You say that people are entering Iraq from Syria, and you know who they are or have caught some of them. What are their names? What passports do they have? Are they Syrians? Are their [passports] forged? Give us some of the names, tell us how they entered, interrogate them.’ So far, we have received no information. I told [the Americans]: ’Give us one piece of information. After all, we are talking about infiltration.’ People are crossing the Syrian border, and we do not know. This [i.e. weapons smuggling and infiltration of people] interests us as a state. Anything that happens [in this regard] without our knowledge is illegal activity, and we have to be notified about it. Up until now, [we have received] no information
 The accusations toward us are merely throwing on us the responsibility for other countries’ failures.

The U.S. has changed from an element of stability to an element of instability
 There is confusion connected to the fact that the administration has failed at solving some of its problems, primarily Iraq.

We support an active role for Europe, but it is obvious that Europe has no active tools right now.....The reality is of American hegemony toward the European decision, and of European surrender to the American decision,

"I do not believe in the idea of the clash of civilizations. There are no civilizations... The most common problem for the Syrian citizen is making a living." Most Arab citizens are stricken with confusion and despair as a result of the situation. The Arab leaders bear a large part of the responsibility, and this is natural. The problem is not whether we despair, but whether we give in to despair