President Bashar Assad's interview with Le Figaro once again confirms his denial of reality. He criticizes France and says that it has lost its independence and is a follower of US policy, while his regime cannot survive without its dependence on Russia, Iran, and Hezbollah. Since the attack that killed top security officials in Damascus, led by Assef Shawkat, Assad's brother-in-law, Iran's Revolutionary Guard has managed the fighting in Syria because the regime is unable to do so. Hezbollah was forced to send its best young men, who are still adolescents, to get killed in Syria for a regime and against the will of their families. Assad talks about France's dependency on America while he could not survive without being dependent on Iran and Russia. His statements in the French newspaper and his threats against French interests are part of his history, and the history of his murderous regime. Just as Assad threatened the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri during their final meeting in Damascus, saying that he would bring down Lebanon on the heads of Hariri and Jacques Chirac, he is renewing his threats against French interests, if France takes part in the military strike on Syria. For two years, the Syrian president has bombed his people with Scud missiles, provided to him by Russia. For two years, Russia and Iran have bombed the innocent Syrian people, and no one has stopped them. Now, Assad is making threats against French interests, as if France is a small country, which does not need threats to know that the regime will engage in criminal and terrorist acts against it. The west is weak because of the weakness and hesitation of American President Barack Obama in the face of dictatorships and their terror. The confusion that came from Britain and its democracy forced the prime minister to step back from taking part in the expected strike. The White House was angry that David Cameron did not prepare his legislature well enough on the topic. Obama, who looks first to public opinion polls (which reflect a lack of regard for what happens in Syria because the American people are simple and do not even know where Syria is on a map), was not determined to carry out any military action, had it not been for the chemical weapons attack and his warning, one year earlier, that the use of such weapons constituted a red line. Certainly, the UK's refusal to take part helped delay Obama on the strike, and he asked for congressional approval. Certainly, French President Francois Hollande was at the forefront of those demanding that the Syrian regime be punished for using chemical weapons, but he cannot do it alone, without European support, and without the US to hit at a repressive regime, because France is a key member in the European Union and allies of the United States. Hollande had hoped that the strike against the Syrian regime would have come as quickly as possible but it was delayed, if not postponed indefinitely, because of the US Congress. The G20 Summit in Saint Petersburg might change things if there is an agreement among Obama, Putin, Hollande, Cameron, Merkel, and the leadership of Saudi Arabia, which is a member of the group, on a transitional government in Syria and on convening a Geneva conference. However, this is currently unlikely, even if the Russians believe that the Americans are serious about launching a painful strike against the regime. But Putin is an oppressive president, like his Syrian counterpart. Change is unlikely unless Obama gives something tangible to Putin.
