Anti-Syrian Propaganda Thread.

Brown Bomber

This will be a thread for discussing and sharing individual cases of anti-Syrian propaganda in the Western and Arab media. This is not for discussing the existence of such propaganda as it's existence will be self-evident by the examples we are discussing.

I'll get the ball rolling. The case of "Syrian Danny". This is a must watch, it records Danny talking on a mobile phone before a hysterical CNN interview arranging for gunfire to be heard in the background and other lies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtNwsLiq-F8

Monty Burnz

Brown Bomber wrote: »

This will be a thread for discussing and sharing individual cases of anti-Syrian propaganda in the Western and Arab media. This is not for discussing the existence of such propaganda as it's existence will be self-evident by the examples we are discussing.

Anti-Assad propaganda? Or anti-Syrian-people? Or anti-Syrian-rebel?

Re. this particular case, I'd not label this as phoney without understanding the Arabic discussion before the broadcast. The translation offered may be inaccurate or may be deliberately misinterpreted to make it look like a fabrication (I don't see, for example, why you would expect a civilian to stay in/return to an area under bombardment to have a chat on American TV).

Brown Bomber

Here's more outright anti-Syrian lies courtesy of CNN.

Here CNN reporter Arwa Damon is filmed lying through her teeth supposedly looking into a laptop of the charred, mutilated and decapitated body of Zainab Al Husni, a Syrian teenager. According to the lying propagandist the footage is "simply too gruesome to show".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEFMEEkne8k

Turns out there is not "footage" at all. Zainab Al Husni is and was still alive and well when CNN was churning out their lies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/woman-believed-killed-by-syrian-forces-turns-up-on-tv.html

Brown Bomber

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Anti-Assad propaganda? Or anti-Syrian-people? Or anti-Syrian-rebel?

Anti-the legal & sovereign state of Syria.

Monty Burnz

Brown Bomber wrote: »

Anti-the legal & sovereign state of Syria.

Did you have the same views on Libya etc?

Are you confident that your Arabic is good enough to understand what is being said in the video without trusting possible Assad regime propaganda?

Monty Burnz

Are Amnesty International part of the conspiracy?

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said last month in statements that Ms. Hosni’s mother had found her body in a morgue after Ms. Hosni vanished in late July. The organizations said that the mother had come across the body while looking for her son Mohammed, a protester who was reported to have been arrested on Sept. 10. His body had multiple gunshot wounds to the head and chest when his mother claimed it, Human Rights Watch said.

“We have no doubt that the woman who appeared on TV is my sister Zainab,” said Youssef al-Hosni, a brother who fled from Syria to Lebanon and was reached by telephone. But he talked about how a mistake had been made earlier. “My mother identified her in the morgue,” he said. “She knows her daughter. She said, ‘This is my daughter,’ and the authorities in the morgue told us her name was Zainab and she was 18. So we took her and buried her.”

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the family had confirmed to them that Ms. Hosni was indeed alive. In a joint statement, the organizations said they “regret any inaccuracy in the misidentification of the body.”

Amnesty International said that its initial statements on Ms. Hosni’s death were “based on information provided by sources close to the incident itself, who passed Amnesty International video footage of a dismembered body.”

“If the body was not that of Zainab al-Hosni, then clearly the Syrian authorities need to disclose whose it was, the cause and circumstances of the death, and why Zainab al-Hosni’s family were informed that she was the victim,” Amnesty International said.

To be honest, even if the butchered body wasn't the woman they thought it was, it still seems to have been the butchered body of a woman killed by the regime. I'm not sure this casts the regime in a great light.

Brown Bomber

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Are Amnesty International part of the conspiracy?

Probably.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fAl2oombx4

Monty Burnz

Brown Bomber wrote: »

Probably.

Can we disregard anything they say about the behaviour of the US in that case?

Brown Bomber

Monty Burnz wrote: »

Can we disregard anything they say about the behaviour of the US in that case?

I don't want to be rude to you Monty but the parameters of this thread are clear. Disucussing individual cases of anti-Syrian propaganda.

Monty Burnz

Brown Bomber wrote: »

I don't want to be rude to you Monty but the parameters of this thread are clear. Disucussing individual cases of anti-Syrian propaganda.

Fair enough - I'm just trying to question whether the cases actually are propaganda, and who is behind the propaganda if they are.

