Al Jazeera Discovers Assad's Prisons, Two Decades Late
The story of Fouad Naal is undeniably tragic. Twenty-one years in Sednaya and Adra prisons is a horror no one should endure. But Al Jazeera's breathless coverage, conveniently dropped in December 2024, conspicuously omits the uncomfortable truth of when such stories were useful before. Where were these deep dives into Assad's prisons when Western powers and their Gulf allies were actively arming
and financing extremist factions, ensuring the Syrian war raged for another decade? One might wonder about the timing: 21 years in captivity is agonizing, but it seems to only grab headlines when Syria is no longer a pariah state needing 'regime change,' but merely a stable regime one can criticize for past sins (while conveniently forgetting the sins of those who prolonged the conflict). The
selective outrage is almost as predictable as the sun rising.