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 ...
New York Times? They could tell me the sun came up this morning and I’d check anyway. I don’t buy what they are selling.
Was it McCain or Obama who said the migration would not end until Assad was defeated and there was peace?
This is not good news, are you insane? The dude is a murderous dictator. There are no good guys here. Just an array of bad guys.
I do to think i was actually millions that he killled. Also if you kill armed esnt enemies in war, it doesn’t really count as murder.
Assad is the only bulwark, the only safeguard for non-Wahabbi Sunnis in Syria
If he goes, then the place collapses to Islamic-State like terror, all of the Christian historical sites are destroyed, in fact all of the historical sites are destroyed and all Christians, Alawaites, Shias are slaughtered and many sUnnis too
Assad is no saint, but he is the lesser evil
This IS good news
you want a Libya-style chaos or Iraq-style chaos?
He is the lesser evil. Under him, women were free to study, work etc.; Christians, Alawites, Mandaens, Yazidis, Druze were free to worship, pray, live normal lives
The alternative is far, far worse
Do you really think Libya post-Gaddafi is better than it was under Gaddafi? For Libya or the world?
The correct solution would be to create an Alawite-only state in Latakia and a christian-only state covering all of Lebanon + western Syria from Aleppo to Damascus and a Kurdish state in the north-east. Let the Sunnis and Shia have the east
The correct solution would be to create an Alawite-only state in Latakia and a christian-only state covering all of Lebanon + western Syria from Aleppo to Damascus and a Kurdish state in the north-east. Let the Sunnis and Shia have the east
Obama is against Assad.
McCain as well.
I consider it good news.
“The situation there was complicated with several different groups opposing him. Our failure to support the rational ones strengthened Daesh.”
There is no radical Islam, there is just Islam.
There were no rational rebels. Any of them would have turned on the US at any time.
I am a wary of the reports of Assad killing civilians. With the media now being the propaganda arm of the CIA, it’s hard to know the truth (see the Smith-Mundt act repeal). One example is the continual use by the MSM of the debunked claim that Assad used chemical weapons.
In the end, Assad resuming full control may keep the trash in line like Khadafi did. Khadafi warned that he was holding the hordes back (if you like podcasts, check out the congressional dish episode on Libya),
Sometimes one should be judged by their enemies. Assad is a bloody dictator, but his enemies are genocidal maniacs. Qaddafi’s death was one of the worst things to happen to the region as illustrated by Steven’s death. The Obama/Clinton policies need to be abandoned with prejudice. Wahhabism is the root of terror in the Middle East and we have no reason to promote the expansionist dreams of the Saudis.
I am sick of our “leaders” getting in bed with petty tyrants—including every “royal” family. Pretending that these fake royals are our allies is the height of stupidity. They are all evil regimes that despise everything our country was founded upon. There isn’t anything in the entire Middle East worth one drop of American blood.
I completely agree with you. Assad is the good guy - Christians are protected by him. Ditto, under Saddam, Christians were 10% of the population, now they are practically extinct.
Assad protects Christians.
Full stop -- Assad's win is good.
Let Putin control Syria -- in Central EUrope we have fracking capabilities that are stopped by enviromentalists. We will frack, use renewables and cut off the Russians eventually
In any case, sorry, but the lives of christians in the ancient heartlands are more important than prosperity in Europe. A poorer Western Europe will return to Christendom
The US was under the beckoning of the Saudis
Assad is ruthless and totalitarian, but he’s not as bad as ISIS, so this is excellent news.
I thought Qaddafi was killed with help from the US?
The ME would be a heck of a lot better. Not perfect, not even good, but a lot better than now
There were no “rational groups” — even the “moderates” chanted “Christians to Beirut, Alawites to the grave” and were ready to send Christians and Shias and Druze to the grave as well
Yup, thanks to Obama, the USAF became the Islamic Air Force in the Middle East
I think part of Trump’s desire to unleash the energy capacity of the US is to completely undermine the Saudis and provide a source of energy for our European allies.
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.
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