BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government appeared to have fallen early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a lightning rebel offensive.
The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said President Bashar Assad had left the country for an undisclosed location, fleeing ahead of insurgents who said they had entered Damascus after a remarkably swift advance across the country.
Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.
68 Comments
jordanlund@lemmy.world · 92 pts · 1y
Unconfirmed reports that Assad's plane has been shot down:
https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/syrian-president-bashar-al-assads-plane-shot-down-say-unconfirmed-reports
This is develping, so take it with a grain of salt.
phoneymouse@lemmy.world · 27 pts · 1y
ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de · 8 pts · 1y
Could be faking his own death so he isn't tracked down and killed.
Stamau123@lemmy.world · 71 pts · 1y
RIP BOZO
RubberElectrons@lemmy.world · 25 pts · 1y
Pieces, for sure
Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y
To shreds you say?
belastend@slrpnk.net · 59 pts · 1y
Gotta say, its good Assad's gone, but HTS does not sound much better.
guy@piefed.social · 35 pts · 1y
The statements their leader have made seems promising. Cooperation with the UN, peaceful overhanding of power etc. But they stem from Al-Qaeda so let's hope this doesn't age like milk..
kent_eh@lemmy.ca · 17 pts · 1y
He is making the right noises, but then again so did the Taliban when they took control of Afghanistan.
morrowind@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 1y
The taliban had no allies, resources or much established that was at stake, thus no real incentive to follow through. They were just testing the waters to see if the world actually cared that much about those things or it was just a lot of noise. Turns out they were right, no country reciprocated on their statements, and so they just went back to their old ways.
HTS does actually have incentive to follow through here I think
guy@piefed.social · 4 pts · 1y
My point exactly
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca · 16 pts · 1y
Yeah, they're saying all the right things right now but their past associations with al Qaeda and ISIS doesn't bode well.
teslasaur@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 1y
Are they really saying the correct things?
I've seen plenty of interviews where where they say that "God is great" on repeat. Thats not what you want to hear from your potential governing body.
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca · -17 pts · 1y
Can't tell if this is edgy Atheism or Islamophobia.
In the unlikely event you actually want to get out whichever bubble you're in, that phrase is extremely common in that part of the world. It's a nothing burger, calm down.
kent_eh@lemmy.ca · 19 pts · 1y
Theocratic rule, no matter which theology, never improves things for the citizens.
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca · -19 pts · 1y
Snowpix@lemmy.ca · 14 pts · 1y
When an country forces its citizens to follow a state-mandated religion or else face death or severe punishment, and enacts laws that severely limit its citizens' freedom in the name of their chosen state religion, is it really considered "edgy" to be against it? I dunno, being against tyranny doesn't sound like something exclusive to atheists. The tyranny being religious in nature doesn't change that.
annHowe@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1y
I think them using the term 'edgy' was just projection. It's best to avoid taking the bait when trolls do their thing.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 10 pts · 1y
Why don’t you live somewhere with theocratic rule?
Cypher@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 1y
Blooper@lemmynsfw.com · 10 pts · 1y
Yeah, but you're just as bad for pointing that out
/s
annHowe@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 1y
I heard it's all the Democrats fault for not fixing it when they had power.
/s
Nerdulous@lemm.ee · 16 pts · 1y
Yes it is a common phrase but how many governments honestly benefited from having a religious influence? It's not phobic to be concerned that this new government will be created with any religious groups ideology as guidelines instead of foundational morals and freedoms at it's core.
Jarix@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 1y
To your point, removed hard r was a common phrase as well unfortunately is becoming more common again in the us.
Just because it's common doesn't mean it should not be laid ro rest
teslasaur@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 1y
Religion as a base of government is shit, regardless of which make-belief you got bred with.
I don't like labels, cause they simplify an opinion you might hold. But i suppose i have some atheistic views, and that's it.
Stamau123@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 1y
Probably not, but at least for tonight we can celebrate
vga@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 1y
The enemy of my enemy is not as bad an enemy as the other enemy.
Irremarkable@fedia.io · 1 pts · 1y
Time will tell. What they've been saying is mostly good, but words are one thing, actions are another. All we can do is hope.