Jaafa

In fairness BB I think Amnesty international were the ones who were conned, not the ones doing the conning.

They released a report after the war, going back on their previous claims, saying they could not find evidence for many of the crimes Qaddafi had supposedly committed. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/amnesty-questions-claim-that-gaddafi-ordered-rape-as-weapon-of-war-2302037.html

EDIT: I noticed the video says the same. Still I think my point stands, that they were mislead.

Brown Bomber

Jaafa wrote: »

In fairness BB I think Amnesty international were the ones who were conned, not the ones doing the conning.

They released a report after the war, going back on their previous claims, saying they could not find evidence for many of the crimes Qaddafi had supposedly committed. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/amnesty-questions-claim-that-gaddafi-ordered-rape-as-weapon-of-war-2302037.html

EDIT: I noticed the video says the same. Still I think my point stands, that they were mislead.

I hope your right, independent human rights orgs are of the upmost importance IMO and to be fair you most likely are. You are certainly correct in pointing out that it was Amnesty who did indeed debunk much of the media propagated myths regarding Libya through their people on the ground.

enno99

Denmark largest Tv station admits it

Shocking images of torture

The images are from Iraq, and are several years old. Danmark's Radio's news program, the 9 o'clock evening news May 16, aired 'shocking images' of Syrian demonstrators, who were being tortured by Syrian government militias

http://blog.balder.org/?p=1208

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbLTwb1ovh4

video is danish some english transcript is in the blog

wingsof daun

Amazing that vile politicians like John McCain always get their opinions across to the media:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h0S7XcOmoK1Nn3jeCdh11bVZeszw?docId=CNG.b606c271169051c5a5ddfc59fe7aaf0a.381

Coincidence? Don't think so, controlled media definitely. War is brewing. Zionist barbaric onslaught set to continue on the Middle east and Africa.

Tzar Chasm

havent seen this one posted yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63a1vKJLN10

Dunno what to make of it, yeah one o them ellas did get whipped, and the patients are chained to the beds, but they said n the clip that some of the men held there are deserters and in a Military Hospital you wouldnt expect the most civil treatment for deserters.

also is not unusual for criminals to be restrained in hospital.

I do find the language a bit biased in the report but the images are still somewhat damning however most of the more serious allegations are hearsay without corroborating evidence

Jaafa

One thing I have noticed in the western media is they seem to avoid showing any footage of Assad himself when possible. Certainly a lot less then they were showing Gaddafi or Saddam. Is it that he just looks too normal and that might confuse people? Or is it because he hasn't really said anything particularly outrageous enough in his speeches?

On another note according to another one of the stratfor leaks, what many here have suspected and similar to what happened in Libya, Spec Op forces are already on the ground in libya long before any overt military action.

The author of the letter claims that US officials “said without saying that SOF [special operation forces] teams (presumably from the US, UK, France, Jordan and Turkey) are already on the ground, focused on recce [reconnaissance] missions and training opposition forces.” A little later the US army experts expand on the role of the undercover commandos: “the idea 'hypothetically' is to commit guerrilla attacks, assassination campaigns, try to break the back of the Alawite forces, elicit collapse from within.”

This also coincides with the capture of Turkish, french and Qatari agents over the last few weeks.

jackiebaron

Jaafa wrote: »

One thing I have noticed in the western media is they seem to avoid showing any footage of Assad himself when possible. Certainly a lot less then they were showing Gaddafi or Saddam. Is it that he just looks too normal and that might confuse people? Or is it because he hasn't really said anything particularly outrageous enough in his speeches?

On another note according to another one of the stratfor leaks, what many here have suspected and similar to what happened in Libya, Spec Op forces are already on the ground in libya long before any overt military action.


This also coincides with the capture of Turkish, french and Qatari agents over the last few weeks.

I'd say it's because he looks normal....in fact he looks like a fairly decent, gentle guy. I believe he's a former dentist educated in London.

Jaafa

Sharmine Narwani details how she has to deal with censorship on Syria at the Huffington Post after their take over by AOL. Many articles debunking some of the propaganda on Syria have been refused.

One of the few articles to be let through is this enlightening piece. It shows the lies and exaggeration of the oppostion in their claims of the death tolls,as well as false stories aimed at making it seem Assad's supporters are split, and this based on a report by Stratfor, hardly pro regime by any account.

