In an effective demonstration of its global influence, Clown World’s jihadist proxies managed to take Syria in less than two weeks.
Hayat Tahrir-al-Sham (HTS) jihadists and other anti-government militias entered Damascus on Saturday, taking control over the Syrian capital. Flight data websites show that President Bashar Assad’s plane has left the city. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad al-Jalali has already offered cooperation “with any leadership chosen by the people,” also claiming that he remains in his home.
HTS, a group led by a former Al-Qaeda commander and previously known as Jabhat al-Nusra, launched a surprise offensive from the opposition-held province of Idlib in northern Syria just last week. Jihadists have already driven the Syrian Army from the cities of Aleppo, Hama, Homs, and Al-Qusayr at the border with Lebanon.
Other opposition and militant groups operating in Syria also seized several parts of the country. The US-sponsored Free Syrian Army (FSA) has taken control of the ancient site of Palmyra, while the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also backed by the US have seized Deir ez-Zor.
This is a reminder of Moshe Dayan’s explanation of Israel’s military success: they fight Arabs. Russia didn’t offer much assistance; as Andrei Martyanov pointed out, there is no point in assisting those who will not fight for themselves, a lesson that Americans and Europeans should keep in mind as they meekly submit to the invasion of their various countries.
This is obviously an attempt to secure a bargaining chip in the aftermath of the failure of the Kursk invasion, and Russia’s inaction makes sense in light of its attempt to avoid the full-blown hot war with the West that Clown World is seeking to ignite prior to January 20th. Even so, it is a moderately astonishing shuffle of the deck that no one was expecting.
It also shows the unpredictability of the Turks, who were seemingly cozying up to BRICS and moving away from NATO, but apparently whatever price they were demanding for their cooperation was finally deemed worth paying. Presumably they will be rewarded with the Syrian territory they have been craving in order to completely control Kurdistan, as part of what is described as “a devil’s bargain”.
A truly seismic change in the Middle East appears to be happening very fast. At its heart is a devil’s bargain – Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the imposition of Salafism across the Eastern Arab world.
This sort of thing is why it is totally pointless to attempt to predict geopolitics. There are always additional factors and variables that one does not know to enter into the equation.
UPDATE: The Russians have confirmed a) Assad has been deposed and b) Russia is maintaining its military bases in Syria.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that Bashar Assad has stepped down as Syrian president and left the country following negotiations with armed opposition groups after the fall of Damascus to Islamist forces. In a statement issued on Telegram on Sunday afternoon, officials clarified that Moscow was not involved in the talks but acknowledged Assad’s decision to transfer power “peacefully.” “Russian military bases in Syria are on high alert. At present, there is no serious threat to their security,” the statement read.
In the unlikely event that you haven’t understood that WWIII began in February 2022, the conquest of Syria should make it clear that this is, indeed, the case.