/leftypol/ - Leftist Politically Incorrect

Think Russia might give the Syrian government a shiny new hypersonic weapon soon?

>>485932
If this is a attempt to over-extend the Russians, by making them spend resources on another front. It's too late. That might have worked perhaps a little over a year ago, when Ukraine was still in the fight somewhat. But not now.

If Turkey is the one that funds these fighters, and they are changing foreign policy position towards reconciliation with Syria, that means these fighters are running out of time to gain ground capture resources etc. Because when the political fight between Turkey and Syria ends all the fighters get told to stand down.

>>485935
Maybe eventually, to point at Israel to make them stop their bombing runs with jets. Honestly old-soviet-stock is probably already overkill for this fight. This type of conflict can't be won by weapons alone.

According to this, a source of Said Arikat has said that the attack on Aleppo was coordinated with Turkey by the US & Israel as an effort to inflict a defeat on Iran & its allies.

Very good article from Craig Murray:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2024/12/the-end-of-pluralism-in-the-middle-east/

"The abuse of this provision by British police to persecute Palestinian supporters for allegedly encouraging support for proscribed organisations Hamas and Hezbollah is notorious, with even tangential alleged references leading to arrest. Sarah Wilkinson, Richard Medhurst, Asa Winstanley, Richard Barnard and myself are all notable victims, and the persecution has been greatly intensified by Keir Starmer.

Yet Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) is also a proscribed group in the UK. But both British mainstream media and British Muslim outlets have been openly promoting and praising HTS for a week – frankly much more openly than I have ever witnessed anyone in the UK support Hamas and Hezbollah – and not a single person has been arrested or even warned by UK police."

>>486103
Yeah it does seem like another neocon scheme.

The neocon schemes tend to have powerful openings, but after that it usually peters out.

Maybe we can give them credit, trying to knock over Syria in order to block arms supplies to Lebanon, is half-way decent strategical thinking.

However there is an alternative explanation that does not require strategic chops: they could just have been doing trial and error. They poked Iran and got their asses whooped with a massive missile salvo. They moved on to poking Lebanon where they once again got wrecked in a ground-war. And now they're poking Syria which appears to have a weak-spot they could exploit.

Another thing is that even if they manage to establish a sizeable foothold in Syria, I'm not convinced they would be able to block arms-supplies to Lebanon. And before long it will come under fire when Syria gets reinforcements.

Given the neocons tendency to mix conflicts, i wouldn't be surprised if Ukrainian drone warfare pops up in this place. And that means the arms-race related to weaponized-gadget-drones that began in Ukraine continues in Syria. So far Russian electronic war-fare won round one (remote controlled drone-weapons failed when jammed). Round two will be drones that switch to autonomous decision making once they get jammed. My guess is the electronic warfare counter to that is overwhelming the drone's sensors.

>>486105
I think this was all planned fairly far in advance. There've been periods in the past where they fucked up and couldn't progress at their intended pace, but I think this isn't that.

In Lebanon they were doing poorly in the ground war, yes, but the current "ceasefire" was established through a political advantage gained by massacring civilians in Beirut.

Syria's vulnerabilities have been exacerbated by years (and a particularly intense year this year) of strikes, the attacks on Hezbollah, the preoccupation of Russia with Ukraine, and attacks on Iranian leadership & IRGC. My thought is that none of this was coincidental. What we're looking at now is based on previous consolidations and calculations, and it's very clear that many things have already been lined up. Whether or not these schemes succeed to their fullest remains to be seen, but no one can rest assured that they won't.

Israel army ‘assisting UN forces in repelling attack’ in Syria

The Israeli army says its soldiers were assisting United Nations peacekeeping forces in the Syrian-controlled part of the Golan Heights in repelling an attack “by armed individuals”.

“A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Hader area in Syria,” the army said in a statement, referring to a town on the edge of the UN-patrolled buffer zone in the Golan Heights.

“The [Israeli army] is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack.

Syrian forces evacuate positions in Quneitra near Israel-annexed Golan: Monitor

Troops have withdrawn from their positions in the southern province of Quneitra bordering the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Rami Abdel Rahman, who heads the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights tells AFP.

“Regime forces evacuated military and security positions while civil servants left their posts, leaving the province [of Quneitra] … free of the Syrian army for the very first time,” he told the agency.

The Israeli army has been bolstering its forces in the occupied Golan Heights in over the past week amid increased fighting and opposition advances in the civil war in Syria.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/live-dozens-killed-as-israel-attacks-refugee-camp-nearby-hospital

>>486106
>I think this was all planned fairly far in advance
I don't buy that. If this was a grand plan it would have occurred early in the Ukraine-war, during a time the Russian military was at least somewhat under pressure. At this point they're just slow-walking to victory in Ukraine hoping to bait the west to waste some more weapons on a lost war. Sending the Syrians some help will not dilute Russian force projection anymore.

>In Lebanon they were doing poorly in the ground war,
Lets not mince words, they were defeated.
>yes, but the current "ceasefire" was established through a political advantage gained by massacring civilians in Beirut.
Political advantage ?
Given that Israel is ignoring the ceasefire, the Lebanese population is likely to draw the conclusion that fighting Israel is the only option they have, and the result will be Hezbollah consolidating state-power in Lebanon. This was probably one of the bigger strategic blunders the Zionists made.

The reason war-crimes like targeting civilian populations are banned isn't because it's un-ethical, it's banned because it's not a viable strategy anymore. First because everybody got industrial weapons now, and second the geo-political fabric has changed. Israel no longer is a good place to do business anymore, because the excess brutality is a risk factor.

>My thought is that none of this was coincidental. What we're looking at now is based on previous consolidations and calculations, and it's very clear that many things have already been lined up.
I've made the mistake of ascribing too much cleverness to neocon schemes before too. Neocons are not clever grand masters of strategy, they simply make too many obvious mistakes. They sometimes win because they get lucky and often just because the US has enormous resources.

>Whether or not these schemes succeed to their fullest remains to be seen, but no one can rest assured that they won't.
Nope the neocons are still on a downwards trajectory. Isreal lost more than it gained, and it's no longer certain that it'll survive as a state. Compare it to pre-full-on-Genocide-Isreal, they had a good economy and were normalizing diplomatic relations with many of the countries in the region.

The way to read this situation is: Maybe they'll be able to drag Syria into the Abyss with them.

"Rebels" entering Damascus.

Assad fled
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

Syrian opposition declares ‘start of new era’

The Syrian armed opposition says the end of al-Assad’s government marks a new chapter in Syria’s history.

“After 50 years of oppression under Baathist rule and 13 years of criminality, tyranny and displacement, and after a long struggle, confronting all sorts of occupation forces, we declare today, December 8, 2024, the end of that dark era and the start of a new era for Syria,” the rebels said in a statement.

Syrian PM says he remains in his home in Damascus

Prime Minister Mohammad Ghazi al-Jalali says he does not plan on leaving his home as he aims to ensure that public institutions continue to function.

“I urge all to think rationally and to think about they country,” al-Jalali said. “We extend our hand to the opposition who have extended their hand and asserted that they will not harm anyone who belongs to this country.”

He also called on citizens to protect public property.

The Middle East has seen chaos with the fall of governments in the past. When invading American forces toppled Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in 2003, state agencies and public sites were looted as anarchy prevailed.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

The last flight from Damascus

As we’ve been reporting, opposition forces claim al-Assad has now fled Syria.

And moments before opposition fighters took control of the airport, open source flight trackers recorded a single plane in Syria’s airspace.

An Illyushin76 aircraft with flight number Syrian air 9218 was the last flight to take off from Damascus.

First, it flew east, then it turned north.

A few minutes later, its signal disappeared as it circled over Homs.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

>>486120
No he hasn't dumbass.
God, why are you people so stupid?
You hide away in delusional optimism and then the moment you idiots realize how bad it really is you assume somebody betrayed the noble cause that you cheer from your fucking armchairs. You betrayed the cause with your brainless cheerleading. The difference between posters and guys like Khamenei is that guys like Khamenei see how bad it really is and then act to oppose it, but act with caution. Cheerleading posters, on the other hand, pretend it's not as bad as it is, do nothing because everything will magically work out, and then write dumb shit like this and complain about people who actually fight when their idiotic armchair fantasy disintegrates.

