“You're going to pay the price if you're not wise. There are going to be repercussions,” Assad told CBS television in an interview recorded in Damascus and broadcast on Monday. “It's an area where everything is on the brink of explosion. You have to expect everything.”
“The government's not the only player in this region. You have different parties, different factions, different ideologies. You have everything in this decision now,” Assad said, adding repercussions “may take different forms,” including “direct and indirect.”
The White House and other Western powers have accused Assad of using lethal sarin nerve gas near the capital of Damascus on August 21, killing more than 1,400 people, and have threatened to target the Syrian government with strikes in retaliation....
The White House likes to tie everything in a nice package with a bow, but, a strike against Syria will open Pandora's box in some ways, including that of Israel.
The USA will not be making friends. Any affront to Syria will trigger extremist elements within the Shi'ite community and sympathetic networks. Assad should know what he is dealing with already.
I congratulate Charlie Rose on this interview. It is amazing. He acted remarkably in securing the space and time to bring this information to the USA.