Assad Pledges Full Cooperation for Peace
by Stephen Lendman
His full cooperation isn't good enough for Washington. Obama wants regime change. He wants war. More on that below.
On Thursday, Free Syrian Army head Selim Idriss rejected Russia's peace initiative.
World powers, he said, shouldn't "be satisfied only by removing the
chemical weapon, which is the tool of a crime, but judge the author of
the crime before the International Criminal Court, who has clearly
acknowledged possessing it and agreed to get rid of it."
Idriss urged military force. He wants weapons supplied his forces
increased. He promised to "intensify operations in all regions of the
country."
Peaceful conflict resolution faces long odds. Washington's going all out to prevent it.
On September 12, Russia's Rossiya-24 prerecorded an interview with Assad. He pledged full cooperation for peace.
He'll sign the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). Within days, he'll submit documents required to do so, he said.
He'll place Syria's chemical weapons under international control. He'll
provide monitors with information about them one month after becoming a
CWC signatory.
"I believe the agreement will come into force a month after the signing
and Syria will start submitting data on its chemical weapons stockpile
to international organizations," he said.
"These are standard procedures, and we are going to stick to them," he stressed.
He agreed to Russian proposed terms. They're fair, logical and workable.
They seek peaceful conflict resolution. US threats didn't influence
him.
He said "(t)errorists are tying to incite a US attack against Syria.
There are countries that supply chemical substances to opposition
rebels."
Obama's threat to attack Syria was "based on a US provocation."
He'll fulfill his obligation to place his chemical weapons under
international control. He'll do so when Washington stops threatening to
attack.
"When we see that the United States truly desires stability in our
region and stops threatening and seeking to invade, as well as stops
arms supplies to terrorists then we can believe that we can follow
through with the necessary processes," he said.
Washington should end its "politics of threats."
"Syria will send its address to the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the next few days."
"That address will be accompanied by technical documents required for signing this agreement."
"That will be followed by work that will lead to the signing of the Chemical Weapons Convention."
Assad said CWC has many clauses. They include prohibiting the production, storage and use of chemical weapons.
After agreeing to CWC provisions, it "will take effect and, in my view,
the agreement will take effect one month after being signed, and Syria
will begin providing information on its chemical weapons arsenals to
international organizations."
At the same time, Syria won't follow procedural mechanisms unilaterally.
"That doesn't mean that (it) will sign the documents, fulfill the
conditions and that that will be it. This is a bilateral process," said
Assad.
He wants the region, including Israel, free from weapons of mass destruction.
"When we proposed a project to liquidate stores of weapons of mass
destruction in the Middle East, the United States impeded the project,"
he said.
"One of the reasons was to allow Israel to have such weapons."
"If we want stability in the Middle East, all countries should adhere to
agreements and the first country to adhere to the agreements should be
Israel because Israel has nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and
all types of weapons of mass destruction."
Insurgents may use chemical weapons against Israel as a provocation, he said.
"It has absolutely not been ruled out that this information is true and is used for the purposes stated earlier."
He denied reports alleging his military commanders asked permission to use chemical weapons.
America "resort(s) to all kinds of lies, including what you said. The
truth is that there absolutely has not been such a conversation in Syria
at any level."
Countries providing toxic agents to insurgents should be held fully responsible, he said.
"We should conduct an in-depth investigation into this case in order to
learn about the composition of these substances and what party used
them."
"And most importantly, we need to learn what countries supplied the
toxic substances to the terrorists and hold these countries
responsible."
"All countries are saying they don't work with terrorists, but we know
that the West is providing logistical support to them" and much more.
"They are saying these are non-lethal objects or humanitarian aid, but
as a result the West and countries of the region such as Turkey and
Saudi Arabia, and earlier Qatar, contact terrorists directly and support
them by providing them with all types of weapons."
"We think one of these countries supplied chemical weapons to
terrorists." Saudi Arabia's been caught red-handed. Assad stopped short
of saying so.
On September 12, Press TV headlined "Syria now full member of chemical arms treaty, Syria's UN envoy says."
Bashar al-Jaafari said "(l)egally speaking, Syria has become, starting today, a full (CWC) member."
On Thursday, UN officials confirmed receipt of proper documents. According to spokeman Farhan Haq:
"In the past few hours, we have received a document from the government
of Syria that is being translated, which is to be an accession document
concerning the Chemical Weapons Convention."
Jaafari added:
"The chemical weapons in Syria are a mere deterrence against the Israeli nuclear arsenal."
