Syria: Fact vs Fiction

[Sn0man]

What's really going on in Syria? The MSM would have you believe that Assad is a brutal, evil dictator, but is he?

http://rt.com/news/syria-recent-violence-585/

[Sn0man]

ROBERT MACKEY (NY TIMES): Since your impressions of what is happening in Syria seem to be strikingly different from those of many foreign reporters who have worked there recently, I wanted to ask you about how you found your sources and what you think accounts for the different picture painted of the conflict by other journalists.

LIZZIE PHELAN: First of all I hope that you will give me the opportunity to answer all of your questions in full, so that the context which is always lacking can be provided. I also hope that you will ask all the questions that you proposed when I agreed to do this interview. If not I will myself publish the full questions and my full answers.

This question is flawed, because what you really mean is that my impressions of what is happening in Syria seem to be strikingly different from those reporters from the NATO and GCC countries which have a vested interest in destabilising Syria. Of course my impressions are actually shared by the majority people of this world, from those countries outside of NATO and the GCC and particularly those which are victims of these powers. But because they do not own a powerful media their voices are drowned out by the impressions of the minority reflected in the mainstream media of the NATO and GCC countries.

So in relation to my sources, I find my sources through a number of different means, but my main means is I talk to ordinary people every where I go and in Syria this is not difficult because people are really keen to speak about the crisis in their country, especially to foreigners who they feel strongly have a false impression about their country and current events. This was overwhelmingly, but of course not exclusively, the point of view that I encountered. And this is reflected in my reporting.

In fact, like in Libya, I was so overwhelmed by the volume of people that wanted to talk about their anger at the fabrications in the media of the NATO and GCC countries that my colleague Mostafa Afzalzadeh and I decided to make a documentary so that we could reflect what ordinary Syrian people are really saying. This documentary will actually expose how if it was not for such media the crisis in Syria would have been over before it started and the people of Syria would be living in peace now.

The difference with journalists from mainstream media in NATO and GCC countries is that they come with an agenda, and that agenda is to cover what they call is a "revolution" happening inside Syria and to give substance to the false claims that the Syrian government is a threat to the Syrian people. So if for example they walk down the street and they have 10 people telling them there is no revolution happening in Syria and actually the people want the army to protect them from the terrorists that are flooding the country, and then they have one person who tells them that there is no democracy in Syria, they will discard the 10 as government spies and run with the one person who said something different, I witnessed this myself.

If they were to do the reverse and reflect the majority view on the street, then this would undermine the coverage of their media organisations over the previous 10 months that have painted a picture of a government hated by its people, and in turn it would undermine their own credibility as journalists working for those organisations.

But in time they will not be able to supress the truth. However, like in Libya the danger is that the truth only comes out when it is too late, when a country has been successfully destroyed by the NATO and GCC countries, with the vital help of their media. Then the western media can afford to be more honest, although never entirely, because the aims, for example of regime change, of their paymasters have been achieved.

I on the other hand am not concerned about towing a line in order to "make it" as a journalist working for one of the world's most respected media organisations, I became a journalist in order to reflect the truth at whatever cost that may come. The only thing I am loyal to is my conscience.

http://lizzie-phelan.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-york-times-interview-with-lizzie.html

[Sn0man]

Watch it.

[Sn0man]

57% turnout for Syria's referendum. That's more than voted in our last election.

[FreeRights]

Watch it.

I will admit, some of it is very interesting, but the painfully extreme bias in the video makes it completely unwatchable.

At the part where the Libyan rebels release Al-Queda prisoners in a Libya jail, the video then feels that they can make the following claim:
Libyan government is against Libyan rebels.
Libyan rebels release al-Queda prisoners; therefore, are al Queda.
USA opposes Libyan government.
Therefore, USA supports al Queda.

I think that's a pretty ridiculous line of reasoning.

Oh, my new favorite. "Does HE LOOK LIKE ONE OF THEM (the rebels)?"
Because he's white, apparently he's a US military trainer for al Queda.

The other problem that the narrator makes a lot of claims, especially at the very end of the video, with absolutely no sources or clips to suggest it's true.

I do think the part about gold was interesting though.

[Sn0man]

I do think the part about gold was interesting though.

It seems to be a common denominator in all wars the US/UN/NATO are involved in in the middle east. Saddam was moving away from the USD as their trade currency, as was Libya, as is Iran. If more countries started using their own currencies (or gold) for trade, the US Dollar as a reserve currency would rapidly lose value and hyperinflation would likely result. Given the state of their economy, it's not so hard to understand what their real motivations are.

[Sn0man]

At the part where the Libyan rebels release Al-Queda prisoners in a Libya jail, the video then feels that they can make the following claim:
Libyan government is against Libyan rebels.
Libyan rebels release al-Queda prisoners; therefore, are al Queda.
USA opposes Libyan government.
Therefore, USA supports al Queda.

