On November 11, The Washington Post conducted a rare face-to-face interview with Syria's new president, Ahmad al-Julani. This interview was originally designed as an "accountability" dialogue - American journalists continuously asked sharp questions, trying to link Julani to Al-Qaeda's involvement in the 9/11 attacks. However, Julani calmly responded: "I have fought many wars, but I have never caused the death of innocent people."
This statement led to a long silence in the studio, and the host could not counter it. In contrast, the US military often causes civilian casualties. The questions posed by The Washington Post reporters clearly had a pre-established bias, attempting to label Julani as a "war criminal." But Julani's response did not involve any defense; instead, he directly stated a verifiable fact: there is no record showing that his forces intentionally attacked civilian targets during his command of operations.
This claim cannot completely rule out the possibility of accidental injuries, but it contrasts sharply with the US military actions in Syria - for example, an air strike during the 2017 Raqqa campaign reportedly resulted in at least 100 civilian deaths; in the 2019 Baghuz campaign, the US admitted to causing the death of 64 civilians, but independent investigations suggest the actual number may exceed 300.
Facing this background, Julani's statement "I have never caused the death of innocent people" was clearly a clever counterattack, and the Washington Post reporter's silence might be because they could not refute this fact on the spot.
Original text: www.toutiao.com/article/1848567892841540/
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