The mainstream narrative on Syria is a real-time example of the rampant manipulation of public sentiment to manufacture consent for war — war paid with American lives and tax dollars, but designed entirely to support the interests of private industry. The truth is grotesquely distorted to demonize the victims of our aggression and produce a complicit citizenry in the belief that we are ‘spreading Democracy’ across the globe. In fact, we are doing the opposite, taking millions of innocent lives in the process and forcing tens of millions more to flee their homes, leveled by relentless bombing and destruction. The pattern is well-established as evidenced by our illegal invasions in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya . . . and Syria is no different.