Assad: If You Want Me to Destroy My Chemical Weapons, Give Me One Billion Dollars

Evil dictator takes a turn as movie super villain.

Facing questions at the presidential palace in Damascus, from former U.S. representative Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Fox News senior foreign affairs correspondent Greg Palkot, Assad said during the hour-long conversation that his government is committed to the agreement hammered out in talks with Russia.

“It’s a very complicated operation technically and it takes a lot of money,” Assad said, later elaborating that the price tag would be about $1 billion because the chemicals would be detrimental to the environment.

“It’s not about will; it’s about techniques,” he said.

And it’s about extorting President Style Points. As this deal is Putin’s deal, and Russia sold Assad his chemical weapons (well, the ones that didn’t slip in from Iraq), shouldn’t Russia and Syria pick up any costs for destroying them? That’s not gonna happen.

Bashar al-Assad is a very lucky man. If his enemies on the ground weren’t jihadists — unfortunately, many of them are — now would be the opportune time for the US to take him out and end his petty little dynasty. In just about any other circumstances, the warplanes and missiles would have already done their work.