According to the Texas-based geopolitical risk analysis group Stratfor which released an eyebrow-raising piece on Syrian opposition propaganda efforts last week, "most of the opposition's more serious claims have turned out to be grossly exaggerated or simply untrue, thereby revealing more about the opposition's weaknesses than the level of instability inside the Syrian regime

Homs has been the raging center of anti-regime dissent after all, with death tolls that appear to be well above those of other hotspots. Stratfor's investigation, however, found "no signs of a massacre," and warns that "opposition forces have an interest in portraying an impending massacre, hoping to mimic the conditions that propelled a foreign military intervention in Libya."

The article then goes on to suggest that any suggestions of massacres are unlikely because the Syrian "regime has calibrated its crackdowns to avoid just such a scenario. Regime forces," Stratfor argues, "have been careful to avoid the high casualty numbers that could lead to an intervention based on humanitarian grounds."

There's lots more in the article and I think it's fairly conclusive stuff coming from Stratfor.

Brown Bomber

Al Jazeera reported that the Syrian army killed this poor woman's young son.
This is what she thinks of Al Jazeera's war propaganda:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVlgn3uW608

Brown Bomber

enno99 wrote: »

Denmark largest Tv station admits it

How can anyone or anybody not when this is a oppressed and victimised American Syrian man Lesbian

Tzar Chasm

Presstv are claiming that US/Western Forces are smuggling weapons to The Rebels
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230387.html

there are also Claims of NATO Soldiers on the ground aggitating, much like the Troops who 'advised' the Rebels in Libya, this comes from the Wikileaks Stratfor Files
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230376.html

Jaafa

Tzar Chasm wrote: »

Presstv are claiming that US/Western Forces are smuggling weapons to The Rebels
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230387.html

there are also Claims of NATO Soldiers on the ground aggitating, much like the Troops who 'advised' the Rebels in Libya, this comes from the Wikileaks Stratfor Files
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/230376.html

I posted the same a few posts back.

Russia now claiming it is aware of Libyan training camps, who are shipping fighters to Syria. Who of course is no surprise since several months ago Libya was proudly declaring how it had sent hundreds of fighters to Syria already.

We have received information that in Libya, with support from the authorities, there is a special training center for the Syrian revolutionaries and that people are sent to Syria to attack the legal government,” Vitaly Churkin said. "This is completely unacceptable according to all legal bases.

enno99

http://plot.vsyria.com/anas-al-abdah

The plot against Syria

Info on some people believed to be behind whats going on

Jaafa

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-jazeera-reporter-resigns-over-biased-syria-coverage

Al Jazeera Arabic's Beirut correspondent, Ali Hashem, resigned on Tuesday after leaked emails revealed his frustrations over the news channel's coverage of Syria, according to a source within the television network.

Monty Burnz

Jaafa wrote: »

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/al-jazeera-reporter-resigns-over-biased-syria-coverage

“[In Bahrain], we were seeing pictures of a people being butchered by the 'Gulf's oppression machine', and for Al Jazeera, silence was the name of the game,” the source added.

This is quite an interesting point: why is there so little coverage of what the government is up to in Bahrain?

Jaafa

Monty Burnz wrote: »

This is quite an interesting point: why is there so little coverage of what the government is up to in Bahrain?

Because Qatar (they run AJE) have an alliance with the gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. They won't allow the Shia majority in Bahrain to exercise equal rights due to fears of Iran, and similar uprisings in their own countries. The situation in Bahrain is ongoing, but most of us here won't hear about it.

Hypocrisy in other words.

Monty Burnz

Jaafa wrote: »

The situation in Bahrain is ongoing, but most of us here won't hear about it.

Hypocrisy in other words.

True, but there's not much benefit in us hearing about it if intervention is off the table. Let them sort themselves out.

Jaafa

Monty Burnz wrote: »

True, but there's not much benefit in us hearing about it if intervention is off the table. Let them sort themselves out.

I hope they do sort it out. I wish at least a little pressure was put on the monarchy there, but with the US 5th fleet stationed in Bahrain, it's not going to happen.

HavingCrack

Brown Bomber wrote: »

Anti-the legal & sovereign state of Syria.

