Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sat down with Charlie Rose for his first interview with American press in two years; Assad warned the United States that if they attack Syria they should "expect every action" in response, according to CBS News.
"You should expect everything," Assad told Rose when asked if the United States should expect retaliation for striking Syria. "Not necessarily through the government. The government is not the only player in this region. You have different parties, different factions, and different ideologies."
President Barack Obama has been trying to make the case that military action needs to be taken against the Syria after an Aug. 21 attack that killed over 1,400 people; chemical weapons appear to have been used by Assad's forces in the attack but that has yet to be verified. Assad vehemently denied that his troops have used chemical weapons and compared the evidence Secretary of State John Kerry has presented to the false evidence Colin Powell presented before the Iraq war, according to CBS News.
"[Kerry] presented his confidence and he presented his convictions," Assad said. "It's not about confidence, it's about evidence. The United - sorry, the Russians have completely opposite evidence that the missiles were thrown from area where the rebels controlled. That reminds me - about what Kerry said - about the big lie that Colin Powell said in front of the world on satellites about the WMD in Iraq before going to war when he said, 'This is our evidence.'
"Actually, he gave false evidence. In this case, Kerry didn't even present any evidence," Assad continued. "He talks, 'we have evidence,' and he didn't present anything, not yet. Nothing so far... not a single shred of evidence."
Throughout the duration of the two-year long Syrian civil war Assad has claimed that the rebels he is fighting are terrorists. Assad told Rose that an attack on Syria by the United States would only help foster more growth for al Qaeda within the country, according to CBS News.
"First of all, because this is the war that is going to support al Qaeda and the same people that kill Americans in the 11 of September," Assad said. "The second thing that we want to tell to the Congress, that they should ask and that what we expect, we expect them to ask this administration about the evidence that they have regarding the chemical story and the allegations that they presented."
A German newspaper has recently reported that the Aug. 21 chemical attack may have been carried out by Assad's military without Assad's approval. A German surveillance ship intercepted Syrian communications requesting permission to use chemical weapons repeatedly only to be denied each time. If this were to be true it could complicate President Obama's case for military action, according to the Christian Science Monitor.
The interview will be shown in its entirety on PBS at 9:00 p.m. EST Monday.
