Assad Says He Needs Iranian, Hizballah Forces To Stay In Syria

RFE/RL ^ | June 14, 2018 | AP, Reuters

[CondoleezzaProtege]

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said he needs the assistance of Iranian and Hizballah forces in Syria and they will stay for as long as they deem necessary.

"Hizballah is a basic element in this war. The battle is long, and the need for these military forces will continue for a long time," Assad told Al-Alam.

Assad stressed that he invited the allied fighters into his country and he would never ask them to leave, as the United States and Israel are demanding, even as part of any peace settlement. Israel sees Tehran as a mortal foe and has pressed for removal of the Iranian military presence in Syria in talks with Russia and the United States, as well as targeting Iranian fighters and facilities in Syria in a series of deadly air raids this year.

Assad told Al-Alam that Syria's relationship with Iran "will not be part of any settlement" and was "not in the international bazaar."

He said friendly forces will remain in Syria until "terrorism" has been rooted out. Assad frequently refers to his armed rebel opponents as "terrorists," even those not designated as terrorists by the United Nations or other official organizations.

[DesertRhino]

Under Assad, you could be a Christian, a Jew (small population remained in Damascus with a Synagogue), you could be shite or sunni or any number of sects.
Women can drive, marry who they want, divorce, wear what they want and did not have to wear Islamic garb. They didn’t need a man’s permission to travel.
You can drink alcohol and enjoy locally made beer and wine. Women can wear a bikini as they splash around on Latakia beach.

We are supporting the other side, the Sunni jihadi headchopping, woman-repressing side.

[arthurus]

I have thought we should have guaranteed Syria's independence vis-a-vis Iran and thus cut his dependence just because, though Assad is a monster, he's relatively a decent monster as things go in the Moslem Mid-East. And he is a monster to the Sunnis when they rebel but, Sunnis being Sunnis and in Jihad mode whenever they are upset, it is what has to be done for survival of Assad and of the minority groups.

Of course our side, pre-Trump anyway, is aghast that Assad isn't a Liberal Democrat and cannot countenance the thought that he is the best of the choices available in the Moslem world. There was only one Ataturk and his secular state kind of petered out in the last decade. A big reason for that is that Mustafa did not integrate his own minorities into that state. He was actually an atheist but believed that Islam was a necessary part of any Turkish state.

[trebb]

Sounds like he is being propped up and needs to go. Where are the Rooskies in his strategery?

Doing the propping and looking for a viable long-term replacement....

[Cronos]

He has no choice. If the Iranian and hizbullah leave, he falls. If he falls the jihadis then kill all the Christians. What would you do in his place?

[Cronos]

you want Assad hanging from a tree? Then the next day or the day before you will have all the Christians in Syria (10% to 20% of the population) hanging from trees.

Is that what is wanted? Sheesh

[MplsSteve]

I did not say that I wanted Assad hanging from a tree.

Please re-read my previous post.

[Cronos]

My apologies -- you said a lamppost :)

Sorry about that, I was more addressing it to caww than you. I personally feel worried about our Christian brethren in Syria so I was too fast off the gun. Apologies again

[DannyTN]

What would I do?

I certainly wouldn’t be siding with Iran and Hisbullah to solve my problems.

If I couldn’t purge the jihadis myself, then I’d sit down with the United States, Israel and Russia and lay out the problems and ask for help.

I’d arm and train the Christians. And I would purge the jihadis.

[Cronos]

nice, but not realistic:

1. The USA supports what the Saudis push and the Saudis support Wahabbi jihadis (the "rebels")
2. If he sat down with Israel, then all of the Sunnis would revolt (and not just the Wahabbi ones) and many of the Shia as well
3. The Russians can supply aerial power, but not ground power - that's where the Iranians and Hizb'allah come in
4. arming the Christians -- that's being done, but a community that has been downtrodden for 1400 years is difficult to convert into a military force
5. purge the jihadists -- what do you think he's doing by fighting the rebels?

Remember that every single one of the attacks on the West since 1995 have been done by Wahabbi Sunnis. None, zero have been done by Shia