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IN DENIAL: Barbara Walters' Interview with Syria's President Bashar al-Assad
07-Dec-2011
In Interview with ABC’s Barbara Walters, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad say’s 'There Was No Command to Kill'. (For More on this Story including Walter’s Views on Interview Go to ABC’s Here)
Barbara Walters discusses brutal crackdown of protests with Syria's président :
(NOTE : TO WATCH DOUBLE CLICK HERE)
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THE ASSAD ENIGMA :
From Respectable Surgeon to ‘bloodthirsty’ dictator
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Barbara from "The View" program went to Syria ( few years ago):
Asma Elassad Syria's first lady on Gaza by CNN (Jan 14, 2009):
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NO REMORSE , NO GUILT
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Syria's Bashar al-Assad 'feels no guilt' over crackdown (bbc)
Syria's president has said that he feels no guilt about his crackdown on a 10-month uprising, despite reports of brutality by security forces.
In an interview with the US network ABC, Bashar al-Assad said he had given no orders for violence to be used against protesters but admitted "mistakes"were made.
He said he did not own the security forces or the country.
At least 4,000 people have been killed since the uprising began, the UN says.
However, Mr Assad said the UN was not credible.
Syria blames the violence on "armed criminal gangs".
The US later rejected President Assad's assertions that he did not order the killing of protesters.
"It is just not credible," White House spokesman Jay Carney said.
"The United States and many, many other nations around the world who have come together to condemn the atrocious violence in Syria perpetrated by the Assad regime know exactly what's happening and who is responsible."
Mr Assad's interview comes a day after the US announced that its ambassador in Syria, Robert Ford, would return to Damascus after he was withdrawn in October because of security concerns.
France's ambassador returned on Monday.
'Big difference'
Responding to questions from veteran presenter Barbara Walters about the brutality of the crackdown, Mr Assad said he did not feel any guilt.
"I did my best to protect the people, so I cannot feel guilty," he said. "You feel sorry for the lives that has [sic] been lost. But you don't feel guilty - when you don't kill people."
"We don't kill our people… no government in the world kills its people, unless it's led by a crazy person," he added.
The security forces were not his, nor did he command them, the Syrian president said.
"There was no command, to kill or to be brutal," he said.
"I don't own them, I am president, I don't own the country so they are not my forces."
Instead he blamed the violence on criminals, religious extremists and terrorists sympathetic to al-Qaeda, who he said were mingling with peaceful protesters.
He said most ofthose killed were from government supporters, with 1,100 soldiers and police among the dead.
Those members of the security forces who had exceeded their powers had been punished, he said.
"Every 'brute reaction' was by an individual, not by an institution, that's what you have to know," he said.
"There is a difference between having a policy to crack down and between having some mistakes committed by some officials. There is a big difference."
When challenged about reports of house-to-house arrests, including of children, Mr Assad said the sources could not be relied upon.
"We have to be here to see. We don't see this. So we cannot depend on what you hear,"he said.
The United Nations, which has said the Syrian government committed crimes against humanity, was not credible, Mr Assad said.
He described Syria's membership of the UN as "a game we play".
Asked if he feared sharing the fate of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi or ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Mr Assad said the only thing he was afraid of was losing the support of his own people.
Recommended Reading:
Bashar al-Assad: Syria's unintended president (CNN, Wire Staff)
U.N.puts death toll at 4,000 in Syria as pressures rise by Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, (CNN)
Related Blogs on Syria and ME Crisis:
Jordan's King Abdullah Calls On Syria's President Assad to Step Down
Jordan's King Warns: 'No one has any idea what to do about Syria'
Jordan King in talks with Mahmoud Abbas on Palestinian statehood bid
STUBBORN WALLS: Ben Gurion, Hussein, Nasser interviews on ME Peace Process
Related Blogs on ‘Barbara Walter’s Interviews’ :
Barbara Walters On Interviewing Muammar Gaddafi in 1989
pictory: Shah Interview with Barbara Walters and US Networks (1974-77)
A QUEEN's LOYALTY: Barbara Walters Shares Shahbanou Farah's concerns for President Mobarak's Family
WOMEN KNOW YOUR LIMITS: The Shah's Post Mortem Apologies to Barbara Walters and Oriana Fallaci
PRINCE OF PERSIA: Barbara Walters Interview with Crown Prince Reza (2002)
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by Darius Kadivar on Sat Feb 04, 2012 01:16 AM PSTActivists say Syrian forces have shelled the city of Homs and killed more than 200 people - a claim denied by the government - ahead of a key UN vote.
