Why the Middle East is Re-Engaging with Assad

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After a decade of devastating civil war in Syria, other Middle Eastern countries have begun to re-engage with Bashar al-Assad. So in this video, we'll break down the context surrounding Assad's diplomatic return and what the West should do about it.
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1 - www.economist.com/films/2023/...
2 - www.economist.com/middle-east...
3 - www.ft.com/content/a14241de-8...
4 - www.economist.com/internation...
5 - www.economist.com/middle-east...
6 - www.economist.com/middle-east...
00:00 Introduction
00:52 How Assad ‘Won’ Syria’s Civil War
04:50 Why the Middle East is Re-Engaging
07:03 Should the West Re-Engage?
07:57 Skillshare

[@TheWalruzz]

One minor error I noticed: captagon (fenethylline) is not an opioid, but a stimulant drug that is basically an amphetamine molecule attached to a caffeine molecule

[@Greksallad]

Such an odd error to make

[@jan-seli]

I came here to say this

[@dulio12385]

@@Greksallad Accurate Facts are TLDR for TLDR 🤣

[@Garris_Shrike]

In spain captagon is nick-named "poor man's cocaine"

[@daniyalbbd5281]

They make a lot of mistakes ( most are deliberate )

[@alberteinstein2027]

Man as a Syrian this pains me a lot, after all the men who died and all people who became refugees, as if all was for nothing. As Mahmoud darweesh said: « The war will end. The leaders will shake hands. The old woman will keep waiting for her martyred son. That girl will wait for her beloved husband. And those children will wait for their hero father. I don’t know who sold our homeland But I saw who paid the price. »

[@HistoryLogic87]

yeah next time don't follow the Muslim Brotherhood to try to make a caliphate and one more thing in Africa all of the Syrian jihadis have been killed

[@artman12]

It would have been better if Syrians realized earlier that they were just pawns in geopolitical games of outside powers and those claiming to bring “freedom and democracy” had no intention to do so but rather wanted the natural resources of Syria and the geopolitical leverage. European people also paid for their government’s support for the regime change operation in Syria with the refugee crisis and the strong anti-migrant sentiment that followed soon after that caused fractures within the EU.

[@ramz3589]

​@@artman12I don't believe you understand that bashar him self is a pawn.

[@alberteinstein2027]

@@artman12 No it wouldn't have been better, that's like saying the jews would've been better if they cooperated with Hitler. I don't have to settle with the ruthless murderous dictator that rules my country. Maybe the revolution should've taken different routes? sure. But I don't see anything that the Syrian people could've done anything that would've changed the outcome of the war. Perhaps we could've changed the regime. But changing the regime plus the Russian and Iranian interference, plus ISIS, plus other countries interests against just the Syrian people, it's a war that was doomed to failure from the beginning.

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

@@alberteinstein2027 when will you learn that Khurooj never brings any improvement. Since early history, civil wars have plagued the middle east from advancing

[@philodendron6]

Assad is an Alawite not a Shia. Whilst Alawism has its origins in Shiaism, to be succint, it definetly is not Shia, even taking into account the support provided by Iran.

[@Apollo-oh4em]

hes not alawite

[@havencat9337]

this guys here realyl made a biased video...

[@alberteinstein2027]

@@badofiyeah but Shias don’t accept Alawism as part of Shiasim, they only accepted Alawism as a political alliance

[@coolcreep]

@@alberteinstein2027 Sure, but the context of this video is geo-politics, not theology. Geo-politically, Assad is in the Shia camp.

[@mariajason3547]

​@@Apollo-oh4emhe is .......just read where he and his family from..... Why are you acting Ignorant......you can just google him,its very simple....unless you are trying to be funny...... He is of KALBIYYA tribe,which is of 4 tribes confederation of ALAWITE SECT OF muslims in the LEVANT .......

[@mykie3158]

I live in Aleppo, Syria. The Syrian pound is around 13k against the USD, these estimates are artifical deflation imposed on exchange banks in Syria, and for what it's worth; the only ones who lost and suffered in this war are the people.

[@trillmoney263]

The people in the Kurdish controlled areas are doing better then the people in the Assad areas I’m also in Syria right now. 100 dollars equals 1.4 million Syrian lira.

[@russli-lv2yc]

Syrian hyperinflation is result of totalitarian trade, finance sanctions. So who imposed these sanctions? Even medical supplies are hard to come by because of sanctions. US imposing these sanctions is flat out waging war at the people. Its strategy is cause regular people as much pain as possible, to cause internal collapse. Sanctions are act of war, depraving people basic necessities to survive is against human rights, and yes, you need money and financial instruments to survive in today's age. War doesn't have to be with bombs, though the US used that too. US won't even lift sanctions to allow aid, money and supplies to enter the country after the Earthquake. Syrian ppl need trade and integration with the world's economy, not being coerced by foreign government for its political gains.

