Syria Has Fallen!
Who Are The Winners, Who Are The Losers, And
What's Next For The Middle East?
BY TYLER DURDEN MONDAY, DEC 09, 2024 - 08:25 PM
Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,
Well, that certainly escalated quickly. Just a few days ago, I wrote about how Syrian rebels had taken Aleppo and
were on the way to the central city of Hama. Now Damascus has fallen, the Assad regime has been toppled, and it
is a new day for Syria. But will it be a better day?
The Assad regime was horrible, but the radicals that are taking over are not exactly George Washington and the
boys.
The truth is that they are hardcore Sunni jihadists that have much in common with ISIS, al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
Assad pretty much allowed Christians and other minorities in Syria to do their own thing, but now many fear that
these jihadists will soon impose a brutal form of sharia law that will make life extremely difficult.
For the moment, there is jubilation on the streets of Damascus, and rebels are having a grand time looting Assad’s
presidential palace…
Thousands of Syrians took to the streets in celebration, firing guns into the air, lighting flares, and
waving the rebel flag.
Delighted fighters posted footage from inside Assad’s presidential palace as they celebrated their
stunning win.
The rebels have ransacked the palace, going room from room looting items of value including Louis
Vuitton and other prized possessions.
Video footage from inside Assad’s palace makes it quite clear that he was living the high life.
Watch Stunning Video Footage Of The Fall Of Damascus - I…
I…
But now that the looting has begun, soon there won’t be anything left…
A video features scores of people raiding the cupboards while duvets and linen bed sheets are on the
floor.
One person was seen holding an orange Louis Vuitton box while others carried bags bulging with
looted items.
It’s thought dozens of Assad’s luxury vehicles have also been seized after militants broke into his
garage packed with Mercedes, Ferraris, and Audis.
Nobody should feel sorry for Assad.
He was an absolutely brutal leader, and he was deeply hated by large portions of the Syrian population.
As they advanced, the rebels gleefully toppled one Assad statue after another…
As armed rebels have advanced at lightning speed in recent days from the north of Syria toward the
capital, Damascus, footage online showed statues of the Assad dynasty — which has kept the country
in its authoritarian grip for over 50 years — crashing to the ground.
Needless to say, the rebels would have loved to get their hands on Assad.
But apparently he was able to escape.
Originally, there were reports that Assad was on an Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane that “disappeared from flight
tracking” and that was thought to have been destroyed…
An Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane operated by Syrian Air has disappeared from flight tracking amid
uncertainty over the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad, who has served as the president since July 2000, has reportedly fled Damascus, after a
lightning advance by rebel fighters reached the outskirts of the capital city early on Sunday morning.
But now it is being reported that Assad has arrived safely in Russia where he has been granted asylum…
Russia has granted Syria’s ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and his family asylum on “humanitarian
grounds”, according to Russian state media.
“Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow,” a source told the TASS news agency.
“Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds,” he added.
Obviously, Russia is one of the big losers in this saga.
Syria was Russia’s closest ally in the Middle East. Now the Russians have been forced to pull all of their forces out
of the country and will be losing their sole naval base on the Mediterranean Sea…
Russia is evacuating its ships and transporting leftover weapons by air from its bases in Syria as the
regime of Bashar al-Assad falls, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).
The rapid collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has led to the Russian contingent fleeing the
country.
“After losing control of Damascus and amid the ongoing offensive by opposition forces in the
provinces of Latakia, Hama, and Tartus, the Russian military withdrew its warships from the Tartus
naval base, which Assad had previously handed over to Moscow in exchange for security,” intelligence
officials stated.
Iran is another big loser.
Syria was an extremely close ally of Iran, but now it will be a very bitter enemy under the new Sunni regime.
In addition, the Iranians had been able to funnel countless shipments of arms through Syria to Hezbollah forces in
Lebanon, but now that will no longer be possible.
We are being told that “all pro-Iranian forces” have left Syria, and this represents the biggest strategic defeat for
Iran in decades…
All pro-Iranian forces have reportedly withdrawn from the country in a humiliating blow to the Ayatollah.
Iran has lost a key ally in its Shia axis across proxies and allies in the Middle East.
So who are the winners?
The western elite that have been trying to take the Assad regime down for more than a decade have got to be
thrilled by these developments.
They finally achieved their goal.
Needless to say, Israel is going to come out of this as a big winner as well…
What is happening these days in the Middle East cannot be found even in the most optimistic
scenarios heard 14 months after the surprise attack of October 7. The Shiite axis designed to strangle
Israel is collapsing before our eyes.
Qassem Soleimani’s “ring of fire” vision, designed to allow Iran to advance its nuclear program and
endanger Israel’s existence, is being buried like its mastermind. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei,
first lost the gifted commander of the Revolutionary Guards, then his favorite ally Hassan Nasrallah,
and now the Assad regime has fallen.
Interestingly, the IDF has already moved into Syrian territory a bit in order to set up a “buffer zone” in case the
Syrian rebels decide to launch attacks in their direction. It turns out that the peak of Mount Hermon falls within
that “buffer zone”…
Israel’s Army Radio reported Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had seized the peak of Mount
Hermon, the highest mountain in the region, as a precaution against the advance of Syrian rebels as
the Assad regime collapsed.
The mountain, covered in snow during the winter months, is the highest in the region, and a key
strategic point. Israel has a military base on the mountainside, but Syria has long had a military base
on the peak of the mountain itself.
The move marks the first time Israeli troops have been on the peak of the mountain since the Yom
Kippur War in 1973.
In the end, I think that Turkey is actually the biggest winner.
More than anyone else, Turkey was responsible for arming and supporting the rebels that overthrew the Assad
regime.
Now Turkey will have a very strong Sunni ally directly to the south, and this will also provide Turkey with a land
corridor if it ever decides to physically invade the land of Israel.
The Turks are really starting to flex their muscles in the region, and I think that this success may embolden them
even more.
As for the people of Syria, they are being promised a government that is made up of a “council chosen by the
people”…
Syria’s armed opposition ultimately plans to form a government defined by institutions and a “council
chosen by the people,” Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the militant figure driving the latest rebel swing, told
CNN. He heads the dominant group in the coalition, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al Qaeda
affiliate.
Jolani declared victory for the “entire Islamic nation” on Sunday, in his first public remarks since the
rebel-led coup, which he said “marks a new chapter in the history of the region.”
We shall see what happens.
The Taliban promised that there would be reforms when it reconquered Afghanistan, and we all see how that
turned out.
Ultimately, I believe that what just took place in Syria is setting the stage for the sort of history-changing events in
the Middle East that I have been writing about for a long time.
Now that the Assad regime is out of the way and Hezbollah is severely wounded, the Iranians are in deep trouble.
Let’s watch and see what the Iranians choose to do next, because a cornered predator can be extremely
dangerous.
* * *
Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe
to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
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