11 August 2012 By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed A significant variable of the on-going troubles in
Syria, propaganda has been used by both President
Assad's regime and the rebel forces in order to gain
support and achieve their goals. It would appear
however that the former has been more successful in
effectively using it. This is evident in the manner in
which, despite failing to stop the uprising, the
regime has managed to clench its reign for this long
with the support of a well-executed propaganda
strategy. A statement sent to the news agency Reuters is one
of many claims made by the regime that are widely
believed to be deceptive and highly steeped in
propaganda. The statement held the apparent news that
1,000 soldiers, under the orders of the Free Syrian
Army Commander and former Syrian Air Force Colonel
Riad Al-Asaad, were killed amidst a crushing defeat of
the rebel forces. By no means is this the first deceptive act carried
out by the regime. The forgery of various documents,
photographs and the production of news in a variety of
languages are done in order to sway the public in
their favour; be it international opinion or their own
people. Further inspection of their tactics shows that
propaganda targeting the West portrays their
revolutionary enemies as terrorists with ties to Al-Qaeda
and Muslim fundamentalists. Their Arab neighbours, on
the other hand, are fed the view that the uprising
against the regime is a conspiracy resulted by a
partnership by United States and France. The messages aimed at the Syrian people greatly
differ and, it would appear, vary according to their
religious views and stance on the conflict. The Syrian
Christian population are reportedly told that they are
being attacked by Islamists, while those in support of
the uprising are given the claims that the
revolutionaries are in alignment with Israel and are
against Islam and Arabs. They further state that
weapons that were in the possession of the rebel
forces and seized by the military were supplied by
Israel. The regime does not limit its efforts there as fake
messages were also sent to the revolutionary forces. A
source within the Free Syrian Army told Asharq Al-Awsat
that when they grasped control of the town of Haffah,
found in the Latakia governorate, from the regime's
security forces, they were sent a message which they
believed to be from their commander ordering a
tactical retreat from the town. In reality, this was a
counter message from the regime which successfully
resulted in the retreat of the FSA from Haffah. Consequently, perhaps then it is a small wonder
that some of the politicians and the media of the West
hold pro-regime views of being misled by the
well-oiled propaganda machine of the Assad's regime.
Another fact that emerged is that the Russian foreign
media service also circulates the propaganda material
of the Syrian regime apart from its own creations. It
may however be argued that it is strange that a number
of bloggers and researchers amidst us Arabs who,
despite the ease with which they check their
truthfulness, repeat the propaganda. I was under the impression that forged propaganda
explained Sultan Al Qassemi's surprising alleged bias
and use of false video clips and news reports in
support of the revolution. When it emerged that he
made quite a substantial mistake, it glaringly
highlighted the prosperous strategy of the Syrian
regime and its ability to not only mislead the West
but experienced and learned Arabs alike. His words did
not deserve to be said even a year ago at the initial
stages of the uprising; all facts about the Syrian
conflict are clear for the people in the region no
matter what their preferences or affiliations are. The Syrian regimes horrific actions surpass the
images and videos we are shown from the battle zones
and wrecked towns. Despite reports being heard of
Iranians and Russians assisting the regime, the
previous lack of images made it hard to believe. When any news of soldiers fighting for the regime
comes to light, Assad's propaganda presents it as a
move in towards freeing the Syrian people and saving
them from their struggle for survival. The presence of
the Iranian armed forces came was confirmed in the
form of apparent concrete evidence. Reportedly, the
hijacking of a bus by the rebel forces a few days ago
revealed members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Attempting to portray them as pilgrims, the regime
failed to successfully explain the presence of the
Iranian soldiers due to the lack of foreign tourists,
let alone pilgrims, in Syria at the present time.
Additionally, there was a distinct lack of women and
children on the bus; those captured in the video were
able-bodied men of combat age. It is easy to make comparisons and criticise from a
distance and reduce all developments in Syria to pure
political issues. However, seventeen months of
continuous uprising is enough is enough to assert that
development in Syria is not limited to politics.
Reducing the conflict and presenting it as a product
of political hostilities to distant readers with the
help of media propaganda will not change the reality
that has been unfolding before the citizens. Syrians
would not have risked their risked their lives for
such a long period of time if it was merely a question
of politics. They are fighting to defend their
families and their neighbourhoods. This is the real
fact, not deception for political propaganda. The regime's extensive collection of weaponry and
large army, reportedly half a million soldiers, in
addition to an ,as of yet, uninterrupted surge of
support from allies would have allowed it to assert to
win the war easily If it were not for the fact that
Assad's forces are unsure of its plight and fighting
unwillingly. However, Assad is now under siege in the
capital; perhaps this new development signals the
beginning of the end of his attempt for control.
Al Rashed is the general manager of Al -Arabiya
television. He is also the former editor-in-chief of
Asharq Al- Awsat, and the leading Arabic weekly
magazine, Al Majalla. He is also a senior Columnist in
the daily newspapers of Al Madina and Al Bilad. He is
a US post-graduate degree in mass communications. He
has been a guest on many TV current affairs programs.
He is currently based in Dubai. Comments 💬 التعليقات |