Syria’s embattled president, Bashar Assad, said his government is safe and sound — only an outside military force could topple him from power.
Mr. Assad said he would survive the war that’s raged within his country for more than two years and remain leader, Reuters reported.
The only way that wouldn’t happen was if an outside military force intervened and aided the rebel fighters. But he didn’t see that scenario as likely, Reuters said.
“[Rebel fighters] have used every material, emotional and psychological means available to them,” he said, in Reuters. “The only option they have is direct foreign intervention. But there is hesitation and rejection [about intervention] from most countries, so if we can overcome this stage [of fighting] with resoluteness and awareness, we have nothing more to fear.”
Rebels have already hit the nation’s infrastructure and economy, and stirred “complete chaos,” Mr. Assad said. There’s nothing left to worry about, since “so far, we have not reached that stage” of outside military intervention, he said.
Mr. Assad also praised the resiliency of the Syrian people.
“[They] remain unbroken in every sense of the word,” he said. “There is an explosion and within minutes of the clean-up, life goes back to normal. They go to work even as they expect terrorist rockets and terrorist explosions and suicide bombings to happen at any moment.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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