Dude, the Kurdish fighters of the YPG/YPG have been the only thing holding them back, which is why it’s no surprise the Islamists appear to have turned on them the second Assad has gone.
Again, this has been happening the whole time. Western media just doesn’t care if our allies are quietly going about a bit of war crime… they’ve restricted the flow of the Euphrates to starve them as well.
If you feel like reading some pro-Islamist, anti-Kurdish propaganda from Turkey, here’s an update:
I mean so far it’s not the worst with the rebels taking control of Damascus. There’s definitely still fighting between them and the Turkish backed rebels, but sounds like Turkey will be trying to get a compromise. HTS rebels have made big efforts to reach out to Christian and minority leaders in towns to ensure they’re safety.
They’ve made statements guaranteeing the safety and freedom of any Syrian armed forces fighting under Assad. They’ve banned any HTS members from forcing or even telling women to cover themselves up. They’ve requested the Assad Prime Minister form a transitional government and welcomed all Syrian refugees back into the country.
Video footage popped up of Russian convoys being forced to turn back and sit in their bases. They’ve guaranteed there won’t be any attacks on Russian forces, but they’re also not giving them the free reign that they’ve been used to for the past decade or so. Assuming Russia will now withdraw their forces from the area.
The biggest negative is Israel doing what they do and trying to stir up shit for the sake of it. They’ve taken Mount Hermon claiming it’s a buffer zone, despite the fact that its no where near Israel, but does give a nice firing platform against Lebanon. They’ve also bombed multiple targets in the area.
Edit: One last one, they’ve official raised the Free Syrian flag over the embassy in Russia. Nothing like a big “fuck you” to Assad and the Russians. The speed of that one is actually amazing, considering the Russian embassy would have definitely been filled with Assad “loyalists”
Saw a video yesterday of a 3 year old kid being let out of Assad’s private prison. It sounded like the kid’s mother had been a prisoner and the kid had spent his entire life there
This is obviously better than the Taliban, but that doesn’t stop the fact that my Alawi and Kurdish friends are now terrified for their families… some of the same people who have committed atrocities on ethno-religious grounds are now forming government.
If we’re very lucky there will be a stable transitional government, some justice and maybe even a truth and reconciliation process for what happened in the civil war with war criminals sent to the Hague. But the mainstream media approach of just pretending that the rebels are all OK and Syrians should just move on from the civil war now that the dictator is gone is… myopic to say the least.
The coverage I’ve seen has generally been open ended. They’re reporting the positives but also stating that HTS was once Al-Qaeda and essentially saying that time will tell whether HTS is good or bad for Syria. They’ve definitely been fairly positive at this stage, but I fully appreciate that it’s all 100% very early stages and there’s about a million unknowns. The HTS leader has definitely gone about repainting himself from what he was originally though.
Hezbollah fought these rebranded ISIS scum bag head choppers to stop them from slaughtering Christian & Muslim minorities so forgive me if these DEI/ESG terrorists don’t ring my bells with fuzzy feelings.
It’s fucking amazing how propaganda works.
Not that anybody with any sense believed them, but remember how the Taliban when they took power in Afghanistan said they had changed, and nothing really happened for the first 6 months, then the worlds attention moved elsewhere and they went back to their hardline Islamic beliefs abd interpretations of Sharia Law, and the world just shrugged their shoulders?
We’ll see what HTS does in 6 months time when everbody forgets about Syria again.
Again, I would suggest waiting and seeing what happens in Syria. If the world doesn’t at least give them a chance to form a decent government then the whole area is even more fucked than when it started. I’ve said it a few times, the advance against Assad’s forces was relatively peaceful with no real documentation of atrocities being committed. Considering this day and age of phones, you would 100% assume there would be at least something popping up. I’m on a whole bunch of reddit groups that would be covering anything like this within seconds. There’s nothing wrong with cautious optimism and I’ll more than happily retract any positive statements should it turn out wrong.
It’s also worth pointing out that Assad committed a fuck tonne of atrocities and had to go in any case. They liberated his personal prison and so many people have gone missing there, that there was rumours that thousands were trapped underground in secret areas. It never came to the people’s minds that their loved ones were actually dead. It’s now being suggested that a huge revision of dead needs to be carried out for that prison population.
Absolutely. However geopolitics isn’t done for altruistic reasons. 
See Iran/Hamas/Hezbollah fucked up strategically on October 7.
Next stop Iran who is the geopolitical prize here for America & Israel, some old scores to settle & that’s when the fun is really going to start boys & girls.
To add to your list, Israel and Turkey also both want unrestricted/uncontested control of the primary water sources of the fertile Crescent: Tigris, Euphrates and Jordan. Fossil fuel politics are temporary, agriculture is forever.
What’s the old saying about the devil you know?
