Burnwinter oh yea there was that as well wasn't there. Not that far in the past because as we know stuff the great powers did during colonial times don't count any longer (Afghanistan 2001)

    Fucking disgusting.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-08-10/more-than-100-palestinians-killed-in-israeli-air-strike/104209574

    How many more of these headlines do we have to read? Another 100 plus civilians bombed to death for "harbouring militants".

    If I were living like Palestinians in Gaza—even before this genocide—I'd probably be a militant.

    When are the Magnitsky sanctions, severances of diplomatic relations, and broader state-sponsored economic sanctions and boycotts going to appear for this horror?

      Yeh fuck Israel and their enablers ( that's means those paragons of virtue and human rights , the US and UK. )

        4 months later

        What is going on in South Korea?

          JazzG from what I've read, it's over a budget he sees as crippling to his administration and something like 20+ impeachment attempts led by the opposition that he claims is gumming up the works and holding the country hostage to a "legislative dictatorship". Accuses the opposition of being North Korea sympathizers and communists. Not sure how valid any of his claims are, and he's also massively unpopular.

            Sounds like the fall of Assad in Syria is imminent.

            Sigh. Sunni fundamentalist government incoming? It'd be a miracle if minority groups, who have been fighting this war as much as anyone, will get anything but more pain. Hope I'm wrong.

              Unfortunately the trend of this period in time and maybe next decade a lot more instability and lots of geopolitical fall out ahead.

              Coombs Yep be interesting to see what the "pro-democracy revolution" looks like this time. They've been pretty terrible everywhere else.

                This all happened a lot quicker than anyone thought, when Aleppo fell recently some thought they’d put up a fight but with Russia + Iran not backing Assad all folded quickly.

                Plenty of info out there about Jolani who leads the rebel group. It’s true there is plenty to celebrate about Assad being removed from power. But as highlighted in many other nations the transition from a dictator does not guarantee a better path forward for a country and its people.

                Jolani is well known by western media and appears open to Western scrutiny. He and his rebels may be seen “favorably” as they’re Sunni. I’m curios to see how they pull favors from Turkey (in exchange for a return of Syrian refugees) and how they balance internal vs external (Palestine/Israel) interests.

                The less local and international panic you have and the more Jolani seems like a responsible actor instead of a toxic jihadi extremist, the easier his job will become. Is it totally sincere? Surely not," he said.

                https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/world-news/syrias-jolani-from-jihadist-to-pragmatist/amp_articleshow/116098096.cms

                https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/interview/abu-mohammad-al-jolani/

                The speed of HTS taking Damascus has caught me way off guard, and reminded me I know bugger all about Syria. After the way Assad and the Syrian Army stood down the FSA and ISIS through to 2015/16, albeit with brutal Russian strikes in Aleppo, I'm surprised how quickly this has all happened.

                I'm encouraged that Jolani has directed no damage to public institutions. It'd be a bloody shame if Syria got carved up. Back in 2015 or so I read Patrick Cockburn's book on the rise of ISIS and at the time, what was evident was that the "reconstruction" of Iraq and the civil war in Syria had led to a lot of very, very poor Sunni farmers. Keeping economic activity going is vital.

                Speaking of which, I read yesterday that 85% of livestock in the Gaza strip is dead.

                  Coombs Michael Weiss is a massive arsehole so I'm not sure how that frame works for him

                    Coombs Let’s hope they don’t fill them up with children like the previous regime did…

                        JazzG I mean, al-Shar'a has already been up to purges and imprisonment of hundreds of people in his own groups. Doubt he'll have any qualms imprisoning children, especially if they are not religiously compatible. He's already said minorities will be fine...as long as they adjust their practices to align with his brand of Islam. I'm not sure there are any lesser evils, here.

                          Oh I don’t disagree with you, there is no ideal option here but I wont be mourning Assad’s collapse after what he’s done there.

                          Those prisons being emptied will have some nasty people but also good people who were imprisoned for political reasons.