[@aqwsderxz]

​@@trillmoney263its a nice vacation area the food is best in world

[@muslimnde3612]

There is a world inflation , not only in Syria , the U.S federal bank raise the interest rate so all world currencies crumble .

[@Yuhyuhmuhmuh]

Life will improve by 2030, hold out hope

[@crimsonterror5795]

I remember before the rise of Isis I was watching the news about the Syrian civil war and concluding that: "We aren't seeing that Assad guy ever again..." Boy did that age like milk.

[@ethandouro4334]

Assad and ISIS conspiracy at its best

[@omarma7815]

we wish

[@Andrea-1998]

Putin saved him before they could gut him like a fish, the Gaddafi moment was avoided

[@alberteinstein2027]

😔we will one day

[@tiglishnobody8750]

And it also show Syrian Rebel are actually just bad, not mention most of them join ISIS

[@TarekSoubra44]

1:42 Rafik Hariri was a Lebanese Prime Minister, not President. Even the title of the article says "PM". The president of Lebanon at the time, Emile Lahoud, was actually perceived to be and was considered pro-Syrian.

[@daniyalbbd5281]

He wouldn't listen, he says what he is paid to say 😂😂

[@BerryFunChannel1]

They make mistakes, they're human... they said president and not PM... they still gave him a high title, they just got mixed up since they're talking about the president of Syria.@@daniyalbbd5281

[@y8fpe]

They don't care about being accurate, only about making tonnes of videos

[@sopek1427]

This channel like to just make vids without being accurate anymore

[@Zekor4]

Also 3:46 he says Kurdish instead of Turkish

[@mustafashahin88]

I am a Kurd from kobani in Northern Syria. We do not use US Dollar as a currency and we did not ditch arabic. The west trained only a very small number of rebels

[@NadirAgha]

The amount of mistakes, errors and wrong explanations is incredible

[@walkingcarpet420]

Ya the whole Syrian "civil war" was actually a proxy war set up by the US. And it was never conclusively proven that Asaad was behind the gas attack. It was just a casus belli that the Obama regime thought would work but by 2013, the American public were getting wise to how the government always lies to go to war.

[@jacobhaap]

Not sure if anyone else noticed or got confused, but at 3:47 it sounds kind of like "Kurdish Army" was accidentally said instead of Turkish Army.

[@harshgupta1999]

yep same

[@theoneblock7107]

Soon…

[@CheezBoyz2009]

Fr

[@LucasImpulse]

the turkish military that side of turkey tend to be kurds anyways so eeeehhhh

[@daniyalbbd5281]

So many errors 😂😂

[@someguy1026]

I think you kind of dropped the ball on this one. Saudi Arabia accepted that it couldn't beat Iran through proxy wars and restored relations to hopefully create a more peaceful Middle East that's more conducive to outside investment to fulfill MBS' ambition. A part of this was accepting that it had lost the war in Syria and restoring diplomatic relations and bringing Assad back from isolation since the old status quo didn't help anyone. It's now shifted to trying to beat Iranian influence through economic means instead of military, by investing in places like Iraq and soon probably Syria as well.

[@kevink7529]

As bad as people say MBS is, he does have a vision for Middle East which is overall more peaceful and focuses on economy rather than just using oil Money to get things done. Oil era is about to end and MBS knows it. A peaceful Middle is the best for everyone in the world.

[@Booz2020]

Slava 🇹🇼

[@fettywap1738]

@@seyedsmousavi400that spelling of Khashoggi is wild

[@kevink7529]

@@seyedsmousavi400 ya that was a horrible crime. No defending that.

[@ssnaut1871]

​@@seyedsmousavi400i mean u can be shit person but still good administrator.

[@TheDaeroner]

Moderate rebels? Would that be referring to rebranded Al-qaeda?

[@user-xc6wd3hb4s]

"Moderate rebels" are terrorists unless they are working for the New World Order.

[@havencat9337]

he is making really biased videos

[@artman12]

The European and North American media makes even Al Qaida a “moderate” if it suits their narrative. Remember WaPo called IS leader Al Baghdadi an “austere scholar”.

[@walkingcarpet420]

'Moderate rebels' was always a lie. The proxy forces that were trying to oust Asaad were mostly Jihadists

[@odaiwardeh9727]

@@walkingcarpet420 I'm atheist against Assad, there are many Syrian people against Assad & Jihadists.

