Meanwhile on the International front....

And the parting on the left
Is now parting on the right

 

I know Assad is a bad guy and the world is better with him out of power, but are these good rebels or bad rebels?
"Good" being a faction who will try to set up something resembling a democracy or at least a somewhat-Western friendly semi-dictatorship like Jordan or the Saudis.
"Bad" being the 2.0 versions of ISIS or the Taliban.
It doesn't seem like Russia wants to be anywhere near there when the rebels take over, so I guess that's a start.

 

A man's called a traitor - or liberator
A rich man's a thief - or philanthropist
Is one a crusader - or ruthless invader?
It's all in which label
Is able to persist
There are precious few at ease
With moral ambiguities
So we act as though they don't exist

 

The end of Putin in nowhere in sight. He is about to gain control of the most powerful military force in the history of the world. Putin won't pull out of anywhere if he can order in U.S. air strikes or especially U.S. ground troops.

Once Putin gets tired of losing 1,000 troops a week, he'll order Trump to send in U.S. troops to "share the victory."

 

Don't know whether to believe the rumors, but several people on Bluesky are reporting a plane with the tail registration matching Assad's was rapidly losing altitude upon leaving Damascus and may have crashed.

One heck of a week to be a news junkie.

 

It appears these are "good" rebels, but from what I gather, they will have a pretty difficult time forming a government.

Good because Hezbollah pulled all its fighters from Syria yesterday, which means it weakens Iran. Russia apparently said yesterday they're willing to support the new government under some circumstances. My feeling is they'll just leave it alone, like they did before 2013.

Like any Middle East political issue, there are about a hundred political interests waiting in the wings, and if this group isn't strong enough to keep it all together, then they'll be at Square One pretty soon.

 

Good riddance to Assad - can't believe the US thought it could do business with that guy back in the day. But as always, what comes next is the question.

 

Did Assad maybe fake his death in a plane crash so he could run and hide?

 

Don't most these douchebags just end up in Dubai spending their ill-gotten fortunes?

 

Not sure I'm sold on the whole plane crash thing. Certainly plausible, but unlikely I think, unless they knew where he'd leave from.

I'd imagine Russia helped him get out, and he's probably been gone for days.

 

Assad, D.B. Cooper, Jimmy Hoffa and the NYC shooting suspect. It's a bridge date.

 

I always come back to the opening lines
for our own escalating problems here ...

We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone.