Dan Kaszeta
bellingcat
United Kingdom
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Past articles by Dan:
Chemicals in Use in Iraqi Disturbances – Is it Nerve Agent?
In recent weeks, there have been numerous large public demonstrations in Iraq. These demonstrations have been met with force by security forces, including use of riot control agents. In recent days, some people have suffered from medical problems, possibly as a result of exposure to chemicals used by security forces. Starting approximately from 29 October... → Read More
Hidden history: The Nazi-Soviet pact which Russia now tries to deny
Ahead of the 80th the anniversary of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, there is a sustained attempt to erase it from history. → Read More
Disinformation Campaigns Against London, Part I: 11 Identified Lines of Attack
Those of us who live and work in London like the place, or at least tolerate it. Many of us love it. Certainly, like with any large city, there are people who dislike it. Over the last few years, however, there have been a number of fake, misleading, and/or downright hateful things spread on Twitter... → Read More
Lies, Damned Lies, And Statistics: Why London’s Murder Rate Is Not Higher Than NYC’s
On April 3, 2018, an article in USA Today stated that the murder rate in London exceeded that of New York City for the first time. A large numbers of articles and posts have since repeated this claim. These various articles and posts continue to be cited as evidence that London is more dangerous/violent than... → Read More
Pesticides as Poisons: Analysis of the Gebrev Case
There has been a recent investigation here on Bellingcat, of a poisoning incident in Bulgaria in April 2015, where an individual named Emilian Gebrev was posioned. An angle of this investigation has been to see if it is at all connected to the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal. One particular aspect of recent publicity has... → Read More
Debunking Maps of Alleged “Islamic No Go Zones” in London
Various right-of-centre political commenters have, at different times, alluded to the existence of so-called “Islamic no go zones” in Western Europe. Generally, these are defined broadly and variously areas where the local authorities do not have effective police presence, a majority of the local population is Muslim, and “Sharia law” is in effect. Some commenters... → Read More
Use of Ricin: Is This Amateur Hour?
Recent incidents have brought up the subject of the biological toxin known as ricin as a possible terrorist weapon. A Utah man, one William Clyde Allen III, was arrested by the FBI for having sent letters laced with ricin to the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Chief of Naval Operations. In June of 2018,... → Read More
Why are Nerve Agents so Difficult to Make?
Nerve agents, both in the form of Sarin in Syria and in the form of the so-called Novichok A-234 in the UK, continue to claim both victims and headlines. A recurring theme, repeatedly early on in the Syrian chemical war, and oft-repeated, is that somehow nerve agents are easy to make. Many conspiracy theories and... → Read More
Everything you need to know about Ricin
The recent arrest of a man with the biological warfare agent triggered crazed headlines of a new terror attacks in the press, but the substance is more complicated than coverage has made out. → Read More
This is how Putin kneecapped the UN Security Council
Critics of military intervention in Syria - including Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn - demanded Britain to find a political solution at the UN, but the organisation has been kneecapped on the issue by Vladimir Putin. Russia is a party to the Syrian conflict and the strong supporter of the Assad regime but it is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council with veto power. → Read More
How to dismantle Assad’s chemical weapons
A practical, step by step guide to how Western forces can destroy the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capacity. → Read More
Myth busting: Why didn't the Skripals die on the spot?
Internet conspiracy theories suggest the survival of Yulia Skripal proves Salisbury was not a nerve agent attack. This is why they are wrong. → Read More
Nerve Agents: What are they?
The former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter have been deliberately poisoned, in an apparent act of chemical terrorism. This poisoning occurred in Salisbury, in the UK, on Sunday 4 March 2018. It has recently been disclosed that this particular act involved the use of a “nerve agent”. Already, there are numerous examples... → Read More
Amines and Sarin – Hexamine, Isopropylamine, and the Rest…
(Revised edition, May 2017) One subject that keeps coming up in ongoing debates about Sarin chemical attack in Syria from 2013 to date is the nature, role, and presence of possible additives to Sarin. A molecule of Sarin is pretty much the same molecule however and wherever it was made. However, even in the best laboratory... → Read More
Anatomy of a Sarin Bomb Explosion (Part II)
Introduction Part I describes the basic behaviour and intended function of an air-delivered gravity bomb containing Sarin, designed along US/USSR cold war lines. When we left off in Part I, a well-crafted gravity bomb will have dispensed it’s Sarin broadly along this distribution: Aerosol: The majority of the contents will have been dispensed... → Read More
Anatomy of a Sarin Bomb Explosion (Part I)
Part I: The Bomb, its contents, and their likely fate The recent chemical attack in Khan Shaykhun in Syria is alleged by witnesses to have been delivered by an air-dropped bomb. The purpose of this article is to systematically break down a Sarin bomb into its components and analyse what happens to them. This first part... → Read More
Syria 'chemical attack': What can forensics tell us?
Finding evidence that links the chemicals to the weapon system and the victims is critical, writes Dan Kaszeta. → Read More
The Chemical Realities of Russia’s Khan Sheikhoun Chemical Warehouse Attack Claims
In response to allegations of a chemical attack in Khan Sheikhoun on April 4th 2017 the Russian Ministry of Defence made a statement where it claimed a warehouse containing chemical agents was hit in the same town as the attacks were reported to have occurred: The Syrian Air Force has destroyed a warehouse in Idlib... → Read More
Syria conflict: The spectre of nerve agents
If confirmed, the latest use of nerve agents by Syria's Assad marks a worrying turn, says Dan Kaszeta → Read More
Syria conflict: The spectre of nerve agents
If confirmed, the latest use of nerve agents by Syria's Assad marks a worrying turn, says Dan Kaszeta → Read More