• The "Capital of the Revolution", Homs, Syria, has fallen to Assad; +/-700 rebels evacuate under ceas
    63 replies, posted
[quote]Those leaving al-Wair, under siege for almost three years, will travel to rebel-held areas of Idlib province. Homs was once dubbed the "capital of the revolution" and saw some of the first protests of the 2011 uprising. But the truce means the entire city returns to government control, in a boost for President Bashar al-Assad. Buses arrived on Wednesday to transport fighters and their families out of the Homs suburb of al-Wair. [B]About 700 people, including rebel fighters and civilians, are due to depart throughout Wednesday, Homs governor Talal Barazi said. [/B] Fighters linked to al-Qaeda are among those due to leave, but moderate groups who have accepted the ceasefire are expected to remain. [B]Under the UN-backed deal, food aid has reached the suburb for the first time in nearly a year.[/B] The Syrian Red Crescent tweeted (in Arabic) that its teams were operating in the area but few details were available on the conditions on the ground. "We wish for the best," said one resident. "What do we want but safety?" On Wednesday the long road into al-Wair was lined with passenger buses, UN cars, ambulances, and Syrian military vehicles. A buffer zone at the entrance was packed with Syrian soldiers and officials, blue-vested UN staff, and the red coats of the Syrian Red Crescent. [B]The first to leave were dozens of injured, young and old, hobbling on crutches or bent in wheelchairs. Then came 100 families of the fighters[/B], some tearful to be leaving their homes, many desperate to be free of a punishing siege. The last to board waiting buses were more than 300 fighters from hardline groups who reject the ceasefire but agreed not to disrupt it. The ceasefire is a bitter landmark for those who protested and fought in a city once called "capital of the revolution". For others, it's the only way forward to begin to end a devastating war and to ease the suffering of civilians who have paid a heavy price.[/quote] [url]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35048404[/url] Eventually it's going to come down between Assad and the Islamic State.
We've entered Assad's endgame. He accomplished all of his goals, starting with the utter elimination of the secular opposition withing the first two years of the war. Almost all the opposition leaders (who had been organizing and campaigning against the regime for decades) are dead, with the remaining scattered to Europe or North America. Even the actual grassroots rank-and-file of the opposition - the FSA - has been either destroyed or converted into Islamist junk-insurgents. That was the real threat to his regime. Now he's going to wipe the slate clean with Russian support and complete his masterpiece. You can already see the multiple large scale attacks the SAA has been making over the last month. It's only a matter of time now.
This is the part I find the most interesting actually. [quote] Fighters linked to al-Qaeda are among those due to leave, but moderate groups who have accepted the ceasefire are expected to remain. [/quote]
I guess this is how the Arab Spring ends then.
Good job Assad, hope you can end this mess sooner rather than later.
[QUOTE=Da Bomb76;49301190]We've entered Assad's endgame. He accomplished all of his goals, starting with the utter elimination of the secular opposition withing the first two years of the war. Almost all the opposition leaders (who had been organizing and campaigning against the regime for decades) are dead, with the remaining scattered to Europe or North America. Even the actual grassroots rank-and-file of the opposition - the FSA - has been either destroyed or converted into Islamist junk-insurgents. That was the real threat to his regime. Now he's going to wipe the slate clean with Russian support and complete his masterpiece. You can already see the multiple large scale attacks the SAA has been making over the last month. It's only a matter of time now.[/QUOTE] Not quite a "wipe the slate clean" with majority of the nation in flaming ruin.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49301367]Not quite a "wipe the slate clean" with majority of the nation in flaming ruin.[/QUOTE] Obviously the nation is fucked and will remain so for a very long time. Assad isn't going anywhere, however.
