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Thursday 29 October 2015

The myth of "moderate terrorists": Deconstructing the NATO narrative on Syria

Eva Bartlett
In Gaza


Over the past five years, the increasingly ridiculous propaganda against President al-Assad and the Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has ranged from the scripted (OTPOR fomented -"revolution") "peaceful protesters under fire" rhetoric, to other deceitful lexicon like "civil war," and "moderate rebels."

As the intervention campaigns continue with new terrorist and "humanitarian" actors (literally) constantly emerging in the NATO-alliance's theatre of death squads, it is worth reviewing some of the important points regarding the war on Syria.
Million Person Marches
On March 29, 2011 (less than two weeks into the fantasy "revolution") over 6 million people across Syria took to the streets in support of President al-Assad. In June, a reported hundreds of thousands marched in Damascus in support of the president, with a 2.3 km long Syrian flag. In November, 2011 (9 months into the chaos), masses again held demonstrations supporting President al-Assad, notably in Homs (the so-called "capital of the 'revolution'"), Dara'a (the so-called "birthplace of the 'revolution'"), Deir ez-Zour, Raqqa, Latakia, and Damascus.

Mass demonstrations like this have occurred repeatedly since, including in March 2012, in May 2014 in the lead-up to Presidential elections, and in June 2015, to note just some of the larger rallies.
In May 2013, it was reported that even NATO recognized the Syrian president's increased popularity. "The data, relayed to NATO over the last month, asserted that 70 percent of Syrians support" the Assad government. At present, the number is now at least 80 percent.

The most telling barometer of Assad's support base was the Presidential elections in June 2014, which saw 74 percent (11.6 million) of 15.8 million registered Syrian voters vote, with President al-Assad winning 88 percent of the votes. The lengths Syrians outside of Syria went to in order to vote included flooding the Syrian embassy in Beirut for two full days (and walking several kilometres to get there) and flying from countries with closed Syrian embassies to Damascus airport simply to cast their votes. Within Syria, Syrians braved terrorist mortars and rockets designed to keep them from voting; 151 shells were fired on Damascus alone, killing 5 and maiming 33 Syrians.  


For a more detailed look at his broad base of popular support, see Professor Tim Anderson's "Why Syrians Support Bashar al Assad." 

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