The narrative that has been constructed by the Western mainstream media on
Syria may seem to be self-evident from the scenes presented on television,
but it is a narrative duplicitously promoted and coordinated so as to
conceal and facilitate the regime-change project that is part of the war on Iran.
What we are seeing is a new stage of information war intentionally
constructed and cast as a simplistic narrative of a struggle for human
rights and democracy so as deliberately to exclude other interpretations and
any geo-strategic motivation.
The narrative, as CNN puts it, is in essence this: "The vast majority of
reports from the ground indicate that government forces are killing citizens
in an attempt to wipe out civilians seeking [President Bashar] al-Assad's
ouster" - the aim being precisely to elicit a heart-wrenching emotional
response in Western audiences that trumps all other considerations and makes
the call for Western/Gulf intervention to effect regime change.
But it is a narrative based on distortion, manipulation, lies and videotape.
. . .
Reports confirmed by leading Syrian opposition leaders in April 2011 reveal
that in addition to cyber-training, weapons and money from Syrian exiles, as
well as from a "major Arab Gulf country" and a Lebanese political party,
were being distributed to "young demonstrators". The former head of Russian
intelligence, Yevgeny Primakov, similarly noted that the Syrian conflict
"started with armed revolts against the authorities, not peaceful
demonstrations".
Ironically, one of the most accurate descriptions of the sectarian conflict
we are witnessing in Syria comes from an assessment by the neoconservative
Brookings Institute in its March 2012 report "Assessing Options for Regime
Change in Syria", one option being for "the United States [to] fight a
"clean" war ... and leave the dirty work on the ground to the FSA [Free
Syrian Army], perhaps even obviating a massive commitment to Iraq-style
nation-building". . . .
In the wake of the failures at state-building in Afghanistan and Iraq,
direct intervention, with all the responsibilities this would entail, would
not go down well in cash-strapped Western nations. Better to get others to
do the "dirty work" - pursue "regime change by civil war". . . .
[The SNC - and the FSA - could not be more un-representative. The "Friends
of Syria" - as in Hillary and the Arab stooges - barely acknowledge the
existence of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB), the
main indigenous opposition movement in Syria, composed of 13 political
parties, mostly from the Left, Arab nationalists and including one Kurdish
party. The NCB firmly denounces any form of militarization and totally
dismisses the FSA.--Pepe Escobar, "There will
be hell to pay for NATO's Holy War," atimes.com, July 10, 2012]
[It's a tale about some of the most quoted members of the Syrian opposition
and their connection to the Anglo-American opposition creation
business.--Charlie Skelton, "The Syrian Opposition: Who's Doing The
Talking?," Guardian, July 12, 2012]
[Western and Gulf powers have launched the largest secret war operation
since the Contra war in Nicaragua. The Battle of Damascus is not intended to
topple President Bashar al-Assad, but to fracture the Syrian Army to better
ensure the domination of Israel and the U.S. over the Middle East.--Thierry
Meyssan, "The
battle of Damascus has begun," voltairenet.org, July 20, 2012
[ . . . this endgame is largely in keeping with the Obama Administration's
recent strategy of feigning interest in a diplomatic solution while
undermining it until it finally collapses, then insisting they are
reluctantly moving toward unilateral action--Jason Ditz, "US Abandons 'Diplomatic' Efforts, Aims
to Forcibly Oust Syrian Govt," antiwar.com, July 21, 2012]
[The Western media should have learned a lesson from the Iraq fiasco.--Tom
Fenton, "Swallowing the big lie on
Syria," globalpost.com, July 21, 2012]
[ . . . the United States, in another case of the Middle Eastern tail
wagging the American dog, has downsized its dreams of liberal-democratic
revolution for the reality of regime collapse driven in significant part by
domestic thugs and opportunists, money and arms funneled in by conservative
Gulf regimes, violent Islamist adventurism, and neo-Ottoman overreach by
Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.--Peter Lee, "Syrian wheel of
fortune spins China's way," atimes.com, July 21, 2012]
[Syria itself, contrary to what most western media portray, is a
long-standing multi-ethnic and religiously tolerant secular state with an
Alawite Muslim President Bashar Al-Assad, married to a Sunni wife. . . .
