Rebel offensive in Syria gains ground as Russian military presence fades.

They have nothing to fear from the pro-Western democratic rebel forces now taking power in Syria.

 

Since 2012, Putin's puppet Assad was there to make sure the Arab Gas pipeline never got finished. The project that would have brought super cheap Saudi and Qatari gas into Turkey and on to the European market.

Even Hungary, Austria and Serbia aren't going to say no to this.

No more long tanker voyages for Qatari LNG or missing out on low priced Saudi gas, it'll all merrily head into Europe.

The last bits of European market Putin is still managing to sell to will be even further cut.​

Most interesting. If this is a consideration, I wonder if Russia is done interfering in Syria to stop it now.

 

@Durandal

You do understand after Assad will be

Islamist ?​

Maybe, Assad is the better choice. y'think?.

 

Murderous dictators are never the better choice.

 

Yep....everybody is looking to cash in now.

 

Probably no alternative....too many bonfires everywhere.

 

Agreed.The only thing that woudl have saved Assad's bacon was a sudden influx of Russian soldiers and air power and that was never going to be possible. Without them providing a 'back bone for his own forces? The Syrian army was always going to deflate like a balloon.

 

That pipeline ain’t gonna happen - Israel has declared war on Syria.

The Russians will be fine. They just gotta surrender.

 

I don't know anyone from that part of the world so all I have is second-hand info. I don't take the mainstream seriously as they're known liars. I read the alternative press but that's still not the same as knowing people from that part of the world.

For Bibi, the Road to Tehran Goes Through Damascus. Mike Whitney
https://www.globalresearch.ca/bibi-road-tehran-goes-damascus/5874212

Undeclared US-NATO-Israel War of Aggression against Syria: “Al Qaeda Terrorism” to Wage a Coup d’Etat against an Elected Secular Government
https://www.globalresearch.ca/syria...n-instrument-of-death-and-destruction/5571339

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov discusses Syria crisis, Ukraine war | Talk to Al Jazeera



A good rule of thumb is to assume that whoever the US mainstream says are the good guys are the bad guys and vice versa.

 

There are deals to be cut. The new boys won't want to shut any doors they don't have to shut. Unlike Iran, Russia is distant and VERY transactional. If any Russian soldiers get killed my bet is that it will be bad luck rather than intentional execution. Send them back to Putin as a goodwil lgesture, use them as bargaining chips, cut a deal & get them to supply weapons & training for the next phase of the war. All options.

Putin is practical & amoral he cut Armenia loose after centuries of Russia posing as the 'protector' of Christians. Assad could hardly expect better. He had best hope the new regime doesn't make his return for trial a condition of Russia keeping its bases. Vlad would bundle him up & send him back in a heartbeat if he thought it would advantage him.

 

Here's some background info on Syria from the alternative press. The article is a year and a half old.

The US Will Strengthen Its Occupation of Syria, while Plundering Oil Resources
https://www.transcend.org/tms/2023/...tion-of-syria-while-plundering-oil-resources/
(excerpt)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11 Aug 2023 – The Obama administration began the US military occupation of Syria in November 2015. Obama sold the public on the idea of fighting ISIS, but in reality military personnel of Syria, Russia, Iraq and Iran were already on the group and ultimately defeated ISIS in Syria.

The real reason behind the US invasion and occupation of Syria, now lasting eight years, and with no end in sight, was to prevent the Syrian government, and its citizens, from benefiting from the oil wells in the north east.

Those oil wells had supplied the domestic consumption of gasoline, diesel home heating fuel, diesel truck fuel, and the production of electricity.

Since then, Syrians have had a chronic shortage of gasoline, diesel and have almost no electricity for homes, offices, businesses, schools and hospitals The national grid is dependent on converting petroleum into electricity at the various power stations. Syrians are living with just two to three hours of electricity per 24 hours, in three increments.

Due to US sanctions, Syria can’t buy energy products easily. The sanctions and occupation are designed to keep the Syrian people deprived of even the most basic daily needs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I've also read that the US wants control of Syria in case they go to war with Iran.

Remember Pearl Harbor: Provoking Japan, Provoking North Korea
https://www.globalresearch.ca/remember-pearl-harbor-provoking-japan-provoking-north-korea/5621411
(excerpt)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The day after December 7, 1941, after listening to FDR’s Infamy speech, and believing his claim that the attacks had been unprovoked, Congress duly passed a declaration of war against Japan. Because of treaties then in place, the U.S. was at war with all the Axis powers.

Are we to believe that this provocation game, so useful to U.S. planners those many decades ago, now gathers dust on the shelf? On the contrary, U.S. strategy today requires it, and its proponents are in some cases surprisingly frank about this. For example, in the publication, Which Path to Persia?, authored by strategists at the Saban Centre (housed in the Brookings Institution), we find the following argument:

(a) Any major, overt military action against Iran by the U.S. will be very unpopular (this was in 2009) internationally and domestically unless it is seen as a response to Iranian aggression.

