The following text is the introductory chapter of Professor Tim Anderson’s forthcoming book entitled The Dirty War on Syria
Although every war makes ample use
of lies and deception, the dirty war on Syria has relied on a level of
mass disinformation not seen in living memory. The British-Australian
journalist Philip Knightley pointed out that war propaganda typically
involves ‘a depressingly predictable pattern’ of demonising the enemy
leader, then demonising the enemy people through atrocity stories, real
or imagined (Knightley 2001). Accordingly, a mild-mannered eye doctor
called Bashar al Assad became the new evil in the world and, according
to consistent western media reports, the Syrian Army did nothing but
kill civilians for more than four years. To this day, many imagine the
Syrian conflict is a ‘civil war’, a ‘popular revolt’ or some sort of
internal sectarian conflict. These myths are, in many respects, a
substantial achievement for the big powers which have driven a series of
‘regime change’ operations in the Middle East region, all on false
pretexts, over the past 15 years.
This book is a careful academic work,
but also a strong defence of the right of the Syrian people to determine
their own society and political system. That position is consistent
with international law and human rights principles, but may irritate
western sensibilities, accustomed as we are to an assumed prerogative to
intervene. At times I have to be blunt, to cut through the
double-speak. In Syria the big powers have sought to hide their hand,
using proxy armies while demonising the Syrian Government and Army,
accusing them of constant atrocities; then pretending to rescue the
Syrian people from their own government. Far fewer western people
opposed the war on Syria than opposed the invasion of Iraq, because they
were deceived about its true nature.
In 2011 I had only a basic understanding
of Syria and its history. However I was deeply suspicious when reading
of the violence that erupted in the southern border town of Daraa. I
knew that such violence (sniping at police and civilians, the use of
semi-automatic weapons) does not spring spontaneously from street
demonstrations. And I was deeply suspicious of the big powers. All my
life I had been told lies about the pretexts for war. I decided to
research the Syrian conflict, reading hundreds of books and articles,
watching many videos and speaking to as many Syrians as I could. I wrote
dozens of articles and visited Syria twice, during the conflict. This
book is a result of that research.
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