Having described Western support for the Syrian opposition as a Zionist plot during a visit to Damascus this summer, Nick Griffin, the leader of the xenophobic British National Party, spent part of Monday encouraging his followers to support President Bashar al-Assad in online discussion forums read by American voters.
Mr. Griffin, who represents England in the European Parliament and is a committed foe of what he calls the “creeping Islamification†of Britain, toured Syria in June with a group of far-right, ultranationalist politicians from across Europe. In video dispatches from Damascus posted on his fringe party’s YouTube channel â€" which is otherwise dedicated to reports on “Fighting the Horror of Mass Immigration†and “Muslim Sex Monsters†â€" Mr. Griffin made it clear that he takes the Syrian president at his word when he claims that opposition to his autocratic rule is entirely a plot by foreign-backed, Islamic extremists.
To head off the American bombing campaign, Mr. Griffin’s party called on readers of its Web site “to help spread the message†on American news sites and Internet forums that “Obama’s plan would turn the U.S. Air Force into Al Qaeda’s Air Force and the U.S.S. Nimitz into the U.S.S. Bin Laden. On the eve of 9/11, it would be unforgiveable to use American tax dollars to bomb Al Qaeda into power in Syria.â€
Mr. Griffin, who rails against the leaders of Britain’s major parties as the lackeys of “Zionist warmongers,†had much kinder words for Mr. Assad’s close ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin.