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by Darius Kadivar on Fri Feb 03, 2012 08:07 AM PSTRussia 'can't support' Syria text (bbc)
Russia's deputy foreign minister says his country "cannot support" a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on Syria.
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The resolution, drafted by European and Arab countries, endorses an Arab League plan for Syria.
Syria resolution redrafted to appease Russia
by Darius Kadivar on Fri Feb 03, 2012 05:43 AM PSTSyria resolution redrafted to appease Russia (France 24)
Diplomats on Thursday revised the wording of a resolution to condemn Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, trying to avoid a Russian veto. Russia rejected the new draft because it said the UN Security Council "fully supports" the plan to oust Assad.Why Russia protects Syria's Assad
by Darius Kadivar on Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:33 PM PSTWhy Russia protects Syria's Assad (cnn)
As casualties mount before the brutal onslaught of Bashar al-Assad's forces against Syria's pro-democracy protesters, the Russians are being unhelpful again. In Washington and Brussels, even habitually cool diplomats have been showing frustration.
On January 31 Russia joined with China to block a plan presented to the U.N. Security Council by Morocco and supported by the Arab League that called on Assad to hand power to his deputy, who would then call a general election. If Assad did not comply within 15 days, the resolution threatened undisclosed "further measures."
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Russia threatens UN veto on Syria
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Russia has threatened to veto a UN Security Council resolution on Syria if it is put to a vote on Friday, diplomats say.
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by Darius Kadivar on Thu Feb 02, 2012 11:15 AM PSTUN text drops Assad handover call (bbc)
Diplomats at the UN Security Council have watered down a resolution on Syria in an apparent attempt to overcome Russian objections to an earlier draft.
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Leverette & Dabashi on Iran Post Election Crackdowns ;0)
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Leveretts Blast Sadjadpour & Nasr's take on Iran Syria relations
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 04:42 PM PSTor over 30 years, America’s Iran “experts” and Middle East pundits have characterized virtually every significant regional and internal Iranian development as a sure-to-be-fatal blow to the Islamic Republic. Their predictions have always been wrong. Now, unrest in Syria has brought out the usual suspects to forecast, once again, gloom and doom for Iran’s current political order.
Just within the last couple of days, the proposition that the Assad government’s implosion is going to deal a major blow to the Islamic Republic’s regional position and, perhaps, even its internal stability, has been advanced by Vali Nasr, see here, Karim Sadjadpour, see here, and Bilal Saab, see here. Michael O’Hanlon (who extolled the Bush Administration’s invasion of Iraq as a model campaign that would be studied in military staff colleges for years to come) and Elliot Abrams have even laid out a set of military options for the United States and its allies to consider applying in Syria to hasten such an outcome, see here and here. This proposition has also driven Western media outlets’ wholesale misreading of the Eid al-Fitr sermon yesterday by the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, which was inaccurately characterized as “reflecting the Iranian leadership’s deep unease with the uprisings that have swept the region”; see here and here.
Given their track record of failed predictions and all that is at stake, for the United States and the people of the region, these individuals’ current policy recommendations ought to elicit very tough and skeptical scrutiny. Two points stand out as especially important.
Iran and Syria: America's Middle East pundits get it wrongLeveretts: "Little Evidence that Assad's regime imploding" LOL
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First of all, it is far from clear that the Assad government is actually imploding. It is obvious that a portion of Syria’s population is aggrieved and disaffected, but it is not evident at all that this portion represents a majority. President Bashar al-Assad still retains the backing of key segments of Syrian society. Moreover, no one has identified a plausible scenario by which the “opposition”, however defined, can actually seize power.UN draft resolution on Syria Point by Point
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 04:29 PM PSTUN draft resolution on Syria
Syrian exiles anguish on streets of New York
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 04:11 PM PSTThe United Nations Security Council has been meeting to debate whether to adopt a draft resolution on Syria.
The council is deciding whether to adopt an Arab League plan calling for an end to violence and for President Bashar al-Assad to stand down.
The BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins reports.William Hague: UN must agree on resolution
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 03:48 PM PSTHague: UN must agree on resolution (BBC, VIDEO)
The United Nations Security Council is meeting to debate whether to adopt a draft resolution on Syria.
The council is deciding whether to adopt an Arab League plan calling for an end to violence and for President Bashar al-Assad to stand down.
