Media Watch: The First Casualty of War is Truth

The above image appeared in the Kronen Zeitung – Austria’s largest newspaper with a daily readership of over three million – on Saturday. It shows war-torn Aleppo in Syria alongside the title "Assad’s Tanks roll through the streets to the Mother of all Battles". It’s a powerful and emotive image – but, as the photo below demonstrates, it only tells half the story.

This original image emerged from the European Press Agency. Whether the Photoshopped consumer-friendly image was produced by the newspaper itself, or an unscrupulous PR company, it perfectly symbolises how the West wishes to frame the Syrian conflict. Sometimes the truth just isn’t enough. 

Further Reading: Interesting article by John Rees on U.S. intervention in Syria and the Middle East & the response of the left