THE SYRIAN AGENDA

Syrian Presidential Palace 

 

MAINSTREAM MEDIA COVERAGE ON SYRIA

Since the uprising in SYRIA mainstream media happily reported what SYRIAN opposition groups provided them without verifying obtained information. Granted, SYRIA has banned most of foreign journalists and media outlets entering the country, thus corroboration of information is difficult. Mainstream media chose to rely on information provided by opposition groups and political entities whose agenda it is to tumble the ASSAD regime. Either Mainstream Media really are not aware that they are used as a propaganda tool by the opposition, or they are fully aware but comply with doctrines set by entities that finance them and who obviously have their own strategy set for SYRIA.

INFORMATION NEVER VERIFIED THROUGH INDEPENDENT SOURCES

Take for example the death toll figure in the SYRIAN uprising. Have they ever been verified by independent sources? Even the UN publishes its death toll figures based on information obtained from SYRIAN OPPOSITION SOURCES, which hardly can be considered as impartial. The same though applies when quoting SYRIAN state run press releases.
An example on how mainstream media is used to the advantage of the SYRIAN OPPOSITION is the following article published in the AUSTRIAN daily “DER STANDARD”.

Here is the translated version, with comments added below.
 

Alleged escape prevented 

Presidential Palace with Al- Mazzeh military airport located behind the hill

Allegedly the wife of SYRIAN President BASHAR AL-ASSAD, ASMAA AL-ASSAD was stopped by SYRIAN opposition forces when traveling in a convoy to the airport, from where she tried to leave the country secretly. SYRIAN opposition successfully prevented her from leaving the country.

According to the EGYPTIAN newspaper "AL-MASRI AL-YOUM ', information to this fact was obtained from SYRIAN OPPOSITION GROUPS on Sunday. The ISRAELI Internet portal YNET reported on Monday.

Members of the opposition "FREE SYRIAN ARMY," stated that the president's wife and several of her relatives were prevented from leaving. ASMAA AL-ASSAD, and their children, the mother of the President and his cousin were in a convoy to the airport when insurgents under the command of a former high-ranking officer engaged in a heavy fire exchange with the security detail of the President, who in the end succeeded to escort the convoy back to the presidential palace.

Comment on subject matter:

The SYRIAN presidential palace is situated on a hill overlooking Damascus, the international airport is situated on the south eastern outskirts of Damascus where as the AL- MAZZEH Military Airport is situated south-west of the presidential palaces, about 3 km in line of sight of the presidential palace. It is a well known fact that the ASSAD regime has an airplane at standby at AL MAZZEH airport as well as a heavily guarded private road that leads directly from the presidential palace to the airport.
Furthermore AL MAZZEH military airport houses various helicopter types that can carry heavy equipment and troops and can reach the presidential palace in minutes. So why would ASSAD take the risk and send his wife and relatives in a car convoy from the presidential palace to the international airport which is located more than 16 km from the palace and requires the convoy to pass through the dens city of Damascus, where as AL MAZZEH airbase is at the doorsteps of his palace, with a plane and helicopters on standby and the airbase in total control of Regime loyal elite forces? Even taking the private road from the palace to the airbase would bear no risk due to topographic advantages and security details guarding the entire area.

Looking on how this article came about it does reiterate the claim that mainstream media is not impartial, manipulated or simply unable to connect the dots. The rout this information too was as follows: Egyptian newspaper "Al-Masri al-Youm ' obtained the information from Syrian opposition groups on Sunday, Israeli Internet portal YNET reported on Monday and “Der Standard” adopted it thereafter. Needless to say that this kind of information gathering and distribution is neither objective nor impartial and most probably not even correct. Thus it comes as no surprise that current mainstream media coverage of the SYRIAN uprising is a breeding ground for conspiracy theorists and encouragement for alternative media reports and casts serious questions on the true agenda behind the SYRIAN uprising.

In response to mainstream media coverage of the SYRIAN uprising, relying on SYRIAN cell phone YouTube uploads and social network postings and the fact that both internet and mobile phones in SYRIA are rigorously monitored by security forces and the secret police I wrote on 18 August 2011 on this blog:




In view of the fact that the ASSAD regime has a tight grip on Internet traffic and mobile phone services it seems highly unlikely that the regime allows to transmit cell phone video clips and social networks to broadcast the uprising and suppression to the outside world, when at the same time it made sure that all foreign media was banned from the country right at the beginning of the uprising in order to avoid international media coverage.

The totalitarian SYRIAN regime that only permitted internet and mobile phones in recent past, (2002) and this under strict censorship, monitors fax transitions (See my article “The Assad Dilemma “, posted on 12 June 2011), expelled all foreign press at the beginning of the uprising, suddenly permits protesters to use freely cell phones to shoot videos portraying anti regime protests and distributing them via face book and the internet without censorship seems hardly likely.

The regime has means to block the internet and mobile phone services in order to stop postings. Nevertheless it seems that protesters have unlimited access to these medias. Furthermore one also has to question how it is possible that such a large amount of SYRIAN citizens are able to own cell phones, given the fact that cell phones and mobile phone services are extremely expensive in SYRIA, the purpose of which is intentional, in order to favor the upper class of SYRIA who so far have refrained from participated in the uprising. Thus one has to question how the poor of the country are able to suddenly afford and use these media tools without outside help or foreign intervention.