Social media and the war of words and images, the war in Syria and the chemical play
Perhaps the follower and observer of social media in its various types and multiple colors knows that the vast majority of what is published on it is nonsense, myths, false heroism, and mere wishes.
This phenomenon is not limited only to sites where the sons and daughters of the Arab nation write. It is a global phenomenon found in every country and language. The only difference is in the type of writers and promoters of 'news and information'.
In this hidden virtual world, a man becomes a woman, the ignorant becomes a poet and author, a child becomes a teenage youth, the immoral becomes a clergyman and preacher, and the modestly knowledgeable becomes an expert in medicine, technology, chemistry, and militarization.
Today, art and heroism are no longer measured by the ability to publish texts and images on social media pages, because art and skill have become knowing what is 'close to the truth and reality' and what is myths, fraud, fabrication, and claims. Despite all its negatives, social media has become the reality of the twenty-first century and cannot be ignored or bypassed.
Facebook, Twitter, and their likes have become not only stages for human social interaction but also successful machines for marketing goods, politics, and ideology. Today, no successful company or politician can do without them if they want to promote their 'goods' to the masses.
Some experts in this field go so far as to say that social media now surpasses television in its influence on public opinion and individual behavior in all fields. In developed countries, it is normal for social sciences, psychology, marketing, media, and journalism to deal with social media and research its positive and negative interactions with society and individuals to improve performance through it.
In the past, wars were fought face-to-face with swords and shields. Humanity evolved, and with it, its desire for brutality in killing developed, along with weapons for killing and destruction. It no longer only fires guns but bombs with planes, launches intercontinental missiles, drops 'smart' bombs, and sends drones to deliver destruction and killing to every corner. But all this development does not decide battles or win wars today without the media accompanying the event.
Media through images, sound, news, and its rapid transmission has become known as media warfare, which is no less important than deadly weapon wars in its impact on the fate of entire peoples. Media warfare of all kinds and colors has become, in addition to being one of the most important political wars, a military strategy developed and followed by states, armies, and security apparatuses.
Yesterday, Germany unleashed its 'media army,' as described by the German Defense Minister, which will number thirteen thousand soldiers in the coming years, supported by five thousand non-military experts.
Major countries like the United States, Russia, and others have long relied on such armies, and Israel is one of the pioneers in its media and electronic wars. Because the power of image and word convinced the world and the majority of Arabs years ago to destroy Iraq—its land, people, state, entity, and civilization.
In the world war against Iraq, one and a half million innocent people were killed as a result of displaying forged and fabricated images and information prepared by special units of the U.S. Department of Defense (Pentagon) and intelligence agencies, presented to the UN Security Council and the world at the time, including U.S. Secretary of State General Colin Powell. This was a terrifying beginning illustrating the brutality of media warfare and its impact on the masses.
After this brutal American aggression against the Iraqi people and land and the resulting destruction and killing, humanity learned nothing. Even after scientists and experts exposed the American fabrication about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and even after Powell himself admitted the lie and deception, thousands of Arabs, some regimes, and many pseudo-experts remained convinced that what happened in Iraq and to its people was true and deserved.
The correct lesson that should have been drawn from the killing of one and a half million innocent people is that not everything published in the media is to be taken for granted. We must not judge matters so simply and trust those who are inherently untrustworthy.
The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, said in a hadith to the effect that a believer is not bitten from the same hole twice. Unfortunately, the Arabs of the past did not realize the superficiality that dominates the Arabs of the present! The lie was repeated, the misleading media repeated, and once again the war and media machine proved its ability to manipulate the minds of millions as happened in the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan, the Israeli aggression on Lebanon in 2006, the ongoing aggression on the Palestinian people based on Israeli intelligence media fabrications, and now we witness a similar scenario in the war on Syria and its people.
The death of dozens of innocent Syrian people two days ago after inhaling toxic gas, as many experts confirm, triggered a flood of accusations against the Syrian regime on social media, using all expressions of contempt, insult, and condemnation. These people assert that the 'criminal regime,' as they call it, committed this heinous act.
The tweets of these people reminded me of many things I heard, read, and saw before the brutal aggression on Iraq, before the destruction of Iraq, and the killing of one and a half million of its children at the hands of the American-Western occupation forces supported by Arabs. Some tweets are almost exact copies of what was read in the past.
Haven't they learned from the past? All that these accusers rely on are information published by media linked strongly to terrorists in Syria, supported by British and French intelligence, which is no longer a secret to anyone.
