The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
The Kurds there are fucked
And next, Syria?
- Thread starter Idris2002
- Start date
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hang the bankers
The Kurds who accepted an enemy-of-my-enemy alliance with Assad against ISIS 8 years ago and have been fairly quiet since?
PTK
Paul Kegan
The Kurdish-led forces played a major role in routing ISIS. Do you expect them to conquer Damascus?
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hang the bankers
Apparently it's not completely off the cards. If the Kurds switch sides and join in with the Idlib rebels (HTS+FSA) then I think they very well could take Damascus, yes, and within days. This looks like collapse in the Syrian Armed Forces, the rebels have taken Hama in the last few hours
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Deserve everything a caliphate state under sharia law will impose on them .
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hang the bankers
I'm not convinced that's going to happen. Idlib in the last 8 years has not been the Islamic State.
PTK
Paul Kegan
Some points to ponder.
I imagine that if I were a member of a minority ethnic or religious group in Syria, such as the Kurds, the Druze, the Alawites, or the Christians, I would prefer the Assad regime to an Islamist regime.
I imagine that a large proportion of the female population of that country, whatever their religion or ethnicity, would also prefer a secularist dictatorship to a religious dictatorship.
I do not applaud the bombing of Syria by the air force of the Russian Federation, but one thing to bear in mind is that it is legal in international law, whereas the bombing of that country by the USAF, RAF, and others was illegal. It is legal for a state to invite another state to engage in military action on its territory. The bombing of the Iraq by the USAF et al against ISIS was legal, because it was agreed by the government of Iraq.
It seems to me that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes militias base on a number of ethnic minority groups, is a supportable force.
I imagine that if I were a member of a minority ethnic or religious group in Syria, such as the Kurds, the Druze, the Alawites, or the Christians, I would prefer the Assad regime to an Islamist regime.
I imagine that a large proportion of the female population of that country, whatever their religion or ethnicity, would also prefer a secularist dictatorship to a religious dictatorship.
I do not applaud the bombing of Syria by the air force of the Russian Federation, but one thing to bear in mind is that it is legal in international law, whereas the bombing of that country by the USAF, RAF, and others was illegal. It is legal for a state to invite another state to engage in military action on its territory. The bombing of the Iraq by the USAF et al against ISIS was legal, because it was agreed by the government of Iraq.
It seems to me that the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which includes militias base on a number of ethnic minority groups, is a supportable force.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Some analysis from Robin Yassin-Kassab. I'm not sure I'm convinced by his optimism.
qunfuz.com
History Made on the Ground
You know the multiverse theory, that there are many parallel universes, and that they may contain alternate versions of ourselves and our conditions in this universe…. Well, the last couple of days…
qunfuz.com
Flavour
hang the bankers
It's not a foregone conclusion that the most reactionary elements would take power in Damascus if the Assad regime fell, a secular uprising could prevent that, and I feel a secular uprising would be easier to win against a widely unpopular HTS than it would, evidently, be against Assad.
But hey ho let's just accept the status quo and equate anti-Assad forces with ISIS at every opportunity.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
My remarks were quite specific in what they were addressing and it certainly wasn't equating anti-Assad forces with ISIS at every opportunity.
I agree it isn't a foregone conclusion. I'm not an Assad supporter and I'm all for a secular uprising, and however unlikely, one that isn't either dependent on or in the Turkish, US or Russian camp. But hey ho.
I find it's particularly difficult to separate fact from propaganda in this war, perhaps because it is such a genuinely multi-faceted conflict that it is easy to create a variety of convincing narratives around it.
I just have two thoughts about what is happening:
1- If Assad's regime is this dependent on foreign support to survive then it probably doesn't have any popular legitimacy to speak of.
2- Very worrying how this seems like an area in which the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East could start to converge into a wider war.
I just have two thoughts about what is happening:
1- If Assad's regime is this dependent on foreign support to survive then it probably doesn't have any popular legitimacy to speak of.
2- Very worrying how this seems like an area in which the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East could start to converge into a wider war.
PTK
Paul Kegan
The left allying with right-wing forces never ends well.
Left-wing parties in Iran allied with Islamists in the revolution of 1979, and we could ask their members how that turned out, those that are not lying in graves.
The Islamist forces in Syria would no more tolerate the Kurdish forces, which are led by a pro-Marxist party, than any other reactionary movement would tolerate the left.
Left-wing parties in Iran allied with Islamists in the revolution of 1979, and we could ask their members how that turned out, those that are not lying in graves.
The Islamist forces in Syria would no more tolerate the Kurdish forces, which are led by a pro-Marxist party, than any other reactionary movement would tolerate the left.
The39thStep
Urban critical thinker
Jenan Moussa's thread from Twitter is a good summary imo
Thread by @jenanmoussa on Thread Reader App
Thread by @jenanmoussa on Thread Reader App
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
Thanks, that's an interesting and thoughtful read.
SDF loses control of Tal Rifaat but hasn't withdrawn from Sheikh Maqsood neighbourhood within Aleppo.
www.rudaw.net
eta:
Tal Rifaat is on the road from Aleppo to Gaziantep in Turkey so it may be seen as strategically important. It doesn't look like there's an immediate threat to Kurdish controlled areas further east.
SDF says working to evacuate its people from Tal Rifaat
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Monday said it is working with “relevant parties” in Syria to safely evacuate the people of the strategic town of Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo province to northeast Syria (Rojava) amid intense attacks by...
eta:
Tal Rifaat is on the road from Aleppo to Gaziantep in Turkey so it may be seen as strategically important. It doesn't look like there's an immediate threat to Kurdish controlled areas further east.
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dshl
Well-Known Member
I'm not saying that they should or shouldnt be called 'rebels', but apparently the Russian media refer to them as 'terrorists'. This is not a point about what they should be called, but just to say I'm old enough to remember the word 'terrorists' to describe resistence to the West in the Middle East and the MSM unanimously going with 'rebel' is immediately highlighted and noticable to me, and I guess anyone old enough.
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