Emails instruct Assad to mention 'mistakes' were made at the beginning of the crisis. Syrian emails cite Barbara Walters

A group of hackers reportedly leaked hundreds of emails from Syrian President Bashar Assad’s office this week, one of which revealed that in preparation for Assad’s interview with Barbara Walters last year, aides to the president were advised to remind him that the “American psyche can be easily manipulated.”

One of the leaked emails obtained by Haaretz was allegedly written ten days before Assad’s interview with Walters.


“It is hugely important and worth mentioning that ‘mistakes’ have been done in the beginning of the crises because we did not have a well-organized ‘police force.’ American psyche can be easily manipulated when they hear that there are ‘mistakes’ done and now we are ‘fixing it,’” Sheherazad Jaafari, a press attaché at the Syrian United Nations mission, reportedly wrote in an email to Assad’s advisers ahead of the ABC News interview.

She added, “It’s worth mentioning also what is happening now in Wall Street and the way the demonstrations are been suppressed by policemen, police dogs and beatings.”

In the interview that aired in December, Assad repeatedly denied to Walters that his government was responsible for the rising death toll in his country.

“We don’t kill our people. … No government in the world kills its people, unless it’s led by a crazy person,” Assad said.

When Walters asked about the reports of civilians, including children, being tortured and killed, noting that she had seen photos of the atrocities, Assad responded: “To be frank with you Barbara, I don’t believe you.”

According to Haaretz, Jaafari also gave pointers on how the American media was discussing the Syrian government’s response to the demonstrations at the time.

“They use the phrases ‘The Syrian government is killing its own people,’ ‘Tanks have been used in many cities,’ ‘Airplanes have been used to suppress the peaceful demonstrations,’ and ‘Security forces are criminals and bloody,’” she said in the memo.

She also recommended that Assad say his country “doesn’t have a policy to torture people, unlike the USA, where there are courses and schools that specialize in teaching policemen and officers how to torture,” according to Haaretz.

The individuals responsible for the email leaks are said to be affiliated with the hacker collective Anonymous, which recently claimed responsibility for hacking Justice Department websites after the agency announced that it had taken legal action against Megaupload for copyright violations.

The development comes as reports suggest that the Pentagon is beginning a preliminary review to determine U.S. military capabilities in the event that President Barack Obama orders military action to intervene in the continuing violence in Syria.

“You’re seeing more and more people inside of Syria recognizing that they need to turn a chapter and the Assad regime is feeling the noose tightening around them. This isn’t going to be a matter of if, it’s going to be a matter of when,” Obama told NBC’s Matt Lauer.