative to power falling into the hands of the terrorist groups, most of whom came from outside Syria), and most importantly it might allow Western States to take military action that would be the only factor capable of changing the course of the conflict in a way that would benefit the terrorist groups.

6. In contrast, the terrorist groups have every reason to carry out such attacks. Their ideology justifies any sacrifice as long as it furthers their cause and they have displayed a wanton disregard for any form of human life. They have long had access (through both Turkey and early seized Syrian Army stockpiles) to chemical weapons. And, they now have only months if not weeks left before their entire war in Syria grinds to a halt.

Despite the above, the thread originally linked is dominated by comments that do three specific things:

1. Condemn Assad and the Syrian government for the attacks (with many suggesting it demands a strong military response).

2. Calling out an imaginary Russian bot campaign they say is promoting pro-Assad propaganda DESPITE the fact that the thread is clearly overflowing with exactly the opposite type of voice.

3. Denigrating (by means of Poisoning the Well, Ad Hominem and Appeals to Ridicule) a wide variety of alternative news sites and sources. For example, claiming that sites which have supported 9/11 Truth, or are in any way pro-Russia are automatically discredited and incapable of providing relevant information.

The reason I'm posting this is that the thread in question is one of the most glaring, and frankly depressing, examples I've seen of people taking a mainstream narrative and attempting to preemptively crush any and all dissenting views.

My one hope is that the majority of voices in that thread are deliberately manufacturing this attempt at framing the narrative. Because the alternative, that they represent the actual opinions of members of the voting public whose otherwise neutral viewpoints have been so easily swayed by propaganda of the most crude and blunt form, is unbelievably disheartening in regard to the viability of modern democracies and the ability of alternative news to help promote a better understanding of the complexities of modern war and the dangers involved in mainstream media efforts to reduce these issues to puppet-shows populated with morally black (Assad, Putin) and white ('rebel activists', the White Helmets) characters.