BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government appeared to have fallen early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a lightning rebel offensive.

The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said President Bashar Assad had left the country for an undisclosed location, fleeing ahead of insurgents who said they had entered Damascus after a remarkably swift advance across the country.

Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government.

    • guy@piefed.social
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      5 days ago

      The statements their leader have made seems promising. Cooperation with the UN, peaceful overhanding of power etc. But they stem from Al-Qaeda so let’s hope this doesn’t age like milk…

      • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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        4 days ago

        The statements their leader have made seems promising.

        He is making the right noises, but then again so did the Taliban when they took control of Afghanistan.

        • morrowind@lemmy.ml
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          The taliban had no allies, resources or much established that was at stake, thus no real incentive to follow through. They were just testing the waters to see if the world actually cared that much about those things or it was just a lot of noise. Turns out they were right, no country reciprocated on their statements, and so they just went back to their old ways.

          HTS does actually have incentive to follow through here I think

    • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      Yeah, they’re saying all the right things right now but their past associations with al Qaeda and ISIS doesn’t bode well.

      • teslasaur@lemmy.world
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        5 days ago

        Are they really saying the correct things?

        I’ve seen plenty of interviews where where they say that “God is great” on repeat. Thats not what you want to hear from your potential governing body.

        • SpaceCowboy@lemmy.ca
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          5 days ago

          Can’t tell if this is edgy Atheism or Islamophobia.

          In the unlikely event you actually want to get out whichever bubble you’re in, that phrase is extremely common in that part of the world. It’s a nothing burger, calm down.

          • kent_eh@lemmy.ca
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            5 days ago

            Theocratic rule, no matter which theology, never improves things for the citizens.

              • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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                5 days ago

                When an country forces its citizens to follow a state-mandated religion or else face death or severe punishment, and enacts laws that severely limit its citizens’ freedom in the name of their chosen state religion, is it really considered “edgy” to be against it? I dunno, being against tyranny doesn’t sound like something exclusive to atheists. The tyranny being religious in nature doesn’t change that.

                • annHowe@lemmy.zip
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                  4 days ago

                  I think them using the term ‘edgy’ was just projection. It’s best to avoid taking the bait when trolls do their thing.

          • Cypher@lemmy.world
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            5 days ago

            Weird that part of the world is so dangerous for women, LGBTQ, atheists, Christians… anyone not Muslim…

            Im sure it has nothing to do with their minds being stuck in ‘repeat religious phrases non-stop’ mode.

          • Nerdulous@lemm.ee
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            5 days ago

            Yes it is a common phrase but how many governments honestly benefited from having a religious influence? It’s not phobic to be concerned that this new government will be created with any religious groups ideology as guidelines instead of foundational morals and freedoms at it’s core.

            • Jarix@lemmy.world
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              4 days ago

              To your point, removed hard r was a common phrase as well unfortunately is becoming more common again in the us.

              Just because it’s common doesn’t mean it should not be laid ro rest

          • teslasaur@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            Religion as a base of government is shit, regardless of which make-belief you got bred with.

            I don’t like labels, cause they simplify an opinion you might hold. But i suppose i have some atheistic views, and that’s it.

    • Irremarkable@fedia.io
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      Time will tell. What they’ve been saying is mostly good, but words are one thing, actions are another. All we can do is hope.

  • maplebar@lemmy.world
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    5 days ago

    Assad was a fucker who committed crimes against humanity and deserved to die. Unfortunately I don’t have high hopes for whatever group of islamist fascists ends up arresting control.

    (Time to find out if this is one of those subs that removes any comment even slightly critical of islam as “islamophobia”…)

    • Stamau123@lemmy.worldOP
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      5 days ago

      Yah know, you didn’t have to add that last caveat, most people already agreed with you

      • maplebar@lemmy.world
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        What do you mean? Why do you think I give a damn whether “most people” agree with what I’m saying or not?

        • Lennny@lemmy.world
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          4 days ago

          (time to find out blah blah blah who gives a fuck) shows you do give a damn about whether “most people” agree with what you are saying or not.

          • maplebar@lemmy.world
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            Feel free to disagree all you want with my educated opinion that Mohammad was a child rapist and a violent warmonger with delusions of grandeur.

            Most people are smart enough to know that there is a difference between disagreement and censors removing posts that they simply don’t like.

  • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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    Not that Assad isn’t a massive cunt, but I do wonder what might happen next.

