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Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

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Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#61
post #2

It's interesting that everywhere, the government forces simply abandoned their posts, and none of Syria's allies appear to be willing to intervene in any way. Maybe there's something else going on we don't know yet.

I’m reminded of how people in Afghanistan had the reputation of switching sides pretty easily.

Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#63
post #4

Who are likely to control Syria now? Will Syria become an islamic state?

I think there is a good chance that reasonably fair elections get held. The government will likely take a moderate Islamic tone, with other religious groups coexisting. For now all the main players seem fairly chill.

I think it's too good to be true that after 13 years of civil war fought by multiple factions, suddenly everyone becomes friends with each other and then they happily live thereafter in a democratic utopia. We can expect a string of coups as various groups attempt to seize power.

Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#64
post #47
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any regime change that involves freeing many thousands of women and children from prisons notorious for torture and mass-executions seems like a decent one! The future is uncertain, but it's not like "everyone chills out and gets into their hobbies" was an option -- it's gotta be one of the most war-ravaged places to exist in human history.

Have you heard of a thing called, Islamic State? They had a thing for creative murder. Aside from the usual behadings, they came up with things like pushing homosexuals from buildings in the public and alike. They are also now free again.

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Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#65
post #47
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any regime change that involves freeing many thousands of women and children from prisons notorious for torture and mass-executions seems like a decent one! The future is uncertain, but it's not like "everyone chills out and gets into their hobbies" was an option -- it's gotta be one of the most war-ravaged places to exist in human history.

Have you heard of a thing called, Islamic State? They had a thing for creative murder. Aside from the usual behadings, they came up with things like pushing homosexuals from buildings in the public and alike. They are also now free again.

HTS has cut off ties with ALQaeda and IS since almost 10 years.

Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#66
post #2

It's interesting that everywhere, the government forces simply abandoned their posts, and none of Syria's allies appear to be willing to intervene in any way. Maybe there's something else going on we don't know yet.

I’m very interested in reading the book but it certainly seems like Russia and Iran propped up a zombie admin that is actually totally hollow when push comes to shove and the benefactors are busy elsewhere

Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Assad wasn’t really a stabilizing force holding back worse players, he was a desperate despot just barely holding on to power thanks to a proxy war. Now the rest of the parties have a real chance to establishing a governing coalition. Syria has always been relatively secular and the rhetoric coming from the rebel side is in marked contrast to the usual pattern in the region. The most extremist group involved HTS has…

>Assad wasn’t really a stabilizing force Questionable statement. Syria has (had) a secular government that allowed Sunnis, Alawites, Christians, Druze Muslims, twelvers, and Kurds to live there. The status quo for the region is theocratic iron fist of a particular Islamic denomination, with all others persecuted. Not to mention, Assad is a Ba’athist (as was Sadam) which by definition is all about Arab unity. Which Su…

> a secular government that allowed ... to live there.

"live" is a strong word to use there.

Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#68
post #4

Who are likely to control Syria now? Will Syria become an islamic state?

If we look at what happened in Tunisia or Libya after they got rid of their secular dictators (Gadaffi an Ben Ali), it doesn't have to be that way. They were also fears of them becoming islamic states, yet they didn't.

If we look at Egypt, they could become again a dictatorship.

Re: Syrian government falls in end to 50-year rule of Assad family

#70

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You can blame other countries all you want, but the reality is that «Syria» is colonialist project that was always bound to fail.

There are very few muslim/arab countries that are also prosperous, successful and peaceful. They all seem to have good ties with the west, as a common factor (amongst others).

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