In the era of fake news, the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad is no exception. The regime’s most recent propaganda campaign has focused on the Caesar Act. In an effort to turn Syrian and international public opinion against the Caesar Act, the regime’s propaganda machine has been working overtime, sending out messages that have been picked up and repeated by mainstream Arab and Western news outlets.
What is the Caesar Act?The Caesar Act is a set of sanctions implemented by the U.S. against the regime and its allies in response to the regime’s continued violence against the Syrian population. The Caesar Act sanctions target Syrian, Russian, and Iranian individuals, businesses, and industries that provide assistance to or do business with the regime. |
It’s not always easy to distinguish between propaganda and reality, so TDA has put together a list of Assad’s most common talking points.
Propaganda: The Caesar Act sanctions prevents humanitarian aid from reaching the Syrian people.
Reality: The Caesar Act exempts humanitarian aid from the sanctions. In fact, the Assad regime is the one responsible for preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid, by using aid to benefit regime cronies and his allies vetoing UN Security Council Resolutions that would extend approval for humanitarian aid to be delivered to the Syrian population living outside of regime-controlled areas.
Propaganda: The Caesar Act will impoverish the Syrian population.
Reality: The conflict perpetuated by the Syrian regime is responsible for the poverty of the Syrian population. Prior to the Caesar Act, 80% of Syrians lived under the poverty line. Assad’s expensive and destructive war against his own people has destroyed the country’s economy.
Propaganda: The Caesar Act is causing the collapse of the Syrian pound.
Reality: Under the corrupt rule of the Baa’th party, the value of the Syrian pound has been declining against the U.S. dollar since 1963, when the exchange rate was 2.19 pounds to 1 USD. By 2010, the exchange rate had collapsed to 54 Syrian pounds to 1 USD. Since 2011 (and before the existence of the Caesar Act), the Syrian currency has lost more than 12 times its value – in 2018, and the exchange rate reached 600 pounds to 1 USD. This decline is the result of the regime’s corruption and its decision to pursue and finance war at the expense of economic stability instead of responding to Syrians’ rightful demands. Many areas fell out of Assad’s control, including the east of the Euphrates (the source of oil), and vast areas were left without cultivation (farming) despite their importance, leading to a loss of foreign currency for the Syrian Central Bank.
Propaganda: The Caesar Act punishes the Assad regime for fighting terrorism and is part of a conspiracy against Syria.
Reality: The Assad regime brought the sanctions upon itself with its clear disregard for human life and dignity. The aim of the Caesar Act is to pressure the regime to end the grave human rights violations against its citizens and stop the war that has been marked with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the use of chemical weapons against civilians. More than a quarter million Syrians are missing, over 100,000 have been detained and forcibly disappeared, and half of the population has been displaced.