[@stupidminotaur9735]

4:03 you said there was 3 states inside of syria, theres more like 4-6. 1 extra you missed is The Druze have a pretty much automouiss area/province in south syria, 2 is desert area/towns that isis still controls in syrias badia and inbetween citys. and a 3 area you miss is an 30 miles zone controlled by a us base and the free syria army close to jordans border

[@stupidminotaur9735]

the druze have the biggest are you didnt mention it has anywhere from 300k-1.2million people under their control. they are special in the fact the are somewhat/weirdly backed by israel and lebabon

[@amjedeid947]

being autonomous doesn't make it a state

[@mrmr446]

Without the foreign intervention the civil war would have been over in less than a year, it was an attempt at regime change by Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and others that failed and caused a refugee crisis. As brutal as Assad is I can see why he was preferred to fundamentalists and why the Kurdish forces decided to work with him out of fear of Turkiye. No mention of the Golan still being occupied and Israel still bombing the country I take it the team includes no one with any knowledge of the region.

[@HistoryLogic87]

it is a bias channel trying to point out that the regime is all evil and the protester are All Angels

[@shzarmai]

Agreed tbh, unfortunately

[@bullmoosevelt4495]

Facts.

[@matthewmiller6568]

That's only if you ignore the genocide he committed which led to the war

[@mrmr446]

@@matthewmiller6568 There were massacres that's how brutal dictators stay in power, not sure any genocide happened.

[@thomaslyons4973]

one error at 5:37 captagon isn't an Opiod - its a an amphetamine (stimulant)

[@wrdwdwrd]

^^^ also i believe it's a phenethylamine, same family as amphetamine but created as an alternative

[@57shalvinantony6]

"It's always great to be on top of things " that's what she said

[@heck3143]

One important correction. Assad is Alawite, which is an offshoot sect of Shia. I guess it's not completely incorrect to say he's a Shi'ite, but it would be kinda like calling a Mormon political leader like Mitt Romney a Protestant. Technically correct, but totally erases the unique context by putting them in way too broad of a category.

[@muslimnde3612]

I think that Ahmadiyya are like the Mormons , but if we are comparing Protestantism to Shi'ism then Alawites would be the Albigensian Cathars !

[@heck3143]

@@muslimnde3612 Holy moly that is an apt comparison. 100% agreed. I was mostly trying to give an example that people without much knowledge of religious studies/history/sociology would be able to easily follow. But comparing Alawites to Cathars and Mormons to Ahmadiyya is incredibly on point. Mirza Ghulam Ahmad and Joseph Smith have an absolutely insane amount in common, and the way Cathars and Alawites takes the basic components of their root religions but adapt the theology and cosmology in unique ways is almost 1:1. Thats just the surface. The comparisons are practically innumerable! I'm not sure how or when, but at some point I'm going to use that comparison haha.

[@BronzeManul]

Captagon is not an opioid. It's an analog of amphetamine and caffeine.

[@ethandouro4334]

Finally someone sane in this comment section

[@BronzeManul]

You seem to constantly make errors whenever you cover issues relating to drugs honestly. You need to fill this gap with some sort of a science contributor, I remember there being issues all the way back when you did a cannabis video.

[@sadradezdar7114]

Keep up the good work!

[@revertrevertz5438]

The Western narrative often forgets to mention a lot of things. Both British and USA intents to invade were unsuccessful because people were tired. After the fiasco of Iraq and Afghanistan, the former is what cause the Syrian civil war, people in general weren’t too happy about sending their troops to die in another pointless war. Also Obama was not only giving money to the Kurds, but also to Al- Nusra. Al-Nusra was literally Al-Qda in Syria. Also, the genocide of Christians is conveniently omitted in this video. The west wasn’t invested in “helping” due to “democracy”. We just wanted to Assad gone, to build the pipeline that would go from Arabia to Europe. The reality is that most Syrians did not want Assad gone, and Russia also helped big time.

[@ahmedg9009]

I'm a petroleum engineer, DHT and fishing Specialist i work mainly in Iraq and Libya, but go elsewhere sometimes. including Syria once. The third "controlled by Kurds" mentioned here is really controlled by the USA and oil is basically being stolen from Syria with only giving the locals a very small amount and the rest is exchanged for protection from assad... The USA is basically a Mafia, they are NOT the good guys. Once Syria's oil dries up, they'll magically forget everything about freedom and democracy and just leave...

[@Yuhyuhmuhmuh]

Nothing new to the US, in the 20th century it was bananas and now it's oil

[@gtr5860]

protection from the Turks too

[@SelfProclaimedEmperor]

Funny how you don't mention Russia is just doing the exact same thing, but worse since they support Assad, who literally uses poison gas on his own people. You also don't seem to understand the US is the worlds leading oil producer, it doesn't need to "steal" insignificant amounts of oil.

[@Free_Muslim_Unlike_Slaves]

when you have ally like usa you don't need enemies@@gtr5860

[@callum4743]

I remember writing about this in college years ago

[@Leo_ball97]

map error at 4:24 The rebels still control Idlib Northwest Syria And some areas in Al-Tanf in southeastern Syria

[@geniumme2502]

hey TLDR ream, the fact that you use the same outro is one thing but pleaseee make sure the sound tuning is a bit better, i have to pause your videos even expecting the outro may come soon just because the volume is so brutally loud coompared to the rest of the video.