How much "legality" does the Assad regime actually have? Syria clearly is not a democracy so it is impossible to say for sure if he does have the support of a majority of the population. He clearly does have significant support, particularly among Alawites and Christians but is it a majority? He inherited the title of leader from his father, not through popular elections.

Brown Bomber

HavingCrack wrote: »

How much "legality" does the Assad regime actually have?

Absolute legality.

HavingCrack wrote: »

Syria clearly is not a democracy so it is impossible to say for sure if he does have the support of a majority of the population.

The reverse is also true.

HavingCrack wrote: »

He clearly does have significant support, particularly among Alawites and Christians but is it a majority? He inherited the title of leader from his father, not through popular elections.

Democracy has absolutely nothing to do with a states soveriegnal integrity and the rights that go along with it. The UN states that democracy isn't neccessarily the ideal. There are other factors involved such as history, culture, religion etc.

Also it is worth pointing out that it's a democracy that currently illegally occupies parts of Syria and that the only state to ever fire nuclear arms in anger (twice!) was a democracy.

A final point is that some of the leading players behind regime change via bombing and arming bands of Sunni terrorists are themselves US (democracy) backed and protected non-democracies such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain who have used violence to crush protests.

This can all be demonstrated by a journalist asking this question of Saudi Prince Turki al Faisal in a US Press conference:

There's been a lot of talk about the legitimacy of the Syrian regime, I want to know what legitimacy your regime has sir. You come before us, representative of one of the most autocratic, misogynistic regimes on the face of the earth. Human Rights Watch and other reports of torture detention of activist, you squelched the democratic uprising in Bahrain, you tried to overturn the democratic uprising in Egypt and indeed you continue to oppress your own people. What legitimacy does you regime have -- other than billions of dollars and weapons?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELbe7YweWZw

He was suspended from the National Press Club for asking this question.

HavingCrack

Brown Bomber wrote: »

Absolute legality.

Under what criteria?

Brown Bomber wrote: »

The reverse is also true.

Agreed, Assad is clearly very popular with a sizeable proportion of the population, namely Christians, Alawites and much of the army and security forces along with pro-regime Sunnis of which there are many.

Brown Bomber wrote: »

Democracy has absolutely nothing to do with a states soveriegnal integrity and the rights that go along with it.

I am not arguing as to Syria's sovereignty, I am arguing as to the Assad regime legitimacy. The two are not neccessarily interchangeable.

Brown Bomber wrote: »

The UN states that democracy isn't neccessarily the ideal. There are other factors involved such as history, culture, religion etc.

Does it? I've always been quite curious about this. Do you have a reference ??

Brown Bomber wrote: »

Also it is worth pointing out that it's a democracy that currently illegally occupies parts of Syria and that the only state to ever fire nuclear arms in anger (twice!) was a democracy.

A final point is that some of the leading players behind regime change via bombing and arming bands of Sunni terrorists are themselves US (democracy) backed and protected non-democracies such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain who have used violence to crush protests.

Shrug, it's not really relevant to my post. I am not defending the actions of democracies, as you say many of them are guilty of horrible war crimes. However, in theory at least the actions of the government have the backing of a majority of the population of the state. The atomic bomb attacks on Japan were extremely popular in the United States. Being a democracy does not result in some sort of get out of jail card.

jackiebaron

HavingCrack wrote: »

How much "legality" does the Assad regime actually have? Syria clearly is not a democracy so it is impossible to say for sure if he does have the support of a majority of the population. He clearly does have significant support, particularly among Alawites and Christians but is it a majority? He inherited the title of leader from his father, not through popular elections.

Does he have any less legitimacy than monarchies in the region such as Saudi, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, etc?

It also appears that the majority of the Syrian people do actually favour Assad.

Jaafa

More staff leave Al Jazeera over its bias.

Key staff from Al Jazeera’s Beirut Bureau have resigned citing “bias” in the channel’s stance on the conflict in Syria.
Bureau Managing Director Hassan Shaaban reportedly quit last week, after his correspondent and producer had walked out in protest.
A source told the Lebanese paper Al Akhbar that Al Jazeera’s Beirut correspondent Ali Hashem had quit over the channel’s stance on covering events in Syria. "… his position [which] changed after the station refused to show photos he had taken of armed fighters clashing with the Syrian Army in Wadi Khaled. Instead [Al Jazeera] lambasted him as a shabeeh [implying a regime loyalist],” a source told Lebanese press.

