Bashar Al Assad grins while delivering a speech, with a Syrian flag made of pictures of people allegedly killed during the uprising (EPA/SANA)
Bashar Al Assad grins while delivering a speech, with a Syrian flag made of pictures of people allegedly killed during the uprising (EPA/SANA)
Bashar Al Assad grins while delivering a speech, with a Syrian flag made of pictures of people allegedly killed during the uprising (EPA/SANA)
Bashar Al Assad grins while delivering a speech, with a Syrian flag made of pictures of people allegedly killed during the uprising (EPA/SANA)

While the West is consumed by ISIL, Assad continues to slaughter Syrians


  • English
  • Arabic

While the rest of the world has been staring, with justifiable horror, at the slaughter by ISIL, Bashar Al Assad has been quietly killing his own people.

Actually, quietly is the wrong word: the massacres by the Assad regime have not been conducted in the dark, but in broad daylight. In the past few days, as for weeks and months past, Mr Al Assad’s fighter jets have struck buildings and bodies all across Syria.

At the weekend, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a monitoring group based in the UK, reported that the death toll after four years has now passed 200,000, with hundreds of thousands more wounded and millions more internally and externally displaced.

The murders that ISIL has perpetrated have been carried out in the full glare of the media – filmed by their own propagandists and reported on and reprinted by media around the world. But the systematic, industrial-scale slaughter of Syrians has dropped off the front pages of the world.

That is because, as yet, there is no answer to the Syrian crisis. No grand strategy, no obvious solution, nor even the prospect of a military or diplomatic breakthrough.

The Syrian strategy of the international community is non-existent. And just as the squabbling and division of Iraq allowed ISIL to gain a foothold and then conquer territory, so the conflicting agendas of the international community have allowed Mr Al Assad to continue killing. Confusion and inaction remain Mr Al Assad’s best friends.

The figures from the SOHR explain one aspect of the confusion on the part of the international community. The recent delivery of US arms to Lebanon explains another.

Put simply, there are too many participants on the ground, and too many conflicting political agendas abroad, for a coherent strategy to be agreed.

The Syria civil war has become both a full-blown proxy war and an internationalised conflict. The analogy with Lebanon’s civil war is imperfect: although that war did become a proxy battle for regional and international acts – as Syria is today – it did not attract foreign fighters to the same degree. In that, Syria shows elements of the Afghan war against the Soviet Union.

A detailed look at the casualties listed by SOHR reveals this. The report lists at least 12 different battalions and armed groups, either fighting alongside the regime or against them.

Adding to this confusion are conflicting political priorities.

The US has delivered a small shipment of arms to Lebanon, worth US$25m, in order to support the Lebanese army fighting incursions along its long border with Syria.

ISIL fighters are massing on the border, occasionally making incursions into Lebanese territory. They are faced by both the Lebanese army and Hizbollah.

The US, therefore, wishes to bolster the Lebanese army but not help Hizbollah – yet by reducing the strain on Hizbollah, the militant group will be able to dedicate more resources to fighting anti-Assad fighters inside Syria.

The lack of a coherent strategy on the macro level means there is also a lack of a clear strategy at a local level.

It is well-established that ISIL have dug themselves into Syria and Iraq by first establishing links at the very local level, with families, tribes and towns. By starting there, they have managed to infiltrate, threaten, co-opt and ultimately control vast parts of both countries.

Those dynamics remain an essential part of the story of the civil war. The international community still has so little understanding of these dynamics that it is unable to chart a path, whether to offer funding, weapons or even support a political programme. Meanwhile, the Free Syrian Army is being sidelined.

All of this confusion has cleared the way for two groups to grow stronger: the Assad regime and ISIL. A political realist would say it is a tragedy that they are not fighting each other. But the truth is that any war between them would simply lead to more civilian deaths.

Political realism would also say that if these are the last two groups standing, then the international community must talk to them. But ISIL cannot be debated with; their ideology does not lend itself to compromise or discussion.

That leaves the regime in Damascus. The days when the decapitation of the Assad regime was a possibility are over. Mr Al Assad, for better or worse, has a role to play in this part of Syria’s story.

falyafai@thenational.ae

On Twitter: @FaisalAlYafai

Book%20Details
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MATCH INFO

Manchester City