The clouds of conspiracy are gathering over Syria. With more than half of Syrians supporting President Bashar Al Assad, there has been a concerted effort by the western media to minimise his domestic support while maximising criticism of his failings. In particular, the effectiveness of the observer mission is questioned, to speed the day when the United Nations authorises Nato intervention and ushers into power a more pro-western Syrian government.
That, at least, is the analysis of the situation that has been best articulated by Jonathan Steele in the Guardian and Aisling Byrne of the Beirut-based Conflicts Forum website. It is not wrong. But it is not right, either. Very few of the separate claims of this theory are inaccurate, but the way they are strung together misses the nature of what is happening in the Levant.
Start with the claim that the majority of Syrians support Mr Al Assad. This comes from a YouGov Siraj poll for Al Jazeera - in itself interesting, given how Al Jazeera has led reporting on the Arab Spring - conducted in December. Brian Whitaker, the Guardian's long-serving Middle East analyst, has succinctly debunked the poll, pointing out the methodology showed only 97 people within Syria supporting Mr Al Assad, a statistically insignificant figure...
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/for-all-of-the-media-bias-the-blood-of-syrians-tells-the-story