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| Jay Carney |
History will record
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as "one of the worst tyrants of his
era," says White House spokesman Jay Carney.
The United States and
other allies will maintain their support to the opposition, stressing Assad
would be removed from power eventually, Carney said Tuesday during a media
briefing.
I excerpted from the
briefing all the Qs and As on Syria:
Q.
Now that the deadlock has been broken in getting Syrian rebels the weapons, how
quickly do you expect the weapons to get there? What impact do you expect
them to have? Is there still time to stop Assad, who seems to be winning
at this point?
CARNEY: There is no
question that Assad, with the support of Hezbollah and Iran, is continuing to
wage a brutal assault on the Syrian people. And because of the support
he’s gotten from other bad actors in the region, that assault has
intensified. And that is why it is so important that the United States
and our allies and our partners provide the assistance that the opposition
needs to strengthen itself and so that it can withstand the Assad forces and
the Hezbollah and Iranian-backed forces.
As I said all along,
conversations with Congress, especially ones that are behind closed doors, I'm
just not going to get into. And I'm not going to catalogue or detail all
of the assistance that we're providing the Syrian opposition. But we have
been providing assistance to the Syrian opposition and to the Syrian military
council, and we will continue to. And the President, as he made clear not
long ago, is committed to ramping up that assistance as necessary because of
the circumstances that we find, and because of the need for the opposition to
further strengthen and unify.
Q.
But are there any concerns that it’s coming too late, that Assad may just win
the thing?
CARNEY:
Well, as I said the other day, Assad will never control Syria again, will never
rule Syria again. And it is our firm position that the Syrian people will
not allow, and we will not abide Assad as leader of Syria into the
future. The transition has to be a post-Assad transition. And that
is what we're working towards with the opposition, with our allies and partners
in the region to help bring about that day when we can have a transition in
place that can begin to rebuild Syria, that will bring about an end to the
horror and the bloodshed, and can create an opportunity to transition to a
government that is responsive to the will of the Syrian people.
Q.
…Administration officials have said the purpose of providing some assistance to
rebels in Syria is to keep them alive and to keep them hanging on. Why
would we help them do anything short of topple Assad?
CARNEY: I'm not sure whom
you're quoting. But the fact of the matter is the Syrian opposition needs
the assistance that we're providing, and which many of our partners and allies
are providing, in order to strengthen the cohesion of the opposition and to
improve their circumstances as they deal with the assault that's being waged
upon them by Assad’s forces.
And there is no way out of this
that doesn’t include a transition to a post-Assad Syria. And the Syrian
people will not stand for it, and the Syrian opposition and the military
opposition will continue to resist Assad, and resist with the assistance of the
United States and many partners and allies in the effort.
Bashar al-Assad will now go
down in history as one of the worst tyrants of his era and with just a terrible
amount of blood on his hands, the blood of his own people. And that is
why we have pursued the policy that we are pursuing and why we believe it's
essential to continue to provide assistance to the opposition, assistance to
the military council, and humanitarian assistance to the many displaced Syrians
who are suffering tremendously because of this conflict.
Q.
Is the administration at a place where you'd see this as a slow bleed?
CARNEY: Look, I think
that it's a challenging situation in Syria, which is why we have to provide
this assistance. If you're asking me do we believe that Assad will
prevail, the answer is no, he will not -- and not because we say so, but
because the Syrian people will not stand for it.
Q.
But you're also acknowledging this isn't going to make him go.
CARNEY: No, I didn't say
that. I’m not acknowledging -- I have no crystal ball here to predict
when Assad will go. But I have no doubt, and we have no doubt, that the
Syrian people will not --
Q.
I guess I'm asking, is the aid intended for the purpose of toppling him?
CARNEY:
The aid is intended to assist the opposition in its effort to resist Assad and
to ultimately prevail over Assad and his forces.
Q. Are you suggesting that the arms to the Syrian
opposition will be decisive?
CARNEY:
I think I just answered that. I can’t predict into the future. I
think the assistance the Syrian opposition is receiving comes from the United
States as well as many other places, and that that assistance is provided and
designed to assist the -- or help the opposition in its efforts against the
horrific war being waged on the Syrian people by the Assad regime. We obviously
support the Syrian opposition and support their efforts to combat Assad
militarily, because that is necessary as we move to a point where a political
transition can take place. And the brutality being engaged in by the
Assad regime needs to be countered. And we are providing assistance for
the Syrian opposition in their efforts to do that.
Q. If it not decisive, is it understood by those in
Congress you’ve been working with that it will escalate in order to bring about
the inevitability of this --
CARNEY:
Again, I can’t predict. The President has made clear that we have
significantly –
Q. I know you can’t predict the outcome. But if
it’s not decisive, will it escalate?
CARNEY:
Well, again, I can’t predict, but I can note and deduce from the way that we
have steadily increased our assistance to the Syrian opposition, as that
opposition has become more unified and strengthened, that the President’s
commitment will continue. And he believes we need to continue to step up
our assistance because of the imperative that Assad not be allowed to
essentially murder an entire nation.
Q. We are in this until he falls, in other words?
CARNEY:
Well, I think that the opposition -- it’s not us. We’re not alone
here. We are supporting an opposition here, and we are supporting an
opposition, together with many allies and partners who cannot abide what Assad
has done in his country and to his people. There is broad international
consensus with a very short list of holdouts when it comes to opposing Assad
and insisting on his departure from the scene. Unfortunately, those holdouts
have prevented the passage of United Nations Security Council resolutions, but
they have not prevented us from working with other partners and allies in
providing assistance to the Syrian opposition.
Q.
…You’ve said Assad will never rule Syria again, that he will not prevail.
What is giving you that confidence? Because it seems like right now he
does have the upper hand.
CARNEY: Well, I took that
question moments ago, and I would simply say that Assad has waged a bloody war
against his own people. And it is for the Syrian --
Q.
But I mean, what proof do you have?
CARNEY: Proof of
what? Does Assad rule Russia? I mean, does Assad rule Syria right
now? And will --
Q.
But he seems to have the upper hand.
CARNEY: Well, I’m not
sure. There are ebbs and flows in conflicts like this. There is no
question that with the assistance of Iran and Hezbollah, a couple of very bad
actors -- notable friends, you might say, friends that say a lot about Assad in
a situation like this -- he has inflicted even more harm on the Syrian people.
And for that reason and others, it’s incumbent upon the United States and
friends and allies who support the Syrian people in their battle against Bashar
al-Assad to provide the assistance and the stepped-up assistance that we’re
providing.
But the reason why I’m
confident is because the Syrian people will not allow it, and they’ve made that
clear.
