I guess a year from now we are going to be seeing reports of Jihadi crimes in Syria with people asking what went wrong in Syria

The real issue now is Wagner in west africa. Not sure how they can be resupplied without South Yemen being revived. (Russia used to be allies with yemen)

I hope Russia, China and Africa are ready for what's coming.

A United States Navy P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft is currently observing the Russia airbase in Latakia, as Russian transport aircraft continue to leave.

Iranian jets, both from Mahan Air and the IRGC, continue to also make evacuation flights. C5SKY, the private jet that was suspected to be used by the Syrian government for evacuation flights to the UAE over the past few days, was also spotted, and followed by US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, again.

Is it fair to say that things went from bad to very bad in new and horrible ways today?

Central bank in Damascus being looted

The second front is back baby. haaretz link

Just got home from work and man what a thread to get back to. Like many of you, I am not Syrian nor do I have any ties there but man, what a ride it has been since this mess kicked off.

I mean it's always been critical support for Assad but still. I feel like it's clear that we're witnessing another Iraq or Libya. I'm afraid for what comes next now. It's a really tough time wrapping up this year, but hopefully the imperial core will face something soon. Or at least Ukraine getting KO'd at last. I don't know. Something...

Lastly, sure am gonna miss the Who must go memes, those were a favorite of mine. But in all seriousness, wishing nothing but the best to the Syrian people. Feels like dark times are ahead. :(

Assad is gone? Wow. I didn't know that... he led an amazing life. What else can you say?

I don’t have strong feelings on Assad (because no investigation, no right to speak), but I fear the coming years are going to be horrific for the Syrian people. Complete instability, fighting among factions, etc… it’s the people of Syria who will suffer most. I don’t think you’re going to see things stabilize there for quite some time.

I do wonder, though, if this instability means Hezbollah will continue to be able to resupply from Iran.

what's the over-under on the SDF, being hung out to dry by the US, going over to Iran? how funny it'd be is doing the heavy lifting in this analysis

Christ, what a miserable state of affairs. Assad has always been a piece of shit, but I cannnot imagine how awful things are going to get once again in Syria without his regime at least nominally committed to multiethnic harmony. And the Axis of Resistance? What a joke tbh, I'm almost glad Nasrallah isn't here to see this. Iran is just watching all its pieces wiped from the board, for what? Some vague hope that Trump of all people is going to dial back sanctions? Disgusting. I hope I'm wrong, but grim days seem to be ahead.

And just like that, the Baath government in Syria is no more. I'm very emotional right now, many mixed feelings, one part of me is very happy and relieved, another part knows that some American and Israeli ghouls are sharing my happiness, which makes me question that happiness. There's much to dissect in the events of these last 10 days, we'll do that slowly and carefully over the next weeks. But wow, I can't believe that this even happened. 14 years, what was even the point of all this pain and destruction? Congrats to Jolani, he has cemented his place in the history books as the conqueror of Syria, he did what Alloush, Baghdadi and countless others couldn't do. Assad goes into the trashcan of history, another failson goes.

And for the last time:

Who must go? 😔

Israeli tanks have officially crossed the border of the demilitarised zone between the occupied Syrian Golan and Quneitra. Fuck Israel for not even letting people have one hour of fucking calm and good mood.

the lock's been picked

What the fuck is going with Drew Pavlou's twitter account? Is he having a meltdown?

Well that was fucking quick

How does the collapse of Syria impact Lebanon? Presumably Iran has their hands tied now, but Russia can play a larger role in Latakia and open a new avenue that way?

Surprised the Kurds haven’t taken this opportunity to strike at HTS while they’re in chaos and institute a proper US puppet.

Increasingly starting to think that Sinwar's death was a sort of metaphor for the Resistance as a whole.

Bye, bye, Mr. Syrian Pie

Drove my Hilux to Damascus and I saw his plane fly

And good ol' boys were drinkin' arak and rye

Singin' this'll be the day that I die~

Fuck. I hope all comrades with family or friends in Syria have their loved ones stay safe. I was about to post another Syria essay but seeing this sudden outcome where the Syrian people that lived formerly under the Damascus government will now have to contend with a new regime that at "best" will likely resemble something like the 2021 Taliban and at worst will return to their 2015 ISIS roots leaves me numb. I'll just leave this quote from the Abrams book as a prediction from 2021 that now seems chillingly prescient and also something I hope will, by any means possible, not come to pass:

A subjugated and jihadist dominated Syria, much like Afghanistan which had seen its government toppled twenty years earlier using many of the same methods, would serve as an effective hub for jihadist operations abroad – whether into Iraq to keep check on Iranian influence, into southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, or against Iran itself. Projection of jihadist power further afield, including against western China, Russia and Central Asian states, was also a significant possibility, should terror groups such as IS and Al Qaeda be able to operate freely from Syrian territory. It was estimated that 9,000 fighters from Russia and Central Asia alone had joined jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, while an estimated 5000 from China’s Uighur Turkic minority had also joined the frontlines in Syria alone. The potential value of turning Syria into a wellpositioned hub of operations against others which resisted Western hegemonic ambitions, much as Afghanistan had been, provided a fifth major incentive for the Western Bloc to undertake operations against the Syrian government.