Propaganda has been playing a significant role for both sides in the Syrian conflict since the beginning of the crisis, although the Assad regime has been more successful in achieving its goals.
Despite its failure to stop the uprising, the regime managed to prolong its life more than it deserved with the support of propaganda machinery.
The latest of the lies dished out by the regime to Reuters is a statement attributed to the commander of Free Syrian Army Riad Al-Asaad. The counterfeit report says 1,000 soldiers of his army were killed and his forces suffered a crushing defeat.
This is not by any means the first lie, as there is seemingly an army of officials busy spinning lies. They also forge photos, reports and news in various languages. While the propaganda targeting the West portrays the revolutionaries as Al-Qaeda terrorists combined with a handful of Muslim fundamentalists, it strives to convince the Arabs that the uprising against the regime is a conspiracy jointly hatched by the United States and France.
On the other hand, the regime’s messages to its own people are of varying colors and shades. It tells the Christians that Islamists are fighting against them, while the people who back the revolution are told that the revolutionaries are colluding with Israel against Islam and Arabs and that the military seized Israeli supplied weapons from the revolutionaries. The regime also resorts to sending fake messages to the revolutionary ranks such as the message to the victorious revolutionary fighters in the battle of Haffah against the regime forces.
When the revolutionary fighters wrenched control of Haffah in the Latakia governorate from the regime’s security forces, the propaganda machine sent a counterfeit message to the revolutionaries for a tactical retreat from the town. Unaware of the malicious designs of the propaganda, the fighters pulled out of town believing that the order came their FSA command, an FSA source told Asharq Al-Awsat.
It is no wonder some Western politicians and media persons are following a pro-regime line being misled by the huge quantity of lies that reach them. Another surprising fact is that the Russian foreign media service also circulates propaganda material churned out by the Assad regime apart from its own creations.
Stranger still is how some bloggers and researchers amidst us Arabs repeat the regime’s propaganda despite the ease with which they can check the facts. When Sultan Al-Qasimi wrote alleging partisanship and forgery of video clips and news reports to support the revolutionaries, I was under the impression that it was a forged propaganda product.
But it turned out that not only did he commit a gross mistake but also proved that the Syrian regime can succeed in misleading even learned Arabs. What he said did not deserve to be said even a year ago when the revolution was in its initial stage. All facts about the Syrian issue are clear for the people in the region, no matter what their leanings or affiliations are.
The Syrian regime is doing worse things than the horrendous facts coming to light in the images and video footings that are being aired daily from the battle zones and wrecked towns. It is hard to believe that Iranians and Russians are fighting along with the regime forces over the last one year. Although we knew about it earlier, we hardly had any presentable proof.
When any news of mercenaries fighting for the regime is reported, the regime’s media presents the issue as though it is a move to help the oppressed people struggling for survival. The concrete evidence to prove the presence of Iranian mercenaries came to light a few days ago when the revolutionaries hijacked a bus carrying members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
The regime’s propaganda machines struggled to portray the Iranian soldiers as pilgrims. But no foreign tourist or pilgrim goes to Syria these days. All those who appeared in the video were able-bodied men of combat age and no women or children were seen among them. It is easy to make comparisons and criticize from a distance and reduce all developments in Syria to pure political issues.
On the other hand, developments in Syria are as clear as daylight and supported by the huge volume of irrefutable evidences. Seventeen months of the uprising is enough for anyone to ascertain the facts. Reducing and presenting the issue as events of political hostilities to distant readers with the help of media propaganda will not change the reality that has been unfolding before the citizens, and that is the most important thing.
But the Syrians would not have risked their lives for an evil and wicked regime for such a long period of time. Unsupported they are fighting for the defense of their families and their neighborhoods. This is the real fact, not canards for political propaganda.
But for the fact that the Assad forces are unsure of its plight and fighting unwillingly, it would have won the war long ago. It has a huge collection of weaponry; its forces are half a million strong and are backed by an uninterrupted flow of support from his allies. However, now he is under siege in the capital.
.