HavingCrack

jackiebaron wrote: »

Does he have any less legitimacy than monarchies in the region such as Saudi, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, etc?

It also appears that the majority of the Syrian people do actually favour Assad.

It's actually an interesting debate. I don't really believe monarchies have any real legitimacy in the modern world-certainly not the Middle Eastern ones with their nasty histories of repression, discrimination, sexism and torture. With the possible exception of Jordan (which appears to be more liberal than the other Middle Eastern states for the most part) I don't believe Assad has any more or less legimacy than any other leader.

Whether he has the support of a majority of the population is impossible to say without free and fair elections. As I said previously he may indeed have majority support-the city of Aleppo and central Damascus as well as much of the Kurdish areas are still very much pro-Assad. Certainly the middle and upper classes support him (generally the Christians and Alawites) as well as the wealtheir Sunnis and most of the security forces.

From what I can see of Syria the problem seems to have more roots in social class than sectarian strife. It's very much pitting the working classes against the middle and upper classes-which happen to be separated along religious lines unfortunately.

davoxx

HavingCrack wrote: »

It's actually an interesting debate. I don't really believe monarchies have any real legitimacy in the modern world-certainly not the Middle Eastern ones with their nasty histories of repression, discrimination, sexism and torture. With the possible exception of Jordan (which appears to be more liberal than the other Middle Eastern states for the most part) I don't believe Assad has any more or less legimacy than any other leader.

the middle east do not have a monopoly on bad monarchies to be fair ...

HavingCrack wrote: »

It's very much pitting the working classes against the middle and upper classes-which happen to be separated along religious lines unfortunately.

that occurs everywhere in every country, just that nobody takes notice ... the rich watch the poor fight each other for scraps, and the rich control the government.

but the key point here is legitimacy of rule is a complex concept and people have learned nothing from history, or they choose to ignore it.

let them sort out their own issues, that is the only way a legitimate leader will be brought about ...

but lets not forget that behind this fake face of concern, the same governments murdered the legitimacy leader of libya ... what does that say about their claims?

Jaafa

Some more evidence of manipulation of the media. Watch the video, it's shown better than in the article. http://rt.com/news/syria-information-wars-west-553/

3 stories mainly. One is a fire, that al jazzera reports as an explosion caused by the government, then attempts to make the video seem like amateur footage.

Second is a reporter telling an injured child what to say into into the camera, before going on air.

Last is a young man, who goes on CNN live claiming the deaths of 200 people, amidst shooting in the background. However when you see the full video, you can see he staged it.

jackiebaron

Jaafa wrote: »

Some more evidence of manipulation of the media. Watch the video, it's shown better than in the article. http://rt.com/news/syria-information-wars-west-553/

3 stories mainly. One is a fire, that al jazzera reports as an explosion caused by the government, then attempts to make the video seem like amateur footage.

Second is a reporter telling an injured child what to say into into the camera, before going on air.

Last is a young man, who goes on CNN live claiming the deaths of 200 people, amidst shooting in the background. However when you see the full video, you can see he staged it.

You're preaching to the choir Jaafa. We know the entire story behins all the violence in the middle east and the cringe-worthy attempts by the media at spinning their fake sh!t.

studiorat

Truth or Lies?

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/24/196776.html

“I salute the heroic Syrian people, who are striving for freedom, democracy and reform”

http://www.worldnewstribune.com/2012/03/04/syrian-regime-said-to-target-palestinians-who-wont-fight-uprising/

davoxx

studiorat wrote: »

Truth or Lies?

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/24/196776.html



http://www.worldnewstribune.com/2012/03/04/syrian-regime-said-to-target-palestinians-who-wont-fight-uprising/

what's your take on it?

studiorat

davoxx wrote: »

what's your take on it?

It's obvious, Hamas are part of the Lizard Freemason NWO as well!! And the PLO are lying because being paid by Barrack O'Bomber'

Ask yourself why has Russia's export of arms to Syria grown by 600% recently?
Then ask yourself do you think RT state run propaganda?

davoxx

studiorat wrote: »

It's obvious, Hamas are part of the Lizard Freemason NWO as well!! And the PLO are lying because being paid by Barrack O'Bomber'

ok, so you have no further need to be on this thread since you've figured it all out ...

but in case you do actually want to contribute ... could you answer some easy questions?

what is the lizard freemason nwo? are you a member of it or are you against it? it would be nice to know your motives for thinking it's obvious ...

also can you explain a bit further how you know the plo are being paid off? or even how you know they are lying?

