WTF? Syrian Dictator Says Journalist Caused Her Own Death (WITH VIDEOS)

Four years ago, veteran journalist and war correspondent Marie Colvin was killed during the siege of Homs–one of the fiercest battles of the Syrian civil war. Earlier this week, Colvin’s family sued the Syrian government, contending that she’d been murdered on orders from Damascus. Well, Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has responded in the worst way possible. As far as he’s concerned, Colvin brought her death on herself.

Colvin, the longtime foreign affairs correspondent for The Sunday Times of the United Kingdom, was best known for wearing a patch over her left eye; she lost that eye to a Sri Lankan grenade in 2001. She was killed on February 22, 2012 when their makeshift media center was hit by Syrian army artillery fire. Syria has been easily the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist since the civil war began. Indeed, Colvin was one of the few foreign journalists on the ground there.

Last Friday, Colvin’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Syrian government, contending that she was murdered for her critical reporting on the war. Watch more details from PBS NewsHour here.

Colvin’s sister, Cathleen, told the NewsHour that her family has evidence her sister was killed as part of a wide-ranging conspiracy to kill journalists who dared to criticize the Assad regime. This conspiracy reportedly went all the way up to Assad’s office and was helmed by the president’s brother, Maher. He and eight other officials are named in the complaint.

On the day she was killed, Colvin filed what would be her last report, on CNN. She shared a first-hand account of a baby killed in the siege. Watch here.

The complaint, viewable here, contends that within hours of that report, Syrian military intelligence intercepted the signal from Colvin’s satellite phone. It also alleges that after receiving confirmation from a government mole that Colvin was in the area, a government militia ordered the media center shelled.

Colvin’s family obtained a potentially damning memo from the ruling Baath Party ordering local officials to hunt down “those who tarnish the image of Syria in foreign media and international organizations.” Reportedly, this escalated into a deliberate effort to harass foreign and Syrian journalists covering the war.

NBC’s Bill Neely, a close friend of Colvin’s, sat down with Assad on Wednesday. Roughly 35 minutes into the interview, Neely asked Assad point-blank if his government was responsible for murdering a journalist. Assad’s response has to be reproduced in full to be believed.

ASSAD: No, very simply. First of all, the army forces didn’t know that Marie Colvin existed somewhere, because before that we hadn’t known about Marie Colvin. So, it’s a war and she came illegally to Syria, she worked with the terrorists, and because she came illegally, she’s been responsible of everything that befall on her, this is first. Second-
NEELY: She is responsible for her own death?
ASSAD: Of course, she came illegally to Syria. We can be responsible of everyone within our country when they come legally to Syria. She came illegally, and she went with the terrorists. We didn’t send her anywhere, we don’t know anything about her.

I had to watch this twice in order to believe it. I didn’t expect Assad to confess that his government had committed a war crime. But I thought he would at least show some empathy. Apparently that was too much to ask.

Assad is trying to portray himself as one of the last defenses against Islamist thugs, even in the face of ample evidence that he’s a thug himself. Callously asserting that a brave journalist was responsible for her own death may not prove that Assad is a murderer. But it does prove beyond any doubt that he’s a callous jerk.

(Featured image: screengrab courtesy ITV)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.