Sputnik
Last week, US television anchor Ben Swann slammed the mainstream media for its shoddy coverage of the situation in eastern Aleppo, pointing out that the so-called 'moderate rebels' there were actually aligned with terrorists. This week, Swann offered proof of that fact. The best part? He used the mainstream media's own reporting on the subject.
Swann is a WGCL-TV Atlanta anchor who is well known for his coverage of controversial or under-reported stories, and has gained a reputation on a national level with his weekly segment called Reality Check. This week, Swann offered proof of a claim he made last week about the Aleppo fighters' less than moderate nature.
Putting it bluntly, Swann said, the reality on the ground is that there are now only two groups fighting the Syrian government - Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) and al-Qaeda (aka Nusra Front, aka Jabhat Feteh al-Sham). As far as the 'moderate' Free Syrian Army is concerned, the journalist recalled that they haven't been a moderate force for over four years now.
"The Free Syrian Army was formed in July of 2011, but within just one year, there were already widespread reports that al-Qaeda in Syria had infiltrated them," the journalist explained.
In 2012, Swann had questioned President Obama directly about the US effort to arm forces in Syria which included members of al-Qaeda in their ranks. The president suggested at the time that he 'shared that concern', and that US efforts have been to provide non-lethal assistance to opposition groups that observed human rights. Unfortunately, the journalist noted, "one year later, in 2013, the CIA began delivering weapons to those Syrian rebels." The Washington Post reported on the deliveries, confirming that the State Department was also involved, supplying vehicles "and other gear." The Washington Post said at the time that this "flow of material" marked "a major escalation of the US role in Syria's civil war."
"But things only got worse," Swann said, "because as the weapons were flowing in, so were jihadists, and by September of 2013, the London-based global defense consultancy group IHS Jane's reported that 10,000 of the estimated 100,000 insurgent fighters were linked to al-Qaeda. Another 30-35,000 belonged to powerful factions that were fighting for an Islamic State within a larger Middle East caliphate stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean."
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Last week, US television anchor Ben Swann slammed the mainstream media for its shoddy coverage of the situation in eastern Aleppo, pointing out that the so-called 'moderate rebels' there were actually aligned with terrorists. This week, Swann offered proof of that fact. The best part? He used the mainstream media's own reporting on the subject.
Swann is a WGCL-TV Atlanta anchor who is well known for his coverage of controversial or under-reported stories, and has gained a reputation on a national level with his weekly segment called Reality Check. This week, Swann offered proof of a claim he made last week about the Aleppo fighters' less than moderate nature.
Putting it bluntly, Swann said, the reality on the ground is that there are now only two groups fighting the Syrian government - Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) and al-Qaeda (aka Nusra Front, aka Jabhat Feteh al-Sham). As far as the 'moderate' Free Syrian Army is concerned, the journalist recalled that they haven't been a moderate force for over four years now.
"The Free Syrian Army was formed in July of 2011, but within just one year, there were already widespread reports that al-Qaeda in Syria had infiltrated them," the journalist explained.
In 2012, Swann had questioned President Obama directly about the US effort to arm forces in Syria which included members of al-Qaeda in their ranks. The president suggested at the time that he 'shared that concern', and that US efforts have been to provide non-lethal assistance to opposition groups that observed human rights. Unfortunately, the journalist noted, "one year later, in 2013, the CIA began delivering weapons to those Syrian rebels." The Washington Post reported on the deliveries, confirming that the State Department was also involved, supplying vehicles "and other gear." The Washington Post said at the time that this "flow of material" marked "a major escalation of the US role in Syria's civil war."
"But things only got worse," Swann said, "because as the weapons were flowing in, so were jihadists, and by September of 2013, the London-based global defense consultancy group IHS Jane's reported that 10,000 of the estimated 100,000 insurgent fighters were linked to al-Qaeda. Another 30-35,000 belonged to powerful factions that were fighting for an Islamic State within a larger Middle East caliphate stretching from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean."
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