No sympathy for you, retard. There is work to be done, and you either help or don't.

https://x.com/redstreamnet/status/1865612339422085347
🇮🇱🇸🇾 🟡BREAKING: Israeli troops have invaded Quneitra, paving the way for Israel's illegal annexation of the entire Golan Heights on the same day that the Assad-led government has fallen.

>>486121
Iran isn't safe either, to be quite clear. The correct material analysis is that the thing that's been happening for over 20 years, which has recently accelerated, continues to happen.

Syrian opposition says it is advancing west of Deir ez-Zor

The rebels’ Administration of Military Affairs says opposition forces are advancing in the western Deir ez-Zor countryside.

The city is now under the control of the Kurdish-dominated, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after government forces withdrew from it earlier this week.

That part of eastern Syria is also home to around 900 US troops. The Euphrates River marks the de-facto border of SDF influence.

It is unclear whether the opposition will make a push for the city or east of the river, which could put opposition fighters in a direct confrontation with US forces and their allies.

https://aje.io/pq3n3i?update=3371207

Iraqi officials concerned about ‘terrorism’ spilling over
Mahmoud Abdelwahed
Reporting from Baghdad, Iraq

We heard from Iraqi officials before the fall of Damascus, saying that they do not want to just stand and watch what is happening in Syria.

The biggest fear and worry – stated by the Iraqi officials – is that they do not want any extremism or “terrorism”, as they called it, to be exported via the border between Syria and Iraq.

They said Iraq has paid a huge cost in the past, mainly between 2014 and 2017, when ISIL (ISIS) fighters were smuggled from across the border in to Iraq. ISIL in that period destroyed many lives and much of the country’s resources.

The Iraqi Interior Ministry said yesterday that 2,750 Syrians crossed the border into Iraq. These include 2,000 soldiers with the al-Assad regime, who crossed the border with full equipment and handed over the equipment to Iraqi armed forces.

Iraq is still waiting to see the reaction from the Islamic Resistance, the Iran-aligned armed groups.

https://aje.io/pq3n3i?update=3371361

Al-Assad’s whereabouts still unknown

There’s been no word on the Syrian president’s whereabouts.

We heard earlier from the Syrian opposition that he had fled the country.

And the Reuters news agency, citing senior army officers, reported in the early hours of this morning that al-Assad had boarded a plane and left to an unknown destination.

Now, the last flight to take off from Damascus before the Syrian rebels took the capital was an Illyushin76 aircraft with flight number Syrian air 9218. That flight’s signal disappeared shortly after takeoff – over the rebel-held city of Homs, according to open source flight trackers.

Israeli tanks cross Syria border fence for first time in 50 years: Report

Shortly after Israel said it would bolster its military presence on Syrian soil in reaction to the rebel offensive, Israeli tanks have reportedly crossed the border fence with Syria for the first time since 1974.

The move is purportedly aimed at preventing Syrian armed forces or civilians, regardless of their allegiance, from coming close to the Israeli positions, according to the Maariv newspaper.

We reported earlier how Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli said Israel must “establish a new line of defence based on the ceasefire line of 1974” with Syria at Mount Hermon in the occupied Golan Heights.

Israel occupied the majority of Syria’s Golan Heights in 1967 and annexed it in 1981.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

‘Armed elements violate’ Iranian embassy in Damascus: Report

Iranian state media is citing reports that a number of “armed elements” have entered the building of the Iranian embassy in Damascus.

IRNA, the official news outlet of the Iranian government, cited reports by “a number of media” without further elaborating.

Footage showed thrashed rooms inside the embassy, and torn down photos of assassinated leaders like Iran’s Qassem Soleimani and Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah.

https://aje.io/pq3n3i?update=3371626

Iraq evacuates embassy building in Damascus

Iraq’s official news agency reports that the Iraqi embassy building in the Syrian capital has been evacuated, and staff have been moved to Lebanon.

This comes after Iraq closed its border crossing with Syria, and the Iranian embassy in Damascus was thrashed.

Iraq working to accommodate Syrian soldiers and civilians
Mahmoud Abdelwahed
Reporting from Baghdad, Iraq

The Iraqi government sees the Syrian soldiers of Bashar al-Assad, who crossed into Iraq, as hostages of the army.

Two thousand regular soldiers crossed into Iraq yesterday and some of them are now receiving medical treatment.

The armed forces says they have engaged in armed confrontation with the Syrian opposition.

The destiny of the soldiers remains to be identified, according to the Iraqi officials.

Along with the soldiers, civilians and government employees have also crossed into Iraq through the border.

Work is under way to accommodate these refugees, setting up tents for them, and trying to lodge them in houses near the border.

Iraq has Iran-aligned armed groups that engaged in the fight against the Syrian opposition and fight along with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

With the fall of the Syrian regime, a major ally and proxy of Iran and Iraq has been lost.

We are still waiting to hear an official statement from the Iraqi government.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

Israeli army declares closed military zones in occupied Golan Heights

It has imposed the zones on the Israeli side of the de facto border with Syria.

A military statement said agricultural areas around Merom Golan, Ein Zivan, Buq’ata and Khirbet Ein Hura will be closed to civilians.

Farmers will be able to enter some areas within the zones “for periods of a few hours, based on the needs of the military” in coordination with the Israeli forces.

What does al-Assad’s fall mean for Israel?
Nour Odeh
Reporting from Jaber, Jordan-Syria border

Israel is watching developments like a hawk.

According to Israeli media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed members of his Likud party not to comment on what is happening. But we do know this – the Israeli security cabinet has been meeting since Thursday.

There was another meeting yesterday. The Israeli army has announced fortifications in the occupied Syrian Golan. It dug a trench between the Golan and the rest of Syrian territory and threatened to target any opposition forces that approach the border.

There is public debate about whether Israel should also bombard certain strategic weapons that the al-Assad regime had in order to avoid them falling into the hands of some of the armed groups.

On the flip side, Israel stands to benefit from what is happening. By severing relations with Iran, the armed groups now in control of Syria will deprive Iran of its geopolitical extension to Lebanon and its important ally Hezbollah. That really changes the dynamics in the region.

Of course, Israel has been bombing sites across Syria for over a year now, especially for the past few months. It has used airspace in Syria with impunity. We’ll now have to wait and see how Israel’s policy will develop.

Explosions in Mazzeh

We’re getting reports that explosions have been heard in Syria’s Mazzeh.

We will bring you updates as they come in.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

Syrian opposition forces announce curfew in Damascus

The Syrian opposition has declared a curfew in the capital from 4pm (13:00 GMT) until 5am (02:00 GMT).

The move comes after its fighters took over the capital in the morning, with President al-Assad reportedly leaving it.

Russia says Syria’s al-Assad has left country, given orders for peaceful power handover

Russia’s Foreign Ministry has issued a statement saying al-Assad has stepped down, left Syria and ordered a peaceful transition of power to take place.

Moscow also said it is in touch with all Syrian opposition factions and is taking steps to ensure all citizens in Syria are safe, with its military bases on high alert.

“We appeal to all parties involved with a strong call to renounce the use of violence and resolve all governance issues through political means,” said Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

No immediate threat to Russian forces in Syria: Moscow

The Russian Foreign Ministry says the military personnel at the bases in Syria are on high alert, according to TASS news agency.

It added that there was currently no threat to their security.

TASS earlier reported that Russian diplomats in Syria were safe.

Moscow, a staunch al-Assad ally, intervened in the conflict in 2015 in favour of the now-overthrown president.

Syrian opposition groups claim to capture more towns in northern Syria
In a post on Telegram, Syrian opposition forces engaged in Operation Dawn of Freedom – mostly falling under the Syrian National Army – claim they have taken over numerous villages in northern Syria.