[@sinancothebest]

4:22 oversimplification completely ignores Idlib and Al-Tanf, former being one of 14 Syrian Governorates majorly controlled by remaining rebels

[@cromcruach2958]

Nice rewrite of history...

[@rrajan5476]

i am an Indian, who used to export products while employed in Indonesia to Syria. A very nice country with friendly people. i have visited Damascus . Holms, Aleppo etc. But i always felt, people were under an iron grip of the Govt!

[@joshuanishanthchristian5217]

My mother used to work with several Syrian doctors. They sometimes talked about how beautiful the country had been prior to its collapse, and it was quite saddening.

[@Silver_Prussian]

Go to the areas not in the firm grip of the government, you will be in probably 5 to 10 minutes.

[@CsalbertCs]

Say something bad about Islam and you will see who has the real iron grip in the country!

[@emperoroak7331]

Well, a lot better than Islamic ISIS 😅

[@ahmadsultan4643]

​@@emperoroak7331not really isis were like amateurs compared to the regime

[@rokasrastonis4353]

"Things are expected to change with a story like this" is gonna give me ptsd

[@thefolder3086]

Hi, idk will you see this, but I hope you will From your last video, I feel like you can fix the problem of biased coverage of different world regions by creating an open community you can take opinions from for update on current situations. Maybe in the form of a server or a chat group of sort. Ofc it won’t be the voice of god but it will help you become even more diverse, if you are interested

[@thomasaquinas1457]

Feel good stories like this really brighten my mornings 😊

[@mr.netflix9149]

It be like that sometimes (meaning all tumes😢)

[@cgt3704]

1:43 its Prime Minister,not President. Its even written in the article 😂

[@ems8290]

You got so many things wrong, I don't even know where to start! There is also a lot of missing context that could have been mentioned and fitted into this episode but adding a few more minutes.

[@medusa-frost]

Who must go?

[@Randomsyrianfella]

Yalla irhal ya bashar!

[@kevincronk7981]

3:46 you said the kurdish army intervened, it was the turkish army that intervened

[@gp-1542]

I think it’s just because “Realpolitik” became of how drastically the world changed And of “I utterly hate you but I hate the other guy even more”

[@Tarek_ElMaddah]

First thing. Syrians started protesting right after Mubarak (Egyptian president) was overthrown. Mubarak was overthrown in Feb 11, 6 days later Syrians protested ! Same goes to Libya. Tunisia was the starting point, Egypt 🇪🇬 followed then Syria and Libya 🇱🇾 Second thing, Syria’s currency is Lira, not pound!

[@mahnas92]

Lira and Pound are the same thing. Lebanon also has Lira, the international currency code is LBP, lb for Lebanon/Lebanese, and P for pound. It's from Latin Libra (scale), a roman weight measuring unit, also sometimes used in the phrase "libra pound" in old times. Some languages adopted libra (livre in French or simply Lira), and other adopted Pound for short. This is also why countries using imperial units measure weight by "pounds" or "lbs", where "lb" stands for Libra Pound.

[@koharumi1]

2:21-2:32 If I was an outsider countries I can see how the west could be seen as hypocritical.

[@SelfProclaimedEmperor]

As Far as I know the west hasn't used banned chemical weapons this century.

[@johnxina5126]

@@SelfProclaimedEmperor white phosphorus used by the US in the battles of Fallujah? As of now Fallujah is at 14 times the risk of radiation then Hiroshima or Nagasaki (whose radiation levels are now normal). You can look up photos of new borns in Fallujah

[@SelfProclaimedEmperor]

@@johnxina5126 no evidence it was used directly on civilians. But you people are despicable, you find these isolated incidents and go "see, west is same as Russia who did bucha on purpose or Hamas who behead babies on purpose"

[@theconqueringram5295]

Aside from a few simple mistakes, this was still an informative video!

[@chilloutcentral2097]

It’s time for the USA and its poodles to grow up and accept president Assad. They have caused enough damage.

[@noobmaster-cd7bk]

"President" 😂

[@user-kk4sj4ih3e]

I'm sure someone has already pointed this out, but Rafik Hariri was a PM rather than president

[@vidyagaems4063]

That skillshare ad by was much louder than the bit right before it. Normalize your audio.

[@WilliamCarterII]

"what the "west" should do about it" is so sinister.

[@SelfProclaimedEmperor]

Its not sinister to oppose dictators like assad, who use poison gas on their own people. Blood on your hands for collaborating.

[@v.5442]

Hold up. Read the wikipedia page of Jose Bustani. He is the previous head of the Organization of the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, who said that the US surpressed evidence for Assad's innocence and was deposed by a vote by the US and their allies in the OPCW. The German BND couldn't find evidence of the use of chemical weapons either.

