Friday, February 08, 2013

U.S. State Dept. Spokesperson: Syrian military must not defend itself

"QUESTION: Okay. Wait a second. So on that, you would not have a problem if they were just going after the rebels who were attacking them?

MS. NULAND: Well, obviously you know where we are, which is to lay the preponderance of the blame for the violence in Syria and the violence in Damascus at the feet of the Assad regime. So we --

QUESTION: But you said that they were – that these attacks came in response to an offensive by the armed opposition.

MS. NULAND: I did, and --

QUESTION: So you're not – are you saying that the Syrian military doesn't have a right to defend itself, or are you saying that they don't have --

MS. NULAND: I'm saying that they should not --"