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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

#291

Post by ethereal-haze »

ein0p wrote: post #139

It is a bit surreal to read people cheering for islamist head choppers who overthrew a secular government. Remember this 10 years from now when these same head choppers blow something up in NYC. The fundamental invariant of governance stands undefeated: religious head choppers, whether they are on "our side" or not, are always worse in the long run than the secular governments. See the "freedom fighter" Osama Bin Lad…

You obviously haven’t read up on the atrocities done by this so called “secular government”

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

#292

Post by whatever1 »

Roark66 wrote: post #171
ggm wrote: 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…

It is a sign that propaganda is getting to you if you find yourself seriously considering their talking points. Is it better if a million people die "in the name of stability" quietly being tortured to death in jails behind closed doors over a span of a decade all while further tens of millions live in misery or half that number die in a let's say 3 year war, but we see it all on TV and there is real chance of freedo…

Democracies have also done irreversible errors. Hitler after all was elected. So was Trump. Twice.

Democracy is very fragile, it requires that the players respect the rules of the game. But in reality, some players use democratic processes to undermine democracy itself and establish their own regime with a democratic shell.

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

#293

Post by phsau »

GordonS wrote: post #269
flohofwoe wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it's hard to comprehend why Russia was unable to do anything at all Did you miss that Russia has to import cannon fodder, artillery grenades and missiles from North Korea and attack drones from Iran? I don't think they have any resources to spare in Syria at the moment.

There hasn't been a single scrap of evidence to support the claims of Russia using North Korean... there have however been several cases of the media getting caught lying about it, doctoring photos etc: https://x.com/AXChristoforou/status/1864324321960972298?t=4H... https://x.com/BowesChay/status/1864447294474457245?t=yK0OU-9... The North Korean claims appear to be complete lies, designed to make Russia look bad.

https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/39...

The DoD says North Korean soldiers are already in Kursk and preparing? News of NK armament deliveries and use is old at this point and not debatable.

Is the DoD spreading fake news? Just because they haven't seen front-line combat _in Ukraine_ doesn't mean Russia isn't using NK assets.

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

#294

Post by Ygg2 »

FrustratedMonky wrote: post #273
TheAlchemist wrote: post #5

I'm not really aware of what's going on in Syria, and not really sure who's worse - Assad or the rebels, but it seems clear that Iran & Russia, which were main backers of Assad regime, appears extremely weak. That's understandable for Iran which may want to avoid to overextend itself following the recent events, but it's hard to comprehend why Russia was unable to do anything at all. In any case, it seems like there…

" not really sure who's worse" What is the hot take on the rebels.? Are these the ones the US was backing a few years ago against ISIS? Is this another case of the replacement is worse? Or not? Assad was so bad for using chemical weapons on citizens, the US couldn't conceive of worse? But is that true?

> What is the hot take on the rebels.?

> "with this spirit… we will not only reach Damascus, but, Allah permitting, Jerusalem will be awaiting our arrival”

https://www.firstpost.com/explainers/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-re...

> Assad was so bad for using chemical weapons on citizens, the US couldn't conceive of worse? But is that true?

I never doubt in ability of US to snatch defeat from jaws of victory. I'm starting to think they do it on purpose. I mean chaos is good for Raytheon stocks.

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

#295

Post by rswail »

adamsb6 wrote: post #195
throwup238 wrote: post #21

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…

Saddam Hussein was a brutal despot who also kept his own country’s factions from waging war on one another. It didn’t turn out well when we took him off the board.

You might remember that the US royally fucked up the process after taking him off the board.

Both Syria and Lebanon have managed, in the past, to work out a way for their various regions and tribal/ethnic groups to co-exist.

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

#296

Post by walterlw »

fooker wrote: post #241
refulgentis wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Quick reminder that Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, before that they invaded Georgia and before that they took Chechnia. And yet even now the popular belief in the West is that the war in Ukraine will be the end of it and that some sort of a peace deal can hold.

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

#297

Post by dralley »

TrackerFF wrote: post #279
kgeist wrote: 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 think the timeline of failures was something like this: 1. Russia, being too entrenched in Ukraine, wanted some global focus shifted away from Ukraine, and managed to get Hamas (probably via Iran) to attack Israel last October. This would predictably become a very hot issue - especially in the US - and make the world "forget" Ukraine. There's been a lot of writing that the support for the Ukraine war will only last…

Hamas attacked Israel the day after the 50th anniversary of the Yom Kippur war. While the October 7th attack may have benefitted Russia indirectly (temporarily at least), it's not particularly likely that Russia played any role in making it happen.

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

#298

Post by lolinder »

walterlw wrote: post #296
fooker wrote: post #241

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Quick reminder that Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, before that they invaded Georgia and before that they took Chechnia. And yet even now the popular belief in the West is that the war in Ukraine will be the end of it and that some sort of a peace deal can hold.

Thank you. It has been incredibly frustrating to watch the modern appeasement movement repeat the mistakes of the 1930s.

You cannot appease an expansionist power that's intent on restoring the glory of an empire from days gone by (real or imagined).

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

#299

Post by j_maffe »

lukan wrote: post #257
j_maffe wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why are you relating authoritarianism with "Islamic way" or even the Caliphates? I've never seen anyone make this claim before, which is, to be honest, quite absurd. Edit: Also your linked article no longer reflects the current stance of Russia.

That link I gave is propaganda BS. It claims the syrian army gave the terrorists( SDF) control over the new areas, while in reality they fought with US support against iranian and syrian regime militias. So that iran could not send support without fighting their way through it, maybe a turning point in this war. It was just to illustrate that Erdogans goals are not peace, after Assad is gone.

That's all well and good. Could you please reply to my other question? I'm very curious where this notion is coming from.

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

#300

Post by dralley »

jpmoral wrote: post #208
adamsb6 wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saddam Hussein was a brutal despot who also kept his own country’s factions from waging war on one another. It didn’t turn out well when we took him off the board.

Wasn't a large part of that caused by the de-Baathification of the government and security forces?

And Iranian / Syrian funded militias.
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