Bad news in Syria, but the reality could be worse

Share:
Syria ranks 173th out of 178 in the Press Freedom Index 2010

By: By ANNE ALLMELING

No one really knows what’s happened, and this is exactly what Syria’s president Bashar Al Assad wants. As long as there is no evidence, anything could have happened in the Syrian town of Jirahs Shugur. And “anything” is probably better than the truth.

Why else would Mr. Assad do everything in his power to cover up recent events? One hundred and twenty policemen were killed by “armed gangs” in northwest Syria, state television said on Monday. But activists dispute the official account. They are speaking of a mutiny – something that, if it were proven to be true, would undermine Mr. Assad’s power significantly. As in the past few weeks, little – if anything – is done to find out what really happened in Jirahs Shugur. Independent observers have long since been muzzled, and journalists are being prevented from working.

“Foreign reporters cannot get visas to go there and local journalists are all being jailed or forced to remain silent,” Reporters Without Borders secretary general Jean- François Julliard says. Even before the beginning of the uprisings, journalists had a tough time in Syria. The country ranks 173th out of 178 in the Press Freedom Index 2010. No other Arab nation was classified below this. The little freedom that remained for journalists in Syria has vanished completely since the beginning of the protests.

But even without journalists being allowed to cover the recent events, Mr. Assad managed to discredit himself. His regime’s response to the uprising has been extremely brutal, and more than 1,100 people are said to have died since the beginning of the protests. There is very little verifiable information that enables us to fully understand what is happening in Syria right now; numbers and names are being disputed.

But even the Syrian president cannot cover up everything. That is why he is offering us his interpretation of the uprisings.

According to state television, the policemen in Jirahs Shugur were “on their way to rescue citizens being terrorized.” This is what Bashar Al Assad’s regime is performing to perfection: telling the world that the security of the Syrian state is being threatened by evil forces – and that all the government does is defending its own people.

Interior Minister Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaar warned in a statement read on television that the authorities would hit back: “The state will act firmly, with force and in line with the law,” he said. “It will not stay arms folded in the face of armed attacks on the security of the homeland.”

Declaring any opposition to the regime to be “terrorists,” Mr. Assad perfidiously legitimizes the crackdown on protesters – much like Yemen’s president Ali Abdullah Saleh, who got US-support to fight Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and extended his attacks on the opposition to his presidency.

The fact that no one really knows what happened in Jirahs Shugur and all the other cities in Syria makes these crackdowns even easier: Terrorists infiltrating an Arab country is not exactly unlikely, and it would not even be a surprise if protesters turned to violence in order defend themselves. If either of this proves to be true, it would certainly have a negative effect on the country. But for many people, not knowing the truth is worse than anything.

Al Arabiya

Share:

Comments

9 responses to “Bad news in Syria, but the reality could be worse”

  1. TripleC1000 Avatar
    TripleC1000

    Bashar Al Assad does not have long before he is getting medical treatment in Iran just Ali Abdullah Saleh is in Saudi Arabia.

  2.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    Bashar Al Assad does not have long before he is getting medical treatment in Iran just Ali Abdullah Saleh is in Saudi Arabia.

  3. Fauzia45 Avatar
    Fauzia45

    As long as there is no freedom in  general,and no freedom of press, as long as independent media is not allowed,it will always be hard  or even impossible to know what is really happening!!

  4. Fauzia45 Avatar
    Fauzia45

    As long as there is no freedom in  general,and no freedom of press, as long as independent media is not allowed,it will always be hard  or even impossible to know what is really happening!!

  5.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    As long as there is no freedom in  general,and no freedom of press, as long as independent media is not allowed,it will always be hard  or even impossible to know what is really happening!!

  6. 316909 Avatar

    I saw an interview with a Syrian diplomat. He said a man (Last name Asfoor) that owns a tile factory trained and armed 2000 to 5000 men over a few months and that is how they were able to kill 120 to 300 people. He also Claims that Assad knew nothing about his troops shooting civilians and then said he wanted to invite the revolt leaders to talk but they have to be punished.