The villages include:

Jamous
al-Far
al-Dandaliya
Jubb al-Arous
Awn al-Dadat

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

Syria-bound Iranian oil tanker turns back after al-Assad falls

An Iranian oil tanker was on course to cross the Suez Canal to reach Syria but made a U-turn after the fall of the al-Assad regime, according to a maritime tracking agency.

Iranian Suezmax tanker LOTUS, due to deliver about 750,000 barrels of Iranian crude to Syria, is now returning, according to TankerTrackers.

It said it expects fuel shortages in Syria as a result, adding that China could now potentially acquire the additional Iranian crude at a discount.

Italian ambassador in Syria unharmed after opposition break-in: FM

Italy’s Antonio Tajani says Syrian fighters have entered the residence of the envoy to Syria, leaving him and his security detail unharmed, according to ANSA and other domestic news agencies.

“This morning an armed group entered the garden of the ambassador’s residence. They took away only three cars and that was it,” Tajani said.

The ambassador and the police officers have been moved to a secure location, the minister added.

ANSA quoted Italian ministry sources as saying rebels were going into embassies and offices of international NGOs in a search for allies of al-Assad.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

Lebanon says boosting troops on Syria border after Assad’s fall

The Lebanese army says it is reinforcing its presence on the border with neighbouring Syria after the government of al-Assad fell and rebels took the capital, Damascus.

“In light of rapid developments and delicate circumstances that the region is going through… units tasked with monitoring and controlling the northern and eastern borders have been reinforced, in conjunction with tightening surveillance measures,” the army said in a statement.

On Sunday, Syrian rebels swept into Damascus declaring they had toppled “tyrant” Assad, whose current whereabouts are unknown after he reportedly fled the country.

An AFP correspondent saw dozens of cars lining the main Masnaa crossing between the two countries as Syrian families returned home, with crowds cheering and chanting anti-Assad slogans.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said he discussed the situation at the Syrian border in a call with army commander Joseph Aoun and security forces chiefs.

Mikati insisted “in these calls on the priority of tightening control over the border and distancing Lebanon from the repercussions of the developments in Syria”, his office said in a statement.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

Israeli PM Netanyahu visits Syrian border, hails ‘historic day’: Report

Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu has joined military commanders for a stop at the Israel-Syrian border, where Israel plans to bolster its defences, according to Israeli media reports.

“This is a historic day in the annals of the Middle East,” Netanyahu was quoted by Israel’s i24 TV as saying.

The Israeli prime minister went on to claim that al-Assad’s fall “is a direct result of the blows we landed against Iran and Hezbollah”.

Lack of Russian panic could mean some sort of understanding with Turkiye

The Russian Foreign Ministry said it did not participate in negotiations that preceded Bashar al-Assad’s resignation, and it did not specify his whereabouts.

The military at the Russian bases in Syria are on high alert, but there are no threats to their safety.

Russia and Iran appear to be negatively affected by the opposition ousting al-Assad, said Yulia Shapovalova, reporting from Moscow.

“Both have played a major role in supporting the Assad regime since the uprising began in 2011,” she said. “Russia actually continued to be on al-Assad’s side, because just recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed that Syria has been its strongest ally in the Middle East.”

Shapovalova said this gave Russia influence in the Middle East, and the ability to have a base in Tartus and an air base in Hmeimim in exchange for Moscow’s support. Russia has gained a key military presence in the Mediterranean and air power in the region as a result.

“Allegedly, Russia uses its naval base in Tartus to send its mercenaries to Africa, to Sudan, Mali and the Central African Republic,” Shapovalova said.

“Judging by the lack of panic in Russian bases, it could mean an element of agreement with Turkiye could have taken place.

At the moment, we understand all flights between Moscow and Damascus have been cancelled and the atmosphere at the Syrian embassy in Moscow remains calm.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/7/syria-war-live-news-govt-says-president-al-assad-has-not-fled-damascus

>>486122
>Iran isn't safe either, to be quite clear. The correct material analysis is that the thing that's been happening for over 20 years, which has recently accelerated, continues to happen.
I'm not that anon, but events don't necessarily continue on a linear trajectory.

The current happening in Syria likely won't touch Iran much.

What's likely going to happen is that this mercenary group that pushed over Assad will attempt to foist their religious bullshit on the Syrian population. That will spawn a Syrian resistance. The mercenary group is composed of lots of subgroups who disagree a lot, so there will also be infighting among those.

Iran will probably fund and supply the soon to be spawned Syrian resistance with weapons, perhaps hoping to bootstrap something like what Hezbollah was in the beginning. Iran has become the strongest player in the region, so they do have decent chances of their faction gaining the upper-hand.

This thing will turn into a cluster fuck of the type:
<If the elephants tussle, the little grass gets trampled.

There also is the base-game. Both Russia and the US have military bases in Syria. And now each side will try to get the other one's base swept away in the ensuing chaos.

The Neocons in the US have a long standing objective of maintaining a strip of perpetual chaos (Dark-Trotsky's permanent counter-revolution of sorts) in West-Asia (or Middle East) in order to prevent economic integration, like for example the Belt&Road project from China, but also other models before that too.

The Chinese have completed Belt&Road in East-Asia and are almost done in Middle-Asia (nobody calls it that, but it fits in this context) and will soon also attempt econ-integration in West-Asia. It's very unlikely that they will use hard-power or arming factions, so expect something new. Of note here is that the mercenary faction that has toppled Assad also contains the Xinjiang Uighur terrorists. So it's not hard to guess on which side the scale the Chinese will put their thumb.

The lesson to learn from the fate of Assad's government is not new, it's the same as with Libya, either get nukes like the DPRK or become a Hezbollah type adaptate (portmanteau of "adaptive" and "state") that is structured in discrete semi-independent micro-orgs with lots of personnel redundancy. So there can be no collapse chain-reaction. Ok maybe nukes will become outdated in 20 years, so maybe this has to be updated to hyper-sonic subdividing kinetic rockets. So get HSKRs Huskers

Allegedly Erdogan is now bombing Kurdish-held positions in Syria:
https://twitter.com/YpgInt/status/1865762797843255619

>>486136
>I'm not that anon, but events don't necessarily continue on a linear trajectory.
Iran has already been bombed multiple times this year by Israel.
Iran is next in line. Netanyahu and, previously, US leadership have been extremely clear about this. There is no room for ambiguity here, this is a project of regime change and imperialism in the middle east. The fall of Syria did not occur in a vacuum at all, it's part of a decades-long plan, and the people who started it all those decades ago are still in power now.

>The current happening in Syria likely won't touch Iran much.
Syria was a key ally to Iran, and the Syrian border was important to Hezbollah as well.

>What's likely going to happen is that this mercenary group that pushed over Assad will attempt to foist their religious bullshit on the Syrian population. That will spawn a Syrian resistance. The mercenary group is composed of lots of subgroups who disagree a lot, so there will also be infighting among those.
That's civil war. You're describing civil war, division and chaos which are exactly what the US & Israel (who are already expanding further into Syria) want out of this. This is not good for Iran or really anybody else except the Zionists. Also, there's a not-nothing chance that it doesn't go down this way and it merely results in a brutal Salafist dictatorship which is friendly to US imperial interests… which is a thing which has been created before.

>Iran will probably fund and supply the soon to be spawned Syrian resistance with weapons, perhaps hoping to bootstrap something like what Hezbollah was in the beginning. Iran has become the strongest player in the region, so they do have decent chances of their faction gaining the upper-hand.
I had to rewrite my response to this section to be more polite.
Basically, my view is no. This is Black Knight-level denial at this point.
Iran doesn't have infinite resources, they have domestic political issues and security to worry about while all this is going on.
The approach to attacking them is insanely fucking predictable; use propaganda, money, etc. to sow division in Iran, continue to provoke Iran with the US's bottomless supply of arms, surveillance, cash, etc., continue fucking with Lebanon and Syria, maybe do some more assassinations in Tehran, maybe a false flag in the US, etc. Believe it or not, this method works and has worked many, many, many times now in just our lifetime. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that Iran is immune. It's dumb to think that, especially after we have watched this occur time and time again and there has always been someone saying "no, this time the Axis of Resistance has its shit together and this particular leader will not go down so easily!" … like come on. Come on!
We're talking about the empire that collapsed the fucking USSR here, yet every other west Asian figurehead who has outlasted Saddam is assumed to be some kind of invincible superman who is simply immune to the power of the greatest empire the world has ever seen!
Do you have any idea how poor these countries are, the kind of toll decades of economic and military war against them have taken? If you were to say that it's remarkable that they have lasted so long, I would agree, but that's because the odds they are up against are fucking insane. This denial pisses me off more than anything at this point… ok, not more than anything, but more than most things.

