It has always been true that “the first casualty of war is the truth.” This is even more true when one deals with a malicious regime like that of Syria’s Assad — a regime which has — from Day 1 — resorted to denial and to imposing a deliberate media blackout to cover-up its brutal retaliation and deliberate targeting of civilians which has been ongoing for the past five years.
 
Not only is the Assad regime in denial, but also its response to the global intolerance of its crimes is simply laughable. While one can dispute facts such as which of the opposing sides in the Syrian civil war waged a particular attack, there possibly can’t be a dispute that a civil war is actually happening in Syria.
 
You may think that this is unimaginable, but the reality is that it has actually happened. You see, not only does the Assad regime deny that it used chemical weapons, or that it continues to barrel bomb its own people, it also gets its state-owned media to launch campaigns promoting tourism in Syria and claiming that contrary to what we all know, Syria is safe and being flooded with tourists.
 
Of course, this is absolutely ludicrous, as anyone in their right mind would be able to tell you that it is TERRORISTS, not tourists, who are flooding Syria today, and we all take the blame for collectively failing to draw a line to Assad’s crimes early on.
 
Now compare all of this with yesterday’s Saudi-led coalition’s response to accusations that it has targeted a funeral hall in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, resulting in the killing and injuring of many.
 
Within hours, the coalition had issued a statement and coalition spokesperson Maj. Gen. Ahmed Al-Assiri made himself available at all times to answer all media inquiries — in person, over the phone, by e-mail and even by WhatsApp!
 
Furthermore, and rather than living in denial — such as what the Assad regime would have done, the coalition issued additional comments stating that it will “immediately investigate this case along with the Joint Incidents Assessment Team (JIAT) in Yemen.”
 
Also, rather than cursing the US for flagging its concern (again, which is something the Assad regime would have done), the Saudi-led coalition said that it would “seek advice from the US to help with their experience in such investigations.”
 
That said, it is a given that any life lost is a life too many, and our thoughts and prayers will always be with the Syrian people against their brutal, blood-thirsty dictator, and with the Yemeni people and their legitimate government against the Houthi religious extremists, who under their slogan of “Death to America” have brought nothing but death and destruction to their own country.

Source : Arab News