Leftwing and rightwing apologists for the Syrian regime– who see Bashar al-Assad as a brutal but secular stalwart fighting to rid his country of Islamist radicals– may be interested to learn that some of his brothers in arms don’t view it that way at all.
Dutch TV recently broadcast a fascinating video of Iranian military forces working in Syria with government forces. The video was shot by an Iranian cameraman who was killed in a clash with rebels, and the rebels turned over the video to journalist Roozbeh Kaboly of the Dutch National Television program Nieuwsuur (Newshour).
Two moments worth noticing.
At 2:26 one of the Iranians says:
“The current war in Syria is that of Islam versus the nonbelievers. Good versus evil. We are ‘good’ because Iran’s supreme leader is on our side. The front is supported by Hezbollah. The fighters are Iranian, Hezbollah, the Iraqi and Afghan mujahadeen and others. The opponents are Israel, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, funded by the Emirates. Plus America, England, France and Europe.”
And at 4:19 (after much talk about how they treat their Syrian allies with respect), one Iranian says, while driving through a village:
“When we came, there was no human being. They deserted the village.”
To which another Iranian replies:
“There are still no humans now, only Arabs.”
Update: Is the Iranian at 5:36 singing “Born in the USA”?