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 1y
Not sure if I would have preferred al-Assad having to live out the rest of his life in exile and constantly look over his own shoulder... Or seeing him imprisoned in Syria and/or publicly hanged for his crimes against humanity. But I guess with him having fled via plane, we'll all have to accept the former.
RubberElectrons@lemmy.world · 34 pts · 1y
...15ft/s drop at the mysterious end of his flight path in the mountains: https://www.flightradar24.com/data/aircraft/yk-ata#3844aec1
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 1y
That's a rumor that's going around. The flight path makes no sense for a VIP (for example, flying over the city center of occupied Homs), and while it was pretty clearly a crash of a military plane, that doesn't at all imply it was al-Assad's. We don't know the destination, just that he boarded a plane, but I'm guessing we'll see him turn up soon enough.
SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 1y
Might've been trying to make it to the Russian Airbase near Latakia and may not have had clearance to fly over Lebanon. Might've been trying for Iraq originally, but got denied.
But yeah, whether or not that plane was carrying Assad is just speculation.
RubberElectrons@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y
Yeah, we'll have to see. Sucks for whoever was actually on this plane though.
Coreidan@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
That’s what you get for hanging out with a scum bag
RubberElectrons@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 1y
Word. "You are the friends you keep", and so forth.
annHowe@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 1y
Well, if it was a Boeing plane he might nit make it to his destination.
Blackmist@feddit.uk · 35 pts · 1y
Not that Assad isn't a massive cunt, but I do wonder what might happen next.
For reference here is a news article about a certain group taking Afghanistan in 1996, and the tone about today's news seems oddly familiar.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/27/newsid_2539000/2539973.stm
The PM may call for free elections all he wants, but a group that has spent the last decade shedding blood for this moment my not see things quite the same way.
Still, the Syrian government and Hezbollah were in cahoots, so I can think of at least one Syrian neighbour that will be celebrating this. It's one less route for weapons to end up in the West Bank.
humble_pete_digger@lemm.ee · 14 pts · 1y
Practical result - Israel is already hard at work annexing more Syrian territory: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-moves-capture-syrian-held-golan-heights-following-assad-overthrow ofc Netaniahu swears that it's "temporary", I guarantee you - this is a permanent.
Blackmist@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 1y
I mean Golan Heights is mentioned in the news all the time, and I've never seen any of them talk about it as anything other than Israeli territory, despite it being Syria.
WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 1y
Given the track record of violent revolutions throughout history, nothing good. Still, seeing how low the "better than Assad" bar is it might be a slight improvement.
vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 1y
Some real "Welcome to the Imperium of Mankind, atleast we arent the Dark Eldar." Energy.
Knock_Knock_Lemmy_In@lemmy.world · -2 pts · 1y
Only true if the revolution was Israeli sponsored.
Blackmist@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 1y
To think the US haven't had some hand in toppling a regional Russian ally would be naive.
corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca · -5 pts · 1y
Another route would be an independent source of water and power and a trade route and free association and free movement about their own country. But sure, choose violence to end violence, because that works.
Blackmist@feddit.uk · 5 pts · 1y
Seeing some peace in the region would be nice, but I can see Kurdish forces and Turkish backed rebels in the mix, and those guys don't tend to get along.
captainlezbian@lemmy.world · 32 pts · 1y
My best wishes to a free Rojava and may all Syrians get to experience a life of peace and freedom
Cpo@lemm.ee · 4 pts · 1y
I do hope so but HTS has some concerning links to IS.
maplebar@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 1y
Assad was a fucker who committed crimes against humanity and deserved to die. Unfortunately I don't have high hopes for whatever group of islamist fascists ends up arresting control.
(Time to find out if this is one of those subs that removes any comment even slightly critical of islam as "islamophobia"...)
Stamau123@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 1y
Yah know, you didn't have to add that last caveat, most people already agreed with you
maplebar@lemmy.world · -21 pts · 1y
What do you mean? Why do you think I give a damn whether "most people" agree with what I'm saying or not?