Syria was never going to be game enough to attack Israel on their own. Even trying to re-take the Golan Heights would result in a loss. Syrias military whilst large, didn’t have the capability to wage a war against a technologically superior neighbour. Their military was strong enough to keep an iron fist over its mostly subdued populace. It’s why they so desperately needed Russian support and definitely their air power. Despite having a sizeableair force, in the early years of the civil war its ancient Soviet aircraft were being shot down left right and center by its equally ancient air defence systems that had been pilfered by the FSA & other groups, let alone the technologically superior air defence systems that were being given by the CIA
. Short of a second 6-day war, and a combined Middle Eastern coalition going up against Israel. The Al-Asaads knew that it was impossible on their own. Thus, they kept the peace with Israel.
Israel for the most part was OK with this. They have always had bigger fish to fry. That’s not to say Israel didn’t know where all Syria’s military hardware and technology was kept.
When Russia became involved, Israel set a hard line in the sand with Putin stating that no modern Russian equipment was to be given to the Syrian military. The Russians could have basically free reign in the skies over Israel, but aside from shiny new Kalashnikovs, the Syrian Army didn’t really receive any fancy new weaponary. Once Russia had air superiority and had counter measures for most of the Soviet equipment in the hands of the rebels, superior numbers in the Syrian Army (bolstered by Iranian and Hezbollah troops) combined with their tactics of just slaughtering everything in their path, it didn’t matter anyway.
Israels now bombing the known chemical weapons bases, and other relevant military infrastructure to stop them falling in the hands of individuals and groups, that don’t care about starting a war against Israel.
Destroying whats left of Syrias serious military hardware means whoever emerges from the fallout of this regime collapse, especially Iran won’t have the capability to attack Israel in the future.
The allied bombing supporting the anti-Gaddafi forces did much the same thing. Whilst they were bombing Gaddafi’s troops, they were also bombing any bases and air fields that could enable these rag tag militas to have weapons that could be used in an attack against European or Western nations in the future.
If you’re fine with Israel destroying Syria’s military assets, then you don’t get to complain when China nukes our submarine bases. It’s like day 3 without Assad and they are already forming a unity government, it’s not like the country is in total chaos… You’ve basically given up on the principle of sovereign states and laws of war.
Israel was never pro-Assad, I mean they’ve been technically in a state of war with Syria for the past few decades. What they were supporting though, was chaos. Taking out Assad would mean a united Syria and then you have a lot of unknowns. Will the new regime be pro-West or will they be supportive of the Middle-East, or will attempt to form their own power block? There’s way too many unknowns.
In terms of chemical weapons facilities etc. I fully understand you don’t want them falling into anyone’s hands. Right now I can guarantee there are an extremely large number of military facilities throughout Syria that are completely unguarded. They deservedly need to be destroyed, but at the same time, there’s a right way to do it, and a wrong way. What SHOULD happen, is a UN team going in, working with the Syrian transitional government, and securing the chemical weapon sites for disposal. Indiscriminate bombing, the Israeli way, can honestly go get fucked.
At this stage, Israel is doing whatever the fuck they want, whenever the fuck they want and no one is holding them to account. The irony is, that they have a neighbour who is suddenly VERY anti Hezbollah and anti Iran. The smart ploy would be to support them and get them sorted, rather than bombing the fuck out whoever they want. They again show that they have no qualms in killing anyone, or taking any territory as long as it serves their own agenda. Like I said earlier, Mount Hermon isn’t a buffer zone in any form of the word. It’s a strategically elevated platform that gives them control over a VERY wide area and they can just go get fucked.
In the statement, he insisted he remained in the Syrian capital Damascus until rebel fighters arrived in the city, and then moved to the Hmeimim Russian air base further north.
He said that base then came under attack from drones, which prompted Russian officials to order his evacuation to Moscow.
“At no point during these events did I consider stepping down or seeking refuge, nor was such a proposal made by any individual or party,” the statement read.
“The only course of action was to continue fighting against the terrorist onslaught.”
He’s in Russia! Does he think that doesn’t count as seeking refuge?!
That was my profile picture back on the old days!!
Russia has already indicated they’re willing to talk to the new regime… So much for standing with Assad hahaha
I’m fine with them destroying the Syrian reigimes chemical weapons depots and labs, which is what they’ve done.
No, they’ve destroyed the entire navy and air force.
Israel’s military, meanwhile, says it has laid waste to most of Assad’s heavy weapons and air defenses. In a statement on Monday, the Israel Defense Forces said that in recent days its fighter jets had “inflicted severe damage on Syria’s most strategic weapons: fighter jets and helicopters, Scud missiles, UAVs, cruise missiles, surface-to-sea precision-guided missiles, surface-to-air missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, radars, rockets, and more.”
They’re prepping that high-rise window right now for him, aren’t they?
Turkey is widely reported to have backed the offensive led by the Sunni rebel group, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), to drive Assad from power, thus backstabbing Syria’s traditional allies, Iran and Russia.