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Turning Point in Syria as Assad Regains All of Aleppo {hurrah!}
The New York Times ^ | 22 December 2016 | Ben Hubbard

Posted on 12/23/2016 12:15:07 AM PST by Cronos

The evacuation of civilians and fighters from the last rebel-held part of Aleppo concluded on Thursday after long delays because of frigid weather, putting all of Syria’s industrial capital back in the hands of President Bashar al-Assad’s forces for the first time since 2012.

...Tens of thousands of people have been removed from eastern Aleppo since Dec. 15. Before the last buses left on Thursday, the Red Cross said that 34,000 people had left the city, including 4,000 fighters who had left in their own vehicles the previous night.

...The seizure of all of Aleppo by Mr. Assad and his allies signals a turning point in the nearly six-year conflict.

...Throughout the conflict, Mr. Assad has characterized the rebels seeking his ouster as foreign-backed terrorists, and he hailed the retaking of Aleppo on Thursday as a blow to those forces. He also thanked the international backers who helped.

“Liberating Aleppo from terrorism is a victory not only for Syria, but also for those who really contributed to the fight against terrorism, especially Iran and Russia,” Mr. Assad said at a meeting with a visiting Iranian delegation, according to the Syrian state news service, SANA.

...The ordeal had changed his thinking about the rebel movement, and he criticized its commanders for the infighting that had long sapped their movement and for the Islamist agenda that some had adopted.

“I might stop fighting. I lost the motivation,” Mr. Nadaf said. “The goals changed — the situation on the ground changed.”

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Russia; Syria; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: aleppo; assad; basharalassad; syria
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To: Jay Thomas

And then let the Russians and the Chinese and the Indians kill off the Arabs to get the oil there. Win-win


61 posted on 12/23/2016 4:24:15 AM PST by Cronos (Obama's dislike of Assad is not based on his brutality but that he isn't a jihadi Moslem)
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To: goldstategop

That’s what the MSM believe and sell. I am not yet convinced.


62 posted on 12/23/2016 4:39:42 AM PST by MarMema ("you can't make up...a constitutional right to a recount" Beloved Mi AG Bill Schuette)
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To: RedWulf
Rulers like Assad who protect Christians are good guys in my book.

What you said.

63 posted on 12/23/2016 4:41:04 AM PST by MarMema ("you can't make up...a constitutional right to a recount" Beloved Mi AG Bill Schuette)
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To: ZULU

Russia and Syria have been tight since at least 1940. Just fyi.
Putin/Russia have a much larger hand in this game than we ever had. I think the pipelines story is probably more true than Saudi oil fields as a factor.


64 posted on 12/23/2016 4:44:24 AM PST by MarMema ("you can't make up...a constitutional right to a recount" Beloved Mi AG Bill Schuette)
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To: boycott
Thank you. And Serbia was trying to defend itself against a radical muslim group pouring over their border, and at that time listed as terrorists by our government.

So we bombed them under Clinton.

65 posted on 12/23/2016 4:51:51 AM PST by MarMema ("you can't make up...a constitutional right to a recount" Beloved Mi AG Bill Schuette)
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To: RedWulf
Russia wasn’t strong enough in the 90s and 00s to support their allies like Syria.

I was in Russia 3-4 times in the 90's and it was a third world country on the first visit. They had no postal service.

66 posted on 12/23/2016 4:54:41 AM PST by MarMema ("you can't make up...a constitutional right to a recount" Beloved Mi AG Bill Schuette)
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To: goldstategop
Assad is a mass murderer like his father. Arab dictators have to kill to remain power. Or they wind up dead like Qaddafi. The Assad regime is a ruthless totalitarian regime. Those who oppose it disappear. They are not good guys.

So?

67 posted on 12/23/2016 4:56:48 AM PST by Jim Noble (Die Gedanken sind Frei)
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To: boycott; Cololeo; cherry
pipeline story - aussies

The thing is Milosevic refused a pipeline in Serbia before the bombs. Which does make me wonder...Anyway I think this is a clear read on the idea and am sharing it.

68 posted on 12/23/2016 5:04:10 AM PST by MarMema ("you can't make up...a constitutional right to a recount" Beloved Mi AG Bill Schuette)
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To: BuffaloJack
Assad is ruthless and totalitarian

If you add in "fascist" this is how the left portrays Trump.

Which makes me hesitant to believe it about Assad.

69 posted on 12/23/2016 5:13:48 AM PST by MarMema ("you can't make up...a constitutional right to a recount" Beloved Mi AG Bill Schuette)
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To: goldstategop

I am curious how many Syrians you think Bashir Assad killed in the first 11 years of his presidency ( from 2000 - 2011) ? It was after 2011 when obama Clinton and the saudis began to employ “ arab Spring” to overthrow all the nonsecular heads of state by funding and supporting violent radical islamists many of whom were foreign to the countries they infiltrated.
Qadaffi didn’t fight back effectively, the Egyptians fought back after the MB figurehead Morsi showed his stripes, Assad ( eventually with Russian and iranian support) fought back when his police governors supportive communities and military were being assassinated. If there is a kinder gentler way to resist tens of thousands of ISIS and Al Qaeda anarchists embedding themselves among intimidated brutalized civilians, maybe western historians can someday write a kinder gentler war plan.
Assad has been elected 3 times now.

