MINNEAPOLIS — During Sunday night’s debate, Hillary Clinton called for increased U.S. military intervention in Syria, and the mainstream media has proven eager to support regime change in the region.
At the second presidential debate, Clinton again voiced her support for a no-fly zone in Syria, even though military experts, including Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have warned that establishing a no-fly zone in Syria would be an act of war with Russia.
#Hillary admits #NoFlyZone wld kill many #Syrians in Leaked #WallStreetTranscripts, wants it anyway! #PodestaEmails2https://t.co/XHB6XYBWhk
— DaddySenna (@Bad_Writer0111) October 10, 2016
In a December 2015 report for Al-Jazeera, media analyst Adam Johnson noted that a no-fly zone “has become the most effective way of calling for regime change in Syria without appearing to do so.”
There’s ample evidence to suggest that regime change in Syria would be a disaster that would ultimately strengthen terrorist forces and further destabilize the Middle East. However, these very real dangers haven’t prevented the media from promoting the government’s message of military intervention for “humanitarian purposes,” the most likely outcome of which is a military quagmire similar to what unfolded in Libya after the U.S.-backed coup.
https://twitter.com/Navsteva/status/783648967871565824
Here are a few examples of misleading stories in the media:
- No-Fly Zone: Writing on Oct. 4, David Wood, senior military correspondent for the Huffington Post, attempted to make the “liberal” case for a no-fly zone. While he admitted that a no-fly zone would be a “a major escalation from the current U.S. posture,” he noted that former CIA director and retired Army Gen. David Petraeus believes “a modest no-fly zone could be established from outside Syrian airspace.” But some estimates have suggested a no-fly zone could require as many as 70,000 troops to maintain.
Watch “No-fly zone would ‘require war with Syria and Russia’ – top US general” from Russia Insider:
https://youtu.be/fmE9Jj-rEVs
- White Helmets: From appearing on the cover of Time magazine to being the subject of a September documentary from Netflix, the “White Helmets” are everywhere. While this volunteer organization purports to rescue the victims of attacks by Russian and Syrian government forces, the White Helmets are actually funded by the West and help to promote a pro-regime change message. “The White Helmets promote themselves as an ‘impartial,’ purely humanitarian organization, but they are inextricably connected to people and organizations trying to overthrow the Assad government in Syria,” wrote Shadowproof’s Dan Wright on Thursday.
Watch “Mnar Muhawesh & Vanessa Beeley Dissect the ‘Humanitarian’ Propaganda Train Driving US War in Syria” from MintPress News’ “Behind the Headline”:
- ‘Why doesn’t Obama do something?’: From Vice News to The Daily Beast, “progressive” voices in the media continue to advocate for military intervention in Syria. Writing on Wednesday for The Daily Beast, Nancy A. Youssef quoted unnamed Obama administration officials who advocated for arming “U.S.-backed rebels with more powerful, longer range weapons and surface-to-air weapons to potentially thwart Russian and regime airstrikes.” These are the same so-called “moderate” rebels which have been accused of using chemical weapons and beheading children, and they’ve been repeatedly linked to terrorist groups like al-Qaida.
Although Secretary of State John Kerry has called for war crimes investigations against Russia and Syria, there’s been no corresponding call to investigate the war crimes committed by U.S.-backed rebel groups, nor to investigate the war crimes carried out by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition waging war in Yemen.
Watch “Yemen: More than 140 killed by air strikes at funeral”
In his analysis of the “no-fly zone” and calls for regime change in Syria, Johnson criticized Clinton for attempting to win political favors by calling for more war. He also went a step further, targeting the media for failing to hold the Democratic presidential candidate accountable. He concluded:
“Clinton’s grandstanding may focus-group well and make her look ‘tough,’ but it can only undermine efforts to bring Syria’s devastating civil war to an end. Clinton might not care that her position is unworkable and reckless. But shouldn’t the media?”