On December 18th, 2015 the UN Security Council Resolution 2254 was passed.
“Reiterating that the only sustainable solution to the current crisis in Syria is through an inclusive and Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people…”
Assad had many years to lead the way in resolving the situation in Syria. As I understand this situation, he didn’t. Despite Russia, Iran and Turkey urging him to do so. Over the nearly nine years after this resolution was passed, the Syrian situation deteriorated greatly.
The country became more impoverished as the US occupation with their Kurdish proxies stole resources oil, wheat, etc, that denied Damascus much needed revenue for the country.
The Caesar sanctions were particularly harsh as sanctions tend to be. I’d written about them at my former site
America’s “Ceasar” Sanctions On Syria to Damage the Region- Curveball Redux
In 2003, the red-hot source was “Curveball;” in 2020, its “Caesar.” The U.S. might soon discover if the second time is, in fact, farce.
On 20 December 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 which incorporated many of the provisions of the Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act of 2019 (Caesar Act). The NDAA includes provisions for additional sanctions against leaders and enablers of the Bashar Al-Assad regime of Syria”
https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2014/01/syrian-torture-claims-without-torture.html
Anyway the Caesar sanctions were based on a campaign launched by Qatar, with an unnamed informant, known only as Caesar.
- The report was commissioned by Qatar
- Unnamed informant, who smuggled images and files on a memory stick..
- Claims photographs taken in a ‘military’ hospital.
All photos were of the deceased. Nothing that indicated where or when they had been tortured to death or even who had done it.
The team said they found the informant and his evidence to be credible after "rigorous scrutiny." The images were also examined and authenticated by three forensic science experts, the Guardian said.The images are most likely real. But that doesn’t tell us where? When? Who?
This linked back to an older post in 2014
https://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2014/07/hail-caesar-syrian-defector-appears-in.html
In this latest tragic Syrian episode, we even had the reports that soldiers took off their uniforms and fled the fighting- It seems entirely plausible that after all this time the military had become corrupted.
Forces working against Syria
- The US occupation and theft of assets
- Heavy handed sanctions
- A compromised, corrupted military
- And a problematic leadership in the Assad government.
This is just my opinion, I claim no special knowledge, but it seems to me that Bashar al Assad had years to make changes. Certainly the Astana trio made several overtures towards getting Turkey and Syria via their leadership back on good terms. For whatever reason Assad rejected this. Which was, in my opinion, not a good decision. Because a Turkish/Syrian resolution/reunion would have strengthened both nations positions regarding Israel and Israel 2.0 aka Greater Kurdistan.
Good observation from Dr Jack Rasmus
Ally asked why Turkey would have gone along with this. The UN security council resolution was the blue print made long ago. Assad could have led that process. He chose not to. Turkey is now along for the ride. As is Iran.
The original headline that has now been altered- Israel has bombed Syria more than 300 times since the week end
In the immediate aftermath of the fall of the al-Assad government, Israeli forces moved into the roughly 400-square-kilometre buffer zone inside Syria that had been established after the 1973 Mideast war, a move it said was taken to prevent attacks on its citizens.
Speaking at a press conference in Jerusalem in Monday, Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu has said the occupied territory of Golan Heights in Syria will remain part of Israel “for eternity”.
UN slams ‘violation’ of 1974 Syria disengagement deal as Israel acts in buffer zone
US defends Israeli decision to fill vacuum after Syrian soldiers fled posts along border, but stresses measure must be temporary; Iran condemns ‘flagrant violation’
6 replies on “Syria: The Aftermath”
Hi Penny:
Is there any chance that Assad’s refusal to allow a natural gas pipeline through Syria from Qatar to Turkey had anything to do with this?
I also read a report that the Syrian army was corrupt at the top as generals were pocketing money coming in to the country to support Syria. I am guessing that as bad as the external pressure was bad, what was worse was the internal pressure that might be called the Syrian deep state. Assad did what he could but I don’t think he could make all the other changes he wanted to make.
I do sometimes wonder why Assad didn’t cooperate more with Turkey. Do you think Assad was a Western proxy at all? He didn’t do much to get rid of the Kurds occupying his country either.
I don’t know if I completely agree with that tweet. Qatar/Saudi money? Wouldn’t the Saudis/Qataris want him to cooperate with the Turks as well?
Imo, neither Syria nor Turkey should have turned against one another. Both countries had the same interests in this war. Both countries were a target.
There is a lot of speculation online that the Turks are working with Israel to occupy/bomb/terrorize Syria. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Have you seen Erdogan saying that him and Putin are the onlt 2 world leaders left? I think he is implying that they are next.
Have you also seen the protests in Iran in recent years? Definitely western backed destabilization! Again, the Iranian government should also make reforms as the people’s grievances will only be taken advantage of by powers who have other ideas!
Hi Ally,
I’ve been swamped the past couple of days, and haven’t had a chance to look at the Turkish side of this situation- but, intend to do just that, because this is the next birth pang in the new middle east. IMO, in tandem with other places, but, things will get active on the Turkey/US occupation/proxy side- Anticipate the demonization of Turkey to ramp up
“Do you think Assad was a Western proxy at all?”- No. I think he squandered and advantage that was given to him by the Russian intervention and the Astana cooperation- To much had been left to fester for too long.
” He didn’t do much to get rid of the Kurds occupying his country either.”
He could have cooperated with Turkey on this matter, but, didn’t
I also think the American/Israeli axis would have made that impossible. Israel bombed Syria the entire time. He should have cleared them out of that portion of Aleppo, minimally, but didn’t.
“There is a lot of speculation online that the Turks are working with Israel to occupy/bomb/terrorize Syria.””
Not working with Israel, but, I do think they will try to maintain a buffer to cut the Kurds off from the Mediterranean as an impediment to the creation of Israel 2.0 which will be catastrophic for Turkey
Hey Gary,
Might have played a role in the situation in the early days, sure.
Assad had a big plan, think I mentioned it in a previous post
I was the 4 seas plan- I’d covered this at the old site
brief link
https://www.upi.com/Energy-News/2011/01/06/Syrias-Assad-pushes-Four-Seas-Strategy/98471294335880/
President Bashar Assad calls his vision the Four Seas Strategy to link the Mediterranean, the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf into an energy network.
This eastward-looking strategy is intersecting with China’s push westward in quest of oil, natural gas, raw materials and markets and converges on the Caspian, a major energy-producing zone.
“Given the rising instability of Middle East energy supplies, the Caspian Basin has emerged in prominence as an alternative resource for the world’s growing energy consumers,” says Christina Y. Lin, a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
This strategy took in the 4 seas and was part of the belt and road project on a larger scale
The US and Israel couldn’t have this reality unfold- It left Israel out of the picture, It included Iran, Azerbaijan, Syria, Iraq and Turkey (it was part of quite a big vision) Part of the Belt and Road which is a very big project.
Hi Penny:
It now looks like Syria is doing its best impression of a WWF “Free for All”.
Yes, they have the right crew to get it done under! Reorder out of chaos.