April 17, 2013 | By Ned Parker, Los Angeles Times,
Time for I told you so
President Bashar Assad says the U.S. and Europe are supporting his Islamist opponents, which will come back to haunt them. He also has words for Jordan.
BEIRUT — Syrian President Bashar Assad warned in a television interview Wednesday that the war against his government risked spreading to neighboring Jordan and predicted that rebel fighters, whom he described as Islamic extremists, would later take their violence to the West.
Speaking on the pro-government Syrian channel Al Ikhbariya, Assad presented himself as a staunch patriot who was fending off meddling by the West. He appeared to be wooing Syrians wearied by the country’s bloodshed, disillusioned by all sides and desperate for Syria’s conflict to end.
Assad charged that the United States and Europe were supporting his Islamist opponents. He said the alleged support was cynical and would come back to haunt them. The United States and its European allies have given limited support to Syrian rebels, but have been wary of providing aid, especially arms, that could fall into the hands of Islamist extremists.
“The West uses any element, even if it is against them elsewhere,” Assad said. “They fight Al Qaeda in Mali and they support it in Syria and in Libya, but the West doesn’t know — or perhaps it knows but is not now aware — that this terrorism will return to it and they will pay the price later in Europe and the United States.”