There also is the base-game. Both Russia and the US have military bases in Syria. And now each side will try to get the other one's base swept away in the ensuing chaos.
Gee, I wonder who will win. The country that's directly bogged down in Ukraine or the country with no real war commitments at its borders… tbf, Russia may at least have done the right thing strategically by choosing not to get bogged down in Syria too much. If the US ends up getting its foot caught there, then that could be a good thing, but not a very good thing.

>The lesson to learn from the fate of Assad's government is not new, it's the same as with Libya, either get nukes like the DPRK or become a Hezbollah type adaptate (portmanteau of "adaptive" and "state") that is structured in discrete semi-independent micro-orgs with lots of personnel redundancy. So there can be no collapse chain-reaction. Ok maybe nukes will become outdated in 20 years, so maybe this has to be updated to hyper-sonic subdividing kinetic rockets. So get HSKRs Huskers
Tbh Hezbollah could get fucked in the coming year. This is very bad stuff going on, I don't know if the Hezbollah method is actually reliable for survival at this point. Nukes or nothin'.

Fire breaks out in Damascus after a suspected air attack

Images show a building on fire in Damascus after a suspected air attack. It’s believed that the Israelis may have struck what is believed to be a munitions depot close to the airport.

The Israeli media reported earlier on Sunday that the Israeli air force has bombed weapons depots in southern Syria and Damascus to prevent opposition groups from seizing them.

We will bring more details on the blaze as they emerge.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/8/israel-seizes-buffer-zone-in-syrias-golan-heights-after-al-assad-falls

https://x.com/MayadeenEnglish/status/1865772957731004897
An Israeli media platform provided a preliminary report of a "tough incident" on the border with #Lebanon.

Earlier, Israeli media reported that for the first time since the six-day war, Israeli occupation forces are present behind "enemy lines" on three border frontlines: #Gaza, South Lebanon, and Syria.

Speaking of the latter, Israeli media reported that the occupation is preparing for a long war with #Syria, aiming to occupy and "annex" large parts of Syrian territory. Similarly, Netanyahu has announced the collapse of the 1974 Disengagement Agreement between Syria and "Israel" regarding the Golan Heights.

Israel says ground troops deployed into Syria

The Israeli army says its forces are stationed on four fronts: the occupied West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.

In a statement on Telegram, the army said ground troops had been deployed into Syrian territory and were working with other branches of the army, including air, sea and intelligence.

https://aje.io/rwjkou?update=3373042

https://x.com/AtleticoFutbol_/status/1865700548353118720
Fortuitous Gaddafi clip from 2008.

>>486139
>Iran has already been bombed multiple times this year by Israel.
Yes and Isreal lost these exchanges, badly. In military jargon Iran "established decisive escalation dominance in conventional war-fare". Considering that Iran is nuclear capable, it's not in Israel's interests to press Iran to the point where they assemble their nuclear deterrent. Nuclear parity means that Iran becomes the unassailable regional hegemon. Israel would get boxed in until it withers away.
>Iran is next in line.
>this is a project of regime change and imperialism in the middle east
>US leadership have been extremely clear about this
Yeah but it is just what the neocons want to happen, it's not necessarily what's going to happen.
I don't get it why everybody is loosing their head about this, the neocons lost like a dozen rounds in a row, they finally win one round, so what ?, it doesn't mean they'll continue winning after that.

>Syria was a key ally to Iran, and the Syrian border was important to Hezbollah as well.
Yeah but Syria folded so easily how much support were they really going to give ? I don't think the Zionists will be able to cut Hezbollah off from weapons, they couldn't even stop Gaza from getting missiles. It's pretty easy to make decoy-bait that looks like arms transports that in reality are fire-traps to destroy the attempts at interdiction (ground and air). They will suffer a lot of attrition if they try to isolate Hezbollah.

>That's civil war. You're describing civil war, division and chaos which are exactly what the US & Israel (who are already expanding further into Syria) want out of this.
Regardless what you call it, they're trying to force the direction of politics against the population, they're going to get massive blow-back.

>This is not good for Iran or really anybody else except the Zionists.
Iran has been skilled at exploiting that kind of disarray too, so do not count them out. The Syrian population lost, the Assad government lost, but so far nobody really won anything.

>Also, there's a not-nothing chance that it doesn't go down this way and it merely results in a brutal Salafist dictatorship which is friendly to US imperial interests… which is a thing which has been created before.
I don't think so, they're not capable of establishing a state in Syria. The neocons feed on decay, they can't build for shit. It's been decades since the US created a viable state. This is going to be a worse money-pit than Ukraine. And i give it 25% chance Hezbollah ends up getting weapons the US pumps into that place.

>I had to rewrite my response to this section to be more polite.
Much appreciated.
>US's bottomless supply of arms
Oh now i understand your doomerism, that's a incorrect assumption. The Russians managed to outproduce the US on weapons in the Ukraine war, by a factor of 2 or 3 (and that's the conservative estimate).

Furthermore, compare the Iranian missile strike against Israel's air-raid. The air-raid was super-expensive , operationally complex and not very effective. They had to fly tanker-planes to refuel jets in the air, they only could fire stand-off munitions because they could not penetrate Iranian air space. And by all appearances they didn't do much damage. By contrast the Iranian missile attack was cheap, simple and it punched through Israel's defenses with more ease than anybody expected. If they try a slog-fest, Iran has a massive efficiency advantage. Israel is tiny and can't absorb enough blows to wear down Iran, which is a big country.

>The approach to attacking them is insanely fucking predictable use propaganda, money, etc. to sow division
<CIA regime change stuff
It was effective and they did topple many governments with it. But it hasn't worked in years. There's like a dozen failed attempts, including one in Iran. It's a strategy that's been countered.


>We're talking about the empire that collapsed the fucking USSR here
No we're not.
The cold war certainly inflicted damage on the USSR in terms of consuming extra resources for the arms-race. But ultimately the USSR dissolved because of internal problems. And lets not forget the US is not nearly as strong today as it was during that time. There is also some irony here because that arms-race forced the Russians to get really good at sophisticated weaponry, which has now boomeranged. The Russians have actually surpassed US weapon tech in a number of fields.

I get your despair, but i only feel it for the Syrian people who are about to fall from sanctions-hell into failed-state-hell. Syria also was a birth-place of civilization, it's very bitter witnessing that going up in flames. But strategically speaking the US spend at least 2 decades breaking down a tiny country. It's not a big display of power. The original neocon plan was for this to be a 6 months pit-stop on the way to Iran and was supposed to happen in the early 2000s.

Breaking Iran will be very different, they can destroy most of the US's military base in West-Asia/Middle-East (including the ones in Israel) , they can block shipping routes which would inflict enormous economic pain on the US, and they can sink US aircraft carriers.
And lets not forget if the US commits to destroying Iran, that will be the last act of the empire. Because the Chinese will not waste the opportunity to spread win-win cooperation through the rest of the world while the US is occupied with a another bloodbath. They will get all their military bases closed in Asia, even the ones in Japan and Australia. Most of the military bases in Africa will close too, and all their client regimes in South America will go poof. And that will happen within years rather than decades.

Currently the US empire is locked in a triple stalemate where they slowly loose ground over 20 years until the empire has faded away. If they fully commit to one of those 3 places, the other two will be able to do what ever they want. And that will end the empire in a few years.

