Bashar Al-Assad – 'The West Will Pay' | BBC News, April 17, 2013

"The country is subjected to another type of imperialism. Forces are coming of different nationalities using different tactics. It's like the American occupation of Iraq. There are two directions. Whether Syria will be subject to lean on this pressure. The other way is to get Syria out of this pressure, to live the liberation in its real meaning. We do not accept that there are other countries interfering in our affairs, considering us as a third world country. These imperialist countries are playing a role here in interfering in our internal affairs. Giving material and logistic support to oppositions, whether Arab or non-Arab countries. These countries have created an avenue for themselves in the Arab world. Here the Syrian role comes. It's a matter of rights and honour. It's a matter of life or death. They tried to abolish Syria as a country and as a people."