The problem with the West is that they start with political reform going towards democracy. If you want to go towards democracy, the first thing is to involve the people in decision making, not to...

Lebanon was under Israeli occupation, up to its capital, but we did not consider that a disaster. Why? Because it was very clear that there are ways to resist.

Today, the Iraqi citizen sees that America is coming and wants to occupy his country and kill him, and he is willing to experience for himself what happened in Palestine.

Israel does not care about the international public opinion.

Despite the ethnic diversity within each nation, the social fabric of the region by and large is one.

You in Lebanon, your power is no match to Israel. Israel, militarily, is more powerful than you and maybe it is more powerful than all the Arab countries, or most of them.

Hizbullah is not a militia.

Armies are not only for offensives.

Worry does not mean fear, but readiness for the confrontation.

America is interested in re-arranging the region as it sees fit.

The Israeli lobby has clout in the U.S., which means that re-arranging the region and controlling its resources one way or another, will serve Israel through its control over the American administration.

Israeli interests are not necessarily in harmony with the American interests.

I am Syrian, I was made in Syria, I have to live in Syria and die in Syria.

I am not a puppet. I was not made by the West to go to the West or to any other country.

Since its very inception, Israel has been a threat.

We, in Syria, our point of view stems from our experience.

When we analyze this war in a materialistic way and ask when is it going to end and who will be the winner and the loser, it means that we do not see the endgame.

When Lebanon started its resistance it was a small and divided country.

The problem is not the occupation, but how people deal with it.

Israel ranks her priorities in the following way: security, land, and water.

Syria is geographically and politically in the middle of the Middle East.

Is there an equality of power between America and Iraq? Definitely not; however, the Iraqi people are standing fast and are defending their land courageously.

The U.S. and Britain are incapable of controlling all of Iraq.

None of us and none of the Arabs trust Israel.

No doubt that the U.S. is a super-power capable of conquering a relatively small country, but is it able to control it?

But the issue has to do with land, which is our land.

It is even more so when it comes to Iraq, which is a large Arab country with scientific, material, and human resources and is able to accomplish, at the least, what Lebanon accomplished, and more.

It is natural that we should always expect an Israeli attack, even when it does not threaten.

You cannot reform your society or institution without opening your mind.

As soon as the legitimate Lebanese government is convinced that the conditions have ripened and that Lebanon is able to maintain stability on its own… Then, the Syrian forces will return to their homeland.

We have more difficult circumstances than most of the Arab countries but in spite of that Syria is stable. Why? Because you have to be very closely linked to the beliefs of the people. This...

The logical thing is to implement the Arab Defense Agreement.

It should be known that Israel is based on treachery.

As long as there is aggression against an Arab country, and as long as there is a war close to our borders, the danger continues.

When our interests matched, the Americans have been good to us, and when the interests differed, they wanted us to mold ourselves to them, which we refused.

The most significant indicator that there is no disaster in Iraq is the fact that there is no exodus.

We believe that Lebanon has been the first real experience for all the Arabs.

It would be a mistake to link anything that Israel does to a certain circumstance. And it is a mistake to feel comfortable in any circumstance just because Israel did not act on it.

We are dealing with treachery and threats, which accompanied the establishment of Israel.

As far as we are concerned, we Syria have not changed.