Pour le State Department les White Helmet sont formidables, d’ailleurs l’USAID les a financé à hauteur de 23 millions de $, mais il vaut mieux que leur leader ne vienne pas sur le territoire américain pour raison de sécurité...
Point presse de Mark Toner, porte-parole du state Department le 27 avril 2016.
▻https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=792ODrhwKkk
Le transcript intégral de ce point presse sur le site du State Department là :
▻http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2016/04/256667.htm#SYRIAUn journaliste (Matthew Lee d’AP) demande à Toner comment le State Department peut dire soutenir les White Helmets, et en même temps avoir révoqué le visa de son leader (Raed Saleh) pour raison de sécurité.
De fait Raed Saleh venait aux USA recevoir un prix décerné par InterAction, un appendice de l’USAID (voir article NYT : ▻http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/world/middleeast/leader-of-syria-rescue-group-arriving-in-us-for-award-is-refused-entry.html ).
Toner explique qu’il faut distinguer entre le leader, dont il ne peut pas parler, et du groupe que les USA soutiennent.
Un autre journaliste insiste et finalement obtient la même réponse mais avec l’aveu implicite que Raed Saleh serait en relation avec des groupes extrémistes :
Voir vidéo de 3’20 à 3’54
QUESTION: How can you separate the leader of the group from the group?
MR TONER: Well, he’s one individual in the group.
QUESTION: But the leader of the group.
MR TONER: And any individual – again, I’m broadening my language here for specific reasons, but any individual in any group suspected of ties or relations with extremist groups or that we had believed to be a security threat to the United States, we would act accordingly. But that does not, by extension, mean we condemn or would cut off ties to the group for which that individual works for.
La discussion continue et Mark Toner balance que ce groupe a reçu pour 23 millions d’aides de l’USAID et redit à quel point les USA les soutiennent. M. Lee repose alors la question sur l’incongruité alors de révoquer le visa de son leader pour raison de sécurité.
Vidéo de 4’15 à 5’40
MR TONER: Well, I can tell you that we provide, through USAID, about $23 million in assistance to them.
QUESTION: Right.
MR TONER: I can say that they’ve saved over 40,000 lives, as I just mentioned at the – in the topper by acting as first responders. They go into combat zones, they save people after attacks. We’ve seen no action on the part of this group writ large that indicates in any way that they’re nothing but an impartial group that – like any humanitarian organization – works across lines of control and is in contact with a range of groups to facilitate their life-saving efforts. And that’s – again, we’ve talked about this the last couple days. Aleppo is —
QUESTION: I understand that.
MR TONER: — a very complex situation. We understand that. And for these groups to operate, they have to be able to operate within the milieu on which they’re working.
QUESTION: Mark, but can you ask for some – I mean, this just seems bizarre to me. You’re giving this guy and his group $23 million. Yes, they do good work, they save lives, but you’ve revoked his visa for some reason and you won’t say why and it just doesn’t make any sense. Why is the U.S. taxpayer supporting a group whose leader you have banned from coming to the States?