According to an informed assessment by Gajendra Singh, retired Indian
diplomat with decades of service in the Middle East and a deep familiarity
with the ethnic mix inside Syria, were the minority Alawite regime of
Al-Assad to fall, the country would rapidly descend into a bloodbath that
would make estimates of 17,000 killed to date a mere prelude. Singh
estimates, "A defeat of Assad led regime will lead to slaughter of Alawites,
Shias, Christians, even Kurds and Druzes. In all, 20 % of a population of 20
Million."--F. William Engdahl, "Putin's
Geopolitical Chess Game with Washington in Syria and Eurasia,"
marketoracle.co.uk, July 23, 2012]
[A Saudi clan, the Sudairi, is spearheading the counter-revolutionary tide
unleashed by the United States and Israel in the Middle East. . . .
In the current period, the image of the jihadists needs to be changed. They
are now expected to fight alongside NATO, as they once fought alongside the
CIA in Afghanistan against the Red Army. It is therefore advisable to revert
to the pro-Western discourse of the past and to find a substitute for
anti-communism. This will be the ideological task of Sheikh Youssef al-Qaradawi.--Thierry Meyssan "The Middle East
counter-revolution," voltairenet.org, July 26, 2012]
[The Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) last week
sent the waiver to Brian Sayers, of the Syrian Support Group, which
describes itself as "a United States-based non-profit organization committed
to supporting the Free Syrian Army."--John Glaser, "US Authorizes Advocacy Group
to Aid Syrian Rebels, Build Up Opposition Army," antiwar.com, July
28, 2012]
[ . . . 56 of them made themselves public by signing a letter to President
Obama demanding that he send in the US Army to complete the destruction of
Syria and its people . . .
[Reuters reported a classified intelligence "finding" signed by President
Obama authorizing aid to the Syrian rebels. This may be the tip of the
iceberg that eventually reveals an extensive covert campaign by the United
States, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to overthrow the Assad
government in Damascus. According to this scenario, these U.S. allies would
be using Qatar, assorted freelance jihadists and Lebanese rightists as
cat's-paws to sustain the uprising. Jihadists, both Syrian and foreign, may
also play a spearhead role in the fighting.--Eric S. Margolis, "Syria and the Invisible Hand of Foreign
Intervention," nationalinterest.org, August 10, 2012]
["You won't believe this," Major Somar cried in excitement. "One of our
prisoners told me: 'I didn't realise Palestine was as beautiful as this.' He
thought he was in Palestine to fight the Israelis!"--Robert Fisk, "'Rebel army? They're
a gang of foreigners'," independent.co.uk, August 23, 2012]
[The Central Intelligence Agency is playing its part, and its ominous
presence at the "nerve centre" in the Turkish city of Adana, coordinating
the military strikes buffeting the Assad government, has been well recorded.
. . . Syrian "rebels" being armed with Stinger missiles--Atul Aneja, "Shades of Afghanistan in the Levant," thehindu.com, August 27,
2012]
[In 1918, the imperial powers divided the Middle East in a certain way that
suited their interests at the time. They are now remapping it again . . . It
is not coincidental that this program dovetails with Israel's own long-term
strategic planning.--Claudio Gallo, "The
remapping of the Middle East'," atimes.com, August 30, 2012]
[Morsi had already launched Egypt's plan to solve the interminable Syrian
tragedy; a contact group uniting Egypt, Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.--Pepe
Escobar, "Morsi delivers his calling card'," atimes.com, August 31, 2012]
[One US intelligence estimate found as many as a quarter of the 300
different rebel groups in Syria may be fighting under the banner of
al-Qaeda--John Glaser, "Jihadists Striving for Autocratic
Theocracy Make Up Syrian Rebels'," antiwar.com, September 8, 2012]