The UK's Foreign Minister, William Hague, urged the council to agree to a resolution saying "to fail to do so would be to undermine the credibility of this council".
Arab League leaders say Syria not making democratic progress
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 03:34 PM PSTUnited Nations (CNN) -- Arab leaders told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that Syria has failed to make reforms and continues to operate a "killing machine" against protests that began peacefully.
Qatar's prime minister told the council -- which is mulling whether to call on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step aside -- "the hope of the Syrian people is in your hands."
Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani cited the history of negotiations between the Arab League and the Syrian government. "The crisis started with absolutely peaceful demonstrations."
The prime minister reiterated calls for the violence to end. "The government killing machine continues effectively unabated."
"The Syrian government failed to make any effort to cooperate with us," he said. The aim of the league, the sheikh said, was economic and other pressures, rather than regime change.Hillary Clinton: No one is safe in Syria under Assad
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 03:22 PM PSTThe United Nations Security Council is meeting to debate whether to adopt a draft resolution on Syria.
The council is deciding whether to adopt an Arab League plan calling for an end to bloodshed and for President Bashar al-Assad to stand down.
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by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 10:58 AM PSTSyria 'cannot tolerate more humiliation' (BBC DEBATE, VIDEO)
The chief co-ordinator of the Syrian Network for Human Rights said Syrians "cannot tolerate any more humiliation".
Mousab Azzawi was debating the violence in the nation with former UK Foreign Office Minister Mark Malloch Brown.
The Arab League is to ask the United Nations Security Council to back a resolution calling for President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to stand down, although Russia is set to block the move.
UN action 'could spur Syria war' say's Russia
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 03:34 AM PSTThe Western-Arab push for a UN resolution on Syria could put the country on a "path to civil war", warns Russia's deputy foreign minister.
UN action 'could spur Syria war' (bbc)
Western pressure on Syria grows
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 01:04 AM PSTWestern foreign ministers go to New York, hoping for a tough UN resolution on the crisis in Syria, as divisions remain in the Security Council. Guide: Syria Crisis
Western pressure on Syria grows
(bbc)
Thank you yolanda and Roozbeh_Gilani Jan
by Darius Kadivar on Tue Jan 31, 2012 12:13 AM PSTThank you for your encouragements.
Sad indeed to see all this horror but people need to be informed.
Things are accellerating in Syria I'm afraid either for better or for worse is still to be seen.
Best,
DK
The heartbreaking photo of corpses of little syrian children .
by Roozbeh_Gilani on Mon Jan 30, 2012 06:13 PM PSTnext to the picture of the munster who ordered their murder, Dentist Assad, playing in a comfortable western style surrounding with his own well fed, well looked after kids, makes such a contrast and sums up what is happening in Syria currently..
DK, I like to thank you for your exceleent reportage on this subject. well done...
"Personal business must yield to collective interest."
Borzou Daragahi:"Syrian rebels raise a flag from the past"
by Darius Kadivar on Mon Jan 30, 2012 03:46 PM PSTSyrian rebels raise a flag from the past - FT.com
Syrian protesters not only want a new regime in Damascus, they also want a new flag – and one that bluntly rejects the political and ideological order established by Arab nationalist leaders decades ago.
During street protests throughout the country, they are spurning the tricolour red, white and black flag that served as the template for Arab nationalist movements led by military officers in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Yemen in favour of the green, white and black flag adopted by Syria after its independence from France.
UK and France press for Syria U.N. vote
by Darius Kadivar on Mon Jan 30, 2012 03:00 PM PSTUK and France press for Syria vote (guardian)
Resolution calling for Assad to step down wins support of 10 security council members necessary to force voteJay Carney: Assad's fall from power in Syria 'inevitable'
by Darius Kadivar on Mon Jan 30, 2012 02:34 PM PSTUS: 'Assad's fall is inevitable' (bbc, VIDEO)
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "has lost control of the country" and it is inevitable that his "brutal regime" will fall from power, according to a spokesman for the White House.
Jay Carney said that the United States was in active discussions with members of the international community over the ongoing violence in Syria and that the UN Security Council should take action.
The UN estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed across Syria since anti-government protests began last March.
Syria's Assad will go, says US, as UN vote nears
by Darius Kadivar on Mon Jan 30, 2012 02:32 PM PSTUS says Syria's Assad 'will go' (bbc)
The US calls on UN members to decide where they stand on the Syrian regime's "brutality", saying President Assad's eventual departure is inevitable