Lennny@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 1y
(time to find out blah blah blah who gives a fuck) shows you do give a damn about whether "most people" agree with what you are saying or not.
Lifter@discuss.tchncs.de · 2 pts · 1y
Just the mods
maplebar@lemmy.world · -3 pts · 1y
Feel free to disagree all you want with my educated opinion that Mohammad was a child rapist and a violent warmonger with delusions of grandeur.
Most people are smart enough to know that there is a difference between disagreement and censors removing posts that they simply don't like.
bokherif@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 1y
2024 be like: I'm not done yet!!!
TruthFinder@sh.itjust.works · 13 pts · 1y
MilitantAtheist@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 1y
Good luck. It was jihadists that deposed Assad, I'm sure they'll just give up their newly acquired country. And I'm sure the CIA will stand idly by while that happens. Unfortunately Syria is fucked. Caliphate incoming.
Burninator05@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 1y
Can someone ELI5 what happened? I knew about the civil war but it had been effectively at a stalemate for a couple of years. How did the rebels suddenly surge like they did?
OmegaLemmy@discuss.online · 17 pts · 1y
From what I know, this is the combination of three things
carbonari_sandwich@lemm.ee · 6 pts · 1y
He relied primarily on Russian, Iranian, and Hezbollah support.
MyNameIsIgglePiggle@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 1y
$$$ Assad must have run out of treasure
Wahots@pawb.social · 2 pts · 1y
Iran and Russia used to be helping them, but Iran is in a shadow war with Israel and Russia is in a war with Ukraine + western allies. Their funding and personnel dried up.
Plus, the Syrian rebels banded together. Without Russian air support and airstrikes around the capital, and without iranian arms, their regime collapsed and ran to Russia like a bitch.
Will Syria be better now? It's anyone's guess. I could see Russia and China potentially making moves on them during the rebuild process, but who knows for sure. The US will probably pull out soon once the next government is formed in January. It could be up to the Syrian rebels and Syrian people, but their country infrastructure is pretty blown apart, so they will need outside capital and expertise to rebuild.
Etterra@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 1y
That was damn fast, I didn't think they'd hit Damascus this week.
vga@sopuli.xyz · 4 pts · 1y
Professor: Good news, everyone!
TruthFinder@sh.itjust.works · -1 pts · 1y
MirthfulAlembic@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
The vast majority of Muslims are members of the Sunni branch, like 90%. Its differentiating factor is not being more radical, but mostly about the succession of Muhammad, especially compared to the Shia branch.
nooneescapesthelaw@mander.xyz · 3 pts · 1y
Sunni is just a branch, there are two main branches Sunni and shia, neither are particularly more radical than the other. Kind of like Catholic and protestant christians
TruthFinder@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 1y
nooneescapesthelaw@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 1y
FYI I am Muslim
Sunni and shia together make up ~99% of all Muslims
No branch of Islam is inherently more extreme than the other, it varies from person to person or group to group.
Alawites are (arguably) not muslim
jaggedrobotpubes@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 1y
Too soon to know much for sure, but this could be fucking wild if it's really at face value.
nimomycelium@lemmy.world · -16 pts · 1y
guy@piefed.social · 4 pts · 1y
They seem to be backed by Turkey, which isn't a western country afak?
hark@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
Turkey is ruled by a two-face jackass who tries to play both sides. He's mainly interested in slaughtering the Kurds and carving out a piece of Syria for himself. So yeah, wrong horse for the people of Syria who will have to endure an ultraconservative theocracy, but the west will celebrate this because this benefits israel. Syria had been a thorn in israel's side.
nimomycelium@lemmy.world · -7 pts · 1y
guy@piefed.social · 2 pts · 1y
Oh sorry, I just assumed you meant that the west backed these rebels, which they don't. You should have been clearer if that wasn't the case.
nimomycelium@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
guy@piefed.social · 2 pts · 1y
I don't understand, do you mean that the west should have backed this terrorist group to come out on top or what?
nimomycelium@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 1y
guy@piefed.social · 1 pts · 1y
Thanks for the clarification, I assumed you meant that the West had backed HTS, but I understand what you meant now. :)