From a Western NGO source in Syria:
"more examples of how the media should never be trusted:
Jamie Dettmer recently published this poorly sourced article on Ukraine ()
for the Daily Beast. Dettmer is an expert on everything it seems, or nothing. See his article on Syria from a few months ago:
In this article he falsely claims that insurgent al Wawi was killed.
But al Wawi is still alive. He is a media whore. just google him ().
Or see his Facebook page:
He likes to play up 'threats' against him. Like when he was injured, a video of his arm in a sling was promptly uploaded to Youtube.
Dettmer writes: "In July, jihadists killed popular FSA commander Kamal Hamami, a member of the rebel supreme military command, after luring him to a meeting in the Jebel al-Krud region, north of Latakia."
In fact Hamami was hated and accused of corruption. ISIL made progress initially by killing corrupt insurgents.
"Last week, the FSA renamed itself the Syrian Rebel Front (SRF), representing 14 different factions."
In fact it was the Syrian Revolutionary Front
"With Turkish government go-betweens, it has been seeking to find some common ground with the hardline Islamist groups."
Not true at all.
"The overall commander of the Syrian Rebel Front, Gen. Salim Idris"
Also not true. Idris was not involved in the SRF
"One of the key figures in the Syrian Rebel Front, Jamal Maarouf, who commands the Syria Martyrs Brigade, has agreed to al-Nusra acting as a go-between in a dispute between his militia and the Islamic Front."
Maaruf commands the SRF. And no he has not agreed to Jabhat al Nusra acting as a go between. This is totally made up. He doesn't need a go between to talk to the Islamic Front anyway.
"Islamists... seem to have the support of Saudi Arabia."
In fact the Saudis support Maaruf as a way to undermine the Islamists and the Qataris
Also: "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams?" al Shams? Or al Sham.
Still, Islamic State of Iraq and the Sun sounds nicer.
Dettmer makes a false distinction between the Islamic Front and the "jihadists." He says the jihadists are al Qaeda and ISIS. But the Islamic Front views itself as jihadist too, its very clear from their language and self description (and actions). Salafi jihadist in fact
Lets move on to Robert Fisk:
In his typically lousy article on Yabrud (),
FIsk displays all the mistakes we would criticize an American journalist embedded with American troops for making.
For example, Fisk writes:
"The Syrians officers said they had found Egyptian and Emirates passports in the town. They were real, they said, and were taken from the corpses of their dead owners - they could, alas, not produce them for me to see - although they had names. Abdul-Rahman Mehrez was the commander of the Ahrar al-Sham brigade. And there was a Tunisian called Mahmoud Osman al-Barsha. Mohamed al-Qudaini, leader of the Maghawiral-Qalamoun brigade. Omar Sulieman Khaznah, leader of the Fajr al-Islam brigade. The list went on and on."
As journalist Malik al Abdeh reminds us here , Mehrez, mentioned in @TheRobertFisk latest article, was NOT foreign fighter.
He was Nusra Front commander from Madaya
But also Fisk mentioned "Maghawiral-Qalamoun." Obviously its Maghawir al Qalamun (how can he not know what Maghawir means after thirty years of pretending to cover wars in the Arab world?), but moreover Maghawir is an entirely Syrian group without foreign fighters.
These mistakes might seem like insider baseball but they just further show that he lacks any credibility".
PS The word "whore" above does not represent the views and terminology of Angry Arab News Service which abhors its use in any context.
"more examples of how the media should never be trusted:
Jamie Dettmer recently published this poorly sourced article on Ukraine ()
for the Daily Beast. Dettmer is an expert on everything it seems, or nothing. See his article on Syria from a few months ago:
In this article he falsely claims that insurgent al Wawi was killed.
But al Wawi is still alive. He is a media whore. just google him ().
Or see his Facebook page:
He likes to play up 'threats' against him. Like when he was injured, a video of his arm in a sling was promptly uploaded to Youtube.
Dettmer writes: "In July, jihadists killed popular FSA commander Kamal Hamami, a member of the rebel supreme military command, after luring him to a meeting in the Jebel al-Krud region, north of Latakia."
In fact Hamami was hated and accused of corruption. ISIL made progress initially by killing corrupt insurgents.
"Last week, the FSA renamed itself the Syrian Rebel Front (SRF), representing 14 different factions."
In fact it was the Syrian Revolutionary Front
"With Turkish government go-betweens, it has been seeking to find some common ground with the hardline Islamist groups."
Not true at all.
"The overall commander of the Syrian Rebel Front, Gen. Salim Idris"
Also not true. Idris was not involved in the SRF
"One of the key figures in the Syrian Rebel Front, Jamal Maarouf, who commands the Syria Martyrs Brigade, has agreed to al-Nusra acting as a go-between in a dispute between his militia and the Islamic Front."
Maaruf commands the SRF. And no he has not agreed to Jabhat al Nusra acting as a go between. This is totally made up. He doesn't need a go between to talk to the Islamic Front anyway.
"Islamists... seem to have the support of Saudi Arabia."
In fact the Saudis support Maaruf as a way to undermine the Islamists and the Qataris
Also: "Islamic State of Iraq and al-Shams?" al Shams? Or al Sham.
Still, Islamic State of Iraq and the Sun sounds nicer.
Dettmer makes a false distinction between the Islamic Front and the "jihadists." He says the jihadists are al Qaeda and ISIS. But the Islamic Front views itself as jihadist too, its very clear from their language and self description (and actions). Salafi jihadist in fact
Lets move on to Robert Fisk:
In his typically lousy article on Yabrud (),
FIsk displays all the mistakes we would criticize an American journalist embedded with American troops for making.
For example, Fisk writes:
"The Syrians officers said they had found Egyptian and Emirates passports in the town. They were real, they said, and were taken from the corpses of their dead owners - they could, alas, not produce them for me to see - although they had names. Abdul-Rahman Mehrez was the commander of the Ahrar al-Sham brigade. And there was a Tunisian called Mahmoud Osman al-Barsha. Mohamed al-Qudaini, leader of the Maghawiral-Qalamoun brigade. Omar Sulieman Khaznah, leader of the Fajr al-Islam brigade. The list went on and on."
As journalist Malik al Abdeh reminds us here , Mehrez, mentioned in @TheRobertFisk latest article, was NOT foreign fighter.
He was Nusra Front commander from Madaya
But also Fisk mentioned "Maghawiral-Qalamoun." Obviously its Maghawir al Qalamun (how can he not know what Maghawir means after thirty years of pretending to cover wars in the Arab world?), but moreover Maghawir is an entirely Syrian group without foreign fighters.
These mistakes might seem like insider baseball but they just further show that he lacks any credibility".
PS The word "whore" above does not represent the views and terminology of Angry Arab News Service which abhors its use in any context.