[QUOTE=Da Bomb76;49301387]Obviously the nation is fucked and will remain so for a very long time. Assad isn't going anywhere, however.[/QUOTE] You think that's bad, just wait for the people to come in the thread and explain how this is a good thing for Syria.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49301367]Not quite a "wipe the slate clean" with majority of the nation in flaming ruin.[/QUOTE] A solid administration working to rebuild a broken country is [I]much[/I] better than whatever cobbled together sham of a government would have emerged had Assad been overthrown. [editline]12th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49301405]You think that's bad, just wait for the people to come in the thread and explain how this is a good thing for Syria.[/QUOTE] Fuck, I bit the bait didn't I.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49301143][url]http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35048404[/url] Eventually it's going to come down between Assad and the Islamic State.[/QUOTE] The moderate rebels are irrelevant at this point. People that hate Assad have already went full on batshit insane Islamic and people that just wanted a secular democracy have signed up with Assad because "holy shit ISIS is bad" or have fled the country.
[QUOTE=Da Bomb76;49301190]We've entered Assad's endgame. He accomplished all of his goals, starting with the[B] utter elimination of the secular opposition[/B] withing the first two years of the war. Almost all the opposition leaders (who had been organizing and campaigning against the regime for decades) are dead, with the remaining scattered to Europe or North America. Even the actual grassroots rank-and-file of the opposition - the FSA - has been either destroyed or converted into Islamist junk-insurgents. That was the real threat to his regime. Now he's going to wipe the slate clean with Russian support and complete his masterpiece. You can already see the multiple large scale attacks the SAA has been making over the last month. It's only a matter of time now.[/QUOTE] Wasn't his government secular? Why would he target the secular opposition specifically?
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49301405]You think that's bad, just wait for the people to come in the thread and explain how this is a good thing for Syria.[/QUOTE] We're in a situation where it's either him or ISIS. It's pretty disgusting.
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;49301432]Wasn't his government secular? Why would he target the secular opposition specifically?[/QUOTE] Because the secular opposition had support from America and other western nations.
[QUOTE=Zenreon117;49301432]Wasn't his government secular? Why would he target the secular opposition specifically?[/QUOTE] It's not a contrast to Assad not being secular, it's called the secular opposition to clarify it against the Islamist opposition. [editline]12th December 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Canuhearme?;49301408]A solid administration working to rebuild a broken country is [I]much[/I] better than whatever cobbled together sham of a government would have emerged had Assad been overthrown.[/quote] A solid administration built on fear and working to rebuild for the loyal and to suppress what's left of resistance against the regime. A government for democracy would only be a sham and cobbled together if left alone by the world. I'm confident that, if the world, especially the West, helped build this democracy with them, it would be able to function and serve the people of Syria much better than the current government which we can all expect to soon execute opposition POWs when the war is over (if they haven't already). [QUOTE=Canuhearme?;49301408] Fuck, I bit the bait didn't I.[/QUOTE] Pretty much :v:
[QUOTE=*Freezorg*;49301459]We're in a situation where it's either him or ISIS. It's pretty disgusting.[/QUOTE] That's how reality works. Sometimes we have to go with something we don't really like in order to clean up the bigger mess at hand here. I'll take Assad over ISIS if it means this whole thing can eventually get cleaned up and maybe the Middle East can go back to some state of normalcy.
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49301405]You think that's bad, just wait for the people to come in the thread and explain how this is a good thing for Syria.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately some people don't seem to be quite able to grasp the idea that the lesser of two evils and still evil. Mark my words, if Hitler rises from the dead to fight ISIS, it'll be the usual suspects buying jackboots and asking why we only talk about the [I]bad [/I]things Hitler did.
[QUOTE=Da Bomb76;49301387]Obviously the nation is fucked and will remain so for a very long time. Assad isn't going anywhere, however.[/QUOTE] Depends entirely on Russia's reaction, they're occupying Damascus and they have been sending mixed messages
[QUOTE=Mingebox;49301998]Unfortunately some people don't seem to be quite able to grasp the idea that the lesser of two evils and still evil. Mark my words, if Hitler rises from the dead to fight ISIS, it'll be the usual suspects buying jackboots and asking why we only talk about the [I]bad [/I]things Hitler did.[/QUOTE] Well at this point it's just being stupid to wait for a magic happy fairy to make a totally 100% perfect rebel government happen. We might as well take the option that doesn't involve Barbarians literally taking over a country.
