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

apnews.com

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

#71

Post by viccis »

tptacek wrote: post #30
samaltmanfried wrote: post #23

[flagged]

I would love for someone to explain to me why there is a cheering section for Bashar al-Assad. I understand what Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is. I can read a Wikipedia page. HTS: not great. Got it. But why am I supposed to believe the Syrian Ba'athists are (sorry, were) a fulcrum of peace in west Asia? Someone give me the pitch. Is it really all a fiendish plot to eliminate the meal of dinner?

Do you think someone pointing out how bad the uprising in Libya turned out is in "a cheering section" for Gaddafi?

You do not have to love or even like Assad's regime to be concerned about an organization with past ties to Al-Qaeda and ISIS taking the reins. Some people in here have a lot of faith in their newly claimed moderate stance. I do not think that a group like that changes its colors over night, but we shall see.

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

#73

Post by dyauspitr »

throwup238 wrote: post #21
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…

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…

The vast majority of Syrian refugees are going to try their best to stay in Europe because why would they want to leave to return to devastation and ruin (aside from forced deportation).

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

#76

Post by throwup238 »

selivanovp wrote: post #57
bbor wrote: 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.

[flagged]

Sednaya wasn’t a regular civilian prison. It was run by the military to house and torture political prisoners and anyone the government considered a “rebel.” Its notoriety long predates the civil war.

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

#77

Post by homebrewer »

doshaa wrote: post #27
samaltmanfried wrote: post #23

[flagged]

This is extremely reductive, the asaad regime ( current and previous ) had to go, they've caused immense pain to syrians since the 80s.. The idea that this is some consorted effort by global hegemony to topple them ignores the effort of the rebels themselves, and how much the war in ukraine have costed russia..

> XYZ just had to go

Yes, this worked out so well in the past. You people will definitely never learn. I honestly dread the times when your diplomats turn their gazes on my country.

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

#78

Post by coffeebeqn »

tptacek wrote: post #30
samaltmanfried wrote: post #23

[flagged]

I would love for someone to explain to me why there is a cheering section for Bashar al-Assad. I understand what Hayat Tahrir al-Sham is. I can read a Wikipedia page. HTS: not great. Got it. But why am I supposed to believe the Syrian Ba'athists are (sorry, were) a fulcrum of peace in west Asia? Someone give me the pitch. Is it really all a fiendish plot to eliminate the meal of dinner?

At best under Assad Syria is stuck in a shitty stasis. Sometimes a risky roll is better than things being stuck at terrible until the end of time - even if it’s “stable” which it clearly wasn’t

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

#79

Post by baserev »

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…

> could this be bad for Ukraine?

No, this is how an overstretched (Russia) empire collapses. First the edges collapses.

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

#80

Post by dyauspitr »

j_maffe wrote: post #67
foooorsyth wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

Syria wasn’t a particularly shitty place before all this began in 2013.
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