The media are misleading the public on Syria

By Stephen Kinzer

February 18, 2016

The coverage of the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.

Originally published by the Boston Globe here

For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo. Their rule began with a wave of repression. They posted notices warning residents: “Don’t send your children to school. If you do, we will get the backpack and you will get the coffin.”

Then they destroyed factories, hoping that unemployed workers would have no recourse other than to become fighters. They trucked looted machinery to Turkey and sold it.

This month, people in Aleppo have finally seen glimmers of hope. The Syrian army and its allies have been pushing militants out of the city. Last week they reclaimed the main power plant. Regular electricity may soon be restored. The militants’ hold on the city could be ending.

Militants, true to form, are wreaking havoc as they are pushed out of the city by Russian and Syrian Army forces. “Turkish-Saudi backed ‘moderate rebels’ showered the residential neighborhoods of Aleppo with unguided rockets and gas jars,” one Aleppo resident wrote on social media.

The Beirut-based analyst Marwa Osma asked, “The Syrian Arab Army, which is led by President Bashar Assad, is the only force on the ground, along with their allies, who are fighting ISIS – so you want to weaken the only system that is fighting ISIS?”

This does not fit with Washington’s narrative…

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Continue reading this essentially important article at The Boston Globe

Photo credit
AFP/Getty Images
New recruits trained to fight alongside opposition in Aleppo, Syria.

Jan Oberg comments
I felt a strong urge to post this now classical article by Stephen Kinzer these very days when we witness basically the same media coverage – and cover-up – of what is going on in Eastern Ghouta.

Aleppo, Damascus, Ghouta, most shameful episodes in the history of the American press, Stephen Kinzer