Corporate media myths about the takfiris’ fighting prowess

From our archives - how takfiris are marketed by the corporate media. Old, but very relevant. 

Crescent International

Are the takfiris really that great fighters or they are being projected for a sinister western agenda?

Toronto, Crescent-Online,
September 7, 2014

There is a deliberate and well thought-out plan to project the modern day Khawariji group, the takfiris as a “superb” fighting force and their so-called state (aka ISIS) as a threat to global peace.

Why when the standard practice in every war is to project one’s enemy as weak in order to gain psychological advantage and boost the morale of one’s own troops? While today, this is not the exact methodology adopted by warring parties, the end goal has remained the same: to portray oneself as strong and one’s enemy as weak.

Why are the takfiris in Syria and Iraq are being portrayed as quasi-Rambos? To understand this we must look at the events of 2003. A few weeks prior to the US invasion of Iraq, Western corporate media was full of stories about how deadly and skillful Saddam’s Republican Guards were.

The media presented the Guards as the most competent fighting force in the region. Many reports on Iraq prior to the invasion repeatedly emphasized them as fearsome but in reality, they disintegrated within hours of the invasion.

This made the US military look like an unstoppable fighting force. It was projected as a fighting machine that defeated the most “feared” and “elite” force of Saddam Hussein.

It is worth recalling that the US had in the early 1980s helped put together the Republican Guard against Islamic Iran, so Washington probably knew more about the force than Saddam himself.

The takfiris that receive vast sums of money from close US allies in the region are presented as “superb” fighters so that when their usefulness expires, they can be eliminated and this feat can be presented as a “great victory” for US forces. This process has already begun.

Our brief review of reports in the corporate media show that since the emergence of the takfiri State’s forces, they have been projected as ruthless and ruthlessly efficient fighters.

Almost every news report and statement of Western officials along with their soft-power institutions highlight how “effective” or “skilled” the takfiris are. Let us consider some basic facts to review what the truth really is.

One of the recent military achievements of the takfiris that was widely reported in the media was the capture of the Tabqa airbase in Syria. Most media reports kept repeating how this victory is another proof of their “superb” fighting skills.

There was no mention of the fact that the Tabqa airbase was under siege for over a year within territory almost completely under takfiri control. During the latest attack on the airbase the takfiris lost hundreds of men and only managed to capture the base because of their overwhelming numbers.

So are they really such great fighters? Was it really such a remarkable feat to capture an airbase that was surrounded for more than a year and storm it by thousands of fighters while those defending it were a few hundred?

Another recent battle worth looking at is the battle for the Aleppo central jail. Tens of thousands of Western backed terrorists and among them thousands of takfiris from various gangs operating in Syria held the central prison under siege for almost two and a half years.

A few hundred Syrian army soldiers (mostly conscripts) held out against them for over two years. The takfiris and their allies still failed to take the prison. In fact during the two-year battle the Syrian Army managed to eliminate key takfiri ringleaders.

Let us also not forget the battle for Qusayr, which according to dozens of video messages by the takfiris was supposed to be “the graveyard” of Hizbullah. In reality it turned out into a running track for thousands of takfiris that were routed by 1,700 Hizbullah mujahideen. The takfiris had to run all the way to Qalamun Mountains to seek refuge.

In Iraq the takfiris managed to capture territory because Baath loyalists and other armed gangs helped them, not to mention a deliberate Kurdish inaction in order to weaken Iraq as a unified state. The corporate media however, is making it seem as if the takfiris did it on their own.

It is also important to bear in mind that the takfiri groups operating in Syria and Iraq receive huge logistical support from NATO member country Turkey with Washington’s consent.

This is an open secret that all public sources of information have confirmed. With such backing who would not be able to score some successes? The takfiris travel through Turkey, get medical treatment, transport weapons and money with great ease.

Imagine if Turkey or Egypt were to provide the same logistical and materiel support to Palestinian resistance against the Zionist occupiers? Al-Quds would have been liberated a long time ago.

PS: For in-depth understanding of the US military strategy in the Middle East, read our evaluation titled – ‘Role of Special Forces in US imperial designs.’

END 

Islamophobia and the Media

Editor

A lie is halfway around the world before truth has had time to tie its shoelaces, is an old adage. While coined a long time ago, it is even more applicable today in the age of the internet and virtually instant communications. What is disturbing is that while communications have become superfast, what is communicated is not always factual or true. On the contrary, the internet and other forms of communication have become vehicles for disinformation.

This is clearly evident in the spread of Islamophobia, especially in the West, under the rubric of free speech. Every form of vile propaganda against Muslims is justified; complete lies are peddled. The West’s wars against Muslim countries are justified by accusing Muslims of indulging in terrorism. The term remains undefined but its use and abuse is widespread. People struggling against foreign occupation and invasion are branded as terrorists while those indulging in actual terrorism — threatening or using force against people to make them change their policies — are considered normal. The propaganda war of words is the psychological warfare that both precedes and attends the war of bombs, shock and awe, and boots on the ground.

While Muslims are the principal victims of this vile policy, there is little or nothing that Muslims at any level have done to confront this alarming threat to their very existence. Muslim reaction has been sporadic and largely confined to each country’s own priorities. Even that would be acceptable but the trouble is that in every country, despotic rulers use the media as a sloganeering outfit to heap encomiums upon those who would have otherwise been known for doing nothing, or less.

Some regimes have gone on a media buying spree to ensure only one message — the one they approve of — is projected. This is especially true in the Muslim East where some regimes with deep pockets have corralled media outlets in many different countries. These media outlets specialize in two things: projecting the ruler of the country that owns the media, as a gift to all humanity and, targeting their Muslim enemies as evil. The actual enemies of Muslims — imperialists and Zionists — are seldom if ever mentioned.

Is this about to change? In September, during his visit to the United Nations General Assembly Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan announced that together with the leaders of Turkey and Malaysia, they had decided to launch an international television channel that would confront Islamophobia. While this is welcome news, details are sketchy. Apart from financial commitments, the questions that need to be answered are where will it be based, who will staff it, and what kind of programming will it air?

We can offer some unsolicited advice. The TV channel should not be used to promote the sponsoring leaders. Its role should be to expose the root causes of Islamophobia, to put the spotlight on those that are involved in financing it, not merely the front men and women — the mules — who do the dirty work and have become the public face.

Islamophobia is a multi-billion dollar industry with powerful players operating behind the scenes. They have a specific agenda: Muslims have to be demonized and projected as the enemy. Only then can wars of aggression against Muslim countries and the murder of millions of people be justified. Further, constantly promoting hatred of Muslims helps divert attention from the crimes being perpetrated by the imperialists and Zionists against Muslims.

What would this anti-Islamophobia channel be called? Will it have the freedom to bring up these issues and debate them candidly? While we await more details, we hope the proponents of this proposal would give it serious thought to make it a worthy venture.