Daithi 1

Just dropping this in....

studiorat

Don't forget the 600% increase in Russian arms sales to Syria.

davoxx wrote: »

ok, so you have no further need to be on this thread since you've figured it all out ...

but in case you do actually want to contribute ... could you answer some easy questions?

what is the lizard freemason nwo? are you a member of it or are you against it? it would be nice to know your motives for thinking it's obvious ...

I think the question of motive is very revealing. Clearly there is a motive behind the opinions of the some of the contributors here. I'm surprised you'd admit it so readily. Personally I look at the facts and form my opinion. Whether I'm "for or against" anything is a very immature way to examine the issues.

davoxx wrote: »

also can you explain a bit further how you know the plo are being paid off? or even how you know they are lying?

Did you read the link? Previously, the PLO have accused Syria of crimes against humanity. In the vein of the thread do you think it's propaganda or not?
Hamas have moved out of Damascus and into Qatar I believe, propaganda or not?

davoxx

studiorat wrote: »

Don't forget the 600% increase in Russian arms sales to Syria.



I think the question of motive is very revealing. Clearly there is a motive behind the opinions of the some of the contributors here. I'm surprised you'd admit it so readily. Personally I look at the facts and form my opinion. Whether I'm "for or against" anything is a very immature way to examine the issues.




Did you read the link? Previously, the PLO have accused Syria of crimes against humanity. In the vein of the thread do you think it's propaganda or not?
Hamas have moved out of Damascus and into Qatar I believe, propaganda or not?

i'll ask once more for the last time:

what is the lizard freemason nwo? are you a member of it or are you against it? it would be nice to know your motives for thinking it's obvious ...

surprise me with a proper answer ...

Penn

Why don't you both surprise me and get back to discussing the topic. Any more "lizard freemason nwo" talk and questioning motives of other posters gets deleted and poster infracted.

davoxx

<mod snip>

back on topic, i think the focus is going to shift away from syria to a certain african country.

studiorat

More propaganda...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=soK-L1v0bcM

tricky D

Here's one which was tried a while back. It was quickly dropped when the holes in the report were exposed. The DM then removed all the comments which debunked the 'incident'.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098620/Syria-18-premature-babies-die-Homs-hospital-power-cut-caused-Assad-army-attack.html

Jaafa

To those who claim the opposition was peaceful until they could no longer bear Assad's oppression and took up arms. I give you my evidence to the opposite.

there is clear evidence that armed groups have targeted and killed security forces and civilians from within weeks of the first small protests in March 2011. An earlier investigative piece I wrote on the Syrian casualty lists identifies the shooting deaths of nine Syrian soldiers in Banyas on April 10, 2011 as one important timeline marker for premeditated opposition violence.

Ali Hashem’s resignation from Al Jazeera last month may not have raised an eyebrow in normal circumstances. .......Hashem claims Al Jazeera refused to air footage of dozens of armed gunmen engaging with targets inside Syrian territory in May 2011. He and his crew, Hashem reports, also witnessed armed groups entering Syria three weeks earlier, in April 2011, but were only able to capture them on film in May. Some of the weapons they sighted included Kalashnikovs and Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs)

It is clear these groups have been waging armed opposition to Assad since almost the very start.

Brown Bomber

Compare the two image's background.



source for EPA image
http://www.epa.eu/webgate/

Brown Bomber

The New York Times says:

Updated September 5
Hit by mortar fire, the towering stone minaret of a mosque in a western district of Aleppo toppled to the ground on Monday, activists said, amid what appeared to be sporadic shelling by the government and heavy clashes in the area. Activists Report Artillery and Tank Fire by Government Forces in the City Hit by mortar fire, the towering stone minaret of the Al Rasheed mosque in a western district of Aleppo toppled to the ground on Monday, activists said, amid what appeared to be heavy shelling by the government in the area. Syria's state news agency said military forces had clashed with armed fighters near the mosque in the neighborhood known as Saif al-Dawla late last week. The video, posted on Wednesday, captured the collapse as well as armed men inspecting the yawning hole left in the mosque.

The apparent Reality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY2bbmhjhVE