Former UK Ambassador to Syria Debunks
Aleppo Propaganda
BBC Interview Audio
Posted December 26, 2016
Transcript:
Presenter : Peter Ford was the
UK’s Ambassador to Syria from 2003 to 2006. Peter Ford,
do you think it’s time for a re-think?
Ford
: Absolutely. It’s way
overdue. We have clung for too long to the illusion that
the so-called ‘moderate opposition’ would overcome Assad.
Surely now, with the Government’s recovery of Aleppo,
the veils should fall from our eyes and we should look
reality in the face: Assad is not going to be removed by
force of arms or at the negotiating table. What Britain
should do now is three things: we should stop supporting
a failed and divided opposition; we should start to try
to help the people of Syria by lifting sanctions; and we
should be working with the Russians on an overdue
political settlement.
Presenter : But the political
settlement as we know for many leaders in the Western
World does not include Assad in its calculations. Boris
Johnson for example, the Foreign Secretary, in September
of this year saying he can have no part in the future
government of Syria because as long as Assad is in power
in Damascus, there will be no Syria to govern. Downing
Street [the home of the UK’s Prime Minister] saying just
earlier this month “the barbaric cruelty shown by the
Syrian regime forces shows that President Bashar Assad
(sic) has no place in the country’s future.
Ford
: Yes, but this is absurd.
It’s quite absurd. Assad is in control of over 80% now
of the populated area of Syria. There is no reason why,
in the months to come, he and his forces will not take
the remaining 10, 15 and eventually 20%. He will then be
in total control of the country. Of course there will be
remaining groups who are not happy, after which, in the
whole of recorded history has there ever been a
protracted civil conflict like this that left everybody
happy under one ruler? There is no Syrian [Nelson]
Mandela. There is no leader. Could we even put a name to
one opposition leader who would step into Assad’s shoes?
It’s absurd. It’s grotesque. It shows that Boris Johnson
and Theresa May have lost grip on reality. Now Donald
Trump is coming in and if he carries out what he said
he’ll carry out he will normalise relations with Russia,
he will prioritise the fight against ISIS in Syria, and
he will stop working for the overthrow of Assad. When
are we going to smell the coffee?
Presenter : Well, you have
said that you are deeply concerned by Britain’s
continued support for the so-called moderate armed
opposition and indeed there have been complaints, there
have been allegations of abuse on that side of the War
as well. Nevertheless, if you leave aside President
Assad and you sak “ok, let him continue through the
future diplomacy concerning Syria”, wouldn’t that be
condoning him and all he’s done up until now? Chemical
weapons, for example, against his own people?
Ford
: Look, tonight there is a
Christmas Tree in the centre of Aleppo and celebrating
people. I think if Assad were removed, and the
opposition were in power, you would not be seeing a
Christmas Tree in Aleppo. The demonisation of the regime
has been taken to ridiculous lengths. Even the end of
this crisis with the green buses; there were no green
buses in Gaza, there were no green buses when NATO was
bombing Yugoslavia to smithereens. This Aleppo campaign
has been handled in its final stages with relative
humanity. We’ve seen not what some allege to be a
meltdown of humanity but a meltdown of sanity. Where
are, where’s any evidence of the alleged atrocities, of
the Guernica, of the massacres, the genocide, the
holocaust?
Presenter : Well, I think
you’ll find many people will disagree with that as they
have seen people fleeing Eastern Aleppo; the allegations
that people have been attacked, prevented from leaving
the city. You know there will be these allegations and
they will be investigated. In the meantime there’s
criticism of both sides, yes indeed, but you are
violently disagreeing with an awful lot of senior
figures in governments across the World who say – and I
just conclude on this – that there is no place for
President Assad in the future of Syria. Just again,
complete your thought and we will conclude the interview
in just a few seconds.
Ford
: Well, this flies in the face
of reality. Who are they going to put in Assad’s place?
To try to continue to overthrow the regime in Syria, as
we’ve overthrown regimes elsewhere – in Iraq, and Libya
– leads only to more suffering on the part of the
ordinary people.
Presenter : Peter Ford, UK
Ambassador to Syria in the 2000s, thank you very much
indeed.
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