Flashback: President Assad: US seeks war on Iraq in order to redraw the map of Middle East (tags)
“We all know the masks that were used. At first the United States proposed the issue of the return of [weapons] inspectors [to Iraq]. Later, it spoke about the implementation of the UN and Security Council resolutions. It then spoke about the weapons of mass destruction. Later they said the problem lay in the regime itself. They then began to talk about democracy and human rights. Now they give the promise of development in Iraq and our region in general after this war. […] The [real] issue was that of taking control of the world and the region. The issue was one of oil and oil was one of the instruments used to control the world. The issue was one of re-drawing the map in the manner that suited them and, of course, suited Israel […]. The issue is one of destroying the infrastructure of Iraq” [Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, speech at the Arab League summit, Sharm el-Sheikh, 1 March 2003. This speech was delivered three weeks before the invasion of Iraq.]