Live data from Hacker News

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

apnews.com

241–250 of 530 posts

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

#241
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose of the drip feeding is, unfortunately, to get Russia closer to a total collapse rather than a quick loss for them to retreat and build up their strength again for the next 20ish years to repeat it. It’s not ideal for Ukraine right now.

> The purpose of the drip feeding is, unfortunately, Absolutely not, it's not intentional. - Suddenly, the world defense base needed to get on up to a level to match the world's 5th largest army, with all its stockpiles -- regardless of if its just lil ol Ukraine, Russia is putting its full effort in. - Politics in US delayed it several months, I can't recall the exact number, but it was at least 6.

The war has been going on for a bit more than a thousand days now.

Your points would have been valid maybe one year into the war. Unless you’re suggesting the US military industrial complex takes three years to respond.

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

#242
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The purpose of the drip feeding is, unfortunately, to get Russia closer to a total collapse rather than a quick loss for them to retreat and build up their strength again for the next 20ish years to repeat it. It’s not ideal for Ukraine right now.

I have heard this argument before, but I'm not particularly convinced. Either way pretty much all their pre-war modern equipment has already been destroyed. Now they're fighting with really old stuff like T-55s pulled from storage, newly manufactured equipment, or whatever North Korea thinks it can spare.

Yes. Given their fall in Syria one might assume they are getting close to a breaking point. But it’s difficult to know for sure as they lie at every step of the process, even to themselves.

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

#243
post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your impression of Russia's war capabilities is vastly mistaken. "According to Joseph Fitsanakis, professor of intelligence and security studies at Coastal Carolina University, “Russian military production is currently outpacing that of the US and all of NATO member states combined. This may be hard to believe, but Russia is obligated to do it if it is going to outpace the support given to Ukraine." Source: https://w…

I partly agree, in that by drip feeding Ukraine supplies we have given Russia time to build up their production rates. And my earlier comment was disputing the idea that drip feeing the supplies was some kind of intentional strategy. With regards to the broader claim that Russian production is outpacing that of the west. Yes, with artillery shells that's probably true, though we are continuing to ramp production. The…

They have destroyed the rest of their industrial capacity and economy in the process, an outcome very much desired by US and friends.

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

#244
post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Sure, it can always be worse" Yes, I would argue the islamic state was indeed worse. And so far I see nothing preventing them or a similar force taking hold again. I mean turkey is the moderating factor here and turkey under Erdogan has gone the authorian islamic way since a while.

I was giving you the benefit of doubt all this time, but your comments about my country confirms to me that you're misinformed. For all I hate Erdoğan and his attempts to undermine democracy, and I want to see him gone sooner or later, Turkey is as much an Islamic authoritarian state as USA is a Christian authoritarian one under the rule of Trump. There seems to be a tendency to exaggerate the realities on the ground…

I said going the authorian islamic way, not that you are already a califat. Sorry for the missunderstanding, I am aware that turkey is all in all still quite democratic and secular and we seem to both not like the direction Erdogan is heading. My point was, Erdogans influence over the SNA is not comforting me.

Btw. I just read, a pro SNA news source:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/russia-astana-format-meeti...

It seems the war will continue.

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

#245
post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard this argument before, but I'm not particularly convinced. Either way pretty much all their pre-war modern equipment has already been destroyed. Now they're fighting with really old stuff like T-55s pulled from storage, newly manufactured equipment, or whatever North Korea thinks it can spare.

Yes. Given their fall in Syria one might assume they are getting close to a breaking point. But it’s difficult to know for sure as they lie at every step of the process, even to themselves.

Assad's fall doesn't signify much because we should expect Moscow to prioritize its own backyard.

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

#246

I’m shocked that the ruling dynasty fell as quickly as it did, along with the military being ineffective and unwilling to stop the rebels given how long the civil war has been going on for. Incredible.

Is a 14 years long process (the Syrian civil war) quick? Just Wikipedia the civil war article. Did people forget about ISIS uprising as well? Look at the map: the regime haven't controlled most of the territory since the start of the civil war. The regime has become a failed state struggling to make ends meet.

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

#247
post #199
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[flagged]

> Hamas has been killing homosexuals in Palestine by throwing them from buildings long before any form of ISIS existed, plenty of stuff on internet.

