Helmets” into a YouTube search engine and found that seven of the first ten results were links to videos produced by RT. They sowed doubt about whether chemical weapons had ever been used at all, and even if they had, they argued that the Syrian opposition, not the government, was responsible. The sheer quantity of contradictory material was also meant, again, to convince people that the truth was impossible to know. But something else was at stake as well. The White Helmets created feelings of solidarity, humanity, and hope. To win the war, Russia and Iran needed ordinary Syrians to feel
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