For today, links to four reports: from Reuters, National Public Radio, and Middle East Eye, and to commentary via Consortium News, and to an imaginary conversation from ScheerPost; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names below. (UKRAINE and GAZA entries for this date, so far, are HERE and HERE.) — MCM
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After Assad’s ouster, rebel leader tightens his grip on the state. From Reuters. Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa’s Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) is stamping its authority on Syria’s state with the same lightning speed that it seized the country, deploying police, installing an interim government and meeting foreign envoys — raising concerns . . . READ MORE . . .
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Doubts remain as Syria’s new prime minister promises the country will be inclusive. Reported by Hadeel Al-Shalchi and Steve Inskeep | NPR Syrians living inside and outside their country are trying to figure out what comes next after the Assad regime fell. We hear from Syrians along the road from Lebanon to Damascus. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Demoralised and abandoned by allies: why Assad’s army failed to fight in Syria. From Reuters. DAMASCUS / AMMAN/ BAGHDAD — For years, the Islamist rebels of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) had sat behind the frontline in the city of Idlib, with Syria’s long civil war frozen. But on Wednesday, Nov. 27 . . . READ MORE . . .
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Did the U.S. fund the Syrian rebels that toppled Assad? From Middle East Eye. After Syrian opposition forces led an offensive that rapidly swept through Syria’s major cities in a matter of weeks and ultimately led to the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government, U.S. President Joe Biden publicly took credit for the rebel takeover. “Our approach . . . READ MORE . . .
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Assad’s legacy, by John Wight | Medium / Consortium News There are already emerging reports of Islamist gangs in Homs, Syria’s country’s third largest city, seeking out and slaughtering members of the city’s Shia community along with former Syrian army soldiers and officers. Scenes of celebration over Assad’s departure are giving way to the grim realities of life under Salafi-jihadism. READ MORE . . .
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FROM DEC. 6 The end of pluralism in the Middle East, by Craig Murray | CraigMurray.org.uk / Consortium News BEIRUT — A truly seismic change in the Middle East has occurred. At its heart is a devil’s bargain – Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the imposition of Salafism across the Eastern Arab world. READ MORE . . .
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FROM DEC. 10 Mr. President, isn’t your ‘friend’ a terrorist? Robert Scheer of ScheerPost in the role of President Biden and Ray McGovern, who was the CIA’s daily briefer to a succession of U.S. presidents, as himself as if he had not retired. In another imaginary “briefing,” they discuss some of the latest events. Click HERE to listen and watch.