Russia requests UNSC meeting on Syria: Report

The news comes from Russia’s state-owned news agency TASS, which says that the country has requested emergency consultations of the UN Security Council after Damascus fell to Syrian opposition groups earlier today.

Russia, a key ally of Bashar al-Assad, said that the deposed leader left the country.

Lebanon seeing an influx of people from Syria
Zein Basravi
Lebanon-Syria border

There is a curfew in place in Damascus and Syria now, so the outflow of Syrian refugees going back into Syria that we saw for so many hours has stopped.

But now we are seeing an influx of more and more people coming from the Syrian side into Lebanon. Just a little while ago, there was a large group – vehicles filled with people and personal belongings, people walking on foot, families carrying whatever they could – leaving Syria and coming into Lebanon.

Many of them are Lebanese refugees, who were displaced by the war with Israel.

But many are also Syrians seeking safety here; perhaps pro-Assad Syrians who are now seeking safety outside of their country.

So there is this outflow of people from Syria now coming into Lebanon that is happening.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/8/syria-war-live-news-opposition-groups-say-al-assad-rule-is-over

PIJ: Israel ‘exploiting’ Syria situation to expand occupation

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad says Israel’s move to capture the buffer zone in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was proof of the “expansion of its occupation on Syrian lands”, and showed that it is “the real enemy of the peoples of our nation”.

“The Israeli aggression is a blatant assault on the Syrian people and their will, and an exploitation of the situation for expansionist goals,” the group added.

Israel told US in advance about plans for ground forces in Syria: Report

US outlet Axios says that Israel informed the US that it would move its troops into a buffer zone along the border of the occupied Golan Heights.

Earlier, Israeli PM Netanyahu said a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria “has collapsed”, so he “directed the [military] yesterday to seize the buffer zone and the commanding positions nearby”.

Israel has also carried out dozens of air strikes on Syrian territory today, including on the capital, Damascus.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/8/syria-war-live-news-opposition-groups-say-al-assad-rule-is-over

>>486150
>>486153
The al-Jazeera bullshit is really unwelcome here, this is one of the major factors in why the Western Left has been so confused on what the hell is going on in Syria. al-Jazeera does amazing coverage on Palestine so people assume it'll be good on other parts of the Middle East, but the direction from their state funders in Qatar is to peddle nothing but propaganda when it comes to Syria. Qatar really wants that pipeline to sell their gas to Europe.

Israeli forces seize more territory in Syria: Report

Defence Minister Israel Katz says Israeli forces are seizing “additional points” in the buffer zone in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, according to Ynet News.

The outlet quoted Katz as saying he instructed the military on Sunday night “to act immediately in Syria” and that soldiers “continued to seize additional points in the buffer zone”.

Katz also said he instructed the military “to create a security zone free of heavy strategic weapons and terrorist infrastructures that could threaten Israel”.

The move aims “to thwart the renewal of the weapons smuggling route from Iran to Lebanon through Syria and at border crossing points”.

More on Israel’s attacks on Damascus on Sunday

Reuters, citing two regional security sources, reports the target of Israel’s air attacks on the Syrian capital yesterday were a security complex and a research centre that it claims had been used by Iran to develop missiles.

They told Reuters that the three raids caused extensive damage to the main customs headquarters and buildings adjoining the military intelligence offices within the security complex. The research facility was also damaged.

The complex is located in the Kafr Sousa district of Damascus.

Reuters reported quoting one of the sources that the strikes hit infrastructure used to store sensitive military data, equipment and guided missile parts. There were more Israeli strikes across Syria on Sunday.

The sources said Israel struck at least seven targets in southwest Syria, including the Khalkhala airbase north of Sweida city that the Syrian army withdrew from, as well as ammunition depots near Mezzah military airport, southwest of Damascus.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Israeli forces also bombed “weapon depots and positions that belonged to the defunct regime and Iran-backed groups in the eastern Deir Az Zor province”.

The moment Syrian soldiers near Damascus abandoned their posts

Footage, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad Agency, shows dozens of Syrian government soldiers abandoning their positions on Sunday as opposition forces advanced from Homs to Damascus.

The soldiers, dressed in civilian clothing, are seen walking along the Homs-Damascus road. Military fatigues are seen lying discarded on the road.

https://www.facebook.com/people/SaadAldeen-Alzaydan/100091312160537/?ref=embed_video

Rescue teams in Sednaya prison yet to find hidden vaults

The Syrian Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, says five specialised teams have been searching the Sednaya prison for hours amid fears some prisoners are still being held in underground vaults, known as the Red Wing.

The teams have “opened several areas inside the prison” but “have not found anything yet”, the White Helmets said on Telegram, adding that they will continue to provide updates as the team continues its search.

Iran says Syrian rebels’s behaviour will determine future ties

Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, says that the behaviour of the victorious force that took Damascus earlier today will decide how Tehran engages in relations with them.

Iran is considering “what policy will they adopt against the Islamic Republic of Iran, what policy will they have against the Syrian [Shia Muslims], what will be the distance between them and the Zionist regime [Israel], what will be the distance between them and the terrorist groups, how will they behave”? he said.

Iran was a close ally of al-Assad and worked for years to assist him in his struggle to stay in power during the Syrian civil war.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/8/syria-war-live-news-opposition-groups-say-al-assad-rule-is-over

>>486156
I noticed. I'm trying to keep it to the less overtly propagandistic stuff, but if you click the links they're absolutely full of celebratory bullshit. What news source would you rec for regular updates on Syria?
AJ has been lagging behind on live updates for Palestine since 2 days ago, btw, they're putting all their focus on "HTS is good actually" and I hate it.

https://twitter.com/AliAbunimah/status/1865834854404726991
I thought the official script was supposed to be that this was a Syrian popular revolution, but according to @joebiden, the fall of the Syrian government is "directly" thanks to Ukraine and Israel, "with unflagging support of the United States"!

Biden sleepwalking through a clumsy statement admitting this is a proxy war and hinting that certain 'coincidental' provocations and attacks may not have been so coincidental.

Has .orgs entire mod team and BO committed seppuku yet?
Unironically what is it with so many western socialists, backing the most corrupt, biggest fucking losers ever? Even with US support, the YPG is actually a socialist project and state, yet you got banned on dotorg for supporting them. Now it's the YPG fighting against this Jihadi menace in manbij.

>>486164
I mean, to be fair, the YPG is probably gonna get wrecked also or become so dependent on its US backers that any semblance of socialism and autonomy is removed.

KernowDamo on recent events and the contributions of the former Syrian gov't to Hezbollah and the resistance to Israel & US imperialism.

Israel strikes Syria’s Latakia: Report

An Israeli strike has targeted an air defence installation near Syria’s Mediterranean Latakia port, Reuters news agency reports, citing unnamed Syrian security sources.

The Israeli army has carried out over 100 strikes on Syrian territory since the fall of the al-Assad regime, including on its capital, Damascus.

Violence in eastern Syria protests demanding ouster of SDF

Local sources report that three civilians were killed and others wounded when the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) dispersed demonstrations in Deir Az Zor, eastern Syria.

Protesters were demanding the exit of the SDF from the city, the sources said, adding that snipers from the group were deployed on rooftops.

The SDF controls a semi-autonomous zone in Syria’s northeast, which includes large parts of Deir Az Zor province and stretches into parts of Aleppo in the northwest.

(src: youknowwho)

Large wave of Israeli strikes against Syrian air bases: Report

We’ve been replaying reports from the ground that air strikes had targeted bases near Damascus, Syria.

Now, Reuters news agency, citing two unnamed Syrian security sources, says Israeli planes bombed at least three major Syrian army air bases that housed dozens of helicopters and jets.

This is the biggest such wave of strikes on air bases since Bashar al-Assad was toppled, the security sources told Reuters.

Qamishli air base in northeast Syria, Shinshar base in the countryside of Homs and Aqaba airport southwest of the capital Damascus were all hit, the sources said.

Israel has also launched several strikes on a research centre on the outskirts of Damascus and a centre for electronic warfare near the Sayeda Zainab area of the capital.

