BASHIR ASSAD

We are dealing with treachery and threats, which accompanied the establishment of Israel.

You in Lebanon, your power is no match to Israel. Israel, militarily, is more powerful than you and maybe it is more powerful than all the Arab countries, or most of them.

The most significant indicator that there is no disaster in Iraq is the fact that there is no exodus.

It should be known that Israel is based on treachery.

When we analyze this war in a materialistic way and ask when is it going to end and who will be the winner and the loser, it means that we do not see the endgame.

Worry does not mean fear, but readiness for the confrontation.

You cannot reform your society or institution without opening your mind.

Since its very inception, Israel has been a threat.

But the issue has to do with land, which is our land.

I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria.

Israeli interests are not necessarily in harmony with the American interests.

As far as we are concerned, we Syria have not changed.

It is even more so when it comes to Iraq, which is a large Arab country with scientific, material, and human resources and is able to accomplish, at the least, what Lebanon accomplished, and more.

We have more difficult circumstances than most of the Arab countries but in spite of that Syria is stable. Why? Because you have to be very closely linked to the beliefs of the people. This is the core issue.

We, in Syria, our point of view stems from our experience.

Despite the ethnic diversity within each nation, the social fabric of the region by and large is one.

The Israeli lobby has clout in the U.S., which means that re-arranging the region and controlling its resources one way or another, will serve Israel through its control over the American administration.

It is natural that we should always expect an Israeli attack, even when it does not threaten.

The U.S. and Britain are incapable of controlling all of Iraq.

None of us and none of the Arabs trust Israel.

When our interests matched, the Americans have been good to us, and when the interests differed, they wanted us to mold ourselves to them, which we refused.

I am not a puppet. I was not made by the West to go to the West or to any other country.

Israel does not care about the international public opinion.

It would be a mistake to link anything that Israel does to a certain circumstance. And it is a mistake to feel comfortable in any circumstance just because Israel did not act on it.

Armies are not only for offensives.