Syria

[Non-Believer]

Syria's rebels take Damascus, Assad flees to a haven as yet unknown. Said rebels were previously allied to Al Quaeda but claimed to have since renounced connections.

What now for Syria, particularly in respect of Russia's support for Assad in an attempt to influence the region?

[Auntie Depressant]

There are some serious rumours afloat that Assad’s plane has been shot down and he is dead. No official confirmation as yet. 

[Shake me up Judy]

Just as well that Trump will soon be taking over from the Biden administration. 

[TheTeapot]

 

[Chinahand]

Trump's statements on Syria 

 

[TheTeapot]

 Trump is mostly right for once.

[Auntie Depressant]

CNN reporting that Netanyahu orders military to seize Syria buffer zone.

Not wasting any time then.

Also, Reuters reported Assad dead in plane crash then pulled their report an hour later. 

[The Phantom]

The new regime will have to be pretty awful to be worse than Assad. I'm confident they'll manage it though.

[TheTeapot]

Russia have taken in a couple of Syrian refugees eh? Haha.

 

[Shake me up Judy]

Not ever a squeak on here though about the brutal Assad regime, father and son. The millions who were murdered, tortured, imprisoned and driven out of the country for fifty plus years by one of the world's worst dictatorships. All the hate has been for their much smaller neighbour to the south west. The real bad guys in the region.

  

[P.K.]

19 hours ago, TheTeapot said:

 Trump is mostly right for once.

Apart from adding an extra zero to the number of Ukrainian KIA.

Might be a slip of the keyboard I suppose.

If Trump forces Ukraine to negotiate from what will be a position of weakness by starving them of much needed munitions then a lot of very brave Ukrainians would have died for nothing and Putin will call it a Russian win.

And it's all just so Trump can puff his ego. Dark days indeed...

[Auntie Depressant]

13 hours ago, TheTeapot said:

Russia have taken in a couple of Syrian refugees eh? Haha.

 

A couple of extremely rich refugees. Estimated value between $1 and $2 billion. Which is handy. 

[The Phantom]

On 12/8/2024 at 8:51 AM, Non-Believer said:

Said rebels were previously allied to Al Quaeda but claimed to have since renounced connections.

 

The original rebellion that started about 10 years ago was part of the Arab Spring and whilst having many factions, the main protagonists seemed to be reasonable and might stand a chance of setting up a functional govt if they managed to overthrow Assad.  Then the Russians (and Iran) got involved backing Assad and NATO/Gulf States were supporting the rebels.  There were quite a few western volunteer fighters out there with the rebels.  Many of whom then went on to Ukraine recently.  However in the dragged out conflict, Islamic State against both the original rebels and Assad came out on top.  This is who will be running the show now. 

[Non-Believer]

1 hour ago, The Phantom said:

The original rebellion that started about 10 years ago was part of the Arab Spring and whilst having many factions, the main protagonists seemed to be reasonable and might stand a chance of setting up a functional govt if they managed to overthrow Assad.  Then the Russians (and Iran) got involved backing Assad and NATO/Gulf States were supporting the rebels.  There were quite a few western volunteer fighters out there with the rebels.  Many of whom then went on to Ukraine recently.  However in the dragged out conflict, Islamic State against both the original rebels and Assad came out on top.  This is who will be running the show now. 

US forces have reportedly carried out up to 75 strikes on ISIS targets in Syria overnight, they're clearly not going to allow ISIS to have much of a say in what is going on.

The number of Syrian factions, including whole army organisations, who are now vying for power is going to make this a volatile and unpredictable future. It also has to considered that "democracy" is a blasphemy in the eyes of Islam, governance is handed down from Allah.

Edited December 9, 2024 by Non-Believer
Extra bit

[The Phantom]

22 minutes ago, Non-Believer said:

The number of Syrian factions, including whole army organisations, who are now vying for power is going to make this a volatile and unpredictable future. It also has to considered that "democracy" is a blasphemy in the eyes of Islam, governance is handed down from Allah.

Indeed the number of factions will surely doom any future for Syria.  Even Iran has stated that "Islamic State is neither Islamic or a State".