{"id":1506980,"date":"2024-12-09T20:25:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T01:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1506980"},"modified":"2024-12-09T20:25:00","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T01:25:00","slug":"syria-has-fallen-who-are-the-winners-who-are-the-losers-and-whats-next-for-the-middle-east","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/syria-has-fallen-who-are-the-winners-who-are-the-losers-and-whats-next-for-the-middle-east\/1506980\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria Has Fallen! Who Are The Winners, Who Are The Losers, And What’s Next For The Middle East?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syria Has Fallen! Who Are The Winners, Who Are The Losers, And What’s Next For The Middle East?<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Michael Snyder via The Economic Collapse blog,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Well, that certainly escalated quickly. <\/strong>\u00a0Just a few days ago, I\u00a0wrote about<\/a>\u00a0how Syrian rebels had taken Aleppo and were on the way to the central city of Hama. \u00a0Now Damascus has fallen, the Assad regime has been toppled, and it is a new day for Syria. \u00a0But will it be a better day?\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The Assad regime was horrible, but the radicals that are taking over are not exactly George Washington and the boys. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The truth is that they are hardcore Sunni jihadists that have much in common with ISIS, al-Qaeda and the Taliban. \u00a0<\/strong>Assad pretty much allowed Christians and other minorities in Syria to do their own thing, but now many fear that these jihadists will soon impose a brutal form of sharia law that will make life extremely difficult.<\/p>\n

For the moment, there is jubilation on the streets of Damascus, and rebels are having a grand time\u00a0looting Assad\u2019s presidential palace<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

Thousands of Syrians took to the streets in celebration, firing guns into the air, lighting flares, and waving the rebel flag.<\/p>\n

Delighted fighters posted footage from inside Assad\u2019s presidential palace as they celebrated their stunning win.<\/p>\n

The rebels have ransacked the palace, going room from room looting items of value including Louis Vuitton and other prized possessions.<\/p>\n

Video footage\u00a0from inside Assad\u2019s palace<\/a>\u00a0makes it quite clear that he was living the high life.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

But now that the looting has begun,\u00a0soon there won\u2019t be anything left<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

A video features scores of people raiding the cupboards while duvets and linen bed sheets are on the floor.<\/p>\n

One person was seen holding an orange Louis Vuitton box while others carried bags bulging with looted items.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s thought dozens of Assad\u2019s luxury vehicles have also been seized after militants broke into his garage packed with Mercedes, Ferraris, and Audis.<\/p>\n

Nobody should feel sorry for Assad.<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was an absolutely brutal leader, and he was deeply hated by large portions of the Syrian population.<\/p>\n

As they advanced, the rebels gleefully toppled\u00a0one Assad statue after another<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

As armed rebels have advanced at lightning speed in recent days from the north of Syria toward the capital, Damascus, footage online showed statues of the Assad dynasty \u2014 which has kept the country in its authoritarian grip for over 50 years \u2014 crashing to the ground.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, the rebels would have loved to get their hands on Assad.<\/p>\n

But apparently he was able to escape.<\/p>\n

Originally, there were reports that Assad was on an Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane that\u00a0\u201cdisappeared from flight tracking\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and that was thought to have been destroyed\u2026<\/p>\n

An Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane operated by Syrian Air has disappeared from flight tracking amid uncertainty over the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.<\/p>\n

Assad, who has served as the president since July 2000, has reportedly fled Damascus, after a lightning advance by rebel fighters reached the outskirts of the capital city early on Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

But now it is\u00a0being reported<\/a>\u00a0that Assad has arrived safely in Russia where he has been granted asylum\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Russia has granted Syria\u2019s ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and his family asylum on \u201chumanitarian grounds\u201d, according to Russian state media.<\/p>\n

\u201cAssad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow,\u201d a source told the TASS news agency. \u201cRussia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Obviously, Russia is one of the big losers in this saga.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Syria was Russia\u2019s closest ally in the Middle East. \u00a0Now the Russians have been forced\u00a0to pull all of their forces out of the country<\/a>\u00a0and will be losing their sole naval base on the Mediterranean Sea\u2026<\/p>\n

Russia is evacuating its ships and transporting leftover weapons by air from its bases in Syria as the regime of Bashar al-Assad falls, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).<\/p>\n

