Syrian Dictator Assad Flees Country as Rebels Enter the Capital Damascus
Sky News: “Syria’s army command has now notified officers that his 24-year rule has ended.”
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has reportedly fled the country, ending the 50-year family rule. “Syria’s army command has now notified officers that his 24-year rule has ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told Reuters,” Sky News (UK) reports.
HISTORIC! A major Assad statue is toppled in Damascus, as thousands celebrate pic.twitter.com/gsPP5PUHhc
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 8, 2024
Assad has left the country for an undisclosed location as rebel Islamist forces entered the Syrian capital, Damascus, after nearly a week of military offensive. The Iran-backed Syrian Arab Army (SAA) offered little resistance, abandoning key cities to advancing rebels.
“The Syrian government appears to have fallen after a lightning offensive by rebels,” Sky News added.”President Bashar al Assad fled Damascus on a plane for an unknown destination, according to two senior Syrian army officers,” the news outlet added.
A plane that left Damascus early Sunday headed towards the Mediterranean, veered east, and then dropped off radar.
There are rumors circulating that Syria's President Assad was on the plane and it crashed, but there's no official confirmation. pic.twitter.com/Iyw91EaA28
— Aviva Klompas (@AvivaKlompas) December 8, 2024
Reuters reported early morning Sunday:
Syria’s army command notified officers on Sunday that President Bashar al-Assad’s 24-year authoritarian rule has ended, a Syrian officer who was informed of the move told Reuters, following a rapid rebel offensive that took the world by surprise.
Syrian rebels, who said Damascus was “now free of Assad”, are expected to broadcast their first statement to the Syrian people on state television, two rebel sources said.
Assad, who had crushed all forms of dissent, flew out of Damascus for an unknown destination earlier on Sunday, two senior army officers told Reuters, as rebels said they had entered the capital with no sign of army deployments.
Thousands in cars and on foot congregated at a main square in Damascus waving and chanting “Freedom” from a half century of Assad family rule, witnesses said.
The dramatic collapse marks a seismic moment for the Middle East, ending the family’s iron-fisted rule over Syria and dealing a massive blow to Russia and Iran, which have lost a key ally at the heart of the region.
The rebels are broadcasting their first broadcast from the Syria television building in Damascus pic.twitter.com/DDaaCqi7E7
— Yoel 🇺🇸🇮🇱 (@YoelAynalem) December 8, 2024
Assad’s rule crumbled after Russia and Iran abandoned the Syrian regime they militarily backed since the civil war began in early 2011.
In 2011, the regime “was rescued by his chief international backer, Russia, and longtime regional ally Iran, which along with Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah militia helped Assad’s forces retake Aleppo, tipping the war firmly in his favor,” the Associated Press noted. “Now, the Syrian leader appears to be largely on his own and may face the end of his 24-year rule.”
An eyewitness video shows people tearing down posters of the slain senior Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani and former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah at the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria.#Syria #Damascus
Read more: https://t.co/Ut31g2lc97 pic.twitter.com/jb5NyY7f56
— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) December 8, 2024
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The overlords aren’t any better than the old ones. Worse for women and Christians.
Agree. It’ll also mean more Mooslims invading western Europe at the behest of western European leaders.
The Secretary has disavowed all knowledge of the operation.
Good luck, Jim.
LOL.
Well … Barky got his pan-islamism overtaking another pan-arabist sh*thole. The pan-arabists were awful, nasty, violent lunatics bent on the destruction of anything civilized … but the pan-islamists are even worse.
In the short run this will be good, while there is still confusion in Syria. Maybe the islamists will take to having a civil war among themselves or will be in conflict with Hezbollah, and the two of them can duke it out for a while … But in the longer term this is not going to be anything good. Luckily, Syria has no oil or anything of the sort, so there’s that.
Syria has oil and Nat gas. While not on par with other producers they were pumping over 400K bpd in 2010 just prior to their civil war. They have lots of potential oil and Nat gas with surveys showing potential for 1.7 billion barrels of oil and 122 Trillion cubic feet of gas on/off shore. Heck we have had US troops sitting on some of the Syrian oil/gas fields since Trump put them there.
Switching secular Arab despotism for goose-stepping Islamofascism and terrorism is hardly an improvement, but, that’s how these Arabs roll.
I only hope the Iranian regime is the next to fall — a global cancer since 1979 that should have been decisively excised, decades ago, except that utterly emasculated, feckless and stupid European dhimmi and American Dhimmi-crat leadership decided that obsequious and cowed appeasement, enabling and funding of that regime was a better path. And, look what death and destruction that enabling and funding have wrought.
I just can’t see the Iranian junta falling for one simple reason: There is no armed resistance in Iran. Although, I can see a populist uprising that ends with the deaths of hundreds-of-thousands of civilians. The biggest problem in Iran (other than the lack of armed resistance) is the people with all the guns are Kool-aid drinkers. They think it’s divine Providence for them to be in charge. When you think like that, you have absolutely ZERO restraint when quelling rebellion. There won’t be a Perestroika moment when rational, cooler heads holding the reins of power realize their time is over and it’s time to transition to something else, peacefully. That mindset simply does not exist in that part of the world. They only understand the sword and the blood it spills.
Fair points, although, I submit that if elements in the Iranian military eventually side with the people, that eliminates the need for armed resistance and could be sufficient to topple the regime. Let’s see what happens. This is a regime that is losing popular support, daily.
Not to worry.
Not to fret.
My understanding is that the ayatollahs and the IRGC have been guaranteed that they can continue their rule in Michigan — if they ever are forced to flee Iran.
It also appears Russia has abandoned their naval base at Tartus..
This was a logistics hub for the Russian operations in Africa.
Until further notice, please forward all mail for Bashar al-Assad directly to Columbia U.
Or, NYU, Georgetown, George Washington U., Princeton, MIT, Stanford, et al.
Heh.
He’s taking over the Edward Said chair of anti-Western Development, though the chinless one hasn’t got 1/100th the charisma of Said.
Is it true that the State Department will be holding Mourning Sessions for 3 days?
And that Barack Obama , Samantha Powers, and the U.N. issued a statement? “The loss of this ruthless enemy of civilization is a terrible loss, but the work of destroying America’s middle class must continue”
That was after Pelosi and the dems backed their guy, Bashar in 2007, when they broke the law and went to Damascus to operate their own treasonous foreign policy, coming back to America (unfortunately) backing their buddy, Bashar. Pelosi was infatuated with the chinless Assad and announced how he was “a real reformer”. The dems were all in love with the lunatic.
Typical democrat treason and treachery.
Be careful what you wish for – you might just get it.
I just popped in to find out what the hell is going on over there. I think LI can be a notch above and has some pretty informed commenters 🙂
Didn’t Obama draw a “red” line? 😉