    Ok 2000 to 5000 men running around doing Military drills in a country like Syria for months without detection? In Syria Military Intelligence agents know what each citizen is having for dinner basically so how did 5000 men train for months ? where did they train the reporter asked and the idiot actually said “they trained in Syria”.

    If the president did not know about whats going on then he must be the worst president in the history of the world. Maybe the first day or two he didnt know but its been 3 months man!

    Arming and training 5000 men would cost about 200 million dollars at least! You still need to feed them and pay them.

    Where did all these weapons come from? Ok you can say Turkey or Lebanon but how did an arsenal like that get into Syria undetected and how did they train for so long undetected?

    How can a tile factory Owner afford 200 mil usd?

    Also 120 to 300 dead troops? Thats a pretty large gap so what is it 120 or 300?
    between 2000 to 5000 armed men is also a huge gap. Is it because the exchange of fire has not stopped so you dont know the amount or because you just want to keep your options open incase you need to kill more civilians and troops that dont follow orders and shoot civilians?

    The troops are well trained, on alert, Backed by tanks and have air support so I dont think its possible for 5000 surrounded men lightly armed with Ak47 rifles and RPGs to attack and kill 300 men in one ambush. 

    These men either defected and killed each other with the total casualty amount still going up on both sides or were arrested and killed by the regime for not following orders.

    an ambush is normally a hit and run attack on a smaller force like a patrol not an attack on a regiment. I dont think its possible these well trained troops with all the support they have were killed by armed gangs….

    The diplomat later said that the civilians had killed a army officer and claimed they have a video of it. The video was proven to be a video taken in Lebanon of a hanging in 2007 so he just sat and closed his mouth like the idiot he is.

    This is a clear sign that the Army in Syria is not as united as they want it to look. It also shows how stupid the regime thinks people are and how weak they are now.

    1. 5thDrawer Avatar
      5thDrawer

      Yes .. enough has been seen by now to allow anyone to distrust anything said by any government stooge Assad sends.

  7.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    I saw an interview with a Syrian diplomat. He said a man (Last name Asfoor) that owns a tile factory trained and armed 2000 to 5000 men over a few months and that is how they were able to kill 120 to 300 people. He also Claims that Assad knew nothing about his troops shooting civilians and then said he wanted to invite the revolt leaders to talk but they have to be punished.

    Ok 2000 to 5000 men running around doing Military drills in a country like Syria for months without detection? In Syria Military Intelligence agents know what each citizen is having for dinner basically so how did 5000 men train for months ? where did they train the reporter asked and the idiot actually said “they trained in Syria”.

    If the president did not know about whats going on then he must be the worst president in the history of the world. Maybe the first day or two he didnt know but its been 3 months man!

    Arming and training 5000 men would cost about 200 million dollars at least! You still need to feed them and pay them.

    Where did all these weapons come from? Ok you can say Turkey or Lebanon but how did an arsenal like that get into Syria undetected and how did they train for so long undetected?

    How can a tile factory Owner afford 200 mil usd?

    Also 120 to 300 dead troops? Thats a pretty large gap so what is it 120 or 300?
    between 2000 to 5000 armed men is also a huge gap. Is it because the exchange of fire has not stopped so you dont know the amount or because you just want to keep your options open incase you need to kill more civilians and troops that dont follow orders and shoot civilians?

    The troops are well trained, on alert, Backed by tanks and have air support so I dont think its possible for 5000 surrounded men lightly armed with Ak47 rifles and RPGs to attack and kill 300 men in one ambush. 

    These men either defected and killed each other with the total casualty amount still going up on both sides or were arrested and killed by the regime for not following orders.

    an ambush is normally a hit and run attack on a smaller force like a patrol not an attack on a regiment. I dont think its possible these well trained troops with all the support they have were killed by armed gangs….

    The diplomat later said that the civilians had killed a army officer and claimed they have a video of it. The video was proven to be a video taken in Lebanon of a hanging in 2007 so he just sat and closed his mouth like the idiot he is.

    This is a clear sign that the Army in Syria is not as united as they want it to look.

    1.  Avatar
      Anonymous

      Yes .. enough has been seen by now to allow anyone to distrust anything said by any government stooge Assad sends.

Leave a Reply