Israel has just told the United Nations that it is involved in “limited” actions in Syria after the fall of al-Assad.

Since yesterday, Israel has taken over a buffer zone next to its occupied land in the Golan Heights and carried out dozens of strikes against Syrian territory.

Video shows Israeli strikes on Damascus

At least two explosions were seen in the area of Barzeh, north of Damascus, where the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) has an office, video verified by Al Jazeera shows.

Israel has repeatedly struck the SSRC’s facilities over its links to chemical weapons production under toppled President Bashar al-Assad.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=embed_video&v=590409133500026

Iran condemns Israeli actions in Syria, calls for UN intervention

Iran condemns Israel’s “repeated violations of Syrian infrastructure” and seizure of Syrian land, according to the Iranian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Ismail Baghaei.

His comments came after Israeli troops took up positions in Syria near the occupied Golan Heights to create a so-called buffer zone and after a fresh wave of Israeli air strikes on military infrastructure in the country.

Baghaei said he considered Israel’s actions a violation of international law and called for an “immediate response” by the UN Security Council to “stop the aggression”.

UN peacekeepers say Israel violated 1974 agreement in Syria

UN peacekeepers in Syria have told Israeli forces that their seizure of land in Syria constitutes a violation of an agreement established in 1974.

Back then, Syria and Israel signed the Agreement on Disengagement, which ended the Yom Kippur War. A UN peacekeeping force was also established, UNDOF, tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between the two countries.

After the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, Israel considered the deal null and therefore occupied Syrian land near the already-occupied Golan Heights.

“The peacekeepers at UNDOF informed the Israeli counterparts that these actions do constitute a violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement that there should be no military forces or activities in the area of separation, and Israel and Syria must continue to uphold the terms of that 1974 agreement and preserve stability in the Golan,” UN secretary-general’s spokesperson Stephane Dujarric has said.

Hezbollah condemns Israeli strikes on Syria

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has condemned increased Israeli strikes on Syria and said it stood by the country’s people, in its first comment since rebels overthrew the group’s ally, former President Bashar al-Assad.

Hezbollah lambasted Israel for “occupying more land in the Golan Heights” where it moved troops into a buffer zone after Assad fell, and for “striking and destroying the defensive capabilities of the Syrian state”.

“While we affirm our support for Syria and its people, we stress the necessity to preserve Syria’s unity,” it added.

The statement makes no mention of al-Assad.

src: youknowwho
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/8/syria-war-live-news-opposition-groups-say-al-assad-rule-is-over

How it's going

The SNA (Turkish-backed) has captured Manbij from the YPG (US backed).

Hope the Assadist shills on .org get to see all the videos and photos from Assad's death camps, tonnes of human rights activists, teens etc found dead, including notable ones from the Hague.
>>486183
Turkish thugs already enslaving women and mass executing people, video of them going through the hospital and killing all the patients.

https://x.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1866289242843828585
Footage of Israel destroying Syria's navy.

Syria monitor says 54 fleeing soldiers killed

A Syria war monitor says ISIL-affiliated (ISIS) fighters killed 54 government soldiers who were fleeing in the central province of Homs as fighters pressed an offensive.

The fighters captured “personnel fleeing military service in the desert … during the collapse of the regime” of al-Assad and “executed 54” of them in the Sukhna area in the Homs desert, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Turkiye destroys YPG trucks carrying Syrian army weapons: Report

Turkiye’s intelligence agency has destroyed 12 trucks loaded with missiles and heavy weapons, two tanks and ammunition stores being transported by the Kurdish YPG militia in northeast Syria, Reuters news agency reports, citing an unnamed Turkish security source.

The source said that the military equipment had been left behind by the armed forces of Syria’s ousted President Bashar al-Assad when they abandoned the area of Qamishli in northeast Syria.

The Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have been a leader in the coalition of groups that made up the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.

The group had been enjoying near-autonomy in northeast Syria, which has been under its control for years.

src: youknowwho

Fans of Beirut will love watching the prequel to Beirut 2: Damascus!

>>486201
Israel emptying it's arsenals of modern weapons to destroy Syria's old weapons. Not a good trade if you ask me.

I think they don't want a new Syrian state to form because they want to conquer at least parts of it. Whether that works out in their favor, i remain skeptical.

>>486202
statement from Tel Aviv:
<If this regime allows Iran to re-establish it self in Syria, or permits the transfer of Iranian weapons to Hezbollah
Not if
It's when
They can't seriously expect Iran won't take advantage of the power-vacuum.

>>486019
>t-64 tank
>in the Middle East
lol wut

>>486207
Why not ? I mean there is a lot of soviet weapons floating around. Or is there something specific to the T64 model that makes it unlikely for that region ?

>>486204
>Israel emptying it's arsenals of modern weapons to destroy Syria's old weapons. Not a good trade if you ask me.
One of these countries has bottomless weapons, the other doesn't.
One of them had air defenses, the other has air defenses.

Lebanon still doesn't have air defenses. This is not actually a common thing over there now. There's this weird thing that keeps happening where countries near Israel turn into countries with no air defenses or military to speak of, and then get invaded and massacred or turned into loyal accomplices (who don't care if they're invaded or massacred). It's almost insulting to think this is something else after this has happened so many times.

>Not if
>It's when
>They can't seriously expect Iran won't take advantage of the power-vacuum.
Take advantage with who?
What liberty does a country with no air defenses right next to Israel, crawling with US military and Israeli agents at the time of its "revolution," have to defy Israeli threats? The moment they do anything, they'll be decimated, and they've already declared themselves enemies of Iranian allies like Hezbollah. Who is Iran supposed to deal with?

>>486207
At the time, some speculated that it was misidentified by the US military. I forget what tanks people thought were more likely… could have been a t-64 but idk.

>>486212
>One of these countries has bottomless weapons
Nobody has "bottomless weapons"

>Lebanon still doesn't have air defenses. This is not actually a common thing over there now. There's this weird thing that keeps happening where countries near Israel turn into countries with no air defenses or military to speak of, and then get invaded and massacred
Yeah alright, you have a point here.
To some extent the Russians have been a provider of air-defenses though, at least for those forces that are capable of using these sophisticated systems. The Russians certainly can produce more of those than anybody can resupply jet-fighters.

There also is a new type of air-defences that's likely going to emerge:
A small Air-to-Air missile that gets lifted and launched from a relatively small drone, at low to medium altitude. While in the Air the drone also could give some radar tracking ability. That likely is something that could be deployed by countries like Lebanon. It would be nowhere near as good as the bigger systems, but a lot better than the shouldered fired rocket launchers and fighters like Hezbollah actually would stand a chance to down a few Jets with these.

>Take advantage with who?
>What liberty does a country with no air defenses right next to Israel, crawling with US military and Israeli agents at the time of its "revolution," have to defy Israeli threats? The moment they do anything, they'll be decimated, and they've already declared themselves enemies of Iranian allies like Hezbollah. Who is Iran supposed to deal with?
Syria most likely won't remain a unified country and it will turn into a kaleidoscope of factions. Every power in the region is going to exert influence by allying with these factions. And Iran likely will be doing that too. You can safely ignore the declarations.
Bombing the shit out of people isn't that effective at exerting influence, as a political tool it's too blunt, Israel will not rule over the region by air-power.

>>486217
>I find that what is really happening at the Lebanon Syria border is entirely different to the media narrative of a mass return of jubilant Syrian refugees.
>The numbers returning are negligible.
I didn't watch any mainstream media, are they really pretending that Syrians would be returning home when that means running towards chaos ?

Erdogan is already saying he regrets all the chaos in Syria.

Israel has now advanced beyond the Golan heights and is eyeing southern Syria's agricultural areas. Israeli forces are beginning to get stretched thin.

If Israel gets too greedy they might end up creating a second Hezbollah in Syria. Doublebollah
Turkey might get stuck with a protracted border war.

Iran is now debating it self about getting nukes. I guess the equation is that nukes are expensive, but if having them creates stability, those might pay off in extra economic activity that would shy away from instability.

