by Stephen Lendman

Washington, NATO allies, complicit regional partners, the UN, and media scoundrels wrongfully blame Syria for massacres, other killings, and atrocities committed by Western recruited death squads.

Washington features dirty tactics. They include blaming victims. Syria has been ravaged for months. Fingers point the wrong way. Assad is more victim than villain.

Massacres he's wrongfully blamed for are strategically timed. In June, Houla made headlines. Weeks later, Traymseh followed. Evidence pointing the right way was buried.

Killer gangs bore full responsibility.

Now another massacre made headlines. Mass media misinformation maliciousness again blames victims. Below is a sampling of headlines. They show why growing numbers of readers and viewers choose alternative sources to stay informed.

Reuters: "Assad forces accused of massacre near Syrian capital"

New York Times: "Crackdown Toll Seen as Syrians Bury Hundreds"

Washington Post: "Gruesome killings mark escalation of violence in Syrian capital"

AP: "Evidence is mounting of a new massacre in Syria, with at least 320 killed in past several days"

National Public Radio: "Syria Plunges Into Another Week of Deep Violence"

Al Jazeera: "Syria accused of 'massacre' near Damascus"

BBC: "Syria conflict: 'Scores of bodies found' near Damascus"

London Guardian: "Syrian regime accused of killing hundreds in Daraya massacre"

Western officials and media scoundrels unanimously blame Assad. No evidence whatever suggests it. Plenty shows killer gang responsibility. It's buried so readers and viewers don't know.

Daraya residents dispute official lies. Testimonies point fingers the right way. Western recruited death squads massacred pro-Assad loyalists.

The pattern repeats from one incident to another. Evidence is suppressed every time. What's later revealed isn't reported. Truth takes a back seat to propaganda. Assad knows the dirty game and explains it. More on that below.

Pretexts are mounting for US-led NATO intervention. Inflammatory headlines support what responsible journalists condemn. Imagine slaughter levels if conflict becomes full blown and rages for months like in Libya.

Responsible parties, including media scoundrels, never apologize or look back. They're on focus planning and/or supporting more war. One segues to another. Bloodshed, destruction, and unspeakable human suffering define them.

Many parties share guilt. The so-called UN Human Rights Council (HRC) repeatedly blames Assad wrongfully. It's more imperial tool than honest broker.

On August 15, its latest propaganda piece headlined "Syrian Government forces and anti-Government groups responsible for war crimes: UN Commission of Inquiry (COI)."

In September 2011, Paulo Pinheiro was appointed COI chairman. His mandate is pro-Western propaganda. His earlier reports bore testimony to his bias and contempt for justice. His latest one stayed on message.

He wrongfully blames Assad for insurgent crimes. Credibility isn't his long suit. Pro-imperial reliability defines him well.

His latest report said government forces and other loyalist elements committed "crimes against humanity of murder and torture, war crimes and gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, including unlawful killing, indiscriminate attacks against civilian populations and acts of sexual violence."

He claimed "violations were committed pursuant to State policy pointing to the involvement at the highest levels of the armed and security forces of the Government."

He added that "international consensus is essential to end the violence (and) build the road towards a political transition process that reflects the legitimate aspirations of all segments of Syrian society…."

Pinheiro lied. His mandate is anti-Assad propaganda. He hasn't disappointed. Media scoundrels regurgitate his misinformation. So do pro-Western HRC officials.

On August 27, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) headlined "President al-Assad: The Scheme Directed against the Entire Region Not only Syria….The Syrian People Will Not Allow the Scheme to Pass whatever the Cost."

Washington's war on Syria reflects longstanding policy. It's part of its "greater Middle East" agenda. It's about controlling the entire region's oil, gas and other resources.

It's about ravaging one country after another to do it. It's to achieve total dominance over MENA (Middle East/North Africa) countries and Central Asia to Russia and China's borders.

It's about removing all regional rivals before focusing on other areas. It's about unchallenged global hegemony one destroyed country at a time. Imagine what's coming if this insanity isn't stopped.

Russia and China comprise the final frontier. Humanity may not survive war against either. Policy makers only consider goals, not consequences.

Assad so far held firm. New Orient Center for Strategic Policies contributor Ghaleb Kandil believes Syria won't fall. Hopefully he's right. Insurgents on their own can't match superior Syrian military strength and tactical capability.

They've been routed in one city and town after another. They keep infiltrating through porous borders. They meet the same fate as earlier fighters.

