Washington Post Promotes Al-Qaeda Affiliate As "Moderate"
The Fred Hiatt funny pages, aka the Washington Post Opinon page, has a leader of Ahrar al-Sham writing against the official definition of "moderate rebels" in Syria.
Ahrar al-Sham is a violent Salafi terrorist group in Syria which was co-founded by an old time Al-Qaeda member:
Abu Khalid al-Suri, also known as Abu Omeir al-Shami : Suri was a co-founder of Ahrar al-Sham and acted as Ayman al-Zawahiri’s representative in Syria, charged with facilitating reconciliation amongst Islamist militants in the region. Suri was killed in a suicide bombing against Ahrar al-Sham’s headquarters. Ahrar al-Sham and other militant organizations blamed ISIS. Suri's close ties with Al Qaeda became clear after his death, when AQ commander Ayman al-Zawahiri published a eulogy for the fallen Ahrar al-Sham leader and AQ posted a video documenting his participation in Al Farouq training camp in Afghanistan, including photos of him with Osama bin Laden and Zawahiri.
While al Suri is dead the group he founded has not "moderated" one bit. It regularly cooperates and fights together with Jabhat al-Nusra, the official al-Qaeda arm in Syria. Here is recent a picture of both groups leaders affirming their allegiance to each other.
Keep that in mind when the Ahrar al-Sham ideologue writes:
[T]he United States has defined the term “moderate” in such a narrow and arbitrary fashion that it excludes the bulk of the mainstream opposition.The group to which I belong, Ahrar al-Sham, is one example. Our name means “Free Men of Syria.” We consider ourselves a mainstream Sunni Islamic group that is led by Syrians and fights for Syrians. We are fighting for justice for the Syrian people. Yet we have been falsely accused of having organizational links to al-Qaeda and of espousing al-Qaeda’s ideology.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The Washington Post now prints op-eds by one of the most despicable terrorist groups in Syria and allows it to spew pure lies. Ahrar al-Sham has no links to al-Qaeda? Except that it was founded by a top al-Qaeda guy and cooperates, like in the recent attack on Idleb, with the official al-Qaeda arm in Syria.
Time for a joke?
- This weekend the Washington Post has Ahrar al-Sham writing: "We are moderates. At least we're not Al-Qaeda. Support us."
- Next weekend the Washington Post will have a Jabhat al-Nusra op-ed claming: "We are moderates. So at least we're not ISIS. Support us.
- Then, a week later, the Washington Post will print an op-ed by ISIS leader al- Baghdadi: "We at least are honest."
There has been a campaign, in several phases, to portrait first the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood with its bloody history and later al-Qaeda aligned Salafi terrorists as Moderate Cuddly Homegrown Al-Qaeda. Qatari and Saudi money was involved in these campaigns.
One wonders how much the Washington Post was paid to let such dreck appear in a U.S. mainstream paper.
Posted by b on July 11, 2015 at 16:16 UTC | Permalink
typical of the wapo...
b quote "One wonders how much the Washington Post was paid to let such dreck appear in a U.S. mainstream paper."
that's their lifeblood!!! if you go there for anything other then to read what the office of the president is trying to pawn off on it's people, you are wasting your time!!!
Posted by: james | Jul 11 2015 17:22 utc | 2
A court in the UK had to throw out a case recently concerning a UK Muslim on his way to Syria. His defence team said, how could the UK prosecute an individual for supporting certain groups in Syria when it was doing the same thing itself.
but America, Europe and Israel must share in the responsibility – and blame – too. The southern control room in north Amman ‘managing’, paying, and arming the al-Qae’da/An-Nusra dominated forces, ‘the army of Hermon’, in Syria comprises American and British membership (as well as having Israel, “hovering behind the scenes”). For how long can European states prosecute Muslims who are European citizens (sending them to prison for life) for aiding al-Qae’da, whilst doing the same themselves? http://www.conflictsforum.org/2015/the-enabling-of-useful-proxies-becomes-la-mode/
Posted by: harry law | Jul 11 2015 17:49 utc | 3
WaPo ... NYT ... propaganda mouth pieces for empire. So, of course they take the position they do. To expect otherwise is simply silly; to believe their bs is simply naive. But what is to expected in a society that has been brainwashed to believe that we are exceptional, indispensable, sanctioned by a blood thirsty god who justified the destruction of other peoples, believing in a tripartite god and calling that belief monotheism. Such blatant gullibility is just asking to be exploited.
