May 2018

The group was formed by Frome Stop War, based in Somerset. Working with academics, investigative journalists and other interested parties and individuals, and drawing on the illegal 2003 invasion of Iraq, Media on Trial seeks to “cultivate public scepticism when faced with establishment and corporate media’s partisan reporting at times of conflict.” It held well-attended meetings in Frome and London last year. Its success in exposing the ongoing regime-change operations in Syria, and government/media propaganda to this end, has made its members the subject of an organised media smear campaign.

GENEVIEVE LEIGH—The study found that thousands of deaths were caused by lack of access to basic medical care. The report explained: “[T]he most frequently reported problems were an inability to access medications (14.4 percent of households) and the need for respiratory equipment requiring electricity (9.5 percent), but many households also reported problems with closed medical facilities (8.6 percent) or absent doctors (6.1 percent). In the most remote category, 8.8 percent of households reported that they had been unable to reach 911 services by telephone.”

COL. PAT LANG—This is a major win for Damascus and only a minor adjustment for Teheran. The Iranian affiliated militias still have plenty to do well to the west of Dara’a and the Golan. The only real losers in these deals would be the various jihadist rebels in the area. Without logistical and military support from Israel, Jordan and the rest of the US-led coalition, the rebels would have to face the best of the SAA on their own. Their choices are to seek reconciliation with Damascus, be shipped to Idlib with the rest of the jihadist leftovers or die in place at the hands of the Tiger Force and the rest of the flower of the SAA. The IS jihadists in the tri-border area will most likely die in place.