West seeks to ruin Syria: analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with Richard Becker, with the ANSWER coalition, from San Francisco, about the Syrian presidential elections.

Press TV: The Syrian foreign minister said “today the political solution for Syria begins”. Do you agree with that statement?

Becker: We certainly hope so because the people of Syria have suffered terribly as a result of a war that has been greatly encouraged funded, armed and trained by both the governments that were mentioned earlier – family-run governments in Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia as well as the big powers from the West like the US, Britain, Germany, France.

And all of them are denouncing this election because they do not wish to see a political solution or a resolution of the issue.

They want to see – if they can’t bring down the government right now and they can’t – in Syria, they want to prolong the suffering. They are really pursuing a policy of ruination against Syria the same way they pursued such a policy against Libya and in fact against Iraq as well.

So, we hope that this will be the beginning of a resolution in favor of the Syrian people. 

Press TV: Do you think the comparison with Egypt is a good comparison? We could say that these people are taking part and voting for those who have the guns and who have the military power here.

And one other question when it comes to the election in Egypt is a lot of critics were saying why aren’t we seeing condemnations from the us or from the West as much when it came to the elections in Egypt that were seen as legitimate, but we are seeing this against the election in Syria? 

Becker: What we see happening today in Syria is encouragement and a fanning of the flames of war by the United States and its allies, by these completely undemocratic states, by these imperialist states.

They are sending in anti-tank missile systems, training the opposition to use them; they’re talking about sending in shoulder-held anti-aircraft weaponry… They are stepping up the war and that is why they don’t want to see an election that will help resolve the situation there that will help resolve the war and move toward a real settlement.

The comparison with Egypt, you know, there’s no basis for that, except this – the United States is very happy with many governments around the world, which have no democratic processes. Even those like in some of the hereditary monarchial Gulf States that have never had elections.

The United States pursues its interests. It has no real friends in the world, it has only interests and it pursues them.

And if it means supporting one government that has never had an election while condemning another government that’s in the process of having an election and not allowing its expatriate citizens to vote is I think just more evidence of that fact.       

Press TV: Some countries have closed their Syrian embassies so that expats could not vote in the Syrian election, a taste of what real Western democracy is when you take the wrapping paper off. What is your response to these criticisms that say it is actually US interests that are in the main focus here rather than the US interest in promoting democracy?

Becker: Today is Election Day in California and many other states in the United States and the turnout is predicted to be the lowest turnout, the least enthusiastic in many years, perhaps of any in history.

If anyone who has really watched with any kind of an open mind, the people in Lebanon, the Syrians in Lebanon coming out to vote – you know… the idea that this is just somehow provoked by Government threats, that lie is shown to be a lie by the clear enthusiasm by tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people living in exile of living inside Syria for the government.

It appears that a very strong majority of the population of Syria supports the government.

We should remember that in 1864 there was a whole argument from the leaders in the US and in the West that you can’t have an election in the midst of a civil war. In 1864 the United States had an election in the midst of a civil war that was the bloodiest conflict in all of US history.

And it was in fact a step toward resolving that war in favor of the Union. So, you know… history is dispensed with when it’s inconvenient.     

I think it’s really quite humorous to hear people talk about the leaders of the, quote-“free world” who have condemned the election in Syria and because they’ve condemned it as a first, have decided that Syrian expatriates living within their borders cannot vote; are not allowed to participate in the election, but this is the ‘free world’ speaking.

The United States and its allies have opened the door to the tearing apart of Syria; the tearing apart of Iraq. The border between Iraq and Syria is not so clear anymore and the forces that did not exist in either Syria or Iraq 15 years ago – the al-Qaeda-aligned forces – are now playing a key role in the conflict and destruction in both countries.

That’s a result of US policy.

Press TV: Do you think despite this vote we’re going to see continued insurgency and more violence?

Becker: Yes I think that’s very likely. I think that it is possible that the election can be a step forward to putting an end, to bringing a resolution to the war that has been so devastating, it’s tragic what’s happened – the tearing apart of Iraq and Syria. This is one of the great tragedies of modern times. We hope that it will be a step forward.

B.N