Anthony Freda Art – “B.S. Factory”
The Western mainstream press has long attempted to brand Syria as just one more Middle Eastern country caught in the centuries-old battle between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, a narrative that has been successfully peddled to the American public. In fact, that narrative has been so successful in American public discourse that one of the most common responses coming from even anti-war proponents is “those people have people have been fighting over there for thousands of years.”
This narrative is simple – the Middle East has always been a basket case and any attempts to bring civilization to the savages that live there are futile. The end result is that the anti-war side uses the narrative as an attempt to dissuade Americans from invasion while the pro-war side uses it to justify full invasion and even nuclear war. Both, however, buy into to a fairy tale on which they base their generic opinions.
Syria, of course, has been the most recent recipient of uneducated and obstinate opinions based on narratives provided by corporate media outlets suggesting that society is entirely divided based upon religion and that the heavy-handed Assad represents the oppression of all other members of society by a minority Alawite sect. According to the Western press, the Assad government is an Alawite dictatorship as much as Syrian society was divided by religion.
As I and many others have demonstrated time and time again, not only was Syrian society a secular one, it was also one of general peace between a wide variety of different religions.
Yet, in regards to the nature of the Syrian government, it would be helpful to take a look at the “Alawite dictatorship” or “Alawite-dominated” structure that has been reported in the Western media.
The list below, compiled by Ziad Fadel of Syrian Perspective in his article, “Liars! Syper Pulls the Veil Off The Alawi Canard: Syria is Ruled By Sunnis and Sunnis Only!,” demonstrates that the Syrian government is not only made up of a number of different religions, it also contains a high proportion of Sunnis, the brand of Islam adhered to by ISIS, FSA, Nusra and others. It thus demonstrates that the Syrian government is not dominated by Alawites or even Shiites, but contains a sample of each religious branch. The list (not a comprehensive one) is as follows:
Dr. Bashar Al-Assad – of Alawi descent and is known to be secular
Asmaa` Al-Akras-Al-Assad, First Lady – SUNNI
Dr. Najaah Al-‘Attaar – Vice President – SUNNI
Waleed Al-Mu’allim – Foreign Minister – SUNNI
Dr. Faysal Miqdaad – Deputy Foreign Minister – SUNNI
Maj. Gen. Muhammad Ibraaheem Al-Sha’aar – Interior Minister and heads 3 security services – SUNNI
Lt. General Fahd Jaassim Al-Furayj – Defense Minister – SUNNI
Lt. General Talaal Tlaas – Deputy Defense Minister – SUNNI
Dr. Waa’il Naadir Al-Halaqi – Prime Minister – SUNNI
‘Abdullah Al-Ahmar – Deputy Secretary of the Ba’ath Party Pan Arab Command – SUNNI
Lt. General ‘Ali ‘Abdullah Ayyoob – Chief of the Syrian General Staff – ALAWI
‘Umraan Al-Zu’bi – Minister of Information – SUNNI
Dr. Bashshaar Al-Ja’afari – Syrian Permanent Delegate to the U.N. – SUNNI
Muhammad Jihaad Al-Lahhaam – Speak of the Parliament – SUNNI
Maj. General Muhammad Mahalla – Director of Military Intelligence – SUNNI
Maj. General Nazeeh Hassoon – Director of Political Security – SUNNI
Lt. Gen. Ali Mamlook – Special National Security Adviser to the President – SUNNI
Dr. Buthayna Sha’baan – Special Advisor to the President on Foreign Affairs and the Palace spokeswoman – ALAWI
This list itself should go great lengths to dispel the myth peddled by mainstream and even “independent” media organizations that the Syrian government is nothing more than an “Alawite regime.” Indeed, the truth is that the Syrian government was never based on any religion and neither was modern Syrian society. Assad entered into power as a reformer and has subsequently become the single most effective and formidable fighter against ISIS in the world today.
The corporate media knows all of this and has known since the beginning of the Syrian crisis but it refused to tell any of this information to its audiences. The corporate media knew from the beginning that the United States and NATO were responsible for arming, funding, directing, and training al-Qaeda and ISIS militants. That, too, it neglected to pass on to its readers. This was not incompetence, it was willful subversion of the intellect.
The Western corporate media has proven its worth time and time again. Of course, its worth is only to the governments that use it as their mouthpiece, international banks, and major corporations. To those players, the corporate media apparatus is invaluable because it carries with it the minds of the vast majority.
Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of six books, Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom, 7 Real Conspiracies, Five Sense Solutions and Dispatches From a Dissident, volume 1 andvolume 2, and The Road to Damascus: The Anglo-American Assault on Syria. Turbeville has published over 500 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at UCYTV. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com.
