I will admit my lack of understanding of the complete situation in Syria. I have no idea whether this is good, bad, or a different level of bad.
The fall of the Assad regime is an end of an era in the Middle East, and it will have big news implications across the region.
Let’s start with the regime’s allies.
Iran will no longer have an extension of its sphere of influence into the Levant. It will not have land access to its important ally in Lebanon, Hezbollah.
The Assad regime which had presented itself as part of the axis of resistance, will also not be able to extend any support, even rhetorical, to Palestinian factions that allied themselves with that regime.
The implications in terms of security are also huge.
The fact that Damascus is now free of the Assad regime, without bloodshed, is very important, because it may signal that there is a path forward without bloodshed, without the country plunging into civil war.
So many factions. Looking for the Ottomans and Medes to hassle it out for some land and other factions to kill each other until Damascus is a ruinous heap?
This is not going to end with anyone happy.
All sides in the Syria conflict are bad. It is a case of picking your poison. Assad was a semi-secular Islamic government (dictatorship, not that unlike Saddam Hussein). he was relatively tolerant of Christianity.
These “rebels” are extreme radical Islamists.
Syria just sucks right now.
Worse than Assad for non fundies that much is sure
I compare this situation to Iraq in 2003.
Saddam the strongman is out - but is what replaced him any better? Worse, I'd say.
Assaud's was a secular state - now I fear the replacement is another expansion of Islam.