Canadian journalist Eva Bartlett has traveled in Syria and the region and describes the sentiment of the silent majority of Syrians who support their president and consider their national army as liberators. If Assad was as brutal as you say then why did he allow “ fighters” to evacuate eastern Aleppo instead of flattening the place or besieging and starving them out?

Eva Bartlett interview at the UN

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AbIqdRvOnww


70 posted on 12/23/2016 5:23:09 AM PST by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: Jay Thomas

I do not think trump wants to “ undermine” the Saudis
But they need to be reined in and we must never again bow to them
A rebalancing of power spheres among all interests must be undertaken by sane diplomacy and enforced. Time to stop the deadly war games and proxy wars.

Saudi and Gulf money influence and ambition has totally unbalanced the region, caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and corrupted our own ideals of morality and justice. They have gotten a complete pass from responsibility for what their money has done to corrupt the honor of the US military and to destroy Syria .

No one has even paid attention to what they are doing to Yemen because muslim on muslim genocide gets about as much press as black on black killings. .

There is nothing just honorable or moral about creating and backing ISIS and Al Qaeda no matter what bad names you call the Syrian president.


71 posted on 12/23/2016 5:43:03 AM PST by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: Gene Eric

He was also getting his (Libyan) money, the gold Dinar, widening use to replace the American Dollar as the standard for petroleum trades.


72 posted on 12/23/2016 7:03:55 AM PST by HippyLoggerBiker (Always carry a flagon of whiskey in case of snakebite and furthermore always carry a small snake.)
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To: Cronos

Assad is a strongman dictator. But, prior to the uprising we started and supported the last 5 years, Syria was relatively peaceful and all religions and cultures lived there in peace.
It takes a murderous strongman to control Muslims and Arabs. See Lybia for example.


73 posted on 12/23/2016 7:25:30 AM PST by lurk (TEat)
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To: RedWulf

I think with Trump we’ll see a long overdue realignment of international relations, including an end to the Bush New World Order, which was ultimately responsible for the Arab Spring that Putin has basically ended. That’s one reason why the neo-cons and the Dems had to go down in this past election.

I also like the fact that Putin has the clout now to keep Syria and Iran contained. That can’t be bad for the US.

Under Trump, I hope we get out of the business of ‘regime building’ (except for our own). It’s none of our business.

The realignment around Christian ideals would be frosting on the cake. First we have to fix the massively anti-Christian bigotry in our own country that evolved under Bill Clinton and Obama. That includes putting the homosexualist movement back in the bottle, and homosexuals back in the closet. With a new Supreme Court, the natural law must become the national law again.

Trumps’ natural paleo-con instincts are what put me in his corner. I hope he can deliver. No one in my life time has had the potential to be as strong as he. I give thanks to the FReeper who helped me see that.

Dang, I’m so glad he’s blue collar. He understands what really makes the world work. He touches dirt and makes things grow.


74 posted on 12/23/2016 8:03:10 AM PST by wiley (John 16:33: "In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.")
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To: Paladin2

Graham and Rubio are deeply troubled, too, they helped John McCain arm the jihadis.


75 posted on 12/23/2016 8:13:38 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents)
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To: Nextrush

Marco Rubio was right there helping McCain and Graham arm the jihadis, he should not get a pass.


76 posted on 12/23/2016 8:20:39 AM PST by Lurkinanloomin (Natural Born Citizen Means Born Here Of Citizen Parents)
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To: Paladin2

Red Cross or Red Cresent? I didn’t see the Cross on ambulances or buses.


77 posted on 12/23/2016 10:20:23 AM PST by keving (We get the government to vote)
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To: Jay Thomas
Drill, frack everywhere possible and become the world’s supply instead of the middle east. This would greatly impact the influence and wealth of the terror supporting Saudis and bring them to their knees. Hard to support terrorist groups with sand.

Exactly.

It's absolutely disgusting that the jerk who's still polluting the White Hut for another month is doing everything in his power to PREVENT the exploitation of our resources, thus benefitting the camel-f*****g head-choppers.

FUBO!

78 posted on 12/23/2016 12:29:40 PM PST by bassmaner (Hey commies: I am a' white male, and I am guilty of NOTHING! Sell your 'white guilt' elsewhere.)
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To: Lurkinanloomin

I will not argue with you, the GOP Establishment in foreign policy runs wide and deep.


79 posted on 12/23/2016 1:53:17 PM PST by Nextrush (Freedom is everybody's business: Remember Pastor Niemoller)
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