Does The US Love Freedom of Information?
My dear friend, Kris Janssen, was part of the visiting delegation to Syria. The delegations comprises journalists from the United States, Australia and eight European countries.
According to statements by Dr. Jamal Daoud, head of the delegation, the aim of the visit is to have future media cooperation as to convey the reality of events in Syria, and as voice solidarity with and support for the steadfastness of the Syrian People, Army and Leadership in their fight against terrorism.
I was so honored yesterday with the private visit of my friend Kris to the Syria Times headquarters. Mr. Kris, voiced his pleasure over the delegation meeting with Minister of Information, Mr. Mohammad Ramez Turjman.
Kris said that Minister Turjman “gives good explanation,” and was ” open, honest talking in an open way.” Minister Turjman spoke ” frankly and answered even critical questions”, added Kris.
Kris, however, added that “Unfortunately, the Western media reverse the truth and the reality. ” I said, your frequent visits are welcome as to clarify and depict the ongoing on the ground.
With this in mind, came the said and written by my facebook friend, Miguel Valenzuela , who wrote his own observations and impressions following the meeting with Minister Turjman:
I met the Syrian Minister of Information today in Damascus. He described the war as a culture of life vs a culture of death. He said that despite the war, we still have festivals and activities, and protect all faiths, as I’ve witnessed, while the “opposition” tries to destroy all of this and impose their way, as I’ve also witnessed.
He said that the Syrian government maintains two things: That there is no place in Syria for terrorism, and that the leader of Syria must be chosen by way of the ballot box; while the “opposition” only repeat two sentences: “Assad must go” and “Give us the keys to power in Syria.” But there are more than 1,200 armed groups in the “opposition”, so who exactly will get the power?
He said that when he became the Minister 6 months ago, he met with one of the strongest armed groups called Jayish al Islam. The group started to have trouble with the other groups nearby and within two weeks there were more than 700 killed between these groups. He asked them what can we expect if they’re leading this nation when they’re already killing each other? He asked them why are they dismantling factories and medicine manufacturers and selling them to Turkey? He said that real revolutions protect these vital infrastructure, but this is not a real revolution.
He said the plot against Syria was discussed openly long ago during the Condoleezza Rice talks. Essentially, they want to dismantle our nations and establish a “New Middle East”. He said this is the plan of the United States but it won’t work. They have tried to spread sectarian hate to divide us but it didn’t work. Syria is united.
“Regarding the ‘chemical attacks’ that we are being accused of by the United States, which supposedly was the reason for launching a missile attack on our airbase, there are many important questions to ask. Why were there so many civilians present in the uninhabitable area where the ‘chemical attack’ allegedly took place? Why were the so called ‘White Helmets’, who were first on the scene wearing masks and some were not? Why did they not wear gloves when touching the bodies, if it was indeed a ‘chemical attack’? Why would the Syrian government attack these people? What’s the point? What do we have to gain from this?
There needs to be an independent analysis to find out what is true and what is false before responding, but the US did not wait for one, they generally don’t, even though in the media they always say that they’re defending ‘truth and freedom’
I’ll give you an example as well of how much the US “loves freedom of information”…the first thing they did when the crisis started was ban satellite TV from broadcasting Syrian channels and they pulled their ambassadors out of Syria. Syrian broadcasting headquarters, Alakhbaria, Syria TV was attacked many times by mortars and suicide bombings. Syria TV headquarters was completely destroyed. Many journalists were killed in these attacks, but in spite of this, journalists are still going to work because they believe that they are on the right side of history.”
“We depend on good people like you from around the world. We want you to take all that you have witnessed here back to your country. We understand that most people are scared of coming to Syria especially now with the US attacks and all the hysteria in the media, but you are here. We welcome you to Syria and we thank you for your courage.”
Dr. Mohammad Abdo Al-Ibrahim