Jubilation in Syria as Jihadis Take Over

Celebration may be a little premature

Editor’s Note:

My apologies for not getting this out sooner, but I have seriously not had a moment to catch my breath. I bring to you my latest column in the National Post (Canada) which was published on Monday, December 9, and remains relevant, incredibly. These days it seems that news is outdated within hours, sometimes minutes.

Vivian Bercovici: Rebel takeover of Syria has Iran and Hamas trembling in their boots

Assad's ouster and Trump's ascendancy will fundamentally reshape the Middle East

Less than two weeks ago, Syrian President Bashar Assad seemed to have a solid grip on power. Top Iranian and Russian military officials operated openly and freely within the country. Supply lines from the Islamic Republic of Iran, through Syria, replenished Hezbollah forces operating in Lebanon.

Then, quite suddenly, we began to hear about a loose amalgam of rebel forces that was conquering cities and towns in northern Syria and pressing on towards Damascus. But everyone—including Assad—assumed that the rebels would be contained.

Over the weekend, however, everything changed. On Sunday, rebel forces entered the capital, and Assad was reported to have fled the country. Later, Russian media confirmed that Assad and some of his family members were in Moscow, having been granted asylum by Russian President Vladimir Putin on humanitarian grounds.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) appears to be the group leading the rebels, who share one common goal: to rid Syria of the despotic Assad regime that has tyrannized the country for more than 50 years. The rebels are all Sunni Muslims with a strong fundamentalist bent.