BboroAg said:

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You guys are probably right….but they might find commonality in their dislike for Israel (almost seems biblical)

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Turkey's dislike for Israel is more recent and related to their role of caliphate under the last Sultans. But their dislike and rivalry with Iran goes back to the split after Ali's death over the secession of the caliphate in the 7th-8th Cs.

Turkey sees itself (and was under the Ottomans) the true [and Sunni] Caliphate; and Iran sees itself as that claimant, in the name of the only `true' branch -- the Shi'ia.

Hatred of Israel is unlikely to unite them. Its not even that visceral compared to their rivalry.

However, that said, if anyone could find a way to stupidly unite the two by being way too posturing, its the neocons of the present admin.

France is reopening their embassy in Damascus after being closed since 2012. They raised the flag today. Germany sent a delegation in hopes of reopening diplomatic relations.

Note that the European nations (including those two central powers) stopped processing Syrian asylum requests as soon as Assad fell. They are very motivated to stop taking refugees, and send more back. Both have governments buckling under the financial duress their immigration and war policies have wrought.

🇸🇾 Western journalists tells the moderate rebels to take off the ISIS patch.

🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/zU0lv7spxJ

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) December 16, 2024

#BREAKING Turkey is preparing for an imminent operation against the Kurdish forces in Kobani, northern Syria, according to Wall Street Journal

— Guy Elster (@guyelster) December 17, 2024

Syrian rebels meanwhile fly drones over the Russian air base in Hmeimim — pretty amazing upclose look. https://t.co/VnKByxSz68 pic.twitter.com/Vuuw8NsmCi

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) December 12, 2024

That last one above is from this piece, which regards a mystery I am still curious about, Assad's departure, and as well Russian negotiations with HTS/al qaeda regarding that airbase (which looks to have at least a squadron of Flankers still per that tweet), plus potential that they will expand their presence in Libya possibly.

Turkey is going to make an area that's already a mess and turn it into a total disaster.

Til that the leader of hts, al-julani, went to Iraq to fight the Americans in the early 2000s. He also was captured and spent time in abu ghraib.

And to make matters more clear, the new leaders in Syria are frequently talking about bringing the refugees back to Syria. This is a win for Turkey and Europe.

DanielDay said:

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Stop it. Decades of authoritarian rule in the ME has led to the extremists. We should support, directly or indirectly, keeping populations under bondage? Our most noble export is democracy. If the next rulers also create problems, fine they're up next to be deposed.

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Democracy isn't a product though any more than individual freedom or property rights are. These are values a people either champion and want/demand their government respect or not. Muslims…do not. Throwing American money at countries, or weapons, doesn't change that.

AtticusMatlock said:

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And to make matters more clear, the new leaders in Syria are frequently talking about bringing the refugees back to Syria. This is a win for Turkey and Europe.

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We've already had many Syrians begin immigrating back to Syria literally the day after HTS took the capital. Win-win for everyone.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05p9g2nqmeo

New de facto Syrian leader no longer wants to be called al-Jolani, wants to be called his birth name - Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Says Syria is tired of war and wants peace with the West. Says Syria will not be a threat to anyone.

AtticusMatlock said:

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05p9g2nqmeo

New de facto Syrian leader no longer wants to be called al-Jolani, wants to be called his birth name - Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Says Syria is tired of war and wants peace with the West. Says Syria will not be a threat to anyone.

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I am pulling for him.

AtticusMatlock said:

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https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c05p9g2nqmeo

New de facto Syrian leader no longer wants to be called al-Jolani, wants to be called his birth name - Ahmed al-Sharaa.

Says Syria is tired of war and wants peace with the West. Says Syria will not be a threat to anyone.

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Are enough people going to listen to him? Or did he just put a large target on his back?

Well Zelhan says that Syria is all the crappy leftovers from the WW1/2 carve up's. Guess it's not much worth to many.

He should have a large target on his back from the US for what he did against us in Iraq and Libya. Right now he is playing the part of a wolf in sheep's clothing by being a centralist. Maybe we can buy him but for the past decade he has been rather violent

P.U.T.U said:

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He should have a large target on his back from the US for what he did against us in Iraq and Libya. Right now he is playing the part of a wolf in sheep's clothing by being a centralist. Maybe we can buy him but for the past decade he has been rather violent

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So we are in somewhat trust but very stringent verification with this guy?

Truth be told, I'm a little more worried about Erdogan and Turkey.

HOLY COW!🤯The Pentagon just admitted they had no idea how many American soldiers were in Syria.

"We have been briefing you that there are approximately 900 US troops in Syria."

"I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria."

INSANITY! pic.twitter.com/oWh8Grt2YO

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 19, 2024

45-70Ag said:

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HOLY COW!🤯The Pentagon just admitted they had no idea how many American soldiers were in Syria.

"We have been briefing you that there are approximately 900 US troops in Syria."

"I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria."

INSANITY! pic.twitter.com/oWh8Grt2YO

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 19, 2024

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But they know, and bleet about 396 tranvestitites servings

45-70Ag said:

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HOLY COW!🤯The Pentagon just admitted they had no idea how many American soldiers were in Syria.

"We have been briefing you that there are approximately 900 US troops in Syria."

"I learned today that in fact there are approximately 2,000 US troops in Syria."

INSANITY! pic.twitter.com/oWh8Grt2YO

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 19, 2024

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This reminds of the officials who bragged, in public, about how they lied about troop counts to Trump to make him think we had exited more than we really had.

The only reason to be concerned about Turkey is if get too directly in their way. They do not have designs against us and it would be stupid to make them an enemy over fallen Syria. They are probably one of the few powers in the region that can keep it from becoming too much under Shi'ia Iran influence.

Cant wait to post an Assad miss me yet meme in a couple of years.

samurai_science said:

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Cant wait to post an Assad miss me yet meme in a couple of years.

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Unfortunately give something like a minimum of 60/40 odds in favor of your prediction being necessary and apt.

Not much was learned from the mistakes of the first decade.

Syria’s new government declares Christmas a public holiday.

Government offices will be closed on December 25th and 26th. pic.twitter.com/s1oiEOTXDG

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) December 24, 2024