I do not deny the claims of these people because I do not have conclusive evidence that the Syrian army did not commit this criminal act. But I have concluded from the experience of the brutal aggression on Iraq and from past experience not to rush to judge such events until the 'propaganda' cloud clears and the accusation is proven with evidence and proof. Here, I would like to raise some questions that, in my opinion, everyone concerned with revealing the full truth and respecting humanity must ask:
First: In the search for truth, a rational person must ask about the credibility of the publisher and the source of the published information. The news was published by sites strongly linked to terrorists in Syria and supported by British and French intelligence, which is no longer a secret to anyone.
Israel, through its Prime Minister, was the first to promote the news and shed crocodile tears over Syrian children, followed by intelligence agencies, American media, and the yellow Arab media that still calls ISIS 'the Islamic State' and Jabhat al-Nusra 'armed resistance in Syria.'
Have Israel, the Pentagon, and the Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya channels become bastions of defending human rights and humanity in the world?
What is the credibility of these after all the claims and lies they promoted about Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain, and Palestine? Have we forgotten their motives and their plans to eliminate the Palestinian cause and anyone who raises and adopts the slogan of freedom for Palestine?
Second: Even in these countries, especially in Europe, political and military experts have doubted the information that the Syrian regime carried out this crime.
Yesterday, Dr. Michael Lüders, an advisor to the German Foreign Ministry and an expert on Middle Eastern affairs, elaborated on the lies about the regime's responsibility for the event. He explained that anyone who claims that Bashar al-Assad and his advisors are so naive and foolish to commit such an act at this particular time knows nothing about Syria, Assad, or politics. So why believe the claims of Netanyahu, Mossad agents, American intelligence, and Qatari media but not a German expert working for the German government?
Third: Yesterday, Russian military experts presented evidence that the toxic gas was present on the ground, and it is likely that in one of the Syrian army's raids, a warehouse of toxic gas brought by Jabhat al-Nusra weeks ago from Turkey was hit. The Syrian and Russian governments had informed Turkish authorities and the UN chemical weapons bodies about this and provided them with information.
The truth is that those who died from inhaling this gas were in a spot near the location not exceeding a few hundred meters. If the claim of terrorist media that Syrian planes bombed with missiles loaded with this gas or sprayed the toxic gas were true, the contaminated area would be many times larger than the accident site, as confirmed by meteorological observations.
Fourth: Before the incident, tweets appeared on Twitter from terrorist figures inciting their crowds and followers to be ready within hours to publish news of injuries from toxic gas by the Syrian army.
Yesterday, Aloush, a leader of a terrorist brigade linked to Al-Qaeda, provided precise information about the type of gas used and its chemical composition, details that even experts in Western countries and their intelligence agencies on the ground could not gather. Shouldn't we ask where they got all this information about the operation, its type, timing, and the weapon used?
Fifth: The war of images and forged images has become one of the features of the war in Syria.
In the past six years, images circulated by Western and yellow Arab media and social media were soon proven to be 'productions' of studios of Syria's enemies and its people.
What certainty do we have that all the images we saw from the criminal gas operation are from reality? Sixth: The American aggression on the Syrian airbase without a Security Council decision and without evidence is aggression on the sovereignty of a state and state terrorism against a people, not proof or evidence that the Syrian army is responsible for using chemical weapons. Power, no matter how great, cannot hide the truth. Tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are... Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey were the first to bless the American aggression on Syria, while European countries reserved their stance.
Seventh: Any political, military, or diplomatic action taken by a ruling entity must have a relatively positive return on it, even if the person on the throne is a dictator concerned only with his personal matter... Let us start from the cynics' premise that 'Assad and those around him only want to preserve their seats and rule.' So what positive return could the regime possibly gain from such limited bombing? It is not necessary for the observer to be an expert to realize that the Syrian government and state are advancing day by day militarily on the ground, politically with all parties, and diplomatically with the world. This was proven by the facts after the Battle of Aleppo and Aleppo's victory. This prompted Arab, regional, European, and also American forces to change their discourse, policy, and dealings with Assad and the Syrian state.
If the goal was to destroy the infrastructure of terrorist factions and record a military and moral victory, why did the regime choose this spot when it could carry out the same work in Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and other sites in Idlib with thousands of terrorists in greater density than the affected site?
I raise these questions not to claim I have the truth but to urge all reasonable people to put aside hatred and animosity to respect the humanity and spirit of those who fell victim to this heinous act from the Syrian people, and enough dancing on children's corpses for gloating and justifying hatred towards some party.
Finally, I say that whoever used this chemical weapon, whoever it was, is a war criminal and a criminal against humanity and deserves punishment.