    For reference here is a news article about a certain group taking Afghanistan in 1996, and the tone about today’s news seems oddly familiar.

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/27/newsid_2539000/2539973.stm

    The PM may call for free elections all he wants, but a group that has spent the last decade shedding blood for this moment my not see things quite the same way.

    Still, the Syrian government and Hezbollah were in cahoots, so I can think of at least one Syrian neighbour that will be celebrating this. It’s one less route for weapons to end up in the West Bank.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        5 days ago

        I mean Golan Heights is mentioned in the news all the time, and I’ve never seen any of them talk about it as anything other than Israeli territory, despite it being Syria.

    • WhiskyTangoFoxtrot@lemmy.world
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      Not that Assad isn’t a massive cunt, but I do wonder what might happen next.

      Given the track record of violent revolutions throughout history, nothing good. Still, seeing how low the “better than Assad” bar is it might be a slight improvement.

    • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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      5 days ago

      Another route would be an independent source of water and power and a trade route and free association and free movement about their own country. But sure, choose violence to end violence, because that works.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        5 days ago

        Seeing some peace in the region would be nice, but I can see Kurdish forces and Turkish backed rebels in the mix, and those guys don’t tend to get along.

      • Blackmist@feddit.uk
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        To think the US haven’t had some hand in toppling a regional Russian ally would be naive.

  • TheTechnician27@lemmy.world
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    Not sure if I would have preferred al-Assad having to live out the rest of his life in exile and constantly look over his own shoulder… Or seeing him imprisoned in Syria and/or publicly hanged for his crimes against humanity. But I guess with him having fled via plane, we’ll all have to accept the former.

  • Burninator05@lemmy.world
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    Can someone ELI5 what happened? I knew about the civil war but it had been effectively at a stalemate for a couple of years. How did the rebels suddenly surge like they did?

    • OmegaLemmy@discuss.online
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      From what I know, this is the combination of three things

      1. Opposition rebel groups decided not to fight each other
      2. Assad had it’s russian support cut out
      3. Blitz offensive lead by the opposition rebel groups, some of which had Turkish support lead to mayhem in Assad ranks
    • Wahots@pawb.social
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      Iran and Russia used to be helping them, but Iran is in a shadow war with Israel and Russia is in a war with Ukraine + western allies. Their funding and personnel dried up.

      Plus, the Syrian rebels banded together. Without Russian air support and airstrikes around the capital, and without iranian arms, their regime collapsed and ran to Russia like a bitch.

      Will Syria be better now? It’s anyone’s guess. I could see Russia and China potentially making moves on them during the rebuild process, but who knows for sure. The US will probably pull out soon once the next government is formed in January. It could be up to the Syrian rebels and Syrian people, but their country infrastructure is pretty blown apart, so they will need outside capital and expertise to rebuild.

    • guy@piefed.social
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      5 days ago

      They seem to be backed by Turkey, which isn’t a western country afak?

      • hark@lemmy.world
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        Turkey is ruled by a two-face jackass who tries to play both sides. He’s mainly interested in slaughtering the Kurds and carving out a piece of Syria for himself. So yeah, wrong horse for the people of Syria who will have to endure an ultraconservative theocracy, but the west will celebrate this because this benefits israel. Syria had been a thorn in israel’s side.

        • guy@piefed.social
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          5 days ago

          Oh sorry, I just assumed you meant that the west backed these rebels, which they don’t. You should have been clearer if that wasn’t the case.

          • Nimo@lemmy.world
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            4 days ago

            You assumed correctly. And they have. The West, particularly the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and other European countries, has supported various rebel groups in Syria during the Syrian Civil War, which began in 2011. Initially, the support was aimed at opposing the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The U.S. and its allies provided military training, weapons, and funding to moderate rebel groups, such as the Free Syrian Army (FSA). The Kurds in the north of Syria have been openly backed by the US for years. Admittedly it’s not necessarily the FSA that have become victorious but the point still stands…the West has backed the wrong horse. And in the months to come this they will privately lament the regime’s demise.

            • guy@piefed.social
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              4 days ago

              I don’t understand, do you mean that the west should have backed this terrorist group to come out on top or what?

              • Nimo@lemmy.world
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                3 days ago

                I fear you grossly misinterpreted my comment but for clarity: the West should have backed Assad as the alternative will be worse, a lot worse.

                • guy@piefed.social
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                  3 days ago

                  Thanks for the clarification, I assumed you meant that the West had backed HTS, but I understand what you meant now. :)