Washington Post: 56 hours with the Russian army in Syria
PALMYRA, SYRIA – Last weekend, I received a call from the Russian Foreign Ministry offering a spot on a three-day press tour with the Russian army to Syria, exact dates and destinations TBD. There was also a special warning for American journalists coming aboard. Write poorly about us, an official said, and “this will be your first and last trip."
Russia's military is crafting a new, media-friendly (or at least media-tolerant) image. Novelties include televised briefings, a blood-pumping medley of events called the International Military Games, and a chain of clothing stores that carry patriotic leather jackets and children's T-shirts. But the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra's rendition of Prokofiev and Bach at an ancient amphitheater recently retaken from the Islamic State was by far the ministry's most ambitious press stunt ever. It was a sublime experiment in propaganda, marrying Russia's cultural heritage to its martial ambitions.
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WNU Editor: From the first minute to the last .... everything was orchestrated so that what the reporter saw was what the Russian military wanted them to see. In other words .... a typical military press pool.
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