Former Syrian Vice President Abdel Halim Khaddam stated in an interview with Al-Arabiya: “The massacres occurring in the Syrian coast aim at displacing minorities, including Sunnis, paving the way for the establishment of a sectarian state. The current massacres are among the most dangerous committed since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution because they are not carried out by the army but by the regime’s thugs belonging to the Alawite sect. Bashar al-Assad wants to turn the conflict into a sectarian one and pave the way for the establishment of a state on the Syrian coast without realizing that the Syrian people will bury him in such a state.”
Khaddam commented on the Syrian regime’s use of chemical weapons against civilians, stating: “The whole world knows that Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons, but he uses evidence as an excuse to escape forward and avoid responsibility. Why is chemical weapons prohibited? Isn’t it because it kills people in groups? Isn’t the killing of hundreds of Syrians by the regime’s thugs equivalent in danger to the use of chemical weapons? Is killing only legitimate when done by slaughter, using cannons, warplanes, and missile strikes, while killing with chemical weapons is illegitimate?”
He continued: “Some countries, including the United States, talk about minorities and their fear of the regime’s oppression. Hasn’t Bashar al-Assad committed mass killings against minorities on the Syrian coast by the thugs he selected from his sect to exterminate the minority in the north? Therefore, the future of Syria is threatened and dangerous, and the regime wants to cleanse Sunnis from the coast, but it will perish before achieving this goal.”
Khaddam warned against Syria falling into the hands of Iran and Hezbollah. He stated that Iran wants to turn Syria into its colony, utilizing all its material and military resources. Iran also deploys its military experts in the service of Bashar al-Assad. Hezbollah forces actively participate in combat alongside Assad’s forces and thugs for a long time.
He appealed to the international community, specifically the United States, to supply the Syrian people with weapons. He emphasized that it should be high-quality weapons rather than sending the U.S. army. According to Khaddam, the Syrian people are capable of overthrowing Bashar al-Assad if they have the necessary weapons. In doing so, the United States would fulfill its international and humanitarian duty as the largest state responsible for global security and stability.
Khaddam played down concerns of the U.S. and the world about weapons leaking if the Syrian opposition is supplied to non-trustworthy extremist factions. He argued that these concerns should not be exaggerated, and the real concerns lie in the extensive arsenal of the regime. He questioned why there is talk about leaking a light weapon here and there without mentioning the scale of Russian weapons arriving daily to Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The focus is on a rifle or pistol going to the Free Syrian Army.
He stated that what turns Syria towards extremism is the lack of assistance to the Free Syrian Army with weapons, ignoring the demands of the Syrian people and the opposition. Khaddam affirmed that the number of casualties due to the Assad forces’ invasion of the Baida area and the countryside of Banias has reached more than 700.
Khaddam praised the qualitative operations carried out by the Free Syrian Army. However, the scale of these achievements depends on the quality of the weapons that major powers are supposed to provide. It is unreasonable to demand decisiveness from the Free Syrian Army when it lacks weapons, while the regime possesses a large army, lethal weapons, aviation, and the brutality of armed thugs supported by weapons.
It is worth noting that U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel stated on Thursday that the Obama administration is reconsidering the possibility of arming the Syrian opposition forces in their fight against the Assad forces.