When America goes to war
or plans one, media scoundrels march in lockstep. Journalism is the
first casualty. Managed news misinformation substitutes for truth and
full disclosure.
Cheerleading propaganda is relentless. Readers and viewers are betrayed.
Imperial wars are called liberating ones. Separating fact from fiction
is challenging.
Only replacing independent regimes with pro-Western puppet ones matters.
Media scoundrels support it. Blood on their hands doesn't deter them.
Steady income eases conscience pangs. Soul selling pays well.
NYT and Washington Post editorials discussed below reflect the latest
White House statement on Syria. It reads like bad fiction, saying:
"The United States strongly condemns the outrageous targeted killings
of civilians including women and children in Al-Qubeir in Hama province
as reported by multiple credible sources."
"This, coupled with the Syrian regime’s refusal to let UN observers
into the area to verify these reports, is an affront to human dignity
and justice."
"There is no justification for this regime’s continued defiance of its
obligations under the Annan Plan, and Assad’s continued abdication of
responsibility for these horrific acts has no credibility and only further
underscores the illegitimate and immoral nature of his rule."
"The future of Syria will be determined by the Syrian people, and the
international community must come together in support of their legitimate
aspirations."
"We call once more on all nations to abandon support for this brutal
and illegitimate regime, and to join together to support a political
transition in Syria—one that upholds the promise of a future for which
far too many have already died."
Fact check
Assad security forces and/or supporters had nothing to do with Houla
and Qubeir village massacres. Western-recruited death squads bear full
responsibility. Claiming otherwise won't change facts.
According to Reuters, UN monitors visited Qubeir. So did journalists
accompanying them. Claiming otherwise ignores what some media sources
reported.
"The smell of burnt flesh hung in the air and body parts lay scattered
around the deserted" village, said Reuters.
UN spokeswoman Sausan Ghosheh said one house showed bullet and rocket
fire damage. Another was burnt.
One home had "pieces of brains on the floor." Blood was everywhere.
Around 78 people were shot at close range, stabbed, or "burned alive."
Targeted Qubeir residents were pro-Assad loyalists.
They were murdered for supporting the wrong side. Pro-Gaddafi Libyans
were killed the same way. Reuters may have inadvertently absolved Assad,
saying:
Qubeir killings replicated Houla deaths two weeks earlier. "The conflict
is becoming increasingly sectarian. (Pro-Assad) shabbiha militiamen
from the Alawite community appear to be off the leash...."
UK journalist Alex Thomson said Syrian insurgents tried to get him killed.
On June 8, his blog site headlined "Set up to be shot in Syria's no
man's land?" saying:
Dead journalists are bad news for Assad. His Channel 4 News team travelled
in UN vehicles. They were abandoned when surrounded by "shouting militia."
They were fired on. They had to take evasive action. The incident took
place last weekend. Thomson and crew are back home.
Were they set up to be shot, he asked?
"Suddenly four men in a black car beckon us to follow. We move out behind."
"We are led another route. Led in fact, straight into a free-fire zone.
Told by the Free Syrian Army to follow a road that was blocked off in
the middle of no-man’s-land."
"At that point there was the crack of a bullet and one of the slower
three-point turns I’ve experienced. We screamed off into the nearest
side-street for cover. Another dead-end."
"Predictably the black car....led us to the trap....I'm quite clear
the rebels deliberately set us up to be shot...."
"The UN duly drove back past us, witnessed us surrounded by shouting
militia, and left town."
"Please, do not for one moment believe that my experience with the rebels....was
a one-off."
Human rights lawyer Nawaf al Thani tweeted him. He was also set up.
Thomson believes so have others getting too close to insurgents.
"In a war where they slit the throats of toddlers back to the spine,
what's the big deal in sending a van full of journalist into the killing
zone" to die?”
On June 8, a New York Times editorial headlined "Assad, the Butcher,"
saying:
Qubeir was "the fourth massacre in two weeks."
"Despite his claims that the violence is the work of 'terrorists,' (Assad)
has a lot to hide. On Thursday, Syrian troops and pro-government supporters
barred the monitors from Qubeir, and the monitors were fired upon."
Fact check
Insurgents fired on monitors, not Assad forces. It wasn't the first
time and won't be the last. Earlier, observer head General Robert Mood
had a close call.
He could have been killed but said little. The incident passed. It's
forgotten. Maybe it warned him to support pro-Western forces, not Assad.
It happened again. On May 9, Reuters headlined "Syria rebels kill 7,
bomb explodes near UN monitors," saying:
Eight Syrian soldiers were wounded. They were escorting UN monitors.
Mood led them. He downplayed the incident, saying:
"The important thing is not speculating about who was the target, what
was the target, but to make the point that this is what the Syrian people
are seeing every day and it needs to stop."
Speaking forthrightly might help. Downplaying attacks that could have
killed him betrays his mandate. So does not naming responsible parties.
Assad forces were protecting him. Insurgents attacked. Twice he escaped
unharmed. Maybe next time he won't be as lucky.
As explained above, monitors went to Qubeir. They were delayed but not
deterred. Neither were journalists accompanying them.
According to Times-think, Annan's peace plan "g(ave) Russia, China and
some other" Security Council members "six more weeks to excuse their
inaction."
Russia and China are "complicit in more than 12,000 Syrian deaths....A
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman was still in a fantasy world on Friday,
calling on both sides in the conflict to stop the fighting."
"....Washington needs to marshal all of the pressure and shaming it
can find" to get both countries to bend.
