The Guardian obtained e - mail from private friends of Bashar al - Assad and his family . Instead , it showed them how to manipulate the media and how to create an image that would let them rule by the old-fashioned ways of dictatorship : by imprisoning and killing opponents . Frida Martin : The e - mails reveal that the Syrian president has been fooling the West all along . She says that despite al - Assad 's embrace of Western culture , he 's a dictator . Ghitis : Couple are masters of the modern world ; they know how to manipulate the media .
The Guardian obtained e - mail from private friends of Bashar al - Assad and his family . Frida Martin : The e - mails reveal that the Syrian president has been fooling the West all along . She says that despite al - Assad 's embrace of Western culture , he 's a dictator . Ghitis : Couple are masters of the modern world ; they know how to manipulate the media .