President Al-Assad to graduates of Higher Military Academy: The armed forces are the ones who make the history of this country

President Lieutenant-General Bashar Al-Assad visited on Wednesday the Higher Military Academy in Damascus and met the graduate officers.

Here is the full speech of President Al-Assad:

 “I am pleased to meet with you today at the conclusion of your course, command and staff, which constitutes an important pillar in your scientific, professional and patriotic career. I’m pleased to meet you in this military complex which for me carries many memories. Every officer, every commander among you has his own experience formed during this stage of his professional history and our national history.

When this national military experience turns into a science, then we can develop this science, draw conclusions, elicit ideas and experiences, and come up with solutions that fit each stage of the war or with each circumstance of the war. Here lies the importance of the academy and the conversations you have on a daily basis, in the classroom or outside it.

When we talk about science and knowledge, we cannot separate between leadership and knowledge, and we cannot separate between the personality and the knowledge of the leader. It is your duty to continue developing your knowledge because the commander is distinguished from the subordinates, not by military rank, but by knowledge. More than that, the knowledge of the commander does not stop at military sciences, but rather expands to include all fields, including politics.

Military science begins with knowing the position of the military institution, and the Syrian Arab Army institution is at the heart of the national history of Syria. Practically since the first day of independence until this moment, the institution that makes the history of this country is the armed forces. Every officer carries the image  of this history in his personality, and he should know that this image is present among the greater part of the citizens and this was one of the most important reasons why the Syrian people stood behind their military institution.

The other side of knowledge is completed with political knowledge. When this military institution is a political tool before being a military one, neither the officers nor the fighters can reach a goal while they don’t know the greater goal which  is political and national, followed by other military goals.

So the officer needs to know the political goals and needs to know the way to reach them. Today, we are in a turbulent ocean, as I said several times in several speeches, and we must face the storms, and strong waves. When I talk about the turbulent ocean, I am not talking about the war in Syria, nor am I talking about an emergency circumstance.

It is said that America spent a trillion dollars in Iraq, and it spent a trillion dollars in Afghanistan, on whom did it spend trillions? It was spent on American companies for supplying weapons and  various equipment. So the process of wars is a dollar for the Americans and this dollar is in the interest of American companies. Thus we have to expect that after the defeat of Afghanistan, after the defeat of Iraq, after the defeat of Somalia in 1994, and after the defeat of Vietnam, there will be more wars and more defeats.

What does this mean? It means that there is no place in this turbulent world except for one thing that is steadfastness. The countries that persevere and follow the path of steadfastness are the ones that find a place for them in this world, whether they are small countries looking for a regional place within their regional interests or major ones looking for a position on the international arena. The people who are steadfast can find a home for them, but without steadfastness there is no home.

The steadfastness that I am talking about is positive steadfastness which  is similar to the state of defense. We don’t wait for the war to end. We don’t say when the battle ends or the war ends, we will do this. No, we are in the midst of the war yet  doing what we can do for development which includes all military, economic, organizational and ideological fields. Of course, the word organizational does not include only the armed forces, but the organization of the state and society.

You, as officers and as an institution, have the military role, but you have also a social role. You have an awareness, educational and refutation role of all the misconceptions and fallacies that exist within this society. The political war against the army was more dangerous than the military one. The military war recognizes the enemy, it searches for ways and finds ways to fight. As for the political war, it hit the army  at the core.  In order for this army to succeed, its name must be the people’s army. This army cannot succeed in this battle if the people do not believe that this army is theirs.

Therefore, the war in the beginning was to strike the credibility and image of this institution. But of course they failed in this first due to the conscious performance of our officers and soldiers, secondly due to the awareness of the Syrian people.  I always say anything patriotic is a policy, so the national issues that we fight for are political issues.

With your knowledge, will, and courage, we will follow the path of liberation, and with your perseverance, we will be able to restore rights. With the people’s faith in you and in this great institution, the Syrian Arab Army will remain the pivot and the guarantee for the maintenance of independence, the consolidation of faith, and the protection of the homeland.

I salute you and your families from which we learn the meaning of heroism. I salute your officers and fighters, non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and all your subordinates who are on the battle fronts  in the face of the terrorists. I wish you all success in your scientific, professional and national career, and to meet soon, God willing, on the battlefields.”

Inas Abdulkareem