[@davidtherwhanger6795]

Governments often lie.

[@alberteinstein2027]

Couldn’t find it evidence????????? Are you living under a rock??????!!!!!!!

[@walkingcarpet420]

The gas attacks were false flags, the Obama regime thought it was a believable casus belli. But by 2013, the American public were starting to see through the lies and war propaganda.

[@jhingoorpatima237]

@@alberteinstein2027 Like the WMD!!!

[@alberteinstein2027]

even if I conceded that point, we have tons of evidence on how the Assad regime would torture and kill innocent civilians. And this is the bases for Caesar Syria Civilian Protection Act. It's because of the war crimes and human rights abuses that the regime committed @@jhingoorpatima237

[@BogusBogusi]

The Lebanese Guy killed by the Assad family was a prime minister.. NOT the president of Lebanon

[@porcus123]

Thank God he is still there, Libya lost its dictator, and a democracy didn't flowerish. Only modern day slavery.

[@muhammedjaseemshajeef6781]

Cant mossad the assad

[@kushagraverma4943]

Badatumtss

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

libya, iraq.. theyre still in chaos even after the dictator is gone. or actualy in worse state than before.

[@apgaismiba]

Both of them had invaded a weaker country. But yeah the civilians are having a tough time, I hope they manage to recover may God guide them.

[@CoolManCoolMan123]

​@@apgaismibawhat country did Libya invade? Chad? Ok that was embarassing but it had no long term effects on economy and Iraq? It literally took over that small country if it weren't for more than 30+ countries declaring war on Iraq.

[@rizkyadiyanto7922]

@@apgaismiba iraq and kuwait werent supposed to be different country/people. theyre split because the brits did divide-and-conquer to control them easier.

[@GrammarNaziAUS]

@@rizkyadiyanto7922 Says who? Kuwait seems perfectly content to be its' own nation.

[@apgaismiba]

@@CoolManCoolMan123 They still had intentions to take something over their own pride, so it automatically proves they had some plans. Although I don't support what NATO did to Libya. Iraq also invaded Iran when it was on its weakest point by gassing the people and shooing scuds at the capital and more and was planning to annex some of the lands near the Persian gulf. Now I am not saying Iran is completely innocent but what they did to civilians was horrible and should not be forgotten easily just because US invaded Iraq. (I also don't support the 2003 invasion) Remember these points are not trying to dehumanize or make the other one look superior in terms of morality but more so to humble them and remember what tragedies they had committed.

[@ChilledSpirit]

Why no mention of the part of Syria that's occupied by Israel?

[@y.l7455]

Because the Golan Heights are Israel's and not Syria's.

[@jawadarif5676]

Few thing to mention, the rebel army where actually at the door step of Damascus untill isis turn up, this is when the tgonk chsnged and it fell in favour of syrian army , isis fought more with the rebel army then wirh the syrain army

[@rajisko9712]

You are 💯 correct

[@michaszostak1105]

People who criticize Assad for being authoritarian, seem to be forgetting that he's the leader of a democratic party in Poland (PSL).

[@tradracemixer3237]

*Alleged use of Sarin gas To flat out assume that the attack was real is a blatantly biased outlook

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

Tankie, please. Go spew your propaganda elsewhere

[@sebastianprimomija8375]

Yeah that caught me off guard to because I kept up with the Civil War in Syria and no one could make heads or tales on who used that Sarin Gas or if it was used AT ALL. So them taking a position and perpetrating SUPER irresponsible from a journalistic standpoint.

[@freeassange5667]

They did that on purpose, they have to go along with the establishment /official narratives. Maybe it's part of The Big Lie technique, they repeat it enough it esentially becomes true...

[@jhingoorpatima237]

@@TheAmericanAmerican like the WMD !!!

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

@@jhingoorpatima237 oh for sure! That truly was US propaganda, and I hate the entire Bush administration for that! See here's the difference between you and me: I call out ALL bad governments on the planet like China, Russia, Assad, AND THE USA! You just pick and choose. Absolutely disgusting. Do better.

[@mushroomcloud5305]

"Assad must go !" Who must go ?

[@theredtechnician]

May the Lion of Damascus and all of Syria have many years of peace

[@trillmoney263]

@@theredtechniciannah they’ll get destroyed by Egypt

[@trillmoney263]

This is gonna be solved when Egypt gets into the conflict

[@alberteinstein2027]

@@theredtechnicianmay your mother be his personal whore if you love him that much 😊

[@jhingoorpatima237]

@@trillmoney263 you mean egypt the puppet of usaisrael !!! Who cares about weak coward egypt !!!

[@collinmoeller1345]

When I was in secondary school in 2014 I wrote a paper on the moral and pragmatic questions of the US supporting various pro democracy forces in the Syrian civil war. It was obvious at the time for me that Russia was more invested than the US was and that Syrias revolutionary factions were far too divided to come out on top. All these years later I still wonder whether the west should have helped to the level they did given it likely prolonged the conflict for several years and resulted in thousands more dead and displaced.

