By: Tim Anderson
Heavy Propaganda Rages in the Battle for Aleppo and the Terrorists Are Portrayed as “Freedom Fighters”
Heavy propaganda accompanies the strategic battle in Aleppo between the Syrian Army and its allies (Russia, Iran, Hezbollah and other supporting forces) and the Saudi-Turkey-NATO backed terrorist groups (Jabhat al Nusra, Jaysh al Islam, Ahrar as Sham and ISIS).
Fighting escalated in late April when the armed groups sent hundreds of mortars into Syria’s second city, and the Syrian Army responded with its long awaited offensive.
Western media now claim that Aleppo’s citizens are under threat from the Syrian Army, while Syrian sources show civilians, reeling from constant mortar attacks, demanding that the Army roots out all terrorist groups.
In an attempt to claim the moral high ground, Washington uses proxy NGOs alongside proxy militia, to maintain the fiction that the Syrian Army does nothing but attack Syrian civilians.
Prominent among these NGOs is ‘The White Helmets’ aka ‘Syrian Civil Defence’, which has become a principal source of claims that Syrian and Russian planes are targeting hospitals.
In fact ‘The White Helmets’, which claims to be independent, is a Wall Street creation, led by former British soldier James le Mesurier, co-funded by the US Government and embedded with the terrorist organisation Jabhat al Nusra, banned by the UN Security Council.
Every attack on al Nusra is thus portrayed as an attack on ‘civilians’ and clinics, or on emergency health workers. Much the same applies to Medicin Sans Frontiers (MSF), which funds al Nusra clinics (mostly without foreign volunteers) in several terrorist held areas.
Background on The White Helmets has also been exposed in a series of articles by investigative journalist Vanessa Beeley, including ‘’White Helmets’: New Breed of Mercenaries and Propagandists’ (Sept 2015) at 21st Century Wire
The contradiction in US policy and practice was recently highlighted when the Syrian head of TWH, Raed Saleh, travelled to receive a humanitarian award, but was refused permission to enter the US and was sent back to Istanbul. The likely reason was Saleh’s notorious association with Jabhat al Nusra.
Head of the US military General Martin Dempsey and Vice President Joe Biden admitted in 2014 that close US allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar were financing ISIS, along with all the other armed groups, in an attempt to overthrow the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
Global Research