If the neocons manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on this one, i think that might warrant researching a new type of generator that's powered by irony.

>>486221
Some are returning. But yes, western media is saying it, exaggerating it, and western politicians are now all in unison trying to declare that Syrians' refugee status is null-and-void.

From KernowDamo on the western/media hypocrisy about HTS

Lebanon’s Hezbollah hopes new Syria rejects ‘Israeli occupation’

Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group on Tuesday expressed hope that neighbouring Syria’s new rulers would reject the “Israeli occupation” of their land, days after the fall of president Bashar al-Assad.

“We hope to see Syria stabilise … and take a firm stand against Israeli occupation, while preventing foreign interference in its affairs,” the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

Hezbollah fought in Syria’s war in support of al-Assad, who had played a key role in helping Iran to supply the Lebanese group with weapons.

But Hezbollah has recently been battered by an intense war with Israel, and much of the group’s leadership have been killed in Israeli attacks.

US embassy in Syria urges US citizens to leave country

Citing a “volatile and unpredictable” security situation throughout the country, the X account of the embassy, which suspended operations in 2012, urged US citizens to leave if they are able.

“The US government is unable to provide any routine or emergency consular services to US citizens in Syria”, its post read, urging those who plan to leave to contact the US embassy in the country they plan to enter.

The main option it gave to citizens was fleeing through the Turkish border, but added that the US embassy in Turkey must facilitate this transfer.

“If you are in Syria, be prepared to shelter in place should the situation deteriorate”, the post says.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/12/10/live-israel-bombards-syria-as-opposition-seeks-to-form-new-government

Kurdish-led forces say they’ve agreed a ceasefire with Turkiye-backed rebels

As we have been reporting, there has been intense fighting between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed rebels around the northern Syrian city of Manbij, with around 218 people killed in just three days.

Now, SDF commander Mazloum Abdi says the US-backed Kurdish group have reached a ceasefire agreement with the Turkey-backed rebels in Manbij.

He said early on Wednesday the ceasefire had been reached through US mediation “to ensure the safety and security of civilians”.

“The fighters of the Manbij Military Council, who have been resisting the attacks since November 27, will withdraw from the area as soon as possible,” Abdi added.

Iran’s Khamenei claims US-Israel plan behind fall of Syria’s al-Assad

In his first comments since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Tehran has “evidence” that “what happened in Syria was the product of a joint plan by the US and the Zionist regime”.

“Yes, a government neighbouring Syria played and is playing a clear role in this. We see this,” he told a gathering in Tehran, referring to Turkiye.

But Khamenei again emphasised that “the main conspirators” were the US and Israel.

Syrian Civil Defence says no chemical leakage after Israeli bombing

The Syrian Civil Defence has said there was no leakage of chemical substances in the al-Qutayfah area near Damascus, after an Israeli bombing had sparked fear of harmful substances having been released.

The civil defence said a specialised team headed to the location after receiving reports of a yellow cloud over the area, but found no traces of chemical vapours.

HTS-led opposition forces take over Manbij after SDF withdrawal

Syrian opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group have taken full control of Manbij in northeastern Syria and have published the footage below, verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad fact-checking agency.

We reported earlier how the Kurdish-led and US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) evacuated from the area after an agreement.

https://twitter.com/AJA_Syria/status/1866815311321923649

Mausoleum of Bashar al-Assad’s father set on fire in Syria’s Qardaha: Report

The tomb of Hafez al-Assad was torched in his hometown of Qardaha, according to a war monitor and footage taken by the AFP news agency.

The AFP video showed opposition fighters in fatigues and young men watching it burn.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) war monitor told AFP the fighters had set fire to the mausoleum.

It was located in the Latakia heartland of al-Assad’s Alawite community.

Russia says Israeli strikes in Syria violate 1974 pact

Israeli action in Syria violates a treaty between Israel and Syria that ended the 1974 war, known to Israelis as the Yom Kippur War and to Arabs as the October War, the Russian Foreign Ministry says.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a news briefing that Israel’s actions did not serve to stabilise the situation in Syria and called on it to show restraint.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Tuesday that his country aims to impose a “sterile defence zone” in southern Syria as the Israeli military said a wave of its air strikes had destroyed most of Syria’s strategic weapons stockpile.

Israel’s military says it has carried out 480 attacks on Syria in the past 48 hours.

Opposition fighters clash with group loyal to al-Assad in Deraa

Syrian fighters have stormed the town of Umm Walad, in the eastern countryside of the Deraa province, to arrest the leader of an armed group known for its loyalty to the ousted al-Assad’s regime, according to social media footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency.

The fighters imposed a curfew in the town and clashed with the group led by Mohammed Ali al-Rifai, nicknamed Abu Ali al-Lahham, who fled the town.

Turkish forces and proxies bombard villages in northeast Syria: Monitor

Turkiye and its proxies stationed in Syria have bombarded several villages in Tel Tamr countryside and nearby villages in Hasakah in northeastern Syria, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The UK-based war monitor said displaced civilians from the targeted villages rushed out to safer areas.

On Sunday, it reported Turkish forces firing artillery shells on Kurdish-controlled positions in the northwestern part of Hasakah.

“The bombardment indiscriminately targeted civilian houses, which triggered a state of panic among residents, amid concerns about military escalation by Turkish forces following the toppling of al-Assad.”

Russia warns of ISIL emergence again in Syria: Report

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has warned that there was a real risk that ISIL (ISIS) fighters could rise again in Syria, the state RIA news agency reported.

ISIL is designated as a “terrorist group” by authorities in Russia who have banned it.

Israeli air strikes a ‘huge’ challenge for new administration
Resul Serdar Atas
Reporting from Damascus, Syria

Israel is carrying out the largest aerial operations in Syria in its army’s history. It is hitting the northern cities, the coastal cities of Tartous and Latakia, Homs, Hama and in and around the capital, Damascus.

I was inside a military airport, one of the largest ones in Damascus, which has been hit by Israel several times in the last couple of days.

Two helicopters – one cargo and another an attack helicopter – both Russian-made, were burned to the ground by the Israeli air force.

These air strikes are really a huge challenge for the new administration of Syria as they try to preserve the state apparatus, while also trying to provide security.

Iran rejects ‘rumour’ that $42m taken from its embassy in Syria

Iran’s embassy in Syria denies claims that money sent by Tehran to be spent in Syria and Lebanon has been stolen.

“There were no possessions or resources inside the Iranian embassy building in Syria at the time of its violation,” the embassy said, according to state-run IRNA.

“All had been predicted before evacuation, and the issue of the theft of $42m is a rumour that seditionists released for consumption within Iran.”

Iran’s Khamenei claims US-Israel plan behind fall of Syria’s al-Assad

In his first comments since the fall of Bashar al-Assad, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Tehran has “evidence” that “what happened in Syria was the product of a joint plan by the US and the Zionist regime”.

“Yes, a government neighbouring Syria played and is playing a clear role in this. We see this,” he told a gathering in Tehran, referring to Turkiye.

But Khamenei again emphasised that “the main conspirators” were the US and Israel.

Iran-backed ‘axis of resistance’ to encompass whole region: Khamenei

Iran’s Khamenei says the nature of the Iran-backed “axis of resistance” is that it will get more resilient and strong the more pressure it comes under.

“I tell you this, with God’s help, the expanse of the resistance will more than before encompass the whole region,” the supreme leader asserted to cheers by a crowd that also chanted “death to the US” and “death to Israel”.

Khamenei said “ignorant” analysts who are unaware of the true meaning of the axis of resistance believe that if the axis is weakened, “Islamic Iran” is also weakened.

“I tell you this, with God’s help, strong Iran is powerful and will become even more powerful.”

