Free Republic

Russia - Masque Of The Red Death Vladimir Putin has been hailed perhaps as the pivotal post cold war Russian leader. He has executed a skillful dog and pony show, convincing both the Bush and Blair administrations that the former Soviet Union was not only no longer a military threat to the West but was indeed now becoming a close ally. Obviously Russia's cooperation with the French and German UN delegation's intransigence in dealing with Iraq has done much to throw cold water on this heretofore-budding union. It's important to note that such a relationship offered hope, though ultimately unfounded,...

I nominate Recep Tayyip Erdogan, president of Turkey, as the most inconsistent, mysterious, and therefore most unpredictable major politician on the world stage. His victory in a referendum last Sunday formally bestows him with near-dictatorial powers that leave Turkey, the Middle East, and beyond in a greater state of uncertainty than ever.Here are some of the puzzles:Mystery #1: Holding the referendum. The Turkish electorate voted on April 16 in a remarkable national plebiscite that dealt not with the usual topic – floating a bond or recalling a politician – but with fundamental constitutional changes affecting the very nature of their...

Israeli officials have been holding talks in Jordan with Syrian opposition officials “in advance of a possible Israeli-U.S. operation in Syria to protect the Golan Heights,” Western intelligence sources reported Tuesday, Jan. 1. There was no further information about this operation or how rebel commanders were involved in military plans “to protect the Golan Heights.” Altogether, the goings-on on the Israeli and Jordanian borders with Syria are in deep hush. But European intelligence sources, some of them French and Russian, reveal nightly clashes taking place between US, Jordanian, Israeli special forces and Syrian rebels, on the one hand, and Syrian...

President Donald Trump is right to believe that Iran is in a historically vulnerable position right now. The Assad regime is kaput. Hezbollah’s effectiveness has been dramatically reduced since Oct. 7. Hama is living underground among the rubble of Gaza.

Shortly after a massive terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia, the first unverified claim of responsibility has been made. Initial speculation centered on Chechen rebels or Ukrainians, but according to a post put out by the Amaq News Agency, which is the propaganda wing for ISIS, the terrorist group is saying it carried out the attack. In English: ISIS claims responsibility for the terror attack in Moscow Reports from the scene suggest the men who carried out the attack were bearded and carrying Russian AK-style weapons. That doesn't exactly narrow it down given the proliferation of both throughout the world. Still,...

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has formally requested that Russian President Vladimir Putin extradite Syrian ex-president Bashar al-Assad, who is currently in Russia, to Damascus for trial. On March 20, it was revealed that Putin had sent a message to al-Sharaa, offering his support for efforts to quickly stabilise the situation in Syria, which has seen growing clashes between fighters loyal to the new government and Alawites who continue supporting Assad, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media. The Kremlin's statement regarding the message emphasised Russia’s commitment to strengthening its traditionally friendly relations with Syria. "The message confirmed Russia's unwavering readiness to develop...

09 September 2009 JIHADIS REPORT OF SYRIAN MEDDLING IN YEMEN Not that I consider jihadis to be a reliable source on such matters, but you know what they say about broken clocks...

For 14 years, Syria has been engulfed in a civil war. Until three months ago, dictator Bashar al-Assad controlled the government, but he was overthrown by the Jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist organization. While Assad had many faults he did protect the Christian minority in Syria. However, as noted by commentator Tucker Carlson, as the civil war progressed, “the percentage of Christians in Syria went from ten percent to two percent.”

The news out of Syria is nothing short of horrific, and it provides a fresh illustration of what a catastrophic failure the Obama strategy ... “hundreds of Christians, including Greek Orthodox, and Alawites have been killed after clashes broke out on Thursday in the Latakia and Tartous regions on Syria’s Mediterranean coast ... That death toll may be a tragic underestimation . ... the death toll could be as high as 1,800, mostly Alawites, but also Christians.” The perpetrators are members of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamic jihad group that toppled the Assad regime and took control of Syria several...

...The US had previously only confirmed killing 100 or so pro-Syrian regime forces, but multiple outlets reported the number was as high as 300 and that the soldiers were Russian military contractors. The February battle was reportedly incredibly one-sided, as a massive column of mostly-Russian pro-Syrian regime forces approached an established US position in Syria and fired on the location. The US responded with a massive wave of airstrikes that crippled the force before it could retreat, and then cleaned up the remaining combatants with strafing runs from Apache helicopters. Phone calls intercepted by a US-funded news organization allegedly captured...

