Syrian president Bashar al-Assad rarely gives interviews to the American press. But he recently sat down with CBS veteran Charlie Rose. Rose addressed the reports of devastating attacks on Syrian civilians and the accusations of the Syrian regime using chemical weapons against civilians.
When Rose presents statistics from a recent report claiming that the Syrian army is responsible for 90% of civilian deaths over the past four years, Assad said “that’s impossible.” Assad said the government is trying to win the hearts and minds of the Syrian people. “We cannot win the hearts and minds of the people while killing them. We could not sustain that position as a government, with me as president,” for four years. He said such reports of Syrian civilian deaths are propaganda: “In the media, ‘When it bleeds it leads,” he said. “And they always look for something that bleeds.” It bleeds. The interview will be broadcast on Sunday, March 29 at 7pm on 60 Minutes.