The rapid collapse of Bashar al-Assad\u2019s regime in Syria has led to the Russian contingent fleeing the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter losing control of Damascus and amid the ongoing offensive by opposition forces in the provinces of Latakia, Hama, and Tartus, the Russian military withdrew its warships from the Tartus naval base, which Assad had previously handed over to Moscow in exchange for security,\u201d intelligence officials stated.<\/p>\n

Iran is another big loser.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Syria was an extremely close ally of Iran, but now it will be a very bitter enemy under the new Sunni regime.<\/p>\n

In addition, the Iranians had been able to funnel countless shipments of arms through Syria to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, but now that will no longer be possible.<\/p>\n

We are being told that \u201call pro-Iranian forces\u201d have left Syria, and this represents the biggest strategic defeat for Iran\u00a0in decades<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

All pro-Iranian forces have reportedly withdrawn from the country in a humiliating blow to the Ayatollah.<\/p>\n

Iran has lost a key ally in its Shia axis across proxies and allies in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

So who are the winners?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The western elite that have been trying to take the Assad regime down for more than a decade have got to be thrilled by these developments.<\/p>\n

They finally achieved their goal.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, Israel is going to come out of this\u00a0as a big winner as well<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is happening these days in the Middle East cannot be found even in the most optimistic scenarios heard 14 months after the surprise attack of October 7. The Shiite axis designed to strangle Israel is collapsing before our eyes.<\/p>\n

Qassem Soleimani\u2019s \u201cring of fire\u201d vision, designed to allow Iran to advance its nuclear program and endanger Israel\u2019s existence, is being buried like its mastermind. Iran\u2019s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, first lost the gifted commander of the Revolutionary Guards, then his favorite ally Hassan Nasrallah, and now the Assad regime has fallen.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, the IDF has already moved into Syrian territory a bit in order to set up a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d in case the Syrian rebels decide to launch attacks in their direction. \u00a0It turns out that the peak of Mount Hermon\u00a0falls within that \u201cbuffer zone\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s Army Radio reported Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had seized the peak of Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in the region, as a precaution against the advance of Syrian rebels as the Assad regime collapsed.<\/p>\n

The mountain, covered in snow during the winter months, is the highest in the region, and a key strategic point. Israel has a military base on the mountainside, but Syria has long had a military base on the peak of the mountain itself.<\/p>\n

The move marks the first time Israeli troops have been on the peak of the mountain since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.<\/p>\n

In the end, I think that Turkey is actually the biggest winner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

More than anyone else, Turkey was responsible for arming and supporting the rebels that overthrew the Assad regime.<\/p>\n

Now Turkey will have a very strong Sunni ally directly to the south, and this will also provide Turkey with a land corridor if it ever decides to physically invade the land of Israel.<\/p>\n

The Turks are really starting to flex their muscles in the region, and I think that this success may embolden them even more.<\/p>\n

As for the people of Syria, they are being promised a government that is made up of a\u00a0\u201ccouncil chosen by the people\u201d<\/a>\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s armed opposition ultimately plans to form a government defined by institutions and a \u201ccouncil chosen by the people,\u201d Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the militant figure driving the latest rebel swing, told CNN. He heads the dominant group in the coalition, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al Qaeda affiliate.<\/p>\n

Jolani declared victory for the \u201centire Islamic nation\u201d on Sunday, in his first public remarks since the rebel-led coup, which he said \u201cmarks a new chapter in the history of the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

We shall see what happens.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Taliban promised that there would be reforms when it reconquered Afghanistan, and we all see how that turned out.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, I believe that what just took place in Syria is setting the stage for the sort of history-changing events in the Middle East\u00a0that I have been writing about for a long time<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now that the Assad regime is out of the way and Hezbollah is severely wounded, the Iranians are in deep trouble.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s watch and see what the Iranians choose to do next, because a cornered predator can be extremely dangerous.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0 *\u00a0 *<\/p>\n

Michael\u2019s new\u00a0book\u00a0entitled\u00a0\u201cWhy\u201d<\/a>\u00a0is available\u00a0in paperback<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0for the Kindle<\/a>\u00a0on Amazon.com,\u00a0and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at\u00a0michaeltsnyder.substack.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nMon, 12\/09\/2024 – 15:25<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/geopolitical\/syria-has-fallen-who-are-winners-who-are-losers-and-whats-next-middle-east<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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