(b) Waiting for the Iranians to carry out such an act may mean waiting forever, because Iran avoids such actions.

(c) It may, therefore, be necessary to goad Iran into such an action—especially if the aim is an invasion of Iran with regime change as in the Iraq case.

(d) The more violent the Iranian response to U.S. goading, the better. All military options are at that point easy to pursue.

The authors note:

“it would be far more preferable if the United States could cite an Iranian provocation as justification for the airstrikes before launching them. Clearly, the more outrageous, the more deadly, and the more unprovoked the Iranian action, the better off the United States would be. Of course, it would be very difficult for the United States to goad Iran into such a provocation without the rest of the world recognizing this game, which would then undermine it. (One method that would have some possibility of success would be to ratchet up covert regime change efforts in the hope that Tehran would retaliate overtly, or even semi-overtly, which could then be portrayed as an unprovoked act of Iranian aggression.)” (pp. 84-85)

Later they return to the theme of covert regime change as deliberate provocation:

“Indeed, for this same reason, efforts to promote regime change in Iran might be intended by the U.S. government as deliberate provocations to try to goad the Iranians into an excessive response that might then justify an American invasion.” (p. 150)

The dream of these authors is an attack on the U.S. similar to the assaults of 9/11 (p. 66). Their problem is how to bring this about. If they could get an Iranian assault, they feel, U.S. forces could then do whatever they wanted to do to Iran without resistance from either the U.S. domestic population or the international community.

 

No he's not .. Donald is making pro Russian noises .. you have everything backwards from reality again .. and contradicting cheer team claim .. of Donald being a Kremlin operative ..

What is this off topic spaghetti on the porcelain floor zoomer ? .. Assad escaped to Moscow last I heard . . what about it .. last we spoke you were going to explain why the cheer team is rooting for the Islamic State .. but then ran and hid. Assad finding asylum in Russia is not going to change things in Ukraine . unless Zelensky can convince some of your beloved ISIS fighters to come to Ukraine.

Sorry Zoomie .. but it is highly unlikely that the Islamic State is going to be that knight in shining armor you have been dreaming of .. gonna turn the tide and win Crimea back .. turn into NATO base.

You are setting yourself up for failure and disappointment .. Trump has yet to take office and he already has the parties to the negotiating table .. terms very favorable to Vlad .. the best deal anyone ever had .. delivered as predicted by Carrot Top .. Don't listen to D ... Trump going "pro Ukraine" is made up fantasy.

 

Israel has no current agreements with any side of Syria, the cease fire agreement was with Assad and that's gone now, ofc there's always possibility of PEACE and mutual recognition of state borders.......but we relay on the "good" ppl of the world such as you - to keep these hostilities forever alive, which will allow us to grow

 

Now there you got something right ! .. inadvertently I am sure as with the broken clock .. but yes .. the Bear is definitely feasting on Ukraine .. given poor Assad Asylum .

 

What putin lost in the passing week not even Trump can replace, and we'll see how it all plays out, every week there's a new world crisis.

There are no signs these are Islamists that are in control, they didn't even execute Assad soldiers and that's mandatory in this area, they allow tarty women with no head cover in the streets, there are many signs things will go well this time.

 

Agreed Syria is a big geopolitical loss .. .. assuming this new Islamic State does not go the way of the Taliban.

Hard to comment on "No signs these are Islamists that are in control" - without being condescending .. and in your case .. did you forget the entirety of the war in Syria .. and the definition of Islamist ? .. sorry but .. what on earth would make you think that these ex Islamic State fighters .. are not fighting for a new Islamic State .... now created ..

Are you freaken kidding .. "Allow women with no head cover" .. what else would you expect them to present to the world .. what would be really smart .. were you in their shoes .. and what would be really really really really stupid .. What should they be doing to the Christian women at this exact moment in time .. just talking politics here .. not that any of that is going on ????????????? ..

Do we A) implement the forced marriage right at this moment like we did in the previous Islamic State .. or B)

and remember to comment on how stupid it would be for them to implement A

KK .. what was it you were saying about Islamists .. what exactly did you think an Islamist was ? beyond not implementing the harsh laws and beliefs right at this moment .. when the whole world is looking .. as if this new Islamic State is not going to be restrictive like Saudi Arabia .. the Hive Mother from which all of the various names are spawned.

 

But that's the point, Islamists are not diplomatic, they never cared about how things look, they would never allow an offence on GOD for likes from the west, they would kill and die for it.
If you suggest they hide what they want to do well its a problem for Islamists, possible but problematic, I would expect at least killing Assad soldiers, what they did show is a lot of tolerance, for now, I agree it can still change but for now it looks good.

