Egypt’s Sada El Balad television news recently hyped its footage of Russian airstrikes in Syria — before showing several minutes of a 2010 video game.
Host Ahmed Moussa introduced the footage on Sunday night’s broadcast by claiming that “Russia is truly fighting terrorism. The Americans? They’re helping it.” (RELATED: 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Russian Propaganda)
After showing the footage without commentary, Moussa spent several minutes enthusiastically pointing out the “precision” of the strikes and favorably comparing the Russian airstrikes to U.S. policy in Syria.
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There’s just one problem with the admittedly impressive feat: sleuths online quickly traced the footage to a 5-year-old YouTube video of the game “Apache: Air Assault.” The American accent of the pilot in the video clearly wasn’t a tip-off.
For comparison, here’s the original video, including the overlaid channel signature along the right-hand margin of the screen.
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Russia has enjoyed strong ties to Egypt for decades. And they have plenty in common today: Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Egypt’s Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi both present themselves as strong leaders who are tough on terrorism — even at the expense of the democratic process. (RELATED: ISIS Has Actually Gained Ground Since Russian Airstrikes Began)
And both have managed the news in a way that makes their counter-terrorist accomplishments seem bigger than they actually are. While Russia has subverted the truth about its intentions in Syria, allowing Islamic State to burgeon, Egypt has provided stern “guidance” to journalists who hope to cover the campaign against Islamic State affiliates in the Sinai Peninsula.
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