{"id":20273,"date":"2012-07-16T12:00:26","date_gmt":"2012-07-16T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=20273"},"modified":"2012-07-15T16:55:01","modified_gmt":"2012-07-15T15:55:01","slug":"engineering-consent-for-an-attack-on-syria-another-syrian-civilian-massacre-story-falls-apart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2012\/07\/engineering-consent-for-an-attack-on-syria-another-syrian-civilian-massacre-story-falls-apart\/","title":{"rendered":"Engineering Consent for an Attack on Syria: Another Syrian \u201cCivilian Massacre\u201d Story Falls Apart"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yet another alleged<\/a> “massacre” of “civilians” by the Syrian regime was in the establishment-press headlines this week, supposedly a brutal killing spree by dictator Bashar al-Assad\u2019s forces in the village of Tremseh that left up to 250 people dead. As has become typical, Western governments and mainstream media outlets \u2014 the New York Times<\/em>, the BBC, and others included \u2014 parroted anonymous \u201copposition activists\u201d for the claims. But within days, after foreign powers seeking regime change had their chance to beat the war drums even louder, the carefully constructed tale was already falling apart.<\/p>\n

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, one of the top defenders of the dangerous \u201crebel\u201d coalition operating in Syria at American taxpayer expense, immediately claimed<\/a> there was “indisputable evidence that the regime deliberately murdered innocent civilians” \u2014 \u201cover 200 men, women and children,\u201d in fact. She did not present or cite any of the alleged evidence, but vowed to punish those responsible amid more calls for immediate regime change. Other Western leaders and financiers of the violence in Syria issued similar condemnations and more threats.<\/p>\n

Despite hysterical reporting and wild statements by political leaders, however, even \u201copposition activists\u201d were conceding early on that most of the dead were actually armed [by the West] combatants who had staged attacks on the regime\u2019s military forces. More recent reports<\/a>, even those based on anonymous \u201copposition activists,\u201d also suggest that closer to 100 people had died. Almost all of the dead were military-aged men, too \u2014 a far cry from Clinton\u2019s \u201cover 200 men, women and children.\u201d<\/p>\n

“At this stage, though we do not yet have the final count, the number of civilians killed by shelling is not more than seven,” an anti-Assad \u201cactivist\u201d known as \u201cJaafar\u201d with the Sham News Network (SNN) told<\/a> the AFP press agency. “The rest were members of the [Western-backed] Free Syrian Army.\u201d How could Clinton and the establishment press have messed up the story so badly, again<\/a>?<\/p>\n

One problem, according to analysts, is that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is consistently discussed using deceptive terminology. \u201cFrom the U.S. State Department and outward through its tentacles across the corporate media, the so-called \u2018Free Syrian Army\u2019 is continuously referred to interchangeably as \u2018civilians\u2019 and \u2018activists,\u2019\u201d noted<\/a> analyst Tony Cartalucci, who has followed the conflict closely. \u201cIn reality they are heavily armed, foreign-backed, and include amongst their ranks a sizable proportion of foreign fighters \u2014 betraying the very name Free \u2018Syrian\u2019 Army.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cartalucci called the deceptive mainstream-media reporting and the dangerous Western war-mongering against Syria an example of \u201cGoebbelsesque propaganda.\u201d Numerous other analysts criticized<\/a> the lies and propaganda as well. And it is hardly the first allegation of a \u201cmassacre\u201d conducted by the Syrian regime to crumble<\/a> upon closer scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Of course, there was indeed killing going on in the area, and many young men \u2014 possibly up to 100 \u2014 did indeed die. Both sides acknowledged that. And Assad\u2019s tyrannical regime did deploy heavy weapons including tanks and helicopters as both sides continued to violate the international cease-fire agreement. What exactly happened, however, remains unclear. Members of the UN mission in Syria are supposed to be investigating and reporting their findings as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe BBC’s Jim Muir in Beirut says it remains far from clear what took place at Tremseh,\u201d acknowledged<\/a> the state-run British news service, days after touting opposition claims along with most of the establishment press and not long after it was caught using an old photo from Iraq to illustrate a previous \u201ccivilian massacre\u201d in Syria. After parroting anonymous claims about the latest alleged \u201ccivilian massacre\u201d in Tremseh conducted by the regime, other news outlets and \u201copposition activists\u201d reluctantly followed suit and admitted that the facts did not fit the original allegations.<\/p>\n

Clinton and other Western advocates of \u201cregime change,\u201d however, have not yet corrected themselves. And as the war-mongers continue to demand international military intervention to oust the Syrian despot, it is unlikely that they will.<\/p>\n

The Assad dictatorship claims it was battling \u201carmed terrorist\u201d groups backed by foreign powers at the request of innocent local villagers in the area who were being terrorized and slaughtered by the establishment-backed \u201copposition\u201d fighters. It also alleged in press reports that the \u201cterrorists\u201d had been summarily executing people including women and children. No independent confirmation has been made of the claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria has been exposed to more than 16 months of terrorist attacks and booby-trapped suicide attacks by foreign-backed armed terrorist groups, which in part coordinate their attacks with some media outlets, especially once a UN session about Syria is to be or convened,\u201d reported<\/a> the dictatorship-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), echoing concerns of analysts around the world after top mainstream news outlets like CNN and Al Jazeera were caught broadcasting staged propaganda by the rebels<\/a>. The report also acknowledged that the regime\u2019s forces had indeed killed and captured \u201cscores\u201d of \u201cterrorists.\u201d<\/p>\n

