No prospect for future US presence in Syria: Assad

President Bashar al-Assad has ruled out a future US military presence in Syria, warning of a popular resistance against American occupation troops.

According to Press TV, speaking in an interview with the Chinese television channel Phoenix, Assad counted out the possibility that the American policy towards Syria would change if President Donald Trump is not re-elected in the 2020 presidential election.

“The American political system is not a state system in the sense that we understand. It is a system comprised of lobbies,” Assaid said.

“All the presidents we have dealt with in Syria, from Nixon in 1974 – when relations with America were restored, up to Trump today are controlled by these lobbies," he added

Assad said no matter how much good will any US president has, he cannot act outside the policies of these lobbies.

“Therefore, betting on the change of presidents is misplaced and unrealistic and I don’t think that this American policy will change in the next few years.”

The Syrian government says the US, the Israeli regime and their Western and regional allies are aiding Takfiri terrorist groups that are wreaking havoc in the country since March 2011.

Answering a question on the number of the remaining American troops on Syrian territories now, Assad said the announced figures are “incorrect” as they do not take into account the number of civilians working for private military companies, which are fighting with the US army.

“The funny thing in American politics is that they announce the number between thousands and hundreds. When they say thousands: it is to make the pro-war lobby – particularly the arms companies, happy that they are in a state of war. When they say hundreds they are addressing the people who oppose the war by saying that they are only ‘a few hundred’.

“In actual fact, both figures are incorrect for a simple reason; even if these figures were correct, they are based on the number of American soldiers and not the number of individuals fighting with the American army,” he said

President Assad said the US relies significantly in its wars on private military companies like Blackwater in Iraq and others, adding the real number “is certainly in the thousands”.

Referring to US claims that its troops are in northeastern Syria to “protect” the oil fields there, Assad said America is “stealing oil and selling it to Turkey”, accusing Ankara of being Washington’s  “accomplice” in selling the oil.

Trump said in October that US troops would remain in Syria to "secure" the oilfields there. Damascus as well as regional movers and shakers voiced their strong opposition to Trump's decision to seize Syrian oil fields.

Trump’s decision came after he initially ordered the withdrawal of all US troops from northeastern Syria, clearing the path for a Turkish incursion into the region. 

ME