LINAWAN, VLADIMIR JOPHIL S.

BSLM 3A
ASIAN HISTORY
NEWS REACTION PAPER: SYRIA VOWS TO DEFEND ITSELF IN CASE OF STRIKES

DAMASCUS Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem vowed on Tuesday that his
country will defend itself in case of any Western military strikes against it. We have two options:
either to surrender, or to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal. The second choice is the
best: we will defend ourselves, Muallem said in a televised news conference. Muallem said that
his country had defenses that would surprise the world, and that any such action against it would
serve the interests of Israel and Al-Qaeda. Syria is not an easy case. We have defenses which will
surprise others, he said. The war effort lead by the United States and their allies will serve the
interests of Israel and secondly Al-Nusra Front, an Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group in Syria, said
Muallem. He challenged Western states to present evidence that the regime of Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons. We are hearing war drums around us. If they want
to launch an attack against Syria, I think using the excuse of chemical weapons is not true at all. I
challenge them to show what proof they have, Muallem said.
Following the recent conflicts of the Syrian civil war this is yet another follow up in the
tension that has been lingering around the area, the recent accusations about the regime of President
Bashar al Assad using chemical weapons had made Syria take a defensive stance against the
allegations, the intervention of the international community particularly the United States of
America and its allies with regards to Syrias use of chemical weapons in the conflict has made
the country to declare that if the western states wants to attack then they will have no choice but
to defend themselves and that has defenses that will surprise the world In my opinion it is sound
to assume that Syria indeed has stockpile of unconventional weapons and that if provoked might
unleash them, and that the U.N. should take the necessary steps to monitor the the area without
resorting to strikes unless if necessary as this would undoubtedly cause another blood bath in the
already war-torn country, the unites states should also stop from obviously meddling with the
affairs of other states with its military as this, instead of promoting peace, would just incite antiwestern sentiments specially to extremist groups.
Finally, the current regime should just stand down since the entire country is already in
revolt against it, it should see with its eyes that the people are obviously already growing tired of
it and obviously demands a new leadership. As the regime is the root cause of this conflict it would
be better for president al Assad to stand aside and give way to the wishes of the people since it is
not in the government where sovereignty resides but in the people, the government is just a
repository of that sovereignty. Standing down would solve all these conflicts because if the country
thus becomes stable there would be no reason for the western states to find any excuse to impose
its designs against the country.

Source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/475819/syria-says-to-defend-itself-in-case-of-militarystrikes
Author: Agence France-Presse
Date: August 27, 2013