AIFD PRESS RELEASE
American Islamic Forum for Democracy

Contact: Mischel Yosick
480 225 7473
mischel@zliberty.com

Syrian American Reformer recommends immediate, swift, crippling strikes in Syria against the Assadist genocidal military machine.

In response to the chemical weapons attack of April 7, 2018 upon Syrian civilians in Ghouta, the American Islamic Forum for democracy (AIFD) today called for an immediate military response to the ongoing horrific war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime in Syria. The “Butcher of Damascus” Bashar al-Assad, his military, and allies (notably Russia, Iran and Hizballah) that have facilitated his use of chemical weapons of mass destruction only 40 miles from the Israeli border must see Assad’s military pay that “big price” President Trump just tweeted that the “Animal Assad” must pay. A failure to respond forcefully and decisively will irretrievably damage America’s standing in the world.

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, the son of Syrian political refugees, who fled the Ba’athist regime of Bashar al-Assad’s father Hafez said:

“We hope and pray that our President’s honest tweets of outrage are followed with real and crippling military force against the Assadist military. For eight years, under President Obama, the words of our President with regards to Syria, Russia, and Iran were meaningless, and made America into the laughing stock of global security against war crimes. Now is the defining moment for the Trump administration to reawaken the world as to why genocidal tyrants must fear our Commander-in-Chief. When we heard on Saturday that there was yet another massacre among many campaigns of chemical weapon use that again targeted unarmed children and families with hundreds more dead in the genocide of over 600,000 of the people of Syria by Assad’s military, I knew this was going to be an unmistakable fork in the road for this administration and NATO. The question now is, what side of history will the United States remain: as observers of the Butcher of Damascus or as a firewall in defense of liberty and against mass war crimes?”

AIFD is very hopeful that these military strikes will not only briefly or ‘symbolically’ punish the Assad regime but actually begin to cripple if not end its interminable genocidal campaign and existence. If we have learned anything from 7 years of the revolution since March 2011, the Assad regime will never stop in its crimes against humanity until it is stopped. American interests in Syria are not only humanitarian but in fact Assad’s tyranny and methods are directly ushering in the radicalization of large swaths of citizenry into militant jihad. Similarly, tyrants now and into the future are looking and learning what crimes they can get away with against their own people. There remains no doubt that right now there is the worst of situations in Syria and regardless of what comes next the current deep radicalization of Syria to which inaction has led could not get any worse. As always, we must deal with threats as they arise. The Assad regime has proven over and over again that they are a threat to humanity and a primary fuel for the creation of ISIS and their caliphate.

Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, AIFD President and a former US Navy Lieutenant Commander added,

“In many ways we who have loved ones in Syria and we, all those who care about the human condition, will take the response we can get from America, but it is long overdue for the needle of American policy in Syria to move closer to being on the right side of history. There remains little doubt that the current disastrous and genocidal situation was wrought at the hands of the feckless Obama administration policy. We must continue to reduce Assad’s access to chemical weapons and any of the resources with which he can massacre his own people. This action must be decisive and significant. Half-baked actions have only empowered the Syrian military to just commit more heinous crimes. Assad’s military complex must be crippled if not destroyed. By reducing a dictator’s capacity to kill again and again, we have a chance of reestablishing America’s position in the world as a moral authority, and we will remind every dictator with genocidal yearnings around the planet that the free world is watching and will respond. We should and can begin to recommit ourselves to the sacred commitment of ‘never again’. Something President Barack Obama failed to do.”

 

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About AIFD
The American Islamic Forum for Democracy is a non-profit organization based in Phoenix, Ariz. dedicated to providing an American Muslim voice advocating genuine Muslim reform against Islamism and the ideologies which fuel global Muslim radicalization. AIFD’s mission is to advocate for the preservation of the founding principles of the United States Constitution, liberty and freedom, through the separation of mosque and state. In December 2015, AIFD convened and helped launch the Muslim Reform Movement, a coalition of over 12 Muslim organizations and leaders dedicated to reform for values of peace, human rights and secular governance.

About M. Zuhdi Jasser, M.D.
Dr. Jasser is the president and founder of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, a think tank dedicated to protecting American national security against the global threat of Islamism. AIFD promotes reform-minded Muslim voices for liberty, and is shaking the hold which Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood have upon Muslim leadership. Dr. Jasser is the author of “A Battle for the Soul of Islam: An American Muslim Patriot’s Fight to Save His Faith”. He is also founder of Take Back Islam and a co-founder of the Muslim Reform Movement.