Assad says US to fail if it attacks Syria

Syrian president says Washington never achieves its aims through war, rejecting accusations of chemical attack. 26 Aug 2013 Al Jazeera

'The US faces failure just like in all the previous wars they waged,' Assad tells Russian paper [File photo/Reuters]

The United States would face failure if it attacked Syria, President Bashar al-Assad has said in an interview with a Russian newspaper. Assad told pro-Kremlin daily Izvestia that Syria would never be a "puppet" of the West and warned the US against attacking his country. In his remarks that appeared in the newspaper on Monday, he said Washington has never succeeded in reaching its political aims through war, arguing that US' previous military campaigns in recent years had always fallen short of their goals. "The US faces failure just like in all the previous wars they waged, starting with Vietnam and up to our days," he said. "America has taken part in many wars but could not once achieve its political goals for which the wars were started. Yes, it is true, the great powers can wage wars but can they win them?" he asked. The alleged chemical weapons attack in a Damascus suburb last Wednesday has spurred calls for global action against the Syrian regime, putting pressure on US President Barack Obama, who has defined use of chemical weapons in the country as “red lines”. In the interview, Assad also described Western claims that his regime used chemical weapons in Syria as "insult to common sense”. Read More