That's misinformation which has been debunked:

https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.347B339

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/video-people-thrown-roof-...

To quote Wikipedia:

> Homosexuality is not a capital offence in the Gaza Strip or elsewhere in Palestine.[54][55] The laws against homosexual behavior in Palestine[d] are a relic of the British and Ottoman rule in Palestine; they specify prison sentences of 10 to 14 years.[54][55] There is no evidence that these British colonial-era laws are actually enforced in Gaza.[54]

> Reports of extra-judicial killings of LGBT people in Palestine have circulated, without being confirmed. Sources such as the news agency Reuters, the news outlet The New Arab, and the NGO Human Rights Watch, characterise many of these reports as misinformation: the stories are exaggerated, oversimplified, or misattributions of events that occurred elsewhere.[56] Examples of this include:

> Two members of Palestinian nationalist militant groups were accused of espionage and killed by their comrades in situations that included rumours about homosexuality or bisexuality.[57][58]

> During the Israel–Hamas war, a video described as "Hamas executes people by throwing them off a roof of a building!" circulated on social media. Some derivatives of the meme claimed the men were executed for being gay.[56] The video, however, was from 2015 and not from Palestine.[56] A July 2015 report from Al Arabiya, included identical images and states that they were originally shared by the so-called Islamic State, and showed the execution of four gay men in Fallujah, Iraq.[56]

> In February 2016, the Al-Qassam Brigades (the militant wing of the Hamas movement) executed Mahmoud Ishtiwi, the commander of Al-Qassam's Zeitoun Battalion.[59] The alleged offences were described evasively, the stated reason was Arabic: تجاوزاته السلوكية والأخلاقية التي أقر بها, lit. 'for behavioral and moral violations, to which he confessed',[58] which some western news media interpreted as a euphemism for homosexual activity.[60][61] Local sources clarified that Shteiwi was convicted of spying for Israel.[62] The Qassam Brigades alleged that Ishtiwi had been executed by firing squad,[63][58] but people who saw his body before burial alleged that he might have died in custody and been shot after death.[64][58]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_for_homosex...

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

#248
post #6

Much though I want to view this as good news I keep finding myself steelmanning that it's actually bad news * destabilising a region already in flames * replacing a secular evil government by.. jihadists in a loose coalition. WCGW? * Russia used port and airfields to maintain a presence in the Med and for nefarious purposes in Africa. What do they do now, to replace them because I doubt "nothing" is the answer. * doe…

Anything that weakens Iran and its proxies is good news. They‘ve been the main reason for instability in the region. The cutting of supply routes to Hezbollah is another nail in the coffin for a militia that‘s kept Lebanon from eventually becoming a functional state, instead keeping it in perpetual war or near-war with Israel, which only serves Iran and the people Iran supports financially. Iran has torpedoed any att…

    > Iran has torpedoed any attempts at normalizing relationships between Arabs and Israel
What about the recent peace/trade deals between Israel and UAE and Qatar? The Qatar one was most surprising to me because Qatar has excellent relations with Iran, partly due to their sharing of one of the world's largest natural gas fields.

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

#249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Anything that weakens Iran and its proxies is good news. They‘ve been the main reason for instability in the region. The cutting of supply routes to Hezbollah is another nail in the coffin for a militia that‘s kept Lebanon from eventually becoming a functional state, instead keeping it in perpetual war or near-war with Israel, which only serves Iran and the people Iran supports financially. Iran has torpedoed any att…

How do people here think an Islamist government will be also anti-Iran? They have 99% of the same goals with Assad out of the picture. There's a ton of other wrong in your comment (as if Hezbollah, alone, hindered Lebanon from being a functional state and not the decades of war and brutal massacres of their civilians), but let's focus on the main thing.

[flagged]

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

#250

What are the chances the Kurds will get their own land out of this?

Somewhere between 0 and None, which is a good thing for literally everyone. Unless we’re now cheering for ethnostates and a full blown Turkish invasion. Even the Syrian Kurds don’t want independence, rather just autonomy as part of a multiethnic Northern region.

Almost every country in the region is an ethostate.

The only reason Kurds would say they don't want their country is Turkey.

Post reply on HN