Assad: We don't want Israel destroyed
Syrian president tells German weekly Der Spiegel ‘my personal opinion, my hopes for peace, could one day change; and if this hope disappears, then war may really be the only solution. 'Enforcing arms embargo against Hizbullah impossible,' he adds
"But my personal opinion, my hopes for peace, could one day change. And if this hope disappears, then war may really be the only solution," Assad said.
Hizbullah rally in Lebanon (Photo: AP)
The Syrian leader said the United States and its Middle East policies are to blame for a recent failed attack on the US embassy in Damascus.
Four Syrians tried to blow up the embassy on Sept. 12 but the plot failed after Syrian guards killed three of the assailants in a shootout. The fourth man later died of his wounds.
"This seems to have been the background of the attack, a reaction to America's policy in Iraq, Palestine and Afghanistan," Assad said.
Relations between the United States and Syria have long been strained. The United States has designated Syria as a "state sponsor of terrorism" because of its support for Hizbullah in Lebanon and Palestinian militant groups.
Syria's 40-year-old president was asked why the United States should be considered at fault for an attack that Assad said appeared to have been carried out by Syrians.
"Because they contribute to hopelessness here, to silencing dialogue between cultures," he said.
Assad said data recovered from the computers of the militants who carried out the attacks on the US embassy and information gathered about them indicated they were isolated young men, al Qaeda sympathizers from the suburbs of Damascus who called Osama bin Laden "the lion of Islam."
After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Syria and the United States intensified their cooperation on security issues and "together saved many American lives", Assad said.
"Then the Iraq war emerged and America began to make many mistakes," he said.
'Don't waste your time'
Assad said he had warned the United States that while it would win the war in Iraq, it would then sink into a quagmire.
"It's turned out worse than I expected," he said.
US and British troops invaded Iraq in March 2003 and toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. Along with a small group of allies, US and British forces are still struggling to contain a fierce insurgency which some say is a civil war.
Assad said Iraq needed a "strong central authority" who can be secular but not someone who "rode in on American tanks".
Regarding Israel's recent war with Hizbullah, Assad said it would be impossible to prevent arms from reaching the militant organization due to its strong public support.
Enforcing an arms embargo against Hizbullah guerrillas in Lebanon is one of the main tasks of a UN peacekeeping force which is assembling in Lebanon and along its coast.
"As long as public support for Hizbullah is as high as it today ... then this is 'mission impossible'. The majority sees resistance against Israel as legitimate. I advise the Europeans -- don't waste your time. Get to the root of the problem."
Israel's month-long war with Hizbullah ended on Aug. 14.