[QUOTE=Da Bomb76;49301190]We've entered Assad's endgame. He accomplished all of his goals, starting with the utter elimination of the secular opposition withing the first two years of the war. Almost all the opposition leaders (who had been organizing and campaigning against the regime for decades) are dead, with the remaining scattered to Europe or North America. Even the actual grassroots rank-and-file of the opposition - the FSA - has been either destroyed or converted into Islamist junk-insurgents. That was the real threat to his regime. Now he's going to wipe the slate clean with Russian support and complete his masterpiece. You can already see the multiple large scale attacks the SAA has been making over the last month. It's only a matter of time now.[/QUOTE] He didn't oppose the FSA because they were secular, Assad is a Ba'athist that is about as secular as you can get in the Arab World. He didn't like them for other reasons.
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;49302567]He didn't oppose the FSA because they were secular, Assad is a Ba'athist that is about as secular as you can get in the Arab World. He didn't like them for other reasons.[/QUOTE] He disliked the FSA because, in the eyes of a Ba'athist, democracy and freedom of speech/choice is a negative
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;49301422]The moderate rebels are irrelevant at this point. People that hate Assad have already went full on batshit insane Islamic and people that just wanted a secular democracy have signed up with Assad because "holy shit ISIS is bad" or have fled the country.[/QUOTE] What's a moderate rebel?
[QUOTE=Jame's;49303000]What's a moderate rebel?[/QUOTE] Secular democracy, not fighting to create an Islamic slave empire.
[QUOTE=Rangergxi;49303039]Secular democracy, not fighting to create an Islamic slave empire.[/QUOTE] When did they exist?
[QUOTE=Jame's;49303077]When did they exist?[/QUOTE] Never [url]http://www.joshualandis.com/blog/the-free-syrian-army-doesnt-exist/[/url]
[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;49301845]I'm confident that, if the world, especially the West, helped build this democracy with them, it would be able to function and serve the people of Syria much better than the current government[/QUOTE] Just like the West did in Libya and Iraq?
My only hope is that he recognises that it's possible to make Syria a secular democracy without requiring a revolution and he passes over power at some point. But honestly, I [I]highly[/I] doubt it, since he'll probably take this as a sign of his moral justness and continue doing whatever he was doing beforehand, if not amp it up.
[QUOTE=Jamsponge;49303632]My only hope is that he recognises that it's possible to make Syria a secular democracy without requiring a revolution and he passes over power at some point. But honestly, I [I]highly[/I] doubt it, since he'll probably take this as a sign of his moral justness and continue doing whatever he was doing beforehand, if not amp it up.[/QUOTE] Syria was secular before the civil war. Only democracy is really what was needed.
Assad is Alawite, which is/was the main thing in Syria last I checked, but a lot of the others were Shia and Sunni respectively.
[QUOTE=Thomo_UK;49303738]Assad is Alawite, which is/was the main thing in Syria last I checked, but a lot of the others were Shia and Sunni respectively.[/QUOTE] Alawite is a tiny minority. It's also an offshoot of the Shi'ite sect. This is why Assad's government is so friendly with Shi'ite Iran. Despite this, Assad's government is that of the Ba'ath political ideology, which puts pan-Arabism (nationalism) above religion and is mostly secular in nature. While Syria has a variety of sects and religions, its majority Muslim sect is Sunni.
I'd have never thought I'd say this but, it feels like its high time to hope that Assad's army will wipe out the so called "moderate" jihadists. Obligatory thread music: [video=youtube;TZ2Lh8woWz4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ2Lh8woWz4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
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