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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I feel like a dumbass, but I really don’t understand what’s happening in Syria and who’s who in the conflict. [/quote]

Don't be so hard on yourself, its comically convoluted. Different intelligence agencies support different groups of "moderate terrorists" and sometimes they fight each other. Israel bombs Syria on the regular. Turkey is feeding mercenaries and jihadis into the conflict. The US has bases in eastern Syria to support various terrorist groups and oil companies. There are even Ukrainian training the terrorists on drone warfare.

On the Syrian side you have the Syrian government, Russian regular forces, Iranians, Iraqis and even the Kurds it seems.

Pretty much everyone has their own angle, and if Assad were to be toppled, it could unleash quite the chaos. Probably wouldn't be contained to Syria.[/quote]

Doesn't seem like the Iranians and Iraqis sent to fight aren't having much of any impact and Russia appears to be bailing on Syria.  And I think most of the Kurds oppose Assad.[/quote]

The Kurds are playing both sides, and American/Israeli airstrikes are limiting how quickly Iranian and Iraqi forces can arrive.

The real issue is that apparently the Syrian army has 0 fight in it. Armored units are running from pickup trucks, and apparently no one thought to even dig a trench anywhere. Its really pretty pathetic. [/quote]

It reminds me of Afghanistan. In some countries, the line between stability and mayhem is papyrus thin. What's different now is that the Assad regime has for all intents and purposes lost their main allies. Hezbollah was a major military force for Assad. Obviously, since then Israel has destroyed Hezbollah. And Russia, which was responsible for scorched earth aerial bombing that killed many more civilians than ISIS ever did, can no longer afford to use more military resources to preserve Assad. Ukraine has wrecked the Russian military. Russia will defend its naval port in Syria while they can, but are otherwise out. They don't have the resources anymore since their dumbass invasion of Ukraine.

So Assad is effectively alone now. And fear does not beget loyalty. The moment the tide turned, the Syrian Army fled - and they are still fleeing. I don't know how this ends. There are too many armies and militias with various interests. And there are too many external countries involved, from Turkey to Iran to the US to Israel to Russia. And Syria is way too messy with ethnicities and factions - Kurds, Druze, Alawites, Sunni, Shi'a, etc. Plus there are a significant number of Islamic fanatics involved. It's a mess.

Hopefully, it stays within the borders. Iran may choose to become more involved since Assad is an ally, but after watching allies like Hamas and Hezbollah get wrecked, perhaps they'll think twice. Regardless, it will be chaotic in Syria for the next few days and weeks. Assad will likely flee to Moscow or Tehran soon.       [/quote]

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