The overthrowing of Assad I applaud, but we must now allow the people of Syria time to make their own decisions. The West should not interfere or force anything onto them.
Assad's flight to Russia could indeed lead to full democracy in Syria. Though the struggles we're having here in the UK to hold onto our own democracy – with the Tories having removed right after right and Keir Starmer in a dictatorial mood sacking MPs who disagree with his slightest pronouncement! – suggest it could be an uphill struggle.
Syria will need the support of the UK, the US and every other right-thinking nation to steer its way to, as it were, authorised democracy. But the main thing is that it must be allowed to find its own way. The UK and above all the US mustn't rush to interfere. They did that in Iraq and in Afghanistan, and look how well that turned out!
Rebel leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, now the de facto leader of Syria, seems an OK kind of guy, not reckless but thoughtful and clearly out to do all he can to help Syrians achieve peace and calm after 50 years of the most brutal dictatorship, where repression, torture and death were the order of the day. He's talking reprisals against Assad-ites and has no mercy for them, but I don't think he or anyone else would get away with anything less, after all that Syrians have endured for decades.
So yes, Syria could achieve democracy, but it'll have to fight bloody hard to get there! I hope and pray for their success, and wish them every joy in their newfound (and not-to-be-relinquished) freedom.
–Val Gaize
There is no hope for democracy when those great champions of, erm, 'democracy', Türkiye, the US, Israel and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, the rebel militant group now leading Syria, which has links to Al-Qaeda) are busy carving up different parts of the country between themselves. None of these parties wants to stabilise the country under a democratically elected government.
A reasoned prognosis might well conclude that the medium-term outcome will involve several regions of Syria being under the control of different vested interests with varying agendas – all of which will probably be eyeing each other with deep suspicion. In the long term, something will likely cause oppressed local populations to rise up against their new masters and the Middle East merry-go-round will once again start spinning out of control.
–Mick Miles
It would seem that where terror has been used to seize control from an oppressive government, they have trouble escaping their roots. In a complex country such as Syria, where the population is split into different demographics, ethnicities and religions, tensions can run especially high. Each group vies for power and feels entitled to take the lead in exercising the power as it is distributed.
Northern Ireland provides a model for demilitarisation and power-sharing. Yet even this is far from perfect, with sectarianism simmering not far from the surface despite the veto power handed to each of the constituents of government.
So what does Syria need? A secular and proportional government largely run at a local level, with oversight from a ruling council to protect the rights enshrined by the UN. Regular free elections, whose results can be accepted as the pivot point needed to create a country that wants to disarm and to work within and between neighbouring communities. To be largely free from outside interference, religious and racial intolerance, and corruption.
Syria has a long history on which to build a future, but it will need to understand where it has come from – including the Assad era – to know how to get where it is going.
–Stephen Shawcross
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