 

I can't really see how the US can leverage it's position here? What have you read about Turkey's involvement....do you believe Hakan Fidan's denial of involvement.....seems odd that Tahrir al-Sham bursts out of a Turkish controlled enclave ostensibly to just slam Aleppo and then.....well all this happens.....just a happy coincidence I suppose..

 

K .. see two posts above this one .. Yes .. AQ has governed a country >>> ??? the Nation known as the Islamic State ..established in late 2013 .. Ended by Lord Vlad in 2017 .. sans a small fraction preserved in the US -Turkey protected Zone - Idlib for example .. where all the left -overs from the Islamic State been hiding out .. undergoing "re-education" .. into the smarter way of being an Islamist nut-job.

The War in Syria was a "Holy Jihad" .. fellow Islamist groups from everywhere flooded into the nation .. and there were hundreds of groups in Syria to begin with .. Hence why Assad is cast as so Harsh .. look what he has to deal with .. 50% of the Nation is a radical Islamist "Al Qaeda" group .. and get over the name .. it matters not .. Al Qaeda - ISIS -- Al Nursra - Boko Haram - Al Shabaab .. .. Arar al Shem .. "Martyrs brigade such and such" .. Same Scat . all are wanting an " Islamic State in Syria" -- famously reported by the NYT in 2013 .. but this was previous to the famous "Moderate Rebel Lie" put out by Obama in 2014 .. when his Proxy army "The Islamic State" .. went off the leash and went into Iraq .. Oh .. did you forget about that ?

Let Rand Paul describe the problem .. to Candy Crowley over at CNN.

http://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2...-my-son-into-that-mess-on-the-crisis-in-iraq/

It was around this time that the "Moderate Rebel Lie" started to float around .. and it still floats apparently .. despite the Bill by Tulsi Gabbard which killed it in 2017 .. cosigned by 13 bipartisan co-sponsors .. "The Stop Arming Terrorist Act" . .. and ya just can't make this stuff up Tulsi now head of the Intelligence agency .. knowing full well who the Islamist is .. and what the Islamist is .. and why we hate them ..

Would you be happy if we were to live under Saudi Arabia style Sharia Law ? .. and were this the threat .. would you not think this was something worth fighting against .. and not for.. especially not for others .. even if you want this for yourself.

Let us dispense with religious nomenclature .. and talk in terms of human garbage as our metric .. on a scale of 1 to 100 .. our lads are 99.654 % and you are arguing that .. oh .. well .. they might be 99.421% on the smells bad test.

How about you wake up in the morning .. yesterday was fine .. today you have ISIS unhinged ..party like its 2013 take over your neighborhood .. and tell me "Who do ya love" .. then naming the original artist

 

That's not the point at all .. Your Point .. is simply "Islamists are really really really stupid" .. and so will always do stupid things .. never caring about how things work .. and so on....

The point ... is that believing this necessarily the case .. in the case of our fearless leader .. well obviously a reformed fearless leader .. is beyond the pale .. no pass giggle test .. and really blond .. to the point of claiming Islamist Jihadists would never engage in such deception .. deception which is part of the religion .

Ah .. Allah .. praise be the Prophet who say deceive if you may ...all the way .. So it is written .. So it shall be done .. Just having some fun mate but .. fa real .. you do not understand what an Islamist is .. nor about what is happening here .. Turkey lashing the whip . what exactly did you think the Turkish leader is .. if not an Islamist ? .. have you naught been to a beach at an all inclusive resort in Turkey .. plenty of Booze .. bikini fun in the hot hot sun .. dancing to western Music .... Blinded by nuance ..

 

If the US decides to go to war with Iran, it will be advantageous to them to control that area. They could use it as a base. If they don't control it, Russia or China might end up controlling it. This might be part of their long-term plan to take back control over Iran's oil. If that doesn't work out, at least they'll be able to steal Syria's oil.

I haven't been following this issue very closely. I just wanted to post some alternative stuff in the discussion. I haven't formed a firm opinion. All I can do is speculate.

 

I thought it was going to be some Taliban thinking bunch taking over there now.

 

Syria, like all countries in the region, has been Islamist country since 636AD.

As for how strictly they follow the Sharia laws depends on the country. Some, like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, are pretty hard core, while some others and less so.

Assad killed over half a million people, so I dont think he is "better" in any way, shape or form.

 

Not stupid, fanatic, they will kill before God get's offended from a women's scarf.
Anyway that's how they did it back then.

Everything is possible, you could be right, all I'm saying so far so good.
Keep in mind this was never put to our/the world's vote....if it was we probably had a different outcome.