Syria ready for any scenario - Haitham Alsibahie
In an interview with Press TV, Haitham Alsibahie, from the Syrian Social Club in London, shares his thoughts regarding the recent wave of US-led war rhetoric against Syria.
- Before we get into this debate, the mere fact that these countries, including the United States, Britain and France and their allies are thinking about striking militarily another country, another sovereign country, without a mandate from the UN legally, doesn’t that go against all international norms?
- Of course, this is against international law, against United Nations charter and this is exactly what has happened to you. First of all, allow me to congratulate the resistance coalition in the area and also special congratulations to Syria, the Islamic Republic [of Iran] and its allies from Russia and China on this victory on the House of Commons today.
I believe today the common sense has prevailed in the House of Commons, although there is a lot of work to be done after this but some of the Western leaders, as we know, are warmongers and they try to go to Syria on a probability.
I mean Mr. Cameron says it is ‘highly likely’ that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons. There is no war to be launched on ‘highly likely’. We can say also ‘highly likely’ all these terrorists on the ground and everybody who is backing them for the interest of Israel are ‘highly likely’ mercenaries and the killing, what they call, machine starts.
So the international law needs to be preserved; the international law needs to be respected. That is why the United Nations and the Security Council are there. If there is any evidence coming from the ground, personally I believe, this is an alleged chemical attack. There is some sort of gas that has been used in the area, but a full investigation and report has to be carried out.
So everyone and we put on a table and put to the people because the people in Europe and in the United States believe there is a new world order; the new world order is coming from the Middle East and coming from the region and there is no lies anymore.
Nobody wants to hear lies; nobody wants to hear statements like Colin Powell’s, what he did in 2001 and everyone wants to see an evidence, otherwise there is no punishment to any country. Britain and the United States are not the policemen of the world; the policeman of the world is the United Nations and the Security Council.
- We know that the US has gone in, we can mention Kosovo without the UN approval and even tonight at the House of Commons, David Cameron threw in the R2P Doctrine which is the right to protect civilians, which obviously would involve NATO.
Do you think that Cameron is putting on a show ultimately and, along with the US, is going to use any means legally which would be outside of the UN through the R2P Doctrine and then, of course, NATO to be involved in a possible military intervention?
- Let me, first of all, take the point of your guest. OK, he is asking about Halabcha. If you want to go to this path, the United States used chemical weapons in Vietnam in a massive way. Tony Blair and George Bush are responsible for killing 1.2 million Iraqis in Iraq.
If your guest is crying about Halabcha, he should also stand with us and ask for the trial of George Bush and Tony Blair for what has happened in Iraq. Now we are not talking about that; we are talking here about Syria. We are not denying anything. What we say is we need an evidence and we need an investigation.
Why did the United Nations send investigators to Syria? The investigators are in Syria; the team is in Syria. They are there to investigate who carried out, if there is a possibility of first of all chemical attacks being carried out. Secondly, who is responsible for it? I mean there is no harm to wait a few days for a report.
The Syrian government knows very well, I mean, let me say something. Also on March 19 this year, it was the Syrian government who asked for the investigation team to come and carry out investigation in three areas in Syria. I mean if this government was responsible for such a thing, it will not ask the United Nations and push through diplomacy for the investigators to come to Syria.
Coming to your question about the United States which used military intervention in Kosovo and other areas, believe me there is a lot of Syrians today who would love the United States to take an action. As the president said if we need to deal with the head, we had a war for two and a half years, war by proxy; they take al-Qaeda members and Jabhat al-Nusra members from Libya arrive to Istanbul, take a visa in Istanbul.
A person on the international terrorist list takes a visa to arrive in Istanbul; he goes down to the south by a NATO base; stays for two weeks; trained for arms and trained for bombs and they push him through the Syrian border. Is this the international law? If Syria and everybody in Syria are asking for a dialog, asking for diplomatic solution for the Syrian crisis, nobody wants a war; nobody wants killing but some of the Western countries, all they are supporting is illegal arms to come to Syria, illegal arms to come through Turkey to Syria, Jihadists from Jabhat al-Nusra and al-Qaeda to cross to Syria with their aids.
These Jihadists or al-Qaeda members, when they takes a flight from Tripoli to Istanbul, the United States knows very well that these members are arriving to Turkey, otherwise these types of Jihadists will not be able to get there.
So we know there is war by proxy; we have been asking for two and a half years but now as President Assad said, if we can deal straight with the head, we are ready for it. We have enough of a proxy war on the Syrian soil. If the United States wants to take an action, we believe our armed forces, our leadership, our government can take on and can retaliate and can answer whatever arms come or anyone wants to attack Syria because this is our country and this is our land and neither the United States nor Britain after all the atrocities over the years can say to us what we should do on our land.
- This is a very scary scenario. I am sure you will agree if this is really indeed the case of Syria being used as a laboratory. I mean, here we have on the other side of the coin, what has been said a token blow that the US President Barack Obama might incur on Syria with perhaps Russian agreement all in the hopes of getting the political process which is Geneva 2 to happen. I mean, do you think what Stewart Stogel (the other guest on the show) said perhaps is a scenario that is going to be played out and of course how that increases the chances of this becoming a regional conflict if other countries were to be pulled in?
- First of all, President Obama has not taken a decision. David Cameron has lost in the House of Commons and according to the Guardian, there is only 9 percent support in Britain for an intervention in Syria.
Mr. Hollande of France today emerged and said the crisis in Syria can be solved only politically. Syria and its allies are putting all the scenarios on the table. There is no scenario that will be left out. Syria is ready for any scenario. But if you look at all the points, nobody thinks, especially when Canada announced this afternoon also they are against the Western intervention in Syria, so there is only the United States.
If Mr. Obama wants to make that decision and go along in this mission, Syria has a lot up its sleeves; they could fight this war; we do not have a choice. We have been slaughtered for the last two and a half years.
I mean let me give you one point. When Mr. John Kerry phoned Walid al-Muallem, the Syrian foreign minister, the other day asking him for the inspectors to go to eastern and western al-Gota, Mr. Muallem confirmed to him that he can protect the inspectors where the Syrian army is in. What did Mr. John Kerry answer? He answered he has guarantees from all the factions on the other side.
On the other side, there is Jabhat al-Nusra, a group affiliated with al-Qaeda. There is al-Qaeda which is what you call Iraq and Levant group. There is Ahrar al-Islam [al-Sham]. All of them are from al-Qaeda’s different groups and Mr. John Kerry has guarantees from them not to touch or harm the inspectors.
You tell me, is Mr. John Kerry and all his allies dealing with al-Qaeda and has a good contact and they talk on a daily basis? That is what we believe in Syria.