Iran’s Khamenei says occupied Syrian territory will be liberated

We have more lines from Khamenei’s speech:

Occupied Syrian territory will be liberated by brave Syrian youth. Do not doubt that this will happen, and the US will be ejected from the region by the ‘axis of resistance’.
The goal of Daesh [ISIL or ISIS] was to make Syria, Iraq and the region insecure, with the ultimate target of making the Islamic Republic of Iran insecure.
Were we present in Syria? Everybody knows that, yes, the martyrs of defenders of the shrine show that we were present.
When everybody worked with Saddam Hussein and against us [during Iraq’s invasion of Iran in the 1980s], Syria cut off the pipe taking Iraqi oil to the Mediterranean and Europe. The Islamic republic did not leave this service unreturned.
Senior Iranian commanders write to me to say they yearn to fight in Lebanon. Compare this with an army [in Syria] which cannot hold, and flees. This is why resistance is important.
Syria’s events have lessons for us all, including our officials. One of the lessons is negligence about the enemy.
Our intelligence agencies sent warning reports to Syrian authorities from months ago but were ignored.
The US and the Zionist regime closed Syria’s skies and its land routes so we could not send help.

Russia condemns Israel for attacks on ‘already destabilised Syria’

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says Russia wants to see Syria quickly “stabilised”, slamming Israel’s strikes on the country and the creation of a “buffer zone” along the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.

“The strikes, the actions in the Golan Heights and the buffer zone hardly contribute to the stabilisation of the situation in the already destabilised Syria,” Peskov said.

He also said Moscow was in contact with the new Syrian leadership over the fate of Russia’s military bases in the country.

“This is necessary since our [military] base and diplomatic mission are there,” Peskov added.

Iranian currency reaches record low after fall of al-Assad

The overthrow of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad has caused not only political but now also economic damage for his erstwhile ally Iran.

The Iranian currency, the rial, plunged further after the change of power in Syria and fell to a record low on Wednesday.

In the capital Tehran, the dollar exchange rate at currency exchanges rose to more than 740,000 rials, while the unofficial euro exchange rate rose to more than 770,000 rials.

The rial’s latest dollar exchange rate marks a significant decline since President Masoud Pezeshkian took office on July 30, when it was 584,000 rials.

In 2015, the nuclear deal initially set the rate at 32,000 rials to the dollar.

Currency brokers fear that the rate could even rise to 1 million rials if the conflict in the Middle East continues for a longer period.

Israeli strikes across Syria continue

A reminder that Israeli army has been carrying out its largest air offensive on Syria.

There have been nearly 500 strikes across Syria, including the capital Damascus, in just a few days.

Among targets hit were two naval facilities where 15 vessels were docked.

Israel says its attacks have destroyed 80 percent of Syria’s military capabilities.

In addition, Israeli troops are also moving deeper into the occupied Golan Heights.

src: youknowwho

>>486230
So is the UK going to abolish that retarded "terror act" law in order to protect the Zionists ?

>>486228
>western politicians are now all in unison trying to declare that Syrians' refugee status is null-and-void.
So the Syrians get deported in to hell, where they will have no choice but to become resistance fighters who fund them selves by being an Iranian proxy.

>>486241
>Iranian currency reaches record low after fall of al-Assad
>The overthrow of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad has caused not only political but now also economic damage for his erstwhile ally Iran.
>The Iranian currency, the rial, plunged further after the change of power in Syria and fell to a record low on Wednesday.
>In the capital Tehran, the dollar exchange rate at currency exchanges rose to more than 740,000 rials, while the unofficial euro exchange rate rose to more than 770,000 rials.

That means Iran now has no choice but to go all in with BRICS because that'll be the only place where they can sell their stuff and get payed for it.

UN experts say Israeli strikes on Syria against international law

Israel’s strikes on Syria following the fall of al-Assad violate international law, UN experts said, branding Israel’s attempts to “preemptively disarm” its foes as “lawless”.

Since al-Assad’s overthrow, Israel, which borders Syria, has sent troops into a buffer zone on the east of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, in a move the UN has said violates a 1974 armistice. Israel’s army said it had conducted hundreds of strikes against Syrian military assets in the past two days, claiming to target everything from chemical weapons stores to air defences to keep them out of rebel hands.

“There is absolutely no basis under international law to preventively or preemptively disarm a country you don’t like,” said Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur on the promotion of human rights while countering terrorism. “If that were the case, it would be a recipe for global chaos,” he told reporters in Geneva, pointing out that “lots of countries have adversaries they would like to see without weapons”.

“You can’t just follow your enemy wherever they are in the world, and bomb them in some third country, which has been Israel’s approach.”

Kurdish-led SDF leader warns ISIL threat reemerging

The leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, says a resurgent ISIL (ISIS) group is seeking to capitalise on the situation following the fall of al-Assad.

“[ISIL] is now stronger in the Syrian desert. Previously, they were in remote areas and hiding, but now they have greater freedom of movement since they face no issues with other groups and are not engaged in conflict with them,” the leader of the US-backed group, which was defeated by ISIL in 2019, told Sky News.

Abdi also warned that ISIL could seek to take advantage of the Kurdish-led forces’ conflict with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army to attack SDF-run detention camps and release ISIL-affiliated prisoners.

“Generally, the effectiveness of our forces and those of the coalition against [ISIL] diminishes when we are focused on protecting civilians and our communities,” he said.

“Frankly, there is currently a significant threat to the security of these detention centres.”

src: youknowwho

>>486253
>“There is absolutely no basis under international law to preventively or preemptively disarm a country you don’t like,”
>said Ben Saul, UN special rapporteur
This feels like the preschool teacher yelling at Jimmy to stop stabbing Cedric with a fork

>>486255
Whenever people talk to Israel about international law, human rights, etc. it honestly feels to me like any time the humans tried to negotiate with the aliens in Mars Attacks.

>>486266
kek that is so true

>>486275
You make this? 5 stars

Ukraine aided Syrian rebels with drones: Report

The Syrian rebels who deposed al-Assad received drones and other support from Ukrainian operatives who sought to undermine Russia and its Syrian allies, The Washington Post reports.

Citing “knowledgeable” sources familiar with Ukrainian military activities abroad, The Post says that Ukrainian intelligence sent about 20 experienced drone operators and 150 first-person-view drones to the Idlib headquarters of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham four to five weeks ago.

The Post described these efforts as playing a “modest role” in the overthrow of al-Assad, but said they form “part of a broader Ukrainian effort to strike covertly at Russian operations in the Middle East, Africa and inside Russia itself”.

Iranian official blames al-Assad for ignoring warnings

Mohammad Bagher Ghaliba, Iran’s parliament speaker, has acknowledged that the fall of Syria’s al-Assad has “disrupted the momentum” of the Iran-backed “axis of resistance”.

Iran’s IRNA state news agency quoted him as saying that al-Assad’s government ignored Iranian warnings before the rebel advances that ousted him.

If those warnings had been heeded, he said, “today the Syrian nation would not be on the verge of internal chaos, sectarian settlements, and damage to national assets”.

Nevertheless, Ghaliba pledged that the “resistance axis”, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group, will emerge “alive and stronger than before” and that Syria will instil “national dignity”.

“We are confident that … the Syrian people will come to their senses upon seeing the deplorable situation that has befallen their country, and the patriotic Syrian youth will be able to find a path to restoring their national dignity,” he concluded.

Syria’s new government to suspend constitution, parliament for three months

Obaida Arnaout, Syria’s new government spokesman, says “a judicial and human rights committee will be established to examine the constitution and then introduce amendments.”

Arnaout told the AFP news agency that a meeting would be held on Tuesday “between Salvation Government ministers and the former ministers” of al-Assad’s administration to carry out the transfer of power.

“This transitional period will last three months,” he added. “Our priority is to preserve and protect institutions.”

Speaking at the state television headquarters, now seized by the new rebel authorities, Arnaout pledged they would institute “the rule of law”.

src: youknowwho

>>486286
you get credit for pointing out the similarities with the Mars Attacks movie.

Also I found that pretending Netanyahu says "Ack Ack, Ack!" during his speeches has surprising mental health benefits.

>>486275
>>486321
Officially endorsed: https://x.com/RealLeftypol/status/1869774861759033740

>>486426
nice