Month: December 2013

Re-legitimating Assad

Re-legitimating the Assad regime today, after all it had done, will green light genocidal ventures elsewhere in the world. If world leaders are standing helpless in the face of one genocide today, what will they, I wonder, when they are faced with a dozen? The world witnessed similar conditions during the Cold War for sure, but this is supposed to be the post-Cold War Era, the Era of Never Again and R2P, an era where social media is creating deep links between average citizens and realities on the ground everywhere in the world. Allowing for a return of Cold-War-like realities and developments, or, to be more specific, allowing for the start of Cold War II, is a major step backward. It’s a major setback, a major failure, and it will come with a hefty price tag for all.

War and peace in Syria: Where are the good guys?

War and peace in Syria: Where are the good guys? | The Economist.

The Economist Asks: “WHAT to do when the party you have been backing loses sway?” But that’s not the right question. The right question is: WHAT to do when the party you have promised to back but eventually didn’t, at least not in any meaningful way, loses sway? In other words, what to do when you have fucked up big time? The good news: the good guys are still there, but, as has always been the case, they need support. You can’t turn your back on them, then, wonder where they are?

The New Power On The Ground In Syria

The New Power On The Ground In Syria.

There is no denying at this stage that Zahran Alloush, his Jaish Al-Islam and his Islamic Front, are among the main power brokers on the ground at this stage. Working in tandem with Jabhat Al-Nusra and Ahrar Al-Sham, they have managed to isolate ISIS, but ISIS, in a sense, always wanted to be isolated. Their uncompromising stands make them impossible to work with on a consistent basis. Every now and then, the two camps will cooperate, but most of the time they will compete. Groups like the Syrian Martyrs Brigades and Al-Farouq are not taking direct part in this development, but their fight will be more to protect the niches they have already caved out for themselves in the central parts of the country, than, to posit any direct challenge to either IF, Al-Nusra or ISIS. The turfing of the “liberated” areas is almost complete now. All that is left to do is kick pro-Assad militias out, before pushing further into regime-held territories. Regime advances have been halted and reversed, but so long as the regime maintains loyalist militias in opposition territories, and so long as it continues to control parts of Aleppo and Damascus, this war will continue. It’s about carving out territories now, and the regime will not be allowed to maintain the huge chunk of territory currently under its control.