Assad Accuses West Of Backing al Qaeda In Syria

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

The Associated Press
Published Wednesday, April 17, 2013 12:22PM EDT
Last Updated Wednesday, April 17, 2013 1:02PM EDT

BEIRUT -- Syria's president on Wednesday accused the West of backing al Qaeda in Syria, warning it will pay the price "in the heart" of Europe and the United States as the terror network becomes emboldened.

Bashar Assad spoke in an interview set to be aired later Wednesday on the government-run Al-Ikhbariya channel, marking Syria's independence day. Excerpts of the interview were broadcast in advance and posted on his office's Facebook page.

"Just as the West financed al Qaeda in Afghanistan in its beginnings, and later paid a heavy price, today it is supporting it in Syria, Libya and other places and will pay the price later in the heart of Europe and the United States," Assad said.

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Extremist groups such as the al Qaeda-affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra are gaining ground in Syria's two-year civil war. The conflict began with largely peaceful protests demanding reforms and eventually turned into an insurgency and war in response to a brutal military crackdown on the protesters. More than 70,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations.
Assad's regime says the uprising against him is a c



Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/assad-accuse

[Arctic Dave]

1. "accuses"?

Hell, Obama admits it.

Giving aid to terrorist and training by the cia isn't a rumor.

[TwilightGardener]

3. Er...no. Unless you can find a quote from Obama stating that we intended to help

Last edited Wed Apr 17, 2013, 10:28 PM - Edit history (1)

groups we designated as terrorists, in Syria. Whatever has happened inadvertently (either with or despite CIA help) is not the same as intent or design.

[TheMadMonk]

4. Actually, they're designated as terrorists in the USA. /nt

[TwilightGardener]

5. Right...but the action is taking place in Syria. I must have worded it in a confusing way.

I clarified.

[Arctic Dave]

7. That is just plain not seeing what is front of you.

If you train people to overthrow a government and give them material support, that in itself is giving support to AQ.

This is the scenario:

Here is a bunch of weapons, explosives and training to use them. Now don't tell anyone else how to use them or give them away to AQ.

Uh, how are we suppose to know who AQ is?

Stop asking dumb questions.

[TwilightGardener]

8. The CIA was supposedly there to divert the arms to the proper groups, the moderates.

Did it work? Probably not. However, do we intend for AQ or affiliated extremists to take over for Assad? I'm pretty sure the answer is no. It's one thing to say we made a misguided attempt to control the situation, quite another to suggest we deliberately want to replace one rotten, dangerous nut with a whole group of them.

[daleo]

14. If you know a certain action will have a certain outcome

Even though you wish it weren't so...does it really matter that much what you wish?

Intent is important in law, but in the real world of cause and effect, not so much.

[L0oniX]

2. Shhhhhh ...your going to upset the worshippers ...who put personality over policy.

This info will however just piss off Obama and hurt his transparency. He is IMO getting caught making bad decisions ...here and abroad. I know better than he does in this case. I have been saying that we should not takes sides and stay out of it. There is no good side to this civil war. If the rebels win they will install a gov with Sharia law. Help them and you will also be helping Qaeda .....that info has been out there for a long time. Help Assad and your helping a ruthless ruler, killer of protestors. We won't win no matter what side Obama takes. He's making another mistake.

[cbrer]

6. Y'know... when you think about some of the people we've targeted with Hellfires.

A train of thought runs to why the hell haven't we taken out more of humanity's REAL bad guys?

[Comrade Grumpy]

9. When you start talking about "taking out" people with Hellfires...

you risk becoming humanity's REAL bad guys. We've already come perilously close to becoming the monster we're fighting.

[cbrer]

11. We're there CG

Illegal invasions, torture, extraordinary rendition...

If that's not monstrous behavior, what is?

But your point is well taken nonetheless.

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. Our policy in Syria is helping make the rise of al-Nusra possible.

Whether we designate them as terrorists or not. They are our de facto allies in trying to overthrow Assad. As Assad noted, that worked so welll for us in Afghanistan, didn't it?

[pampango]

12. "You are with us or you are with the terrorists." Sounds like a tried-and-true analysis

of a familiar situation.

[jakeXT]

13. Winning hearts and minds with flour

In Syria, where the United States has contributed a total of $385 million in humanitarian aid, almost none of the Syrians receiving aid know it's bankrolled by U.S. taxpayers, according to the Washington Post's Liz Sly. Even worse, some Syrians believe the assistance is provided by the al-Nusra Front, the State Department-listed terrorist group that recently swore allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Here's an example of one such Syrian:

"America has done nothing for us. Nothing at all," said Mohammed Fouad Waisi, 50, spitting out the words for emphasis in his small Aleppo grocery store, which adjoins a bakery where he buys bread every day. The bakery is fully supplied with flour paid for by the United States. But Waisi credited Jabhat al-Nusra - a rebel group the United States has designated a terrorist organization because of its ties to al-Qaeda - with providing flour to the region, though he admitted he wasn't sure where it comes from.
"If America considers itself a friend of Syria, it should start to do something," he said.

http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2013/04/15/in_syria_al_qaeda_linked_terrorists_get_credit_for_american_aid

[pampango]

15. Israel seems to agree with Assad on this one.

Netanyahu to urge Britain to 'carefully vet’ Syria rebels’ intentions before supplying them with arms

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to ask British Prime Minister David Cameron during their meeting Wednesday in London to be extremely cautious about arming the Syrian rebels, a senior Israeli official has said.

Netanyahu will tell Cameron that because there are known to be global jihad elements among the rebels, it is very important to carefully vet a rebel group’s intentions before supplying it with weapons.

A senior Israeli official said Jerusalem does not categorically object to Western nations arming the Syrian rebels, given that states such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already arming extremist Islamic rebel groups in Syria. But, he said, Israel fears that Western military aid will be dispatched overly hastily, before the exact identity of the recipients is clarified.

The rebels claim that without these weapons they will have difficulty defeating the armed forces of Syrian President Bashar Assad. Israel fears, however, that should the weapons supplied to the rebels by the EU fall into the hands of rebel groups identified with Al-Qaida, they may later be used against Israel Defense Forces troops on the Golan Heights or against Israeli aircraft.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-to-urge-britain-to-carefully-vet-syria-rebels-intentions-before-supplying-them-with-arms.premium-1.515844

Israel may be more comfortable with the 'devil they know' than with the 'devil they don't know'.

[Purveyor]

16. Hell, even I agree with israel on 'this on'. :) eom