Transcript: Syrian president Bashar Assad

CURRY: You're saying the president--

BASHAR ASSAD: You have to deal with your interests in reality.

CURRY: You're saying the president and his administration has an interest in coming to see you?

BASHAR ASSAD: I don't know. I wouldn't say they have interest.  We, as Syria, we are main player.  If they want to ignore us-- it's their problem, not our problem.  We live here.  And we are active and effective.

CURRY: You actually say that you have the credibility, the political credibility to talk to all the parties involved inside Iraq--

BASHAR ASSAD: Yes.

CURRY: --and the neighboring countries surrounding?

BASHAR ASSAD: Exactly.  You have to have--

BASHAR ASSAD: --relation with every player, whether it's state or person or organization or certain political ...  You have to deal with everyone who can affect this political situation.  Not to spend the time condemning and praising.  That will do nothing.

CURRY: So you're saying you could help create peace politically in Iraq because you have the credibility to speak to all parties involved?

BASHAR ASSAD: Yes.

CURRY: And so you think the president and the United States and his government should use this as an opportunity?

BASHAR ASSAD:  I don't have to tell him that because the report of Baker-Hamilton was very clear about it.  Make dialogue with Syria and Iran.  Why?  Because they are not effective or active?  This is very clear right here.  I shouldn't have-- The report was not vague about it.  But-- yes, of course we can-- help in bringing peace.  And there is a difference between bringing peace, quote, as one player and helping the other players in bringing peace.  But the most important condition and requirement is the will of this administration to work for Iraq, not for the administration to be extricated from their predicament.

CURRY: So in the-- so in not following the recommendations of the Iraq study group, you're saying the president has made a huge mistake ignoring you?

BASHAR ASSAD: We definitely can see the interest of the United States in this region from our region in a good way.  But in our region, definitely without having good relation with the countries in the Middle East and surrounding us, no matter how strong you are and how great power you are, you cannot solve the problems without the people in the government in this region.

And Syria is one of them.  So this is self-evident.  It doesn't need Baker-Hamilton report to prove it.  This is reality.

CURRY: With all due respect, why should the US trust you to help make peace when it blames you for feeding the war?

BASHAR ASSAD: It's not that they trust me-- or not.  The problem is they listen to others or not first. You cannot trust people if you don't listen to them.  So the priority number one is do they listen?  You don't have to trust, but when you listen through the reality, through the evidence.  And everything that's happening now after the war they heard from me, many officials in Congress.  And many American allies in Europe they heard from me. Very soon you're going to get stuck in the mud.  And you're--

CURRY: Gonna be stuck in the mud?

BASHAR ASSAD: In the mud.  And you're going to talk about another Vietnam.

CURRY: You predicted chaos?

BASHAR ASSAD:  I didn't predict it.  It's the course of events in our region for centuries.  I didn't create a new idea.  But if you read the history you know where-- where-- it's going to go.  So that's why they have to know, no matter how small they are, they cannot trust without having good relations with the others, whether they trusted them or not.  This first. Second, when you first through the true reality, if they don't have-- this-- direct link with reality and they don't know how to read it, they cannot read by (UNINTEL) or any other (UNINTEL) in the real way.

So whether they trust me could be wrong.  Or if they don't, it would be don't trust me.  Could be-- sorry, it could be wrong again.  So they have to read reality.  This is the most important.  Then we talk about trusting each other.  Another issue. A trivial issue now. 

CURRY: In America trust is very important.  Credibility is very important.  And the US government does not give your government credibility, does not have trust with your government.

BASHAR ASSAD: Yes.  To be honest, this administration has lost credibility around the world.  Second-- when you say you're not credible, what do you mean?  Are we promised about doing something then we said no?  You're asking me about the border  in the same way with American border.

I said nobody came through this border.   How can we control it better?  Take the example between Syria and Turkey.  We used to have the same problem and now good-- we have good cooperation and the borders are very well controlled.  And we trust each other now-- in a very good way, Syria and Turkey.  So this is the example.

CURRY: You're saying that having a good relationship with the US, a trusting relationship, is key to doing a better job sealing the border?

BASHAR ASSAD: Yes.  It's a matter of credibility.  It's are we credible or not?  This is how we see it.  Trust could be something personal.  But credibility is-- do this administration or this government say what they do or do what they say?  Or they say something like having certain promises that they do another thing?

So-- this is a matter of quality.  We say-- we do what we say.  This is our credibility.  And that's why we can say our role in this (UNINTEL) without credibility.  We cannot play the active (UNINTEL) in the Middle East with all the problems.

CURRY: I wanna go back to Pelosi because-- I wonder, did Pelosi's visit pave the way, in some way, one way or the other, for this first meeting last week, high level meetings in US and Syria?

BASHAR ASSAD: What do you mean "pave" the way for what?

CURRY: Make possible.  Help make it possible.  Help make dialogue possible.  Did Pelosi's meeting help make dialogue possible last week?

BASHAR ASSAD: Yes.

CURRY: It did?

BASHAR ASSAD: Definitely.  Her meeting with me?

CURRY: Yes. Let me make sure I have asked this correctly.

BASHAR ASSAD: Yes.

CURRY: Did Nancy Pelosi's visit with you last month make it easier for last week's first high level meetings to happen?

BASHAR ASSAD: Okay.

CURRY: Did it help create the dialogue?

BASHAR ASSAD: --you mean with Rice or with the administration?

CURRY: And your government.  Did it open your-- allow your foreign minister to meet  Pelosi-- or with-- Condoleezza Rice?

BASHAR ASSAD: You mean meeting with Rice?

CURRY:Yes.  In other words, it has been more than two years-- It's been more than two years since the US and Syria had a high-- high level meeting.  So first, Nancy Pelosi meets last month.  You have a nice meeting, and the US says-- the president doesn't like it.  The government doesn't like it.  Then suddenly there's another meeting.  There's a meeting between the foreign minister and Condoleezza Rice.  So I ask- did it help?

BASHAR ASSAD: Exactly.  Yeah, yeah.

CURRY: That's all I wanna know.  Did it help?

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