PBS documentary: Inside Assad’s Syria
A street in the suburbs of Damascus. Photo Valery Sharifulin/TASS
For weeks, the world’s eyes have been fixed on the tens of thousands of refugees fleeing war-torn Syria for Europe. But what is life like for those left behind? Correspondent Martin Smith goes “Inside Assad’s Syria” to report from government-controlled areas as war rages, with on-the-ground reporting and firsthand accounts from Syrians caught in the crisis.
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Generally speaking this report by Martin Smith was very interesting, informative and appears to have tried to maintain an unbiased perspective, however several aspects disturbed me. The first and most important issue is that had Mr Smith tried to report from ‘moderate rebel’ areas it is more than likely he wouldn’t be alive now. The overwhelming sense amongst informed people on the conflict is that there are no moderates. Being an American, Mr Smith will have seen the treatment of other US journalists at the hands of Daesh, yet still resented restrictions the Syrians understandably had concerning security.
Several times during the documentary, Mr Smith mentioned ‘barrel bombs’ as if their usage was much more heinous than commonly used artillery. The end result to the people they fall on is the same. Only his interviewees mentioned the use of car bombs by anti Assad factions. Having made these points, the film was still much more truthful than the daily news most of us have to observe on our TV screens and for this and his bravery, he should be highly commended.
Will have to watch this later. Hope it’s anything like that lying Frontline documentary about the former country of ukraine from May of last year…