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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

#401
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…

If choice is between dying from head chopping or a chemical attack I choose head chopping.

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

#402
post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it's hard to comprehend why Russia was unable to do anything at all. Is it really? Russia literally has to rely on North Korean soldiers to continue their own "special operation" a few miles away. Their power projection ability is now zero.

They haven't yet forced conscription. There's plenty of manpower available to Russia through this very unpopular measure. If pressed they'll do it, the question will be whether Putin survives the young people of Moscow and St Petersburg joining the meat waves.

They haven't because this might actually finally wake up at least part of the people and cause problems for Dear leader. Let's hope Trump doesn't fold immediately and give the situation more time to develop.

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

#403
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it means Ukraine has a real fighting chance to put them on their knees. Yes, and this point has been obvious to many for the last two years. The problem has been the west drip feeding aid into the largest war since WW2. We actually have to define the objective as reclaiming all Ukranian territory (at least to the pre-2022 borders) and supply them appropriately. It might be expensive in the short-term but we can aff…

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 agree with this. russia is being lured into continued commitment by giving it a chance. I'm unusually impressed with how American intelligence played russia in this conflict. Of course there's another reason: russia is a nuclear power, and even though everyone seems used to its threats and makes nothing of it, a nuclear war is an absolutely terrible threat, possibly wiping entire humanity if it fails to endure nuclear winter. As a result, America/NATO is doing a dance, where it waits for russia to do something morally wrong, then respond to it with escalation, ready to criticize and sanction on moral grounds all russia's allies if they decide to respond with (political) support to russia. We're quite successful in my opinion, the escalation of the west is validated throughout the world, and the response to it on the russia's side wouldn't be, and would result in stronger sanctions.

Had all the escalations of the recent 2 years be condensed to the first month of war, BRICS (and not only, e.g. the pope was quite supportive of russia, not sure if he still is) could unite and coordinate a response, and the west could possibly lose the war in the political sense, kind of like Israel lost it. I'm not putting an equal sign between Israel and Ukraine, but who would predict a few years ago common harsh criticisms against Israel in mainstream TV?

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

#404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Assad was so bad for using chemical weapons on citizens Thats fake/contested https://x.com/scotthortonshow/status/1863289718890193160

Stop reading russian propaganda. There's zero truth in that word salad.

What trusted sources do you have on middle eastern conflicts? The Council on Foreign Relations, The Atlantic Council? Foreign Affairs magazine? These institutions are stocked with neocon stooges whose advice have only invaded half the middle east (always under false pretenses), killed countless innocence, displaced millions, brought "democracy", etc. Scott Horton and antiwar.com have been pumping out real journalism for 20+ years.

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

#405
post #119
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…

It shouldn’t be surprising that a country with a war economy has a higher first derivative at producing material, the question of import is 1. What is the difference between absolute quantities comparing against all relevant players, 2. How long would it take to bridge the gap at current production rates, and 3. Can that rate of production be sustained long enough for it to alter any fundamentals? The point to rebut…

Love the "first derivative" view! One can take a snapshot of a good day, but if russia really was producing more weapons than USA + NATO for a prolonged time, having also more people, Ukraine would fall a long time ago.

It didn't. As we say in Poland "paper will accept everything". And russia is known for shameless propaganda.

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

#406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

The Daily Mail? You clearly have no experience with Western news. Nobody takes the Daily Mail seriously. They don't even have copy editors.

I'm well aware that it's a vile hate rag, but unfortunately many people in the UK use it as a real source of "news".

Most of the MSM in the UK has made false claims about NK soldiers in the Ukraine, but the Daily Mail was the most overt and easily debunked that I saw.

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

#407

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pointing out evidence of a UK rag fabricating photos to fit a Western propaganda narrative is... Russian propaganda?!

Your sources are not credible

Nonsense, the claims are trivial to verify for yourself - the Daily Mail did post false claims about NK soldiers in the Ukraine and then dissappear the article once it had done its work.

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

#408

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.

Unless we’re now cheering for ethnostates

This is a misuse of the term.

Even the Syrian Kurds don’t want independence, rather just autonomy as part of a multiethnic Northern region.

Doesn't have to be full-scale independence. I think "stable, legal regional autonomy" was probably included in what the commenter meant by "their own land".

As opposed to the halfway / fully isolated / unstable situation they've had up until now.

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

#409

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Why should every other group get autonomy but the Kurds? Turkey’s habit of ethnic cleansing isn’t a reason to deny the Kurds such a right.

It's not about what they "should" have.

But rather the fact that it seems difficult to imagine such a state being set up without further conflict / ethnic cleansing.

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

#410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what I'm thinking too. But if that's true, it means Ukraine has a real fighting chance to put them on their knees. In any case, this seems like a major loss for Russia.

> That's what I'm thinking too. But if that's true, it means Ukraine has a real fighting chance to put them on their knees. Which may depend on continued US support from the newly elected administration.

I mostly depend on manpower. Which they are lacking.
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