by Stephen Lendman

Syria is one of many direct and proxy wars Obama continues waging - breaching his campaign pledge to restore peace.

His agenda is polar opposite - raping, pillaging and destroying one country after another, new targets always in mind, perhaps directly confronting Russia and/or China before leaving office.

Bodies piling up worldwide attest to his barbarity - a rogue leader risking global conflict, even nuclear confrontation, influenced by neocons infesting his administration and Congress - deploring peace, wanting endless wars. On Sunday, Assad addressed officials and members of public organizations, vocational syndicates, as well as industrial, trade, agriculture and tourism groups.

Western, Israeli and anti-Assad Arab leaders call his responsible self-defense “terrorism.” Atrocities committed by extremist takfiris is democracy building, Assad explained.

Independent observers following events since conflict began nearly four and a half years ago know there’s nothing civil about ongoing war. It’s Obama’s aggression letting IS and other terrorist groups do his dirty work.

Supplemented by US warplanes supporting them, bombing Syrian infrastructure, and now Turkey intervening on the phony pretext of combating IS, the same elements they’re harboring and funneling cross-border to fight Assad.

Obama’s war OF terror wants pro-Western puppet governance replacing Assad. “How could those who spread (these terrorist) seeds…combat it,” Assad explained.

Anyone “want(ing) to combat terrorism could do it through rational and realistic policies based on justice and the respect of peoples’ will of determining their future, managing their affairs, restoring their rights on the basis of spreading knowledge, combating ignorance, improving economy, raising awareness of the society as well as developing it.”

“Changes of the West cannot be counted on as long as they follow the double-standards policy. (W)e have not depended but on ourselves since the first day, hoping good intentions from the real friends of the Syrian people.”

Russia and China represent important Security Council “safety valve” protections against US-led Western nations wanting the body used to facilitate imperial aggression against countries like Syria, Assad explained.

“Our approach has always been the response to all initiatives that we receive regardless the intentions because the Syrian blood is above all else and halting war is a priority,” he added.

“After years of war, the Syrian people (remain) resilient, sacrificing for the sake of the homeland, and if they had wanted to give up, they would not have waited all this time and paid as much as that.”

“Any political presentation that does not essentially rely on combating terrorism and ending it is practically ineffective.”

“Countries supporting terrorists have increased their support to them recently and in some cases, they directly intervened to back them.”

Assad praised Iran and “our faithful brothers from the Lebanese Resistance” for supporting Syria’s struggle against Western-backed aggression. All parts of the country are “precious and invaluable,” he said - all equal in demographic and geographical importance.

A huge chasm exists between Western recruited and supported terrorists committing daily atrocities and internal opposition elements engaged with government authorities to end conflict diplomatically and protect the territorial integrity of their homeland.

Reality on the ground consists of foreign imported terrorists v. millions of Syrians wanting peace, not war; security, not instability; safety to raise children and protect family members.

State institutions continue providing whatever help they can despite ongoing war, said Assad. Anonymous soldiers and civilians work tirelessly “to provide the requirements for life,” he explained.

“We are in a crucial stage where there are no compromises and hesitation is equal to defeatism, cowardice and treason…No relinquishment of any inch of land or rights (is tolerable). We will not be slaves, but we will be independent masters of our country, capabilities and rights.”

“We as Syrians will be able to save our country from what is being hatched against it only if everyone of us feels that this battle is his own, and that he is concerned with his homeland, city, village and home before others, and that he is concerned with the territorial integrity of his homeland and with preserving the coexistence.”

“Promises from outside for those living there will remain mere illusions as long as there are brave soldiers in the Army and Armed Forces defending their homeland, fighting in the hardest circumstances and dying for Syria to survive.”

“This homeland is ours and defending it is our duty.” Sunday’s public address was Assad’s first since sworn in after winning reelection in June 2014 with overwhelming popular support.

The vast majority of Syrians want no one else leading them. “We are not collapsing,” Assad stressed. “Defeat does not exist in the dictionary of the Syrian Arab army.”

He explained the importance of maintaining control over “critical areas.” Concern for our soldiers force(d) us to let go of some” others. At the same time, “(e)very inch of Syria is precious,” he stressed.

Assad’s address followed his granting amnesty to thousands of army deserters and draft dodgers on Saturday. Defeating terrorism and restoring peace are his top priorities.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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