[@salarhoseynali9007]

Well the west has a moral obligation + a semi cold war with Russia + Syria crossed so many red lines, I think Obama doomed the middle east (the world) with appeasing the enemies and admonishing allies.

[@bisratgetachew8286]

The west could help by staying away

[@FBAagent]

I like it, people living anywhere in the world have an opinion about what should and should not be in a foreign country. But they are not the ones paying the price for their opinions.

[@joetrump2983]

maybe we should let a civil war 2.0 in the US or UK to happened and both right and left forming militia groups fighting for control since its democracy and freedom they want

[@darthvader4338]

Yup I used to liv in that country

[@cashewsinc.5647]

3:48 "The Kurdish Army intervenes in Northern Syria" 😂

[@sinancothebest]

Tbh there are a lot of Kurds in thr Turkish Armed Forces :P

[@pneu79]

Kind of glossed over how all of the US intervention did very little to hamper Isis, it wasnt until Russia got involved and was proactive that Isis basically vanish in short order. I use to love this channel back when it was starting out. But i see more and more mainstream leanings in the videos, and failing to provide critical and complete information. I hope to see you guys do well by presenting non bias reports.

[@Silver_Prussian]

The russians have more expirience with insurgencies especially the radical islamic kind. The soviets observed vietnam and latter went into afghanistan and from there there they gained expirience, after that the russians had to deal with a small insurgency in chechnya witch lasted to 2009.

[@CedarHunt]

You can't gloss over something that didn't happen. The US was fighting ISIS, Russia was dropping chemical weapons on rebel positions and undermining the effort to stop ISIS.

[@OK-yy6qz]

What you're saying is kind of BS. The operation against ISIS was a mixed one that had US and Russian air support and intel with Russian supplied Government, US Supplied Kurdish and Turkish Supplied Rebel forces on the Ground (as well as Iranian Backed Iraqi forces on the Iraqi part of ISIS). all of them played an important role it Wasn't Russia that "Vanished" ISIS alone. Also Russia was involved in this war before the US was

[@jhonklan3794]

Are you forgetting the battle of Raqqah? US air support was instrumental to the defeat of ISIS.

[@BrianelSuperMacho]

Amen

[@TRDPaul]

Why are your adverts so loud?

[@habibelmadani9020]

Rafic hariri was prime minister, assad is not shia he alawi and the protests did not begin in a peaceful wave, and the chemical use was never confirmed

[@realdreamerschangetheworld7470]

Great work!

[@yabutmaybenot.6433]

This whole situation could have been solved with a fair, regulated thumb war.

[@user-iv6zf1jv7k]

But America doesn’t want that

[@JeeeeeZ289]

@@user-iv6zf1jv7kthey rule by divide and conquer

[@HaroldBlackstone-qn6dr]

I tried to challenge him to a duel he ignored me.

[@cerebrofan]

TLDR has a video on Yemen war?

[@user-fv8cy9gj6b]

Stratego, is het allerleukst, als je weet, dat je er niks mee te maken hebt

[@SemKeemink]

Helemaal mee eens makker

[@anonyKinetic]

Assad is hardly a great person, but the U.S enforcing sanctions, leaving a country in poverty, until they accede to their governance system of choice is needlessly cruel. If the conditions were more sensible, such as requiring an end to the use of chemical weapons, that would be understandable. But to require democracy is just continuing this western myopia of not understanding that democracy needs to be gradual and that autocracies can work in certain circumstances, at least until the society and its institutions is more politically mature. No western liberal democracy became one overnight as western powers seem to force on the middle east. Case in point, stable autocracies like Singapore and UAE versus the unstable mess that was Afghanistan's U.S backed pseudo-democracy that couldn't withstand Taliban rule by even a hairline due to rampant corruption. But sure, the U.S can keep it's moral high ground as it condemns a nation to poverty unless they accede to an arbitrary notion of "democracy" as opposed to something more consequential like ending chemical weapons use or the like. Democracy can always come later; first don't let innocent Syrians die for your geopolitical goals, otherwise there will be no one to enjoy the democratic process in the first place.

[@jeffrysaade3166]

Rafic al Hariri was the Lebanese prime minister and not president

[@adonisarmanazi5346]

Oh gosh this video is full of mistakes the situation is extremely badly discoursed and explained.

[@adonisarmanazi5346]

I respect your efforts, but many mistakes are one google search away to be corrected

[@paulluka2029]

So basically if you have troublesome neighbors simply sell them drugs and they will start listening to you 🤦

[@user-uh5bx1zg7b]

he looks like some rich guy in wall street

[@abdosteif7367]

Your map is wrong you forget about Idleb in the maps

[@crazychicken8290]

I hope for the best for syria

[@greekwarrior5373]

The Turks lost badly. Wasn't it Erdogan who tried to oust Assad from the very beginning? Atleast Putin teached him a lesson in Syria!

