This article was originally published by Michael Snyder at The Economic Collapse Blog. 

Well, that certainly escalated quickly.  Just a few days ago, I wrote about how Syrian rebels had taken Aleppo and were on the way to the central city of Hama.  Now Damascus has fallen, the Assad regime has been toppled, and it is a new day for Syria.  But will it be a better day?

The Assad regime was horrible, but the radicals that are taking over are not exactly George Washington and the boys.  The truth is that they are hardcore Sunni jihadists that have much in common with ISIS, al-Qaeda, and the Taliban.  Assad pretty much allowed Christians and other minorities in Syria to do their own thing, but now many fear that these jihadists will soon impose a brutal form of sharia law that will make life extremely difficult.

For the moment, there is jubilation on the streets of Damascus, and rebels are having a grand time looting Assad’s presidential palace…

Thousands of Syrians took to the streets in celebration, firing guns into the air, lighting flares, and waving the rebel flag.

Delighted fighters posted footage from inside Assad’s presidential palace as they celebrated their stunning win.

The rebels have ransacked the palace, going room from room looting items of value including Louis Vuitton and other prized possessions.

Video footage from inside Assad’s palace makes it quite clear that he was living the high life.

 

 

But now that the looting has begun, soon there won’t be anything left…

A video features scores of people raiding the cupboards while duvets and linen bed sheets are on the floor.

One person was seen holding an orange Louis Vuitton box while others carried bags bulging with looted items.

It’s thought dozens of Assad’s luxury vehicles have also been seized after militants broke into his garage packed with Mercedes, Ferraris, and Audis.

Nobody should feel sorry for Assad.

He was an absolutely brutal leader, and he was deeply hated by large portions of the Syrian population.

As they advanced, the rebels gleefully toppled one Assad statue after another…

As armed rebels have advanced at lightning speed in recent days from the north of Syria toward the capital, Damascus, footage online showed statues of the Assad dynasty — which has kept the country in its authoritarian grip for over 50 years — crashing to the ground.

Needless to say, the rebels would have loved to get their hands on Assad.

But apparently he was able to escape.

Originally, there were reports that Assad was on an Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane that “disappeared from flight tracking” and that was thought to have been destroyed…

An Ilyushin Il-76 transport plane operated by Syrian Air has disappeared from flight tracking amid uncertainty over the fate of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad, who has served as the president since July 2000, has reportedly fled Damascus, after a lightning advance by rebel fighters reached the outskirts of the capital city early on Sunday morning.

But now it is being reported that Assad has arrived safely in Russia where he has been granted asylum…

Russia has granted Syria’s ousted ruler Bashar al-Assad and his family asylum on “humanitarian grounds”, according to Russian state media.

“Assad and members of his family have arrived in Moscow,” a source told the TASS news agency. “Russia granted them asylum on humanitarian grounds,” he added.

Obviously, Russia is one of the big losers in this saga.

Syria was Russia’s closest ally in the Middle East.  Now the Russians have been forced to pull all of their forces out of the country and will be losing their sole naval base on the Mediterranean Sea…

Russia is evacuating its ships and transporting leftover weapons by air from its bases in Syria as the regime of Bashar al-Assad falls, according to the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).

The rapid collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria has led to the Russian contingent fleeing the country.

“After losing control of Damascus and amid the ongoing offensive by opposition forces in the provinces of Latakia, Hama, and Tartus, the Russian military withdrew its warships from the Tartus naval base, which Assad had previously handed over to Moscow in exchange for security,” intelligence officials stated.

Iran is another big loser.

Syria was an extremely close ally of Iran, but now it will be a very bitter enemy under the new Sunni regime.

In addition, the Iranians had been able to funnel countless shipments of arms through Syria to Hezbollah forces in Lebanon, but now that will no longer be possible.

We are being told that “all pro-Iranian forces” have left Syria, and this represents the biggest strategic defeat for Iran in decades…

All pro-Iranian forces have reportedly withdrawn from the country in a humiliating blow to the Ayatollah.

Iran has lost a key ally in its Shia axis across proxies and allies in the Middle East.

So who are the winners?

The western elite that have been trying to take the Assad regime down for more than a decade have got to be thrilled by these developments.

They finally achieved their goal.

Needless to say, Israel is going to come out of this as a big winner as well…

What is happening these days in the Middle East cannot be found even in the most optimistic scenarios heard 14 months after the surprise attack of October 7. The Shiite axis designed to strangle Israel is collapsing before our eyes.

Qassem Soleimani’s “ring of fire” vision, designed to allow Iran to advance its nuclear program and endanger Israel’s existence, is being buried like its mastermind. Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, first lost the gifted commander of the Revolutionary Guards, then his favorite ally Hassan Nasrallah, and now the Assad regime has fallen.

Interestingly, the IDF has already moved into Syrian territory a bit in order to set up a “buffer zone” in case the Syrian rebels decide to launch attacks in their direction.  It turns out that the peak of Mount Hermon falls within that “buffer zone”…

Israel’s Army Radio reported Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had seized the peak of Mount Hermon, the highest mountain in the region, as a precaution against the advance of Syrian rebels as the Assad regime collapsed.

The mountain, covered in snow during the winter months, is the highest in the region, and a key strategic point. Israel has a military base on the mountainside, but Syria has long had a military base on the peak of the mountain itself.

The move marks the first time Israeli troops have been on the peak of the mountain since the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

In the end, I think that Turkey is actually the biggest winner.

More than anyone else, Turkey was responsible for arming and supporting the rebels that overthrew the Assad regime.

Now Turkey will have a very strong Sunni ally directly to the south, and this will also provide Turkey with a land corridor if it ever decides to physically invade the land of Israel.

The Turks are really starting to flex their muscles in the region, and I think that this success may embolden them even more.

As for the people of Syria, they are being promised a government that is made up of a “council chosen by the people”…

Syria’s armed opposition ultimately plans to form a government defined by institutions and a “council chosen by the people,” Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, the militant figure driving the latest rebel swing, told CNN. He heads the dominant group in the coalition, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), a former Al Qaeda affiliate.

Jolani declared victory for the “entire Islamic nation” on Sunday, in his first public remarks since the rebel-led coup, which he said “marks a new chapter in the history of the region.”

We shall see what happens.

The Taliban promised that there would be reforms when it reconquered Afghanistan, and we all see how that turned out.

Ultimately, I believe that what just took place in Syria is setting the stage for the sort of history-changing events in the Middle East that I have been writing about for a long time.

Now that the Assad regime is out of the way and Hezbollah is severely wounded, the Iranians are in deep trouble.

Let’s watch and see what the Iranians choose to do next, because a cornered predator can be extremely dangerous.

Michael’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “Why” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written eight other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.