"It's a deterrent weapon and now the time has come for the Syrian
government to join the (convention) as a gesture to show our willingness
to be against all weapons of mass destruction."
On Thursday, John Kerry and Sergei Lavrov met in Geneva. They're
discussing Russia's peace plan. Talks are expected to continue on
Friday. Important disagreement must be resolved.
State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said Washington will
evaluate the credibility of Moscow's proposal. Kerry told Lavrov America
is "not going to play games here."
On September 13, AP's Matthew Lee and John Heilprin headlined "US and Russia at Odds as Syria Talks continue," saying:
Contentious discussions began. "(T)echnical experts (on both sides are)
meeting separately. (They're reviewing) details on the timing of the
plan for the weapons to be inventoried, quarantined and destroyed."
"Kerry bluntly rejected (Assad's) pledge to begin a 'standard process'
by turning over information rather than weapons - and nothing
immediately."
"The words of the Syrian regime, in our judgment, are simply not enough," he said. "This is not a game."
Obama's plan to attack Syria is very much "alive," said Lee. According
to Kerry, turning over weapons must be complete, verifiable and timely.
Otherwise, "there ought to be consequences if it doesn't take place." He
left no doubt what he means. Russia categorically rejects force.
Lavrov called it unacceptable. Security Council resolution language
suggesting it won't be permitted. Russia wants peaceful conflict
resolution.
Lavrov disagreed with Kerry. He said procedures Syria follows must be
"in strict compliance with the rules that are established by the
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons."
Assad pledged to follow them to the letter. Nothing he's doing indicates
otherwise. Kerry's comments reveal Washington's true intentions.
Syria's best efforts aren't good enough.
"(D)istrust in US-Russia relations was on display even in" off-hand comments, said Lee and Heilprin.
Moscow's going all out for peaceful conflict resolution. Washington's
hell bent for war. During Geneva talks, CIA operatives continue actively
arming insurgents.
According to National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan,
Washington won't "detail every single type of support that we are
providing to the opposition or discuss timelines for delivery, but it's
important to note that both the political and the military opposition
are and will be receiving this assistance."
Moscow's well aware of American support given anti-Assad insurgents. According to Lee and Heilprin:
"Current and former US intelligence officials said the CIA has arranged
for the Syrian opposition to receive anti-tank weaponry such as
rocket-propelled grenades through a third party, presumably one of the
Gulf countries that have been arming the rebels."
"They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the classified program publicly."
On September 13, Itar Tass headlined "France undermines Russia's Syria initiative," saying:
Syria's UN envoy Bashar Jaafari accused France of trying to subvert resolving Syria's conflict peacefully.
He's spinning the yet to be released UN Ghouta massacre report. More on
how major Western powers will interpret what it says below.
"I think Minister Fabius is trying to deprive of the positive impulse
the Russian initiative, as well as Syria’s positive reaction to it,"
said Jaafari.
"We are dealing with the minister of one of the five permanent members
of the UN Security Council, who runs forward and anticipates the
conclusions of which will be contained in the report of the (UN)
inspectors."
Fabius said they'll blame Syria for attacking Ghouta. They'll do so, he
believes, by claiming only Damascus has chemical weapons stockpiles.
An unnamed diplomat said UN experts concluded that sarin was used. Clear
evidence proves insurgents used it before. Russian analysis showed they
used it in Khan al-Asal last March.
In May, Turkish police arrested 12 suspected Al Nusra fighters. They were caught red-handed. They had two grams of sarin.
Witnesses blamed them for attacking Ghouta. Syrian forces had nothing to do with it.
On September 11, Foreign Policy headlined "Exclusive: UN Report Will Point to Assad Regime in Massive Chemical Attack," saying:
"UN inspectors have collected a 'wealth' of evidence on the use of nerve
agents that points to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad using chemical
weapons against his own people, according to a senior Western official."
On September 16, they're expected to release their findings. They'll say
whether or not chemical weapons were used. If so, which ones. They'll
do so without attribution.
They won't point fingers either way. Syria will be blamed by
implication. How this affects events going forward remains to be seen.
Washington will take full advantage. Moscow demands peaceful conflict
resolution. AIPAC and other Zionist organizations want war.
Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman said "It's Iran, Stupid..."
Syria's a sideshow. It's prelude to targeting Tehran. ADL wants
military force against both countries. So do other Israeli Lobby
organizations.
They're lobbying Congress to authorize it. Stopping it faces long odds.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."
http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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