We accept Israel, a settler state conducting a genocidal destruction of the natives in the same manner that we, a settler state conducted a settler states genocide of the natives (calling them indians as in: nits make lice ... the John Chivington comment at Sand Creek.) Even today the state of Colorado celebrates the murderers at Sand Creek ... just as we celebrate the men who would become president at Fallen Timbers, or Thanksgiving ... celebrated for the elimination of 400 heathen souls (i.e., indians) just a few weeks prior.
And thus, WaPo, NYT and all of the rest of our so-called media lives in america ... a land of delusion.
I appreciate the POV in this blog ... and check it on a daily basis ... maybe if enough people find it ... . Naw. Now I am being naive.
Posted by: Rg an LG | Jul 11 2015 18:11 utc | 4
How much is WP paid? Who knows, Gulf Arabs could even buy that media outfit for the occasion, but one can quibble how. As we know, they officially hire PR firms that develop stories to ply to mainstream media, get friendly attention from Congress etc. AIPAC and AIPAC-like support helps. The actual money trail that could be attested with banking records is probably somewhat convoluted.
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 11 2015 18:45 utc | 5
Well, Jeff Bezos owns WaPo, a arch neoliberal, and a man who combined with Vicky Nuland to get regime change in Ukraine.
Posted by: okie farmer | Jul 11 2015 19:06 utc | 6
OT TRNN
Debate Rages in SYRIZA Over Austerity Plan
During the early hours of Saturday morning, the Greek Parliament passed the motion by a majority vote of 250 - 300, but Dimitri Lascaris says this is one of the worst political debacles in modern European history - July 11, 2015
https://youtu.be/FHU2OS-E1g0
Posted by: okie farmer | Jul 11 2015 19:17 utc | 7
Reminding people that these syrian rebels are al qaeda-ites seems to have penetrated the popular mind at least a little bit. When conversation turns to these issues with the old fellows I work with, they seem to understand that the syrian rebels are not the 'good guys' or 'moderates.' There are a lot of good questions like, "why are we even bothering with them?"
The mental remnants of assad's demonization fizzle away when confronted with these absurdities.
Posted by: Crest | Jul 11 2015 22:10 utc | 8
@1
Amazing ... “we’re speeding up training of ISIL forces, including volunteers from Sunni tribes in Anbar Province.” ... the truth just slips out ...
The WaPo is a subsidiary of Amazon, has a 500 megabuck contract for cloud data storage for the CIA, and delivers 'the news' to your door by drone. Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power ... whoever first said that was right on.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 11 2015 23:01 utc | 9
rememberinggiap
Here's one of his short plays (2011) "Ulrike Meinhof Sings":
https://youtu.be/zSIwiOflo_I
Brilliant. And the right answer.
Posted by: okie farmer | Jul 11 2015 23:29 utc | 10
just one comment b, remove the "s" at the end of the name: it should be al-sham (Damascus) and not al-shams (Sun)
Posted by: erraticideas | Jul 12 2015 6:00 utc | 11
@9
It was Mussolini who said something along the lines of, fascism is the merger of the state and corporation. And now I hate to be a stickler, but Mussolini didn't mean the private corporation but the corporative state, which is different and difficult to explain - something like a national syndicalist system. Mussolini, though adored by many capitalists, was ideologically critical of capitalism.
Posted by: Anonymous | Jul 12 2015 7:19 utc | 12
@12
Yes, I imagine that is difficult to explain. I have read it attributed to Mussolini and have read others insist he never said it ... chiefly libertarians ... so, rather than have the inevitable 'he never said that' I didn't attribute it. I hadn't anticipated that corporate meant state, though. I wonder why the power of each one of the two must be merged with the other if they are identical? I guess it depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is. I do imagine that Mussolini's spiel varied with his audience. Anyway, in retrospect ...
' Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power ... ' whoever first said that was right on.
Posted by: jfl | Jul 12 2015 8:09 utc | 13
@ 12 & 13
there's only one lesson to be learned from the Mussolini story...
fascists ONLY relinquish power when it is pried from their cold, dead hands.
Posted by: john | Jul 12 2015 10:30 utc | 14
B,
Nah has obviously didn't write that oped himself. Who did?
Posted by: John | Jul 12 2015 11:18 utc | 15
WaPo's op/eds are constantly filled with the writings of terrorists--homegrown Outlaw Empire terrorists like Hiatt.
