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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

#461

Post by netsharc »

sandmn wrote: post #345
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…

In the previous active phase of war in Syria Hezbollah was one of the main Assad supporters that provided manpower. They are extremely weakened right now, so in a way rebels can thank Israel for indirect help.

I remember reading an analysis a few months ago that Biden (or the US foreign policy in general) was letting Israel continue its conflicts in order to weaken Iran and Russia.

From the cold-blooded point of view, it makes sense, somehow "It's fine" when the US bombs are being dropped by the IDF, and screwing Russia helps Ukraine and Europe too. But probably that's a myopic point of view, a lot of the world has burning hatred against Israel and the USA now.

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

#462

Post by severino »

scott_w wrote: post #398
oldpersonintx wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ukraine is also exhausted its time for America to stop pushing Ukrainians into the firing line

[flagged]

Are you sure about that? When Russia annexed Crimea firing a couple of shots in 2014, we couldn't see all that horror you talk about, so I don't think it would be what would happen. In fact, there's a lot of people in Eastern Ukraine that has been hoping for Russia to start this military operation.

OTOH, we have records of killings and rapes by American military personnel in Iraq when the US invaded the country back in 2003. And they did that unimpeded. Maybe you supported that invasion.

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

#463

Post by CuriousCosmic »

j_maffe wrote: post #128
someotherperson wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Actual Syrians” isn’t a thing for this — it’s like wanting to hear from ‘actual Americans’ what they thought of the US election. Depending on the ethnicity, religion and politics of those Syrians you’ll get wildly different views.

Most Syrians I know are celebrating. I could have a biased demographic tho.

Statistically most would be. Assad's regime were Shiites (~13% of the population) and the HTS are Sunni (74% of the population).

This doesn't necessarily mean they are better but at the very least of two very theistic groups, the latter better represents the population than the former.

And of course while this means Russia and Assad are finally out of the equation, the governments in North and East Syria aren't exactly stoked about the HTS' explosive growth in power.

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

#464

Post by nradov »

Eddy_Viscosity2 wrote: post #314
roenxi wrote: post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but it's hard to comprehend why Russia was unable to do anything at all. The dust hasn't settled, but my assumption is that the Russians had a sort-of working plan that the Syrian army would do the heavy lifting and Russia would be funnelling in supplies and providing power for key points - following a proxy-war style defensive model. Given the speed and totality of the Syrian army's collapse they didn't really hav…

I also fall into the not fully understanding the dynamics at play here. What happens it the Assad family loses? Who would likely take control? Would this be better or worse for the regular Syrian person?

There is no regular Syrian person. Like most other Middle Eastern countries, Syrian is a random collection of different tribes, sects, and ethnicities forced together by historical accident. Most of those groups don't particularly like each other. So the outcome will be good for some Syrians and terrible for others. Expect another wave of refugees heading to Europe.

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

#465

Post by nradov »

tzs wrote: post #361
rswail wrote: post #275

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plus Hezbollah has been beheaded and Iran attacked by Israel and Russia over-extended by its invasion of Ukraine. Turkey has also been involved in this because they don't want the Kurds to have a state, but HTS seems to have managed to form a coalition for now. There was also reports of US strafing attacks on columns of some SAA forces (and possibly IRGC) but that seems to have disappeared in the rapid events. The ex…

> Russia will be desperate to hang on to its naval base at Tartus, but that seems to be wishful thinking, but maybe it can make a deal Do they actually still need it? A quick bit of Googling suggests that the main thing they use it for is supplying arms to Syria, which presumably they will no longer need to do.

Russia had been using their bases in Syria to project power into Africa.

https://youtu.be/opT4D9vHSPo

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

#466

Post by gonzo »

sincerecook wrote: post #434
tim333 wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OED has it https://www.oed.com/dictionary/ongoingly_adv?tl=true

Have you ever in your life heard someone say the word ongoingly?

it shows up in papers from a decade ago.

https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Ongoingly-redesigning-...

I agree that it's not in common use.

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

#467

Post by EasyMark »

sydd wrote: post #9
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…

Russia is putting everything it has to the Ukrainian front since 2.5 years and signs of exhaustion are clearly visible. They have lived up their Soviet tank reserves, are offering astronomical amounts of money for soldiers, are using north Korean ammunition, huge inflation etc

I really have hopes that they can reach a ceasefire and that Ukraine can come into NATO to prevent further Russian aggression. Ideally let those Ukrainians who want to enter the “new” Ukraine. I think Putin is of the mind that he has to win something or his role as Russian dictator has a very short life expectancy, and he is quite desperate. I don’t think he will give up any of the land that Russia has acquired though.

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

#468

Post by dralley »

severino wrote: post #462
scott_w wrote: post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Are you sure about that? When Russia annexed Crimea firing a couple of shots in 2014, we couldn't see all that horror you talk about, so I don't think it would be what would happen. In fact, there's a lot of people in Eastern Ukraine that has been hoping for Russia to start this military operation. OTOH, we have records of killings and rapes by American military personnel in Iraq when the US invaded the country back…

>In fact, there's a lot of people in Eastern Ukraine that has been hoping for Russia to start this military operation.

There were some, perhaps 1% to 2% of the population. There was not "a lot" and there never was.

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

#469

Post by dralley »

monetus wrote: post #443
Dah00n wrote: post #413

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't doubt it is true, but "western nations corroborate the evidence" also happened in "Saddam has nukes" and lots of other situations in history.

I was too young at the time, but the perspective here in Tennessee at least is that the wmd allegations were seen as an American and british boondoggle. Were France, Germany, Spain all aboard that train? I thought "the west" had a half hearted push back against the idiocy. Would love to be informed before my Google searches if anyone has their 2¢.

Well, this time (the 2022 invasion) the US and British got it correct while the French and Germans got caught with their pants around their knees.

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

#470

Post by ImPostingOnHN »

Eumenes wrote: post #404
KptMarchewa wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

My friend, you posted a tweet-rant from a random conspiracy theorist. I think the better question, then, is: What reliable sources do you have? Because this is not one.
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