A Western military strike against Syria "will undoubtedly take place," the representative for the Syrian National Coalition in New York and Washington, Najib al-Ghadban said on Sunday.
In an interview with al-Nahar, Ghadban said the U.S. administration has studied all strike possibilities and their outcomes, including the effect on the regime, the civil conflict and any regional repercussions.
American decision-makers have concluded that the U.S. is able to absorb all possibilities, as could be concluded from the speech made by the U.S. Secretary of Defense, he said.
"We, as a Coalition, want the reality of the strike to serve as a decisive message that the time of committing crimes without punishment has ended," Ghadban said.
"We hope it will put an end to the killing, open up prospects for a political solution and end the mentality of the regime that is based on a strategy of continuing to gain ground until elections in 2014," he said.
"This strike will put an end to Assad's delusions."
Ghadban said the worst case scenario is that 'the regime bears the strike and tries to depict it as an imperialist plot."
"But the American party will not give the regime this opportunity," he said.
He said this is an opportunity to "make a gate for a democratic transition, excluding Assad, which remains a condition for a political solution, despite our awareness that it is difficult and risky," he said.
Ghadban said he was counting on "the errors of Bashar Assad, because he invited Western intervention when he committed the fatal mistake of using chemicals during the presence of inspectors, embarrassing the friends of the regime."
Ghadban said he believed the Russians "will not engage with a direct response following a strike," and in turn, he said, "the Iranian party will not enter a losing battle, although it will use its agents."
Ghadban excluded the possibility that Iran will provoke Israel, which he said "is eagerly waiting for this opportunity."
The Coalition, he said, had not been informed of the strike date, for military reasons, "but we have determined that the timing of the strike will allow for the weapons inspectors to leave Syria, also taking in to account the political factor of the meeting of the G20 and the question whether to strike before or after the summit," he said.
The strike was also an important opportunity for the Free Syrian Army factions, Ghadban said, adding that there were reports through some channels of field-movements connected to the strike.
"There is no doubt that the ground has been alerted and we hope that safe zones will be available in the context of the strike, in addition to implementing the authority of the Free Syrian Army in the north and south," he said.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
......
