Bashar Assad cuts and runs into exile as the other Islamists conquer Syria

Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is on the run as Islamist rebels have stormed the capital city of Damascus.

One rumor has it that Assad "got out of Dodge" on an airline that made a U-turn in flight but had since disappeared from radar. Again, this is a rumor and it's early in the siege so take it with a grain of kosher salt. It is possible his plane was shot down but that is not substantiated.

Assad is best known for killing his own people to the tune of about 300,000 civilians by the use of chemical weapons, it is widely believed and had been reported by organizations such as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Such chemicals in the approximate 300 chemical attacks include sarin and chlorine gas against his own civilian population.

So if his plane was shot down, the world has become a better place.

Syria has been tied up in a bloody, 13-year civil war by Islamist rebels who looked to overthrow the Assad dynasty. The apparent collapse of more than 50 years of Assad family rule over the Syrian Arabian Republic would be an incredible turn of events in the Middle East power.

A coalition dominated by radical Islamist factions managed to overthrow Assad's regime, which was supported by Iran. The terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), previously linked to Al-Qaeda and now part of the rebel forces, was pivotal in removing Assad from power. Assad took over the presidency in 2000 after his father, Hafez Assad, passed away.

Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the head of HTS, who has a $10 million bounty placed by the U.S., is attempting to soften the image of the radical Islamism that characterized his combat against American forces in both Syria and Iraq. Al-Golani was once detained by the U.S. military in the early 2000s.

Experts on Syria have informed Fox News Digital that HTS is intent on establishing a totalitarian Islamist state. Phillip Smyth, an authority on Iranian proxy groups and Syria associated with the Atlantic Council, noted to Fox News Digital, "HTS is a group that is an outgrowth of Al-Qaeda and has connections to Turkey. Their endgame is to create a Talibanesque society with a few tweaks."

Assad's choice in 2011 to violently suppress pro-democracy activists during the Arab Spring, which also swept across Egypt and Tunisia, triggered a prolonged civil war. His strategy of using extreme force against his own people led to the deaths of more than 500,000 individuals. Recently, the UN has ceased updating the casualty figures, acknowledging the overwhelming nature of the conflict.

Anyway, it looks like there's going to be a new Islamist regime in Syria and it's anyone's guess what problems they will bring. 

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Trump ends CIA-Syrian rebel program--Moscow happy

Photo: AP file

President Trump has called it quits with the covert CIA program that was arming and training 'moderate' Syrian rebels fighting Bashar Al-Assad's government, according to government officials.

This has put a smile on Putin's lips, a spring in his step, and maybe even another hair on his bare chest.

The policy was begun by former failed President Obama in 2013. Its purpose was to pressure Bashar ("The Chin") to step aside and give up all that he has killed for, but even Obama's locker room buddies thought the idea wasn't smart because Russia help Assad in 2015.

Some officials believe phasing out the secret program is Trump's flamboyant way of showing us that he's interested in finding ways to work with Putin and saw the anti-Assad program as a proverbial monkey wrench to this process. 

It also acknowledges Washington's impotence in throwing "The Chin" out of power.

In May, the US accused Assad of using chemical weapons against the rebels and Trump launched retaliatory airstrikes against a Syrian air base. It was then that UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said, "in no way do we see peace in that area with Assad at the head of the Syrian government."

Invisible officials said Trump had already decided to end the CIA program about a month ago after he met with CIA Director Mike Pompeo and national security adviser H.R. McMaster before the July 7 meeting in Germany with Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. It was announced after that meeting of a new cease-fire in southwest Syria, at the Jordanian border. That's where many of the CIA-backed rebels have long operated.

Trump described the limited cease-fire deal as one of the most incredible deals in American history as one of the benefits of the incredible working relationship he made with Moscow.

The ending of the secret program to arm the anti-Assad rebels wasn't part of the conditions of the cease-fire negotiations--they were already underway, said more invisible U.S. officials.

One thing is for certain, the ending of the CIA-backed rebels will be welcomed by Russia.

What do you think of the deal?




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Evacuations underway in Aleppo

Ambulances are in the process of bringing out the first group of wounded and other civilians from Aleppo on Thursday. This is the beginning of the pullout from the last rebel area in the Syrian city.

The evacuation is part of a cease-fire agreement reached this week to have the rebels surrender their last foothold in the Syrian city to the government control after a devastating offensive slowly chipped away at the rebel position. This now marks the end of the 4-year rebel control of eastern Aleppo.

In the fighting, many civilians have been killed and thousands have been displaced.

Ingy Sedky, Damascus spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross told the AP that 13 ambulances, each with two wounded, and 20 buses, each carrying about 50 civilians, left in the convoy. Some of the wounded require critical care.

More convoys are expected later in the day, Sedky said.

There were plans to evacuate on Wednesday but violence erupted and made the move impossible.

The Russian military said the government in Damascus gave security guarantees to all rebels willing to leave Aleppo and said they were monitoring the situation with drones.

It looks like Putin is going to get what he has wanted--political control of Syria--and that Romney, not Obama, was right all along.


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De Blasio: Backs Again

It happened again: NYPD rank and file have turned their back on New York City Mayor, Bill De Blasio, aka Warren Wilhelm Jr. (like Kaiser Wilhelm) when he spoke at Rafael Ramos' funeral today. If you own a TV or get your news elsewhere, you're aware that this happened when De Blasio spoke at a press conference when the two police officers were executed by Ismaaiyl Brinsley, a Muslim whose Facebook page spoke about violence to all infidels. 

I wrote about De Blasio's background with the NYPD   here .

De Blasio never apologized, never backed down, never stopped being a leftist, cop-hating anarchist who was elected with about 72% of the vote. I'm from New York City; that is why I left the leftists.