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Syrian Revolution Topples Dictator Assad - The Monday AM Quickie 12/9/24

By Jacob Silverman —

I have signed Juan Soto to be my personal friend. -Jacob

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THE BIG NEWS

After Years of Civil War, a Dramatic Syrian Revolution Topples Assad

In a remarkable military campaign lasting less than two weeks, Syrian rebels, led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), stormed through a number of Syrian cities before taking the capital Damascus yesterday. After 13 years of civil war and 53 years of rule by the Assad family, the Syrian people threw off the yoke of dictatorship as President Bashar Assad and his family quickly fled to Moscow.

The Syrian military didn't put up much of a fight while its Russian and Iranian sponsors, who had helped Assad fight off rebellions and massacre protesters for the last decade, withdrew their assets and went home. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Jalali agreed to stay in office as a kind of supervisory technocrat, while HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani ordered his forces to respect public buildings and allow government employees to do their jobs. So far, while Assad's Baathist regime has been destroyed, Syria's governing institutions seemed to have been saved from total collapse.

It's a remarkable end for a despotic regime that not long ago had seemed to survive a serious challenge to its rule. While the Syrian conflict is riven with factionalism, violent competing interests, and the imperial influence of the United States and Israel, last week's revolution was a victory for the Syrian people, who gathered in public squares and in front of government buildings across the country to weep and cheer. People tore down Assad statues and rode them like sleds. They stormed through Assad's homes and palaces, marveling at his plundered wealth. (There was a lot of celebratory gunfire, too.)

Videos emerged of some of Syria's 136,000 prisoners being freed from Assad's torture dungeons. In one clip of rebels freeing a group of female prisoners, a toddler could be seen; he was imprisoned with his mother. Other videos showed family members reuniting after years of conflict and old men sobbing at their freedom. One man, newly sprung from his cell, laughed giddily at being told the regime had fallen.

There's a lot of uncertainty in the air and perhaps more conflict to come, but it's a momentous development in the recent history of the Middle East. And if you listen to Syrians, it's a joyous one, too.

Syria Fallout: A Revolution Roundup

The end of the 53-year reign of the Assad family is a seismic event with global implications. Here's a Whitman's sampler of related news:

  • President Joe Biden called Bashar Assad's downfall a "historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria." President-elect Donald Trump said that Syria "is not our friend, & THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!" via ABC News.
  • Israel's expansionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent his military to take control of the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, part of which Israel has illegally occupied since 1967. The IDF warned local Syrian villagers to stay in their homes. via Al Jazeera.
  • Bashar Assad, his family, and other Syrian elites were living large. Videos have circulated on social media of $46,000 Louis Vuitton luggage, palatial apartments, and a pretty serious bunker in one of Maher Assad's homes. via NPR and X/Hassan I. Hassan.
  • For Russia, the Assad regime's collapse reflects its overstretched commitment to its catastrophic invasion of Ukraine. Its decade-plus investment in propping up Assad (and using his coastal naval bases) is now lost. via BBC News.
  • Iran, whose militant proxies have been battered by more than a year of war with Israel, quietly withdrew its personnel from Syria and said that the country's political fate should be decided by its people. Iranian Foreign Ministers Abbas Araghchi said he was surprised by the quick and total collapse of Syria's military. via Reuters and AP News.
  • President Joe Biden believes that American journalist Austin Tice, who disappeared in Syria 12 years ago, is alive, echoing a previous statement from his family. via The Guardian.
  • More than any regional leader, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can claim credit for helping topple Assad – if he wanted to. “All statements that claim Turkey provoked or that Turkey supported this are untrue. They are all lies,” said a Turkish government spokesperson. But Turkey, which has close relationship with HTS and other militant proxies, is widely seen as having blessed this rebel campaign, if not actively facilitated it. The Turkish government will have huge influence in the new Syria (and hopes to send back Syrian refugees). It may also try to strike against Kurdish forces, who formed a productive alliance with HTS and other rebel groups. via AP News, Middle East Eye.

QUICKEST QUICKIES

  • Navy Pilots Might Be Experiencing Brain Damage on the Job In his latest investigation into military personnel suffering from brain damage, the Times' Dave Phillips reports on Navy pilots who may be receiving brain damage from the extreme G forces they are exposed to on the job. As some Navy pilots exhibit signs of brain trauma and die via suicide, the Navy has begun quietly investigating the problem. via NYT.
  • NYPD Floundering In Hunt for CEO Killer The NYPD released new photos of the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, although the perp is wearing a different jacket than in the infamous video of the attack. The NYPD reportedly found a backpack filled with Monopoly money, have divers, uhh, diving in a Central Park pond, and sent a team to Atlanta, where the suspect may have started his journey to New York. The suspect also used a fake ID to check into a Manhattan hostel. via The Guardian, ABC News, NBC News, and UPI.
  • South Korean President Might Be In Trouble For the Whole Martial Law Thing South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol is under criminal investigation for trying to institute martial law and then saying, hey just kidding let's all go back to how things were six hours ago. While protesters filled the streets of Seoul, South Korea's parliament failed to impeach Yoon, deepening the political crisis. via Reuters and NYT.
  • Trump Says Actually Tariffs Might Raise Prices President-elect Trump told an interviewer that he "can't guarantee anything" and that tariffs might result in higher prices for consumers, as many economists have predicted. He also said that while he's not interested in punishing his enemies, they should go to jail. via AP News.

SOME NUMBER

416%

That was the percentage increase in the number of people seeking treatment for methamphetamine abuse in Mexico between 2013 and 2023. In the last decade, meth has become cheap and abundant in Mexico, where it's now believed to be the most widely used illicit drug.

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PARTING WORDS

"They said he resembled me. I told them: ‘this is my brother!’ The feeling … it’s indescribable. Imagine that I haven’t seen him for 39 years and then all of a sudden his picture is sent to you, how would you feel?"

"He has come out of prison as an old man."

-- Moammar Ali, who has been looking for his older brother Ali Hassan for 39 years after he was arrested at a Syrian army checkpoint in Lebanon. Ali Hassan was a 19-year-old university student. Now he's 57. While Moammar believes his brother was freed from a Syrian prison in last week's revolution, the two have not yet been able to physically reunite.

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