Posted by: karlof1 | Jul 12 2015 13:24 utc | 16
Early definitions of Fascism at first emphasized that key component - the collusion between government and big business. The Fascists have watered that down to nothing. As currently defined, there exists no real distinction between Fascism and Dictatorships.
In any case, what we have going on in the world today is Fascism as defined by the early definition which has been whitewashed.
Here's a modern definition of fascism: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism
Doesn't at all mention the collusion between government and big business - no difference between fascism and Dictatorship.
The Powers That Be do not want ppl to get the idea their systems of government are - in truth - not Democracies or Democratic Republics or anything of the sort.
World Government Systems operate almost exclusively via the collusion between said governments and the richest corporate monopolies.
This used to be called fascism.
Posted by: fast freddy | Jul 12 2015 15:49 utc | 17
The USA desperately wants non-West boots on the ground to fight the Syrian army and Hezbollah.
The only ones are the hundred of thousands islamist terrorists.
No wonder the USA is trying to dress them up as the 'moderates'. Moderates have become a threatened species in Syria.
Posted by: Virgile | Jul 12 2015 21:55 utc | 18
“We’re speeding up training of ISIL forces.” — President Obama
https://youtu.be/p2NkjNvwuaU
Posted by: ALAN | Jul 13 2015 5:29 utc | 19
b
"Qatari and Saudi money was involved in these campaigns."
Ambassador Stevens and SecState Clinton, CIA Petraeus and DepDir Morell, Senators McCain and Graham etcetera were 'all-in' in deposing Qaddafi, then using those 225 TONS of gold bullion and heavy weapons bunkers to arm and fund Al Nusra and The Caliph, before the group was relabeled as 'US-IL', ...oops, I mean, 'ISIL'.
Remember, 'We Came, We Saw, He Died' was the most depraved comment by any State figure since Madeleine Albright's sick, 'On the whole, I think it was worth it."
Remember, this is 100% Deep Government US-IL, that Qatar and Saud are just paying their tribute to the $700B Crypto-Zionist Wehrmacht that protects their regacies.
All of those beheadings, all those tortures, all those mass graves filled with bullet riddled corpses, are blood on the hands of those Crypto-Zionists in WADC.
And on the whole, they must think it was worth it.
Try not to be a stenographer for MegaDeath Inc. This isn't some classic history fable or political reportage. This is humanity drowning in blood, in prime time.
Posted by: Chipnik | Jul 13 2015 8:15 utc | 20
Hiatt today says;the worlds LGBT people are being threatened.A world war over sexual body functions.Sodomy vs.God?.sheesh.Let the pinkwashing begin!
Posted by: dahoit | Jul 13 2015 13:26 utc | 21
Cutter and Saud - sleight of hand, deflection, smokescreens, potential patsies. Laundering facilities for the "Crypto-Zionist Wehrmacht" which prints its own currency, stacks it on pallets and ships it wherever it is needed. About a trillion dollars went missing on 9/10/01. No big deal. It's just paper. Now that gold that Qaddafi had... Possessed real value which energizes and inspires. Where did it go?
Posted by: fast freddy | Jul 13 2015 13:58 utc | 22
I gave up on the Big$ in M$M a long time ago. I was correct then and remain correct now.
The fact that Al Qaeda can be presented - seriously - as "moderate" and now our "friend" or whatever is just risable. Not that I ever thought AlQaeda was this big bad enemy to begin with.
All of our "enemies" are either made up and/or you & I, the US taxpayer, pay high fees to recruit, arm, train them to be our "enemies."
Fred Hiatt & Jeff CIA-R-US Bezos can stick it where the sun don't shine.
Posted by: RUKidding | Jul 13 2015 18:32 utc | 23
b: at least the comment section to the op-ed at the WaPo is overwhelmingly well-informed. When the NYT gets nervous about one of its hasbara-rewrites getting challenged, it doesn't allow comments.
Posted by: Rusty Pipes | Jul 19 2015 22:41 utc | 24
I think moonofalabama.org should inform American authorities that it is moderate. However, can you be a moderate without a bank account in Dubai?
Posted by: Piotr Berman | Jul 30 2015 21:12 utc | 25
The comments to this entry are closed.
Οbama : '... we’re speeding up training of ISIL forces'? (!!!)
Posted by: nmb | Jul 11 2015 16:46 utc | 1