1976"Human Rights Internet reporter," 1987, vol. 12, p. B-107 In 1970, during 'Black September,' Jordan itself killed 3,400 Palestinians in just 10 days. In 1976, the Syrian army killed more than 23,000 Palestinians. 2011-2012Mathieu Rabechault: US says Iran forming pro-regime militia in Syria," AFP, August 14, 2012 Rights groups say more than 23,000 people have been killed in 17 months of fighting between troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebel forces, including civilians killed in the regime's brutal crackdown.

Transcript linked below video. Longish video, but very logical progression, lots of geopolitical prognosticating.

Syria’s ruler Ahmad Al Shara has demanded that Russia hand over former president Bashar Al Assad and an estimated $2 billion dollars in liquid assets held by the Assad family in Russian banks, during a meeting in Damascus, two sources told The National. The meeting with a Russian delegation led by deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov also focused on other issues thorny but reached no agreement beyond maintaining contact, the sources said. “Handing over [Bashar Al] Assad and all senior officers who escaped to Russia was the top of the list,” said a member of the new political staff at...

Syria's de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa has requested Russia to hand over exiled leader Bashar al-Assad, according to a report by Reuters. The former Syrian president, a key Russian ally in the Middle East, fled to Moscow last year after being ousted in a rebel offensive that ended five decades of rule by the Assad family. Syrian news agency Sana said Damascus also wanted Russia, which backed Bashar al-Assad in the country's civil war, to rebuild trust through "concrete measures such as compensation, reconstruction and recovery". A high-level Russian delegation in Syria expressed support for the country's sovereignty and territorial...

Several reports have suggested that ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad may have been poisoned in Moscow. According to these reports, he fell ill on Sunday afternoon. Assad has been under the protection of Russian President Vladimir Putin since fleeing Syria in December 2024. A social media account, General SVR, operated by a former Russian spy, stated that Assad sought medical assistance after experiencing coughing and choking. The account suggested that there was reason to believe that it was an assassination attempt. On the social media account, it has been claimed that Bashar al-Assad called the security guards after he was...

Syria’s former media chief and top aide to Bashar al-Assad said that Russian President Vladimir Putin may have “tricked” the ousted Syrian president in his final days as leader. Speaking to Mazeej Studios, a podcast produced by Saudi channel Al Arabiya, Kamel Saqr said that Assad was in Moscow in late November, just over a week before Syrian rebels captured Damascus. According to him, the rebels had already captured much of Aleppo by the time Assad met Putin on Friday 29 November. There, Saqr said Assad asked for Putin’s support in helping Iran transport equipment and support to strengthen his...

Alois Brunner, one of Eichmann’s top aides, lived openly in Syria for years and was a close adviser to the Assads. By Jay Solomon. 12.19.24 — . On my first trip to Damascus in 2009, during a morning coffee with a local diplomat, I was told one of the darker secrets of Bashar al-Assad’s Syria. Not far from the café, in the upscale neighborhood of Kafr Sousa, lived the most wanted Nazi war criminal in the world at the time—a former top aide to Adolf Eichmann. His name was Alois Brunner. Today, as Syrians and human rights organizations sift through...

Syrians in Malaysia - which hosts the largest number of refugees and asylum-seekers from the Middle Eastern country in Southeast Asia - fear that instability and the rise of new authoritarian regimes might mean that they cannot return home just yet. When Syrian refugee Somar Hukaima learnt about the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime earlier this month, he had mixed feelings. While Somar was pleased that the country’s former president had been ousted by rebel forces, he could not shake off worries about who might succeed a leader accused of tyrannical rule for more than two decades. “In my mind,...

There is an oft-quoted remark from Vladimir Lenin, which in its English formulation usually reads something like: "There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.” This is one of those aphorisms which has been exercised practically to death, but there are rare occasions where it perfectly fits the chaotic tempo of world events, and few cases fit the bill better than the fall of the Syrian Arab Republic and its embattled (former) President, Bashir Al-Assad. Syria was first plunged into Civil War by an escalating insurgency in 2012, and more than a decade of grueling...

Gabriel, B. (2008). They Must Be Stopped: Why We Must Defeat Radical Islam and How We Can Do It. United States: St. Martin's Press, p.38By 1905 the West had liberated its territory previously conquered and savaged by Islam, and declared an economic and military victory, thus marking the end of 1400 years of Islamic rule and Jihad. During this period, Muslims had killed 270 million people across the globe: 120 million Africans, 60 million Christians, 80 million Hindus and 10 million Buddhists. * Arabia: (Some state:) 'It is estimated that as many as 400,000 people, including women and children, were...