Words matter. These are the best Bashar al-Assad Quotes, and they’re great for sharing with your friends.
The problem is not the occupation, but how people deal with it.
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.
Despite the ethnic diversity within each nation, the social fabric of the region by and large is one.
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.
No doubt that the U.S. is a super-power capable of conquering a relatively small country, but is it able to control it?
Since its very inception, Israel has been a threat.
I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria.
We believe that Lebanon has been the first real experience for all the Arabs.
None of us and none of the Arabs trust Israel.
Worry does not mean fear, but readiness for the confrontation.
Today, the Iraqi citizen sees that America is coming and wants to occupy his country and kill him, and he is willing to experience for himself what happened in Palestine.
The most significant indicator that there is no disaster in Iraq is the fact that there is no exodus.
Armies are not only for offensives.
I am not a puppet. I was not made by the West to go to the West or to any other country.
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.
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.
Hizbullah is not a militia.
Lebanon was under Israeli occupation, up to its capital, but we did not consider that a disaster. Why? Because it was very clear that there are ways to resist.
Israeli interests are not necessarily in harmony with the American interests.
It is natural that we should always expect an Israeli attack, even when it does not threaten.
When Lebanon started its resistance it was a small and divided country.
The logical thing is to implement the Arab Defense Agreement.
But the issue has to do with land, which is our land.
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.
We are dealing with treachery and threats, which accompanied the establishment of Israel.
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.
Syria is geographically and politically in the middle of the Middle East.
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, in Syria, our point of view stems from our experience.
As far as we are concerned, we Syria have not changed.
America is interested in re-arranging the region as it sees fit.
You cannot reform your society or institution without opening your mind.
The problem with the West is that they start with political reform going towards democracy. If you want to go towards democracy, the first thing is to involve the people in decision making, not to make it.