"The crushing defeat suffered by the armed gangs throughout Syria reveals that the Syrian Arab army which was built on solid ideological bases quickly drew the lessons of the war and developed strategies of urban and rural counter-guerilla, which allowed it to strike the extremists despite the massive military, material, financial and media means that were generously offered to them by the coalition of dozens of countries, not to forget the sanctions adopted against the Syrian people and state outside the context of the United Nations."

Key is popular pro-Assad support. Kandil explains. Most Syrians know US-led imperialism targets them. They know what happened in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya. They want no part of Western subjugation. They support political autonomy.

They're willing to fight for it. Thousands of young people volunteer for army service. It's their struggle. It's too important to lose.

Imagine if foreign forces invaded America, Britain, France, or other European countries. Imagine if they murdered pro-government loyalists and committed unspeakable atrocities. Mass numbers would willingly fight them.

So would internal government opponents. Policies they disapprove of pale compared to what's likely under Western control with killer gangs terrorizing people freely.

The real face of Washington's hired guns reflects "rape, executions, massacres, pillaging…." In comparison, Assad looks saintly. He's their bottom line defense against what no one would tolerate.

America won't quit easily. Neither will Assad, his loyalists, and the great majority of Syrians wanting peace, stability, and independence, free from Western domination. They're not about to roll over without a fight for their lives and well-being.

Assad calls Syria "the cornerstone" of anti-Western resistance.

During his weekend meeting with Iran's Shura Council National Security and Foreign Policy Committee chairman, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, he said Syrians will keep fighting despite "concerted attempts otherwise by the West and some neighboring countries."

Syrians won't let "this scheme….pass and (will resist to) reach its goals whatever the cost." Boroujerdi added that both countries have common interests. Each depends on the other.

They're in constant touch. Iran provides support. It's important to do so. Beating Washington at its own game takes rock hard resistance. At the same time, the struggle is far from over.

Who'll prevail isn't clear. Clarity may be many months away, even years. Syrian suffering won't end unless they prevail. Famed Chicago community organizer Saul Alinsky once said the way to beat organized money is with organized people.

The way to beat Western imperialism is with organized, sustained, committed resistance. That level of determination works. It took Vietnam 30 years. Syrians are in for a long struggle. Hopefully they're up for what's too important to lose.

A Final Comment

It's common knowledge, or should be, that Washington, NATO allies, and regional partners enlist, fund, train, arm, and direct insurgent death squads.

A new UK tabloid Daily Star report headlined "SAS Hunt Bio Arms," saying:

"NEARLY 200 elite SAS and SBS troops are in or around Syria hunting for Assad’s weapons of mass destruction, we can reveal."

"Men of the special forces units plus 1 Para are on the ground working alongside MI6 and the CIA plus American and French troops."

Hunting "bio arms" is a ruse. Western special forces along with regional ones have been on the ground since last year. They're planning and directing death squad attacks. CIA and MI6 elements work with them.

At issue is subverting and ousting Assad. Anything goes is policy. Terror tactics are featured. Responsibility for massacres and other atrocities lies with them, the fighters they recruit, and misinformation they're told.

Full-scale war grows likely. Syrian expert Patrick Seale deplores the prospect. In mid-August he headlined "The Urgent Need to Prevent a Middle East War," saying:

"A ‘shadow war’ is already being waged - by Israel and the United States against Iran; by a coalition of countries against Syria; and by the great powers against each other. A mere spark could set this tinder alight."

Growing threats come from three sources:

• "Israel’s relentless and increasingly hysterical war-mongering against Iran;"
• Washington's imperial ambitions and complicity with Israel; and
• Suni Arab League despots' hostility towards Iran, Shias and Alawis.

Partnering with Washington and Israel is self-destructive. Israeli "war fever rests on a blatant falsehood: that Iran poses an 'existential threat' to the Jewish people. What a joke!"

"Israel wants unfettered military supremacy." It wants regional hegemony. It wants rivals removed. Washington has its own regional and global designs. Achieving them means permanent wars.

Middle East states have much to lose by supporting policies this destructive. Seale calls what's ongoing "the latest phase of the struggle for Arab independence."

Britain and France controlled the region after the Ottoman Empire collapsed. After them came Israel's threat. Combined with Washington, it's menacing. Arab states should understand that regional wars steal their "little real independence…."

Instead of siding with America and Israel, their future depends on partnering to prevent war. It's also about working together cooperatively, recognizing each other's sovereignty, and growing the region economically for their mutual benefit.

Discussions during Tehran's Non-Alignment Movement summit feature these ideas. If policies and determined implementation emerge, imagine the possibilities. Imagine a region and world at peace instead of war. Imagine survival instead of extermination.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

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