I think we all know by now that there would have been no victory if the Russians and Iranians didn't participate.
We should not celebrate Bashar al-Assad's victory over Isis in Palmyra
Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad flash victory signs, and carry a Syrian national flag, on the edge of the historic city of PalmyraReuters
The ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site, and the adjoining, inhabited town of Tadmor, changed hands between two forces of darkness in Syria on Sunday morning.
Last May, the Islamic State (Isis) took Palmyra, almost without a fight – as some of the regime's supporters complained – and now a pro-Assad coalition, led on the ground by Shia jihadis controlled by Iran, supported from the air by Russian airstrikes, has conquered the city.
The former development was (rightly) near-universally seen as a negative, but the latter has found itself something of a fan club – despite a ground force of Shia militias consisting of registered terrorist organisations, such as Hezbollah and Iraqi 'Special Groups' that have Western blood on their hands.
It was inevitable that Robert Fisk would be the first to write in support of the pro-Assad forces and other commentators, too, welcomed the overturn, notably Boris Johnson. Even the Pentagon greeted the measure as "a good thing".
Assad left IS almost wholly alone until late 2014. Only after IS had taken Mosul and made itself internationally known Assad began launching token air strikes and posed as its foe.
The reason for this, intuitive to so many, is, as Johnson phrased it, because "no matter how repulsive the Assad regime may be — and it is — their opponents in [IS] are far, far worse." This is what one might most charitably call a moral illusion, perhaps borne of the measure by Assad – and the Iranians that largely control his regime – to hide their atrocities from view.
Of the 470,000 Syrians who have been killed in this terrible war, the overwhelming majority have been killed by Assad and his allies, and that'seven truer of the civilian casualties. The United Nations in Februaryconcluded that the Assad regime had violated the laws of war in six distinct ways and committed systematized atrocities — crimes against humanity — in seven separate categories, including rape and extermination. There is no cruelty IS has committed, from sexual violence to immolation, that the regime has not at least matched and usually exceeded.
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We should not celebrate Bashar al-Assad's victory over Isis in Palmyra
We should not celebrate Bashar al-Assad's victory over Isis in Palmyra
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By Kyle W. OrtonMarch 29, 2016 18:40 BST - 412
Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad flash victory signs, and carry a Syrian national flag, on the edge of the historic city of PalmyraReuters
The ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO world heritage site, and the adjoining, inhabited town of Tadmor, changed hands between two forces of darkness in Syria on Sunday morning.
Last May, the Islamic State (Isis) took Palmyra, almost without a fight – as some of the regime's supporters complained – and now a pro-Assad coalition, led on the ground by Shia jihadis controlled by Iran, supported from the air by Russian airstrikes, has conquered the city.
The former development was (rightly) near-universally seen as a negative, but the latter has found itself something of a fan club – despite a ground force of Shia militias consisting of registered terrorist organisations, such as Hezbollah and Iraqi 'Special Groups' that have Western blood on their hands.
It was inevitable that Robert Fisk would be the first to write in support of the pro-Assad forces and other commentators, too, welcomed the overturn, notably Boris Johnson. Even the Pentagon greeted the measure as "a good thing".
Assad left IS almost wholly alone until late 2014. Only after IS had taken Mosul and made itself internationally known Assad began launching token air strikes and posed as its foe.
The reason for this, intuitive to so many, is, as Johnson phrased it, because "no matter how repulsive the Assad regime may be — and it is — their opponents in [IS] are far, far worse." This is what one might most charitably call a moral illusion, perhaps borne of the measure by Assad – and the Iranians that largely control his regime – to hide their atrocities from view.
Of the 470,000 Syrians who have been killed in this terrible war, the overwhelming majority have been killed by Assad and his allies, and that'seven truer of the civilian casualties. The United Nations in Februaryconcluded that the Assad regime had violated the laws of war in six distinct ways and committed systematized atrocities — crimes against humanity — in seven separate categories, including rape and extermination. There is no cruelty IS has committed, from sexual violence to immolation, that the regime has not at least matched and usually exceeded.
Continue reading at:
We should not celebrate Bashar al-Assad's victory over Isis in Palmyra
