The media lies... by omission

[tangaroa]

News item: The Syrian rebels named US technology executive Ghassan Hitto as their leader.

Meta-news item: "So far, U.S. media has completely failed to identify any of these [Muslim Brotherhood leadership] positions held by Mr. Hitto who has now become the fourth U.S. Muslim Brotherhood figure to be identified as part of the Syrian National Council."

Is it true that the US media fell asleep on this job?

• New York Times: "Mr. Hitto ... rose to prominence recently through efforts to improve the delivery of humanitarian aid ... Some council members said Mr. Hitto was the choice of Syria's Muslim Brotherhood, a group that has long been banned and persecuted under the Assad family's government ..."
• Washington Post: [no articles]
• Wall Street Journal: [no articles]
• LA Times: "Hitto, little known outside Syrian exile circles, has been active in humanitarian efforts to aid Syrians during the nation's two-year conflict, reports indicated."
• Associated Press: "[Hitto] worked for a number of different technology companies and helped run a Muslim private school called the Brighter Horizons Academy. He is also a founding member of the Muslim Legal Fund of America, which was founded to give legal aid to Muslims following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks."
• Associated Press, the next day: "Veteran opposition figure Kamal al-Labwani said he suspected Hitto had been put in place by larger political powers, like Qatar, which has heavily financed the opposition, and the Muslim Brotherhood. He also said he as a coalition member never got to meet or question Hitto before his election. ... [Hitto] worked for IT companies and advocated for a number of Muslim causes. After 9/11, he helped found the Muslim Legal Fund of America, which provides legal support to Arabs, Muslims and Asians. He also helped run an Islamic private school in Garland, Texas."
• Reuters: "Hitto was backed by the Muslim Brotherhood and opposition coalition Secretary General Mustafa Sabbagh, who has strong links with Gulf Arab states ..."
• UPI: [deleted its article on Hitto's appointment and replaced it with a war story]
• CNN: [deleted its articles on Hitto's appointment and replaced them with war stories]
• MSNBC: [no articles]
• NBC: [no articles]
• ABC: [no articles]
• CBS: "[Hitto] has worked in technology and for various Islam-related causes."
• Fox News: [no articles]
• WSJ: [no articles]
• Washington Times: [does nothing more than quote the Guardian]

How about the foreign English-language media?

• AFP: "... a communications executive with Islamist leanings ... Up until recently, Hitto headed the National Coalition's humanitarian assistance arm -- the Turkey-based Assistance Coordination Unit ..."
• Al Jazeera: "Reported to be a devout Muslim..."
• BBC: "... some senior coalition leaders are reported to have withdrawn from the vote in protest over Mr Hitto's lack of military experience."
• The Independent: [Hitto] was voted in ... with several walking out in protest at Mr Hitto’s perceived links to the Muslim Brotherhood and its backers in Qatar. ... Known for being religiously pious, Mr Hitto had been an active member of the Muslim community in the US. He headed the board of the largest Islamic school in the country and was also a board member of the local chapter of the Muslim American Society, according to friends. The society was set up by the Muslim Brotherhood but now downplays its links to the organisation.
• The Times: He has always been a strong Muslim and Syrian community leader; his family were active in cementing relations after 9/11 and helping people understand American Muslims.
• Deutche Welle: "in the end, Hitto – described as a pious Muslim – was able to win the vote due to the support of the powerful Muslim Brotherhood."
• The Guardian: "[Hitto] played a lead role in a burgeoning humanitarian effort that has led to increased supplies of aid delivered into northern Syria."
• Russia Today: Hitto ... is viewed as a 'consensus candidate' among Syria’s liberal and Islamist factions ... Others have accused him of being selected by the Muslim Brotherhood ... He is described as being heavily involved in various Islamic causes.

One informative report came from Tony Cartalucci at Land Destroyer who digs up reporting by Seymour Hersh that traces the Syrian war back to the Bush administration. Thanks to a repost on Infowars, Alex Jones's readers will be better informed than the readers of the mainstream media. However, Cartalucci also misses the specifics of positions that Hitto has held in the US.

In everyone's defense, Hitto barely got brief mentions in any of the public archives that track terrorist activity in the US. Googling him would not have brought up much.

Interestingly, Hitto received 35 votes out of 48 or 49 cast. Four ballots were blank.(AP) Another candidate received 32 votes.(NYT) I wonder what kind of electoral system they were using.

Hitto's involvement in "humanitarian aid" should ring loud alarm bells in DC and Europe's capitols. al-Qaeda ran its arms through "charities": Benevolence International, the Red Crescent Society, al-Haramain, etc. Muslim Brotherhood doctrine makes no distinction between charity and warfare; a war of aggression is viewed as the most charitable cause because you are bringing God to the nonbelievers and expanding God's control over humanity. Somebody needs to vet this guy before sending any more aid to the SNC. Better yet, vet the guys who walked out of the conference and send the aid to them.

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As a side note, Syria and the "rebels" are trading accusations of using chemical weapons on Aleppo. Reuters says that the victims were treated at two specific hospitals. These hospitals are in the western part of Aleppo that is still under Assad's control. In other words, the victims were Assad's people.

Assad is not going to risk being caught firing on his own supporters. He needs all the help he can get, and anybody who would believe the state media is already with him. The attack was almost certainly done by the "rebels".