After Assad Begins. It's Not Pretty
First, Trump’s slimy tweet bears rereading:
BREAKING:  DONALD TRUMP OFFICIAL STATEMENT ABOUT ASAD AND THE SITUATION IN SYRIA
“Assad is gone. He has fled his country.
His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer. There was no reason for Russia to be there in the first place.
They lost all interest in Syria because of Ukraine, where close to 600,000 Russian soldiers lay wounded or dead, in a war that should never have started, and could go on forever.
Russia and Iran are in a weakened state right now, one because of Ukraine and a bad economy, the other because of Israel and its fighting success.
Likewise, Zelenskyy and Ukraine would like to make a deal and stop the madness. They have ridiculously lost 400,000 soldiers, and many more civilians.
There should be an immediate ceasefire and negotiations should begin. Too many lives are being so needlessly wasted, too many families destroyed, and if it keeps going, it can turn into something much bigger, and far worse.
I know Vladimir well. This is his time to act. China can help. The World is waiting!”
Trump has embraced the foreign policy of the past four years. That means he has potentially written off anyone who voted for him—in full or in part—based on his peace rhetoric. Forget about the stuff about having wanted to leave Syria, then staying to rip off the oil. Terrorists have become “opposition fighters” overnight in Trump world:
U.S. Embassy Syria @USEmbassySyria
We remain committed to bringing leading AQS figures in HTS to justice. #Syria
How soon Trump forgot:
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump - 23:17 UTC · Sep 5, 2013
The terrorists in Syria are calling themselves REBELS and getting away with it because our leaders are so completely stupid!
The “opposition fighters” are now murdering people:
Fiorella Isabel @FiorellaIsabelM
It’s worse than anyone thought. There was a betrayal from within. After 5 AM Damascus time Israel launched a surprise attack & of course we all said this was a Zionist coordination but the idea was the back channels were to keep Damascus safe & Turkey target HTS. Instead there was a coordinated betrayal & there won’t be a slow transition but rather there was a coup. And it won’t stop at Syria. This is all of Israel’s greater project.
Who’s happy now?
MenchOsint @MenchOsint
Netanyahu in the occupied Golan this morning, regarding the fall of Assad:
• "This creates new, very important opportunities"
• "We will not allow any hostile force to establish itself on our border."
• Israeli army expands their occupation over the Golan, soldiers have taken control of the Syrian side of Mount Hermon.
The Israeli army destroyed the Mezzeh Air Base in Damascus
Israeli occupation tanks continue to advance in west of Quneitra Governorate, southern Syria.
Israel is destroying Syrian air bases, military and defense systems, intelligene, military & government structures.
Basically they're demilitarizing Syria.
The Kurds never learn. They’re about to be betrayed yet again:
BREAKING:
The Turkish Armed Forces, alongside the Syrian National Army, are reportedly preparing to launch a major offensive against the Kurdish
What’s interesting in the likely Turkish moves is this. Erdogan was constantly griping about the flow of refugees into Turkey from Syria and claiming it was all Assad’s fault—despite Turkish backing for HTS. Based on what’s going down, I would anticipate a much greater flow of refugees in future. Which makes one wonder, what’s really up?
Lotfi GHAZOUANI @Lotfi_Ghazouani
Israel is invading on the other side of Syria.
MoA reproduces some trenchant tweets:
Mark Sleboda @MarkSleboda1 - 4:27 UTC · Dec 8, 2024
RIP Syria. My God so fast. Western/Turkish intel co-opted/bought/blackmailed essentially the entire Syrian military & admin into just standing down, and the economy was so hallowed [freudian sic!] out by sanctions and occupation of Syria's oil and wheat that the state was incapable of resisting.
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asad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليل @asadabukhalil - 17:42 UTC · Dec 7, 2024
Ibrahim Amin of Al-Akhbar wrote a few days ago that Russia had warned Bashshar Al-Asad that the axis is collapsing and urged him to reconcile with Moscow-approved Syrian opposition. He refused. Erdogan tried to reconcile with him and he refused. Not sure what he was counting on.
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Dan Cohen @dancohen3000 - 2:51 UTC · Dec 8, 2024
There is no Syrian revolution. There is the CIA-run counterrevolution. They sound the same, but are complete opposites.
Syria has lost its sovereignty to competing gangs of Turkish and Israeli-backed jihadist mercenaries who are united in their hate for religious minorities. A dark day for humanity.
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Alon Mizrahi @alon_mizrahi - 5:06 UTC · Dec 8, 2024
Bear with me: if the West bet on Russia and Iran turning this into a wide and prolonged bloodfest in which they will be exhausted, softening Iran for a planned fatal blow, it makes a lot of sense for Putin to not swallow the bait, right? And make Syria the West's headache, instead of his? Let the Americans navigate the labyrinth of interests and hostilities in Syria.
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asad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليل @asadabukhalil -
I never have a good word to say about the Syrian regime (and never written or said a word of praise for the regime, since Hafidh Al-Asad days) but: how can we talk about Syria and not talk about Israeli-US plans for the region to destroy state and society in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Libya? No matter how ugly a regime is, US and Israel manage to replace it with something much worse. Look at Libya and Iraq. In Afghanistan, the US established a regime so repugnant that people preferred the Taliban.
Trump has now owned this. In writing. Stable genius? I have my doubts. Who thinks a demilitarized Syria will be anything other than a humanitarian catastrophe? But then, who thinks the Anglo-Zionists ever gave a shit?
Here’s a useful reminder:
Naive Westerners think that the fall of Assad means some sort of Western ally in Syria. In reality, we’re likely returning to pre-WWI multipolar geopolitics. Buy a fez, folks!
All of this is a salutary reminder to the rest of the Arab world of what to expect.
Trump is walking into all kinds of traps already. It seems the wrong people have gotten close to him and have his ear. Turbulent days ahead
So what on Trumps tweet. He’s not President yet. My guess is he is looking for an excuse to withdraw U.S. forces in Syria, and has stated it’s not the U.S. problem.
On insulting Russia, I don’t think it will influences Putin’s actions. It just makes the U.S. look worse to the rest of the world. And peace in Ukraine will be established due to Russian facts on the ground at the tip of Russian bayonets.
Reminds me of Afghanistan’s outcome. Perhaps it will go down the Libya outcome.