10 Facts
the Mainstream Media Won’t Tell You About the War in
Syria
By Darius
Shahtahmasebi
August 04,
2016 "Information
Clearing House"
- "Anti
Media"
- Corporate media regularly attempts to present
Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria as
solely
responsible for the ongoing conflict in the
region. The media does report on events that
contradict this narrative — albeit sparingly — but
taken together, these underreported details shine a
new light on the conflict.
10:
Bashar al-Assad has a higher approval rating than
Barack Obama
Despite
Obama’s
claims Assad is illegitimate and must step down,
the fact remains that since the conflict erupted in
2011, Assad
has held the majority support of his people. The
elections in 2014 – which
Assad won by a landslide with international
observers claiming no violations – is a
testament to the fact that although Assad has been
accused of serious
human rights violations, he continues to remain
reasonably
popular with the Syrian people.
Obama, on
the other hand, won elections in 2012 with a voter
turnout of a
mere 53.6 percent of the American public; only
129.1 million total were votes cast. This means
approximately 189.8 million American people did
not vote for Obama. His current approval
rating sits at about 50
percent.
9: The
“moderate” opposition has been hijacked
There is no
longer such a thing as “moderate” opposition in
Syria – if there ever was. The so-called
Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) has
been dominated by extremists for years. The U.S.
has known this yet has continued to support the
Syrian opposition, despite the fact the New York
Times reported
in 2012 that the majority of weapons being sent to
Syria have been ending up in the hands of jihadists.
A classified
DIA report predicted the rise of ISIS in 2012,
stating:
“If the
situation unravels, there is the possibility of
establishing a declared or undeclared Salafist
principality in eastern Syria… and this is exactly
what the supporting powers to the opposition want,
in order to isolate the Syrian regime.”
Further,
an FSA commander went
on record not only to admit his fighters
regularly conduct joint operations with al-Nusra
(al-Qaeda in Syria), but also that he would like to
see Syria ruled by Sharia law.
Apparently, moderate can also mean
“al-Qaeda affiliated fanatic.”
8: Assad
never used chemical weapons on his own people
A U.N. investigation
into the first major chemical weapons attack
committed in early 2013 — an atrocity the West
immediately pinned on Assad — concluded the evidence
suggested the attack was more likely committed by
the Syrian opposition. A subsequent U.N.
investigation into the August 2013 attack never
laid blame on anyone, including Assad’s forces.
In December 2013, Pulitzer prize-winning journalist
Seymour Hersh released
an article highlighting deficiencies in the way
the situation was handled:
“In the
months before the attack, the American intelligence
agencies produced a series of highly classified
reports…citing evidence that the al-Nusra Front, a
jihadi group affiliated with al-Qaida, had mastered
the mechanics of creating sarin and was capable of
manufacturing it in quantity. When the attack
occurred al-Nusra should have been a suspect, but
the administration cherry-picked intelligence to
justify a strike against Assad.”
7:
Toppling the Syrian regime was part of a plan
adopted shortly after 9/11
According
to a memo disclosed by 4-star
General Wesley Clark, shortly after 9/11, the
Pentagon adopted a plan to topple the governments of
seven countries within five years. The countries
were Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria,
and Iran.
As we know,
Iraq was invaded in 2003. American ally Israel tried
its
hand at taking out Lebanon in 2006. Libya was
destroyed in 2011. Prior to this intervention,
Libya had the highest
standard of living of any country in Africa. In
2015, alone, it
dropped 27 places on the U.N. Human Development
Index rating. U.S. drones fly over Somalia, U.S.
troops are stationed
in South Sudan — Sudan was
partitioned following a brutal civil war — and
Syria has been the scene of a deadly war since 2011.
This leaves only Iran, which is discussed below.
6: Iran
and Syria have a mutual defense agreement
Since 2005,
Iran and Syria have been bound by a mutual
defense agreement. The Iranian government has
shown they intend to fully honor this agreement and
has provided the Syrian regime with all manner of
support, including troops, a $1
billion credit line, training, and advisement.
What makes this conflict even more dangerous,
however, is the fact Russia and China
have
sided with Iran and Syria, stating
openly they will not tolerate any attack on
Iran. Russia’s military intervention in Syria in
recent months proves these are not idle threats –
they have put their money where their mouth is.