[@walkingcarpet420]

It was the American empire that wanted Assad gone

[@rajisko9712]

You heart is so blind to see the really tyranny, seems you were obsessed with Erdogan and turkiye 😂 it's easy to guess which country you belong to..

[@noir1923]

obviously greekwarrior5373 is talking bullshit, greece is an irrelevant country with 1/8 of our population, stay mad malaka

[@kakaeriko]

captagon is not a synthetic opiod

[@marym7104]

Within 3 hours!

[@Vader19k8]

Europeans first bomb a nation and in the same breath talk about respect for international laws, sovereignty and territorial integrity of ohter nation.

[@misterkeys2893]

"Somehow, Assad returned."

[@kamalfarossi719]

Dear TLDR, Thank you for bringing us premium quality news, I'm a longtime fan. However, kindly note you have misinformed us today (1:58 - 2:05). Syria never had a sectarian issue - you are mistaking Syria for Iraq. The dynamic at the beginning of the crisis was a war between Free Syrian Army (various factions with various funders) & the regime (Syrian National Army - also various funders). Later in the years Syria became an international battleground for (NATO, Russia, Iran, rebel groups, terror groups etc...). This is not a small difference and to hint any sectarian ideas is very misleading and an insult to the revolutionaries. Regards, Your fan

[@anifsky1065]

Well, I guess the whole “Assad curse” is true. Assad is winning after all this time 😅😔definately gonna be interesting

[@krisdaschwab912]

Tyrants engaging with other tyrants. Shocking.

[@jasonmaguire7552]

Nothing tyrannical about stopping religious extremists from overthrowing the government. But let me guess, being gentler would have stoppes them?

[@ethandouro4334]

Still way more legit in power than Biden 🤓

[@Tom-sj3vn]

God bless this man

[@kenningosh1447]

Yea lets not talk about Wikileaks documents how America was involved too

[@nothing21797]

Obama's war failed. OMG !!! somebody give him another nobel prize.

[@zwojack7285]

Without watching the video, I guess by having Russia at his side while the support for any rebels has stopped.

[@Simon-zan]

Captagon is not an opioid - it doesn't contain any opium-derived substances. It is a hybrid amphetamine

[@adr2567]

Absolutely horrible stuff, Assad is the kind of guy who’d rather destroy his country than let any change take place and sleep peacefully knowing the consequences of his actions.

[@gameofender4463]

What’d probably help stabilise the region is if the Kurds finally had their own state. They’re split between Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Even if it was a small state out of northern Syria and Iraq it’d help ease the tensions.

[@mathewbuckley5619]

I think an independent Kurdish state would be unacceptable for turkey and Iran

[@asavelakuse6865]

If Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Syria would agree but the years have proven otherwise.

[@gameofender4463]

@@mathewbuckley5619It’s going to happen eventually though. Better to get ahead of it and an encourage a Kurdish state and be their ally. If Turkey helped them have a Kurdistan in Iraq and Syria and southern Turkey. The Turks could then use that land to help enrich Turkey with Kurdistan as a loyal ally.

[@gameofender4463]

@@asavelakuse6865Which is silly as they could make a powerful ally of the Kurds.

[@kwabenakone8057]

Imagine how the West and Zelenskyy will react if you proposed that idea about the people in Donbas😂 @gameofender9663

[@mtaufiqn5040]

Finally, peace can be achieved in syria and in extension in the middle east

[@Booz2020]

Slava TSMC 🇹🇼

[@taiemgamerxrbg2080]

it should not be silent about what assad did.The people who fought againist assad were freedom fighters and real jihadists.If it was not for isis in iraq which later emerged in syria and confused the true fighters and justifed the war crimes on them and civilians.Isis kills women while the true fighters did not and were not diluded and extremistly innovative (bidah) which isis was.Assad killed 2 million syrians

[@ForestFWhite]

The US troops occupying certain oil-producing regions of Syria (e.g. Ash Shaddadah) aren't significant?

[@mitchyoung93]

Ah-Sahd. Pretty sure he is Allawi not Shia. The US is occupying NE Syria, we could have easily suppoerted the legitimate government against ISIS. Since when doesnthe UN get to tell member states what should be in their constitutions.

[@user-py6hf7sp6b]

These people didn't realize that the cost was more than the benefit 👍or 👎

[@akankshasharma7498]

Controversial opinion: rich dictatorships are better than poor dictatorships

[@Tmb1112]

Took a look at the live control map of Syria... calling it a victory for Assad is a bit premature. HTS, regime forces, SDF, ISIS, and Turkiye-occupied regions. Assad is stronger now than before, but American forces are still active in the country with rebel forces. Militant groups, militias, and occupation forces from Turkiye all make up other forces engaging in the ongoing Civil War. Just saying, to claim that Assad has "won" is too soon. Having 60% of the country isn't a victory, and the map they show at 4:25 isn't even accurate as Idlib in the northwest is controlled by the HTS insurgents where this map shows Assad has it, but there's active fighting there between the forces in control of the region and regime forces. This one is an oversimplified map for a much more complex civil war.

