(U kunt voor een vertaling onder het artikel klikken, dat neemt wel wat tijd in beslag).
By Kit
March 17, 2016 "Information Clearing House" - "Off Guardian"- The Western MSM (reguliere media, AP) are all a flutter: Russia are pulling out of Syria (sort of). They can’t quite decide if it’s a victory, or a defeat. They don’t know if it’s because they ran out of money, are giving up, or it’s all a big lie – but they all agree on two things: 1) Russia have not achieved anything and 2) This is a massive a surprise.
Such
a surprise that Putin announced the plan five months ago, in a story
printed in the Telegraph. This is what the Western world has come
to, I suppose, if a politician SAYS he’s going to do something and
then actually DOES IT, this is…surprising. How sad.
The
Guardian are firmly of the belief that this is “A Bad Thing” –
in fact they are so against Russia leaving Syria, that one almost
forgets they were just as strongly against Russia entering Syria in
the first place. Because Russia and reasons.
Whether
in the petulant and childish summation
“written” by Shaun Walker, or this
one of their ridiculous “Guardian view” editorials (written
anonymously, of course), the battle lines are being drawn: The fight
is with reality.
The
Walker piece is standard Walker-fare. Long on snide one-liners, short
on content. Long on narrative, short on evidence. He describes the
withdrawal as a move “analysts never saw coming” – presumably
because none of them read the Telegraph. It’s threaded throughout
with dishonest and inappropriate things:
…the end forever of the burgeoning bromance between the Turkish and Russian presidents…”
A
less creative reporter, one with a sense of shame perhaps, would have
used the phrase “worsening of Russia-Turkish relations. Walker is
above such things – there is nothing so serious it can’t be
livened up with mockery and snarkiness. Not even war. He continues:
Not to mention the repeated insistence that the Syria bombing has not resulted in any civilian casualties, despite ever-mounting evidence to the contrary.”
The
link to this “mounting evidence”? It’s a Guardian
aticle from 4 months ago – about a family who got bombed.
The rebel commanders and American “experts” (the only sources
quoted) know it was the Russians because “it happened at night”.
Oh
and then this:
But if there is indeed now a withdrawal, it will prevent the Syria mission from turning into a long, drawn-out affair with rising Russian casualties.
Rising…from
three. Who were all killed by Turkey.
For while it is true the mission of defeating Isis has not been accomplished…
And
here, here we come to the most insidious and important lie. It’s a
theme that is repeated in“The
Guardian View..”. The headline proclaims:
Russia’s Syria U-turn: no kind of victory”
Which
is, literally, as factually incorrect as a statement can be. It is
not a U-Turn, observe the Telegraph link above, and it is certainly
a kind of
victory.
If there is one thing that Mr Putin’s announcement makes plain, it is that Russia’s claim that it was moving into Syria to combat Islamic State”
This
has been a favorite line in the press since the Russian operation
began – it is a lie. Russia never made such a claim. Sergey Lavrov,
on fighting
terrorism in Syria, famously said:
If it looks like a terrorist, walks like a terrorist, acts like a terrorist…it’s a terrorist”
The
stated aim of the Russian intervention was assisting their ally in
combating terrorism and bringing a negotiated settlement to the
region – as they have been trying
to do since 2012. Additionally, the Russian air force is
continuing to bomb ISIS and provide air support for the SAA advance
on Palmyra, and then Raqqa. To deny this – when evidence abounds –
is to be insane.
More
and more we see the Western, neocon narrative being propped up with
utterly baseless statements. From Obama’s foolish description
of a Syrian “quagmire”, to the ridiculous idea Russia
were trying to unseat Merkel by flooding Europe with refugees.
The collapse of analysis and rhetoric into hysteria betrays the
inherent dishonesty of the position. As a friend of mine is fond of
saying: If they honestly believed the truth to be on their side, they
would not feel the need to lie.
Maybe,
with Vietnam and Afghanistan and Iraq, western journalists have
forgotten that wars are not meant to
last – maybe years of reporting on American interventions, designed
to prolong conflict for the sake of profit margins, have scrubbed out
of our collective mind the idea that an action can be brief,
decisive and efficient.
The
following are a list of facts totally ommitted from the Guardian
articles on Syria the last few days:
- ISIS main source of income was the oil trade with Turkey. This utilised huge convoys, which America knew about but did not bomb…for reasons of their own.
- Russia bombed these convoys, crippling ISIS’ oil trade.
- ISIS have been steadily losing for months: first, they lost materiel and ammunition, then they lost men and ground.
- The Syrian Arab Army (SAA), is currently advancing on Palmyra under Russian air cover – the Russian intervention has been described as a “god send” by Syrian military commanders.
- The Syrian government and opposition have signed a ceasefire agreement, something the rebels have been refusing to do for years. It is the same deal proposed by Kofi Annan 4 years ago.
- The refugee flow from Syria is slowing down, with many refugees beginning to return home, far from “weaponising” the refugees.
Huge
gains on the ground, destruction of the enemy supply lines,
destruction of enemy materiel, extended peace talks, refugees
returning home and a ceasefire agreement. This, in the Guardian view,
is “no kind of victory”. Which makes you wonder whose side they
are on.
* Zie: 'Syrië, de vuile oorlog en alles wat u niet zou moeten weten. Een boek van Tim Anderson'
Zie ook: 'Palmyra ontzet, westerse media geven Rusland schoorvoetend 'de eer.....''
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