I think that's a pretty ridiculous line of reasoning.

Given the information presented, it is a stretch to suggest that. However that doesn't mean the claims weren't true. See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZcESfI4itk

The other problem that the narrator makes a lot of claims, especially at the very end of the video, with absolutely no sources or clips to suggest it's true.

Again, given the information presented, there is no evidence in the film to support those claims. However again, that doesn't mean they aren't true either:

Colonel Gaddafi is probably the only other leader after President Mugabe who has dared to look his enemy in the eye and declare he will fight to his last breath for the rights and sovereignty of his people on the African continent.

Their vision of an independent Africa which is free to trade on equal footing with other nations has made them monsters to Western governments and corporations who specialize in raping developing countries for their resources.

snip...

Those who engage in agriculture do not pay taxes. The state offers non-interest loans.

According to the World Bank and IMF Libya has no debt and in fact has more foreign exchange reserves than many European countries.

http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2011/08/libya-africa-rise-against-western.html

[FreeRights]

At the part where the Libyan rebels release Al-Queda prisoners in a Libya jail, the video then feels that they can make the following claim:
Libyan government is against Libyan rebels.
Libyan rebels release al-Queda prisoners; therefore, are al Queda.
USA opposes Libyan government.
Therefore, USA supports al Queda.

I think that's a pretty ridiculous line of reasoning.

Given the information presented, it is a stretch to suggest that. However that doesn't mean the claims weren't true. See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZcESfI4itk

The other problem that the narrator makes a lot of claims, especially at the very end of the video, with absolutely no sources or clips to suggest it's true.

Again, given the information presented, there is no evidence in the film to support those claims. However again, that doesn't mean they aren't true either:

Colonel Gaddafi is probably the only other leader after President Mugabe who has dared to look his enemy in the eye and declare he will fight to his last breath for the rights and sovereignty of his people on the African continent.

Their vision of an independent Africa which is free to trade on equal footing with other nations has made them monsters to Western governments and corporations who specialize in raping developing countries for their resources.

snip...

Those who engage in agriculture do not pay taxes. The state offers non-interest loans.

According to the World Bank and IMF Libya has no debt and in fact has more foreign exchange reserves than many European countries.

http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/2011/08/libya-africa-rise-against-western.html

I'm absolutely not saying that it isn't true, but a "documentary" that presents both sides in an appropriate, fair, and objective manner that allows the viewer to make up his or her own mind about something definitely presents the information in a more effective way than this propaganda piece that you posted.

[Sn0man]

Lizzie Phelan exposes the lies:

With thanks to Rafiq Lutif for leaking these videos

Here western media darling "activist" Danny Dayem can be seen ordering those around him to fire while he waits to go live on CNN, in order to back up his false claims that the Syrian government was committing a massacre against civilians in Homs

In this video we can see the insurgents have set up a camera before an attack on an oil refinery in Homs which they staged as "government shelling". In itself, that the camera was set up beforehand, shows that they knew something was going to take place. It has been well documented inside Syria known that the western backed insurgents have committed numerous attacks on the energy infrastructure of the country in order to try to cause mass suffering to the population with the aim of weakening their morale and thus support for President Bashar al-Assad.

See the rest: http://lizzie-phelan.blogspot.com/2012/ ... gents.html

[Sn0man]

French officers caught illegally supporting Syrian rebels in Homs:

Anyway, the French press this morning is silent while this information is now public. This attitude demonstrates the restoration of military censorship in France. This device, which was the norm during the war in Algeria, there are half a century, enabled the imperialist power to conceal from the public historical events that were integrated into the national consciousness that decades later (eg the massacre of Algerians in Paris, October 17, 1961).

http://www.voltairenet.org/La-France-retablit-la-censure

[mikepysh]

I guess the Castanet news team must be spreading disinfo now too with their story:
http://www.castanet.net/edition/news-st ... .htm#72569
really, not according to Syrian girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... 7bL2WPvlPY
and why does castanet say america is not funding the terrorists:
http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/12/03/385715.htm
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... -side.html
free syrian army?:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d25_1331008092
http://www.voltairenet.org/Free-Syrian- ... mmanded-by
LEARN THE TRUTH http://www.syrianyouth.com

[FreeRights]

It appears that the United Nations, who are in Syria, are not telling us that no such revolution is occurring.

Looks like all your "sources" are BS.

[mikepysh]

It appears that the United Nations, who are in Syria, are not telling us that no such revolution is occurring.

Looks like all your "sources" are BS.

BS? Al-CIA-da is there killing and killing some more just like in Libya. The news calls them protesters. Look it up!

[mikepysh]

Revolution?
http://www.syrianyouth.com/423_10-thing ... ution.html

[mikepysh]

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... &aid=30644