[@Free_Muslim_Unlike_Slaves]

usa occupied region too with pkk terrorists

[@herospeedy3174]

He's a goated dictator at this point.

[@real.mir_]

😂😂😂

[@_tsu_]

I think the move is for Turkey to officially recognise Kurds and enshrine their language and some level of autonomy in their constitution, then invade and annex Kurdish Syria(it can be done democratically via refferendum because the Kurds are much more willing to accept a promise from a democratic country over whatever Assad has) and then they bully Assad into officially giving up northern Syria. This would fully resolve the Kurdish conflict and bring peace to the region IMHO. What do yall think? All types of replies are appreciated.

[@davidtherwhanger6795]

The Kurds are in more than Turkey and Syria though. If Turkey did do that, other nations would then believe Turkey would do it to them next. That would raise tensions and spark a war or two as Kurdish separatists in those other nations would probably do something rash. The Kurds in Turkey, a then semi-autonomous nation, would want to support their fellows, either forcing Turkey to actually go to war to aid the Kurdish Separatists; or force Turkey to again suppress the Kurds in Turkey to lower international tensions.

[@Avaricumstudios]

Then on what basis do you condemn the invasion of Ukraine?

[@hamlet557]

Turkey invaded Syria and cleansed the Kurds from their homeland. I'd be very curious to see how they would act in case of referendum.

[@noir1923]

our kurds dont want seperate country, why would they want to leave precious west turkey and live in deserts and mountains only ?

[@Free_Muslim_Unlike_Slaves]

in your dream turkiye will not split ever

[@Dz19696]

I honestly believe this evil dictator is the worst creator ever existed on earth since adam and eve .

[@50secs]

Here we go another good channel, churning our a propaganda rather than impartial analysis.

[@fanemanelistu9235]

"Arab Spring", also known as "CIA Special Operation".

[@videopompano4935]

Syria is going well yes but it is going to take along time for Syrian government to rebuild by would like the Kurdish region to become its own independent country or at least have some autonomy from Syria

[@ethandouro4334]

They already have an accord with Assad for autonomy, Assad and Kurdish Rojava are Socialists

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

​@@ethandouro4334ummm Assad is a fascist dictator, definitely not a socialist🤣. The Kurds are more anarchist but I'll let you slide with calling them socialists. So only half wrong, Bud.

[@ethandouro4334]

@@TheAmericanAmerican Assad is fascist? Don't make me laugh, he literally have his entire agencies nationalised, he's just a Red Fascist

[@jhingoorpatima237]

@@TheAmericanAmerican Assad is a dictator what about America friends saudi uae BAINREIN and the list goes on = They are not dictators but elected by their people !!!!

[@GraniteInTheFace]

Just wondering but how much better is Assad compared to Mr. Bonesaw from SA?

[@Hassan10z]

Thats when people don't think and get over confident 😂

[@SpazzyMcGee1337]

I don't like Trump, but at least he acted against Assad's use of chemical weapons.

[@walkingcarpet420]

Asaad was framed for the gas attacks.

[@Evemeister12]

Trump did nothing. And could do nothing.

[@bisratgetachew8286]

He acted a fool

[@iGleeson]

Viewers of this channel seem to easily forget that this is a small team putting out a tremendous amount of content on a daily basis. They issue corrections in the comments and description whenever mistakes are caught after the fact. Some of you are way to harsh when they make mistakes.

[@misterkeys2893]

I agree completely, especially considering they just recently did that video responding to criticism and said themselves "We know we're making sloppy mistakes and we hate it too." Some viewers here definitely overreact, too. Accidentally saying "President" instead of "Prime Minister" is a pretty sloppy mistakes and warrents attention, but it doesn't "cHanGe tHe SLanT oF ThE NarRatIvE".

[@noobmaster-cd7bk]

Then they should stop the crunch and focus on quality. Making informative videos with false information on purpose or due to incompetence is unacceptable. No one is forcing them to make tons of videos daily, They chose to and they should get some consequences for it.

[@joetrump2983]

@@noobmaster-cd7bkthey should be lucky they are doing this in UK and not some autocractic countries like singapore where even a university scholar was almost charged and jailed for simply writing an article criticising the oligarchy government

[@noobmaster-cd7bk]

@@joetrump2983 im not saying that they should not exercise their freedom of press/speech or not. I'm saying that they should focus on quality and accuracy instead of pumping out 10 videos per day.