just to follow up... let me completely clarify that i hate assad and his time will come, i just thought that this article was not so accurate. I was being critical of the article and i just wanted to say that. Now with that said... Assad is a lunatic and he obviously is trying to get support from the u.s. people. I didnt think that he did a great job, but he tried to prove himself as a moderate. This interview is repeating itself all throughout the week and i would recommend you watch it. So yes, Assad is an idiot...I am extremely pro israel, but he did have an accurate portrayal of the failures of the u.s. mideast policy in Iraq. Thats it

Yitzak Benhorin mischaracterizes Assad's statements, which are not at all "shocking" and are far from an expression of "holocaust denial." To the contrary, Assad acknowledges the "massacre of Jews." His analysis of Middle Eastern perceptions -- that the number of victims has been exaggerated -- is probably quite accurate. And he goes on to imply that the bean-counting is nonsensical: the numbers advanced -- one million? six million? -- are equally horrific. Who can disagree with that? All of this is doubtless very frustrating for Mr. Benhorin, who would have preferred an easier target, some sort of anti-Semitic rant out of Assad's mouth. It never came. The sorest point for Benhorin is obviously Assad's suggestion that the plight of Palestinians today is comparable to that of Jews in Europe 70 years ago. But this view is not Assad's alone: it is shared by many people throughout the world, not all of them Moslem, and not without some reason. I must agree with Adam (#1): Assad is no dummy. He managed to pick his way through that minefield of an interview and come out unscathed. Better luck next time, Mr. Benhorin!

From Asharq al-Awsat: http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=4314 Who believes anything Junior Assad says, anyway?