February 22, 2012
US Ambassador's Lies About Syria
US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford posted to his Facebook page satellite images exposing the “terrible and tragic development in Syria is the use of heavy weaponry by the Assad regime against residential neighborhoods." The photos he posted “have captured both the carnage and those causing it -- the artillery is clearly there, it is clearly bombing entire neighborhoods…We are intent on exposing the regime's brutal tactics for the world to see.”
One problem: According to closer analysis of the satellite photographs, his "evidence" appears just another exercise in the US government's deception and covert warfare against Syria. As noted in the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar, Ford's "high-tech trickery" was debunked very quickly by the excellent "Moon of Alabama" website, which asks, after posting its own satellite images of the city, a very important question (and one that you will not read in the mainstream media or, sadly, even in many "alternative" news sources): If the satellite images purport to shock the world with evidence of the Syrian security forces' attacks on the opposition, why do the satellite photos show destruction in pro-regime Alawi areas?
A more careful study of the images raises disturbing questions, writes the Moon of Alabama:
"A deeper look at the ambassador picture reveals that it does not show what its labels say. In fact the picture shows only ambiguous stuff from the very border edge of Bab Amr not from within the city.
"There are additionally satellite pictures at the State Department's website allegedly showing "operational deployment" of Syrian artillery.
"Analysis of the State Departments satellite pictures, which were promoted by news agencies and various papers, clearly shows that these pictures of artillery guns "operational deployed against XYZ" were all taken of guns training within military barracks or well known training areas and not in active deployment.
There is much more detail on the linked stories. I would urge readers to have a good look at Moon of Alabama and al-akhbar and decide for themselves who is deceiving whom.
UPDATE: Keith writes me:
"Even if it were completely true that the Syrian government is bombarding and attacking residents of Homs to combat "insurgents", how is that any different than the US government bombarding and attacking "insurgents" in Fallujah? Other than it being their own country rather than halfway around the world?"
