Islamists Take Control of Syria: Iran Paper Tiger and Russia Outsmarted by NATO Turkey
Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
The government of Syria under President Bashar al-Assad and the armed forces of Syria – and various allies – melted away and capitulated without a fight. Hence, the debacle enabled Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other Sunni Islamist forces – some backed by NATO Turkey – to take over Damascus and the seats of power.
AP News reports, “The Syrian government fell early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a sudden rebel offensive sprinted across government-held territory and entered the capital in 10 days.”
Iran is now seen to be a paper tiger, whereby Israel dismantled the elites of Hezbollah by literal assassination in Lebanon – and now the authorities in Iran have handed Syria on a plate along with the Russian Federation.
Bizarrely, the leaders of the Russian Federation and Iran trusted President Erdogan of Turkey. However, this NATO power was always in league with various Islamist and anti-Assad forces in Syria. Therefore, why did the Russian Federation and Iran trust NATO Turkey (Erdogan supports the Muslim Brotherhood, pan-Turkism, and Turkey is a NATO power)?
The BBC reports, “Early on Sunday morning, after their fighters entered the city without resistance, the Islamist militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and its allies declared that ‘the tyrant Bashar al-Assad has fled.’..”
One Christian told the BBC, “They are celebrating because they are afraid they’ll be slaughtered if they don’t pretend to be excited. On one hand, we are all glad the regime is gone, on the other hand, we don’t know the outcome of the alternative government. After all, this rebel group is an offshoot of al-Qaeda.”
France 24 reports, “After facing down nationwide protests demanding his ouster and an armed rebellion that he all but crushed, Assad had — until a lightning rebel offensive — taken back control of much of Syria in the civil war that began in 2011.”
Assad recently said, “The terrorist escalation reflects the far-reaching goals of dividing the region and fragmenting the countries in it and (to) redraw the map in line with the objectives of the United States and the West.”
However, the real threat was always the intrigues of NATO Turkey concerning the open border for international Islamists (jihadists) and military equipment entering Idlib and other areas under the influence of Turkey.
President-elect Donald Trump mocked the Russian Federation under President Vladimir Putin.
Trump said, “Assad is gone. He has fled his country. His protector, Russia, Russia, Russia, led by (President) Vladimir Putin, was not interested in protecting him any longer.”
Iran is a huge loser in the conflict in Syria because its anti-Israeli foreign policy is in tatters. Hence, Hezbollah is a weakened shell in Lebanon and is now an isolated Iranian proxy after losing direct links with Iran via Syria. Likewise, the Iran threat from Syria against Israel is null and void after the capitulation of the al-Assad government to an array of Sunni Islamist forces (some backed by NATO Turkey).
Putin’s actions in Ukraine have led to Finland and Sweden joining NATO, Also, he handed Nagorno-Karabakh (Christian Armenian enclave) and Syria on a NATO Turkey plate.
Likewise, Iran continued to support Hamas after the Jewish pogrom. However, the convulsions for Iran since this pogrom, is that Hezbollah is weakened in Lebanon, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and Iran is now forced out of Syria.
In other words, NATO Turkey – trusted by the Russian Federation and Iran – hoodwinked both nations in the Caucasus region (Nagorno-Karabakh) and Syria.
Alawites, Christians, secularists, the Druze, the Shia, and others are fearful of what will come next. After all, they understand what ISIS and other Sunni Islamists did to Alawites (butchered and put in cages in Syria), Christians (cleansed and killed), Yazidis (this religious minority was enslaved and butchered by Sunni Islamists in Iraq), and the Shia (the Shia were killed on sectarian grounds) in parts of Iraq. Therefore, the religious minorities (Alawites, Christians, Druze, and the Shia) are wondering about their future in the new Syria.
It remains to be seen if Syria will remain a viable nation – or if it will become a failed nation like Iraq and Libya where factions and regional leaders dictate.
Also, the Kurdish dynamics in Syria are yet to unfold.
Sunni Islamists and NATO Turkey are celebrating – and others – but for how long?
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