in syria, the only <u+201c>truth<u+201d> that all parties seem to agree upon is that hundreds of thousands are dead and syria is shattered.




<u+201c>the united states has the power to decree the death of nations,<u+201d> wrote stephen kinzer in the boston globe.




kinzer<u+2019>s article was entitled: <u+201c> the media are misleading the public on syria .<u+201d> in his piece, the scholar at a brown university institute contested that his country<u+2019>s media misinformation on syria is leading to the kind of ignorance which is enabling the american government to pursue any policy, however imprudent, in the war-torn arab country.




the us government can <u+2018>decree the death of nations<u+2019> with <u+201c>popular support because many americans <u+2014> and many journalists <u+2014> are content with the official story,<u+201d> he wrote.




kinzer, in principle makes a strong point. his article, however, was particularly popular among those who sees the syrian government entirely innocent of any culpability in the ongoing war, and that iran and russia are at no fault whatsoever; better yet, their intervention in syria is entirely morally-guided and altruistic.




that said, kinzer<u+2019>s assertion regarding the us government<u+2019>s dangerous meddling in syria<u+2019>s affairs, renewed cold war with russia and ill-defined military mission in that country, is all true.




neither is the us, nor its western and other allies, following rules of war nor adhering to a particularly noble set of principles aimed at ending that most devastating war, which has killed well over 300,000 people , rendered millions displaced and destroyed the country<u+2019>s wealth and infrastructure.




so what is the truth on syria?




in the last five and a half years, since a regional uprising turned into an armed rebellion<u+2014>turned into civil, regional and international war<u+2014><u+2019>the truth on syria<u+2019>, has been segmented into many self-tailored <u+2018>truths,<u+2019> each promoted by one of the warring party to be the one and only, absolute and uncontested reality. but since there are many parties to the conflict, the versions of the <u+2018>truth<u+2019> communicated to us via copious media, are numerous and, most often, unverifiable.




the only truth that all parties seem to agree upon is that hundreds of thousands are dead and syria is shattered. but, of course, each points to the other side for culpability of the ongoing genocide.




an oddly refreshing, although disturbing <u+2018>truth<u+2019> was articulated by alon ben-david in the israeli jerusalem post last year.




the title of his article speaks volumes: <u+201c> may it never end: the uncomfortable truth about the war in syria .<u+201d>




<u+201c>if israel<u+2019>s interest in the war in syria can be summarized in brief, it would be: that it should never end,<u+201d> ben-david wrote.




<u+201c>no one will say this publicly, but the continuation of the fighting in syria, as long as there is a recognized authority in damascus, allows israel to stay out of the swamp and distance itself from the swarms of mosquitoes that are buzzing in it.<u+201d> of course, israel never truly <u+2018>stayed out of the swamp<u+2019> , but that is for a separate discussion.
the many "truths" on syria: how our rivalry has destroyed a country
hqanon