Fact check
Moscow and Beijing reject foreign intervention. They understand Washington's
regime change plans. They don't want Syria to replicate Afghanistan,
Iraq and Libya. They support conflict resolution, not more war.
They have no blood on their hands. Obama's are irreparably stained.
Scoundrel media share guilt. Promoting bloodshed is unconscionable.
"With every new atrocity, calls for military action grow."
The Times effectively endorsed it. Imperial interests alone matter.
Mass killing followed by more of it is a small price to pay. Who's keeping
count?
A same day Washington Post editorial headlined "The UN's Syria disaster,"
saying:
"THIS MAY BE remembered as the week in which the illusion that the bloodshed
in Syria could be stopped by United Nations diplomats was destroyed
once and for all. Inside the country, the killing sharply and sickeningly
accelerated."
These type comments come perilously close to endorsing war.
Regime change "in Syria" depends on "Assad (being) confronted with irresistible
force."
This one crosses the line.
How long Russia and China can prevent what looks certain remains unclear.
They're trying. On June 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said:
"There will not be a Security Council mandate for outside intervention,
I guarantee you that."
"There are sides in the Syria conflict, especially the so called (opposition)
Syrian National Council, who are saying no negotiations with the regime,
only continued armed battle until the Security Council gives a mandate
for outside intervention."
"Either we gather everyone with influence at the negotiating table or
once again we depart into ideology... where it is declared shamelessly
that everything is the fault of the regime, while everyone else are
angels and therefore the regime should be changed."
On June 9, SANA state media reported Syrian UN envoy Bashar al-Jaafari
saying Qubeir killings occurred hours before armed clashes happened.
He added that Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabia, and other media aired fake videos.
"The Syrian TVs will air the true images of the massacre," he explained.
"The instigative media channels have taken to airing such fabrications
before the UN Security Council meetings."
Responsible gunmen came from Jreijes village. Residents called police
for help.
"What is taking place in some parts of Syria is an unjustifiable heinous
massacre, but some statements made during this session are part of the
butchery, since the diagnosis of the situation is incorrect as it is
based on political and media operation rooms that are detached from
the situation on the ground."
"The Syrian government extends a hand of reconciliation with all political
powers whose hands are clear of the Syrian blood to reach the shores
of safety we all spire to."
"Are suicide bombings that targeted Syria acts in self-defense? Are
attacks on hospitals, medical staffs and schools democratic (acts)?''
On June 9, Press TV reported that insurgents attacked Damascus infrastructure.
A power station was shelled. Blackouts followed.
"Gunmen have also reportedly targeted military units charged with protecting
an oilfield in" Dayr al-Zawr.
Car bombs killed police and civilians in Damascus. Another one killed
police in Idlib.
Insurgents bear full responsibility for months of violence. Assad is
right calling them "outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorist groups."
He also said unrest is being orchestrated from abroad.
The buck stops in Washington. Media scoundrels share blame. Don't they
always?
A Final Comment
On June 8, DEBKAfile said Moscow "flatly rejected (Obama's) proposal
to post 5,000 armed UN monitors in Syria, most of them Russian troops,
as the core of a new plan to resolve the Syrian crisis."
DF said Russia is getting more hardline. Talks aren't being held to
replace Assad. Annan's peace plan failed. It wasn't designed to succeed.
Washington's mission to Moscow reached a "dead end." The "Syrian conflict
and Iranian nuclear controversy are becoming inextricably intermeshed."
P5+1 countries are "seriously considering not turning up for their third
round of nuclear talks in Moscow on June 18 - 19."
DF also says "Russia is prepared to use military power to defend Iran
and Syria."
Last February, Russia Today interviewed Colonel-General (ret.) Leonid
Ivashov. He's a former Russian Joint Chiefs of Staff member.
He said maneuvers conducted at the time were meant to "demonstrate Russia's
readiness to use military power to defend its national interests and
to bolster its political position."
Iran and Syria are allies, he said. They're "guaranteed partners of
Russia."
"A strike against" either country "is an indirect strike against Russia
and its interests. Russia would lose important positions and allies
in the Arab world. Therefore, by defending Syria (and Iran), Russia
is defending its own interests."
He added that Russia is "defending the entire world from Fascism. Everybody
should acknowledge that Fascism is making strides on our planet. What
they did in Libya is nearly identical to what Hitler and his armies
did against Poland and then Russia. Today, therefore, Russia is defending
the entire world from Fascism."
On June 4, DF said Obama this fall plans to implement "an embargo on
aircraft and sea vessels visiting Iranian ports. Any national airline
or international aircraft (entering) Iran will be barred from US and
West European airports."
The same holds for "private and government-owned vessels, including
oil tankers."
Obama keeps advancing the ball closer to war. First Syria, then Iran,
then other targeted states.
Canadian psychiatrist Robert Hare describes psychopathic behavior clinically.
He said 10% on Wall Street exhibit it. It holds for Obama, top administration
officials, and congressional party leaders.
They're amoral, deceitful, manipulative, and completely self-interested.
They breach social and legal standards. They suffer no guilt. They exhibit
callous unconcern for others.
They disregard safety and can't maintain long-term relationships. They're
anti-social and have no sense of moral responsibility. They're "without
conscience." Clinically, they're psychopathic. "(T)heir game is self-gratification
at" the expense of others.
They're all take and no give. They flagrantly violate societal rules.
They're psychopathically vicious. They're indifferent to human suffering.
Hare stressed that "if we can't spot them, we are doomed to be their
victims, both as individuals and as a society."
Perhaps he had George Bush, Dick Cheney, Obama, Romney, and other amoral
hawks in mind.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News
Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time
and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy
listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
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