Mon Jan 11, 2016 2:34
TEHRAN (FNA)- Images of malnourished children from the town of Madraya have emerged on the internet. The photos are so shocking that I refuse to share them as they are a testament to the evil that lies within humans. It is inconceivable that such suffering can be brought onto innocent children who had no choice or say in the war.
What has emerged however is the myth that ‘Assad and his army’ are besieging the town, and that he is the one bringing this suffering upon his own people. This is the very people that he claims he is fighting to protect from jihadist forces.
The Australian Broadcasting Company (ABC) ran with the line that Madaya has been ‘under siege for seven months by Syrian government forces and Hezbollah militias.’ It makes a passing mention that Ahrar ash-Sham are holed up in the town of 40,000 people, but fails to mention that Ahrar ash-Sham are a key ally to Al-Qaeda’s franchise in Syria, Jabhat Al-Nusra and shares its radical ideology.
Even if Ahrar ash-Sham are holed up in the city, how does this even remotely justify the food shortages and the blockade the government is imposing on Madaya? Nothing can justify such a blockade.
However, what if I was to suggest that Madaya is not under a food blockade from ‘the regime’, but that the food shortage is caused by the Ahrar ash-Sham militants attempting to force the hands of the Syrian government to ease the campaign on the besieged terrorist group?
This very real prospect has not been considered by usual propagandist from the ABC, BBC, The Guardian and the usual ilk who cannot go on and do simple investigative work as it might threaten their simplistic paradigm on understanding the multifaceted and complex Syrian War.
None of them have considered or perhaps even seen (or maybe even ignored) the footage of thousands of residents from the small town parading through the street just a month earlier in support of the Syrian government. Can anyone make a logical explanation why a month earlier thousands of protesters were out in support for the army, risking their lives in front of the anti-government terrorist group to display their allegiances?
If this does not have you convinced, perhaps we should question why residents who were supposedly under attack from their own government that they support, are taking out their frustrations on the militants without a single utter about the government? Of course, as seen in the footage, a militant instructs the video taker to stop recording. Well that makes perfectly logical sense when a simple short video can undermine a built up lie, and one that the usual suspects in the Western media are more than happy to lap up.
Most peculiar however is the siege on Fouaa and Kafraya in Syria’s northwestern province of Idlib. The predominately Shi’ite towns have been two small enclaves surrounded by the terrorist axis of the Army of Conquest, which is made up of Ahrar ash-Sham, their allies in Jabhat Al-Nusra and the Free Syrian Army. Not a word has been uttered by the usual media suspects about their plight, siege, blockade, suffering, food and medical shortages.
However, back to Madaya, because let’s not completely unravel the hypocrisy and contradictions, shall we?
The following image emerged on Facebook from someone within Madaya on December 17. What it claims is that the cost of 1 pound of sugar or rice reached roughly $34, 1 pound of flour cost almost $47 and 1 pound of powdered milk was going for as much as $52.
This was well before the crisis hit a crescendo, and it must be remembered that the Syrian government has no control over Madaya itself. What this suggests is a black market racket from within the town. Would it therefore be feasible to suggest that Ahrar ash-Sham are taking advantage of the situation to not only force the government to act in their favor, but to also exploit the people of the town? The residents of the town have clearly taken their frustrations out on the terrorists who refuse to budge and answer questions from the people on why they do not have food, and the militants do. And just like the terrorists cannot answer the question, Western media, commentators, ‘experts’ and ‘analysts’ cannot explain why ‘the regime’ would starve out their own staunch supporters. Oooops, did I just reveal a hole in their propaganda?
As news emerges that the people are resorting to boiling tree leaves for sustenance, the push to resolve this issue cannot become any more critical. The Syrian people have suffered for 5 long years and the disinformation from the starvation of Madaya will only prove to create a new anti-Assad sentiment and anger in the West since the mythology of chemical weapons and barrel bombs being used on civilians have proven to be nothing but fantasy.
Using starved children to serve an intervention agenda and justification presents just how disgusting the war has become, or as Dr Tim Anderson has perfectly titled his soon to be released book, ‘The Dirty War on Syria.’ For the sake of humanity, I truly hope the starving children is not a sick attempt of justifying intervention.
By: Paul Antonopoulos
This commentary first appeared on Al-Masdar on January 7.