THE FALL OF DAMASCUS

After mere 11 days of fight, finally the 50 years of tyranny ends in Syria. ?The rigid dictatorship of Bashar Al Assad comes to an end. The civil war emanating from the Arab spring of 2010 which let to the dismantling of autocratic dictatorship regimes in Tunisia, Libya and Yemen, that turned the country into a high profile multi stakeholder battlefield, has finally removed its dictator Bashar Al Assad who had been defending his prestigious position from the past 13 years. After 13 years of the infamous wall writing of Darra teen, finally the turn of Doctor has come.

But what exactly happened in these 11 days that led Assad to exile from the nation and take asylum in Russia? Nobody could have ever imagined the series of events that took place in Syria, the unprecedented activeness of rebel forces and their victory over Assad and Syrian army. Many says the withdrawal of support from Iran and Russia is the primary factor behind the scenario. The war that began with a teen’s graffiti on a wall in 2011 saw everything, from mass protests to mass killings, from the involvement of international terror organizations to involvement of superpowers and from chemical attacks to air strikes, Syria saw everything. The Assad regime has allegedly killed over 100 thousand innocent civilians of its very own country, the numbers could even be higher. As a result of this never-ending civil war, more than 80% of Syrians are now living below poverty line. The complex civil war has several participants including the free Syrian army, Syrian military of establishment, Kurd forces fighting against Turkey, several terrorist organizations like ISIS and many other non-state proxy entities, who keep fighting for and against each other. However, the involvement of world superpower the United States, military superpower Russia and regional powers of Iran and Turkey took the war to all new heights. The personal interests of these superpowers and the unhinged dictatorial acts of Assad from beating the protestors to using chemical weapons has let to real destruction of Syria. Graveyard of destroyed buildings, riddled houses and mass migration of innocent civilians are some of the most visible results.

The rebel forces under the leadership of Abu Mohammad Al Jolani took control of north western city of Aleppo on 29-30th November, followed by Hama on 5th Dec, the crucial city of Homs on 6th of Dec and finally we witnessed the fall of Damascus on 7th December. The prisoners were released by the rebels and the locals celebrated the exile of dictator and victory of rebels like a festival. ??

However, the question still remains the same, will there be piece in Syria? Will sukhs (traditional markets) of Homs and streets of Damascus regain their lost vibrant beauty and charm? Will there be establishment of democracy like Tunisia, which was the main intent of Arab Spring or will we witness an unstable state ruled by variety of extremist groups just like Yemen, or is it going to be a country governed by terror organizations like ISIS? The joy among the people was no long lasting as shortly after the regime change, Israel took complete control of Golan heights of Syria and also launched a mild attack, which clearly indicates that the struggle is yet to be finished. Moreover the lack of political and ideological leadership in the country raises further doubt about the establishment of a stable democratic government.

Besides Iraq, Syria has the largest oil reserves in the entire western region middle east. As of 2015 it had 2500 million barrels of proven oil reserves. Ever since wars and American sanctions the oil industry of Syria is in great turmoil. The defeat of dictator Assad is considered as a strategic victory of the US in this region over Russia and Iran. If everything goes right and a stable government gets formed in Syria, the oil production could once again be increased which might significantly affect the international oil prices.

The present moment is full of questions and speculations and no one really knows the answers to all these question, one could only hope for the betterment of people, economy and stability of “AL-SHAM” ??

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