Iran has
been in the
crosshairs of the U.S. foreign policy
establishment for some
time now. George W. Bush failed to generate the
support needed to attack Iran during his time in
office — though
not for lack of trying — and since
2012, sanctions have been the go-to mantra. By
attacking and destabilizing Iran’s most important
ally in the region, the powers that be can undermine
Iranian attempts to spread its influence in the
region, ultimately further weakening Iran.
5: Former Apple CEO is the son of a Syrian refugee
The late Steve
Jobs, founder of Apple, was the son of a Syrian
who moved to the United States in the 1950s. This is
particularly amusing given the amount of xenophobia,
Islamophobia, racism and hatred refugees and
migrants seem to have inspired — even from aspiring
presidents. Will a President Donald Trump create the
conditions in which future technological pioneers
may never reach the United States? His rhetoric
seems to
indicate as much.
4: ISIS
arose out of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, not the
Syrian conflict
ISIS was
formerly known as al-Qaeda in Iraq, which rose to
prominence following the U.S.-U.K. led invasion of
Iraq in 2003. It is
well-known that there was no tangible al-Qaeda
presence in Iraq until after the invasion, and there
is a reason for this. When
Paul Bremer was given the role of Presidential
Envoy to Iraq in May 2003, he dissolved
the police and military. Bremer fired close to
400,000 former servicemen, including high-ranking
military officials who fought in the Iran-Iraq war
in the 1980s. These generals
now hold senior ranking positions within ISIS.
If it weren’t for the United States’ actions, ISIS
likely wouldn’t exist.
ISIS was
previously known by the U.S. security establishment
as al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), but these fighters
ultimately became central to Western regime change
agendas in
Libya and
Syria. When the various Iraqi and Syrian
al-Qaeda-affiliated groups merged on the Syrian
border in 2014, we were left with the
fully-fledged terror group we face today.
3:
Turkey, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia wanted to build a
pipeline through Syria, but Assad rejected it
In 2009, Qatar
proposed a pipeline to run through Syria and
Turkey to export Saudi gas. Assad rejected the
proposal and instead formed an agreement with Iran
and Iraq to construct a pipeline to the European
market that would cut Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and
Qatar out of the route entirely. Since, Turkey,
Qatar, and Saudi Arabia have been staunch
backers of the opposition seeking to topple
Assad. Collectively, they
have invested billions of dollars, lent
weapons, encouraged the spread of
fanatical ideology, and helped
smuggle fighters across their borders.
The
Iran-Iraq pipeline will strengthen Iranian influence
in the region and undermine their rival, Saudi
Arabia — the other
main OPEC producer. Given the ability to
transport gas to Europe without going through
Washington’s allies, Iran will hold the upper-hand
and will be able to negotiate agreements that
exclude the U.S. dollar completely.
2: Leaked phone calls show Turkey provides ISIS
fighters with expensive medical care
Turkey’s
support for hardline Islamists fighting the Syrian
regime is extensive.
In fact, jihadists regularly refer to the Turkish
border as the “gateway to Jihad.” In May 2016, reports
started emerging of Turkey going so far as to
provide ISIS fighters with expensive medical
treatment.
Turkey is a
member of NATO. Let that sink in for a moment.
1: Western media’s main source for the conflict is a
T-shirt shop in Coventry, England
This is not
a joke. If you follow the news, you most probably
have heard the mainstream media quote an entity
grandiosely called the “Syrian
Observatory for Human Rights” (SOHR). This
so-called “observatory” is run by one man in his
home in Coventry, England — thousands of miles away
from the Syrian conflict — yet is quoted by most
respected Western media outlets (BBC,
Reuters,
The Guardian, and
International Business Times, for
example). His credentials include his ownership of a
T-shirt shop just down the road, as well as being a
notorious dissident against the current Syrian
president.
***
Despite the
fact much of the information in this article comes
from mainstream outlets, those circulating it refuse
to put all of the storylines together to give the
public an accurate picture of what is going on in
Syria.
Assad may
be brutal — and should face trial for allegations of
widespread human rights abuses — but this fact alone
does not make the other circumstances untrue or
irrelevant. People have the right to be properly
informed before they allow themselves to be led down
the road of more war in the Middle East, and
consequently, more terror attacks and potential
conflicts with
Russia and China. |