”Had the Army or security personnel existed in the village, the terrorists wouldn’t have been able to overrun the village and perpetrate their massacres,” claimed villager Abo Arif al-Khalid, a supposed \u201cwitness\u201d to the alleged rebel atrocities, in an interview with the state-run media. The man, apparently crying in the interview, also claimed that the Western-backed opposition fighters had killed women and children including his cousin.<\/p>\n

At least three Syrian soldiers died in the conflict, according to the regime.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, anonymous \u201cdemocracy activists\u201d cited in early establishment-press reports originally claimed, like Clinton, that the Syrian military had indiscriminately slaughtered innocent villagers with tanks and helicopters. However, when no evidence was offered to substantiate those claims \u2014 let alone images of dead women and children \u2014 the narrative slowly changed. The few videos that did emerge showed at most 17 dead or bloody military-aged men alleged to have been victims of the fighting.<\/p>\n

In a July 12 report, the New York Times<\/em> implicitly \u2014 and deceptively \u2014 suggested<\/a> that there was actual evidence. \u201cActivists in Hama posted a video on YouTube accusing the government of \u2018ethnic cleansing in Hama,\u2019 and said the killings in Tremseh were \u2018unlike any massacre that has previously occurred in Syria,\u2019\u201d the paper reported. Instead of a video showing any \u201cethnic cleansing\u201d or \u201cmassacre,\u201d however, the clip cited by the Times actually just shows a man with a bandage on his head talking in Arabic making assorted accusations. You can watch it here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Online commentators were not buying it, though. \u201cThis revolution of the Syrian free army is nothing but a paid thugs running around to create terrorism,\u201d noted the top comment on the YouTube video as of July 14. \u201cWhen they get killed or injured your stupid media starts to cry \u2018oh my god Bashar is evil.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times<\/em> also cited a statement by the anti-Assad Muslim Brotherhood. \u201cThe Muslim Brotherhood in Syria do not consider Bashar the Beast the only one responsible for this horrific massacre,\u201d the radical Islamic socialist group claimed. \u201cResponsibility for this and for previous massacres also lies with Annan, with the Russians and the Iranians, and all those states who claim they are protecting peace and stability yet stay silent and skulk away from taking any responsibility.\u201d Apparently the extremist group wants the world to intervene militarily on its side.<\/p>\n

Some analysts have tried to claim<\/a> that the Assad dictatorship has not been responsible for any massacres at all, arguing that it would be counterproductive to his campaign to retain power. That is almost certainly not the case, as thousands have already died on both sides, with Assad’s forces likely involved in many of the deaths. But the timing of the latest alleged massacre was indeed suspicious \u2014 like most reports of Assad atrocities, it coincided perfectly with high-level international negotiations on Syria.<\/p>\n

When asked about why the alleged mass abuses perpetrated by Assad against his opponents often seem to be timed just ahead of major UN Security Council meetings, a spokesman for the Bilderberg-linked<\/a> \u201cSyrian National Council\u201d \u2014 which includes the radical Muslim Brotherhood and is considered by the establishment to be the main \u201crepresentative\u201d of Syria\u2019s opposition \u2014 dodged the question. \u201cAssad doesn’t really care about the international community,\u201d the SNC spokesman finally said<\/a> in what was probably the only relevant comment to the query.<\/p>\n

Both sides \u2014 the barbaric Assad regime and the anti-Assad foreign powers backing the rebels \u2014 are undoubtedly using propaganda to advance their narratives. However, a disturbing pattern has emerged over the last year: numerous massacres blamed on the dictatorship\u2019s forces were actually conducted by the Western-backed rebels<\/a>. Christians in particular, who have found one of the last Middle Eastern refuges in Syria under Assad and therefore largely support the regime, are being exterminated by the foreign-financed Islamist opposition<\/a> in what observers have called a real example of \u201cethnic cleansing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, none of the information presented here is meant to defend the barbarian tyrant ruling over Syria. The point is that there is much more going on than Western governments and the mainstream press would like citizens to realize \u2014 and people are dying based on gross deceptions perpetrated by the highest levels of the establishment. More will undoubtedly die in the coming months.<\/p>\n

Instead of presenting the truth, powerful establishment forces are using lies and deception<\/a>, as well as taxpayer money, in an effort to impose a new regime on the Syrian people by force of arms if necessary. And unfortunately for the populations of Syria and maybe Iran next, more than a few analysts worry that the new rulers \u2014 if and when the bloodshed ever stops \u2014 might be even worse than the current situation. Only time will tell.<\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 thenewamerican.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yet another alleged “massacre” of “civilians” by the Syrian regime was in the establishment-press headlines this week, supposedly a brutal killing spree by dictator Bashar al-Assad\u2019s forces. Despite hysterical reporting and wild statements by political leaders, however, even \u201copposition activists\u201d were conceding early on that most of the dead were actually armed [by the West] combatants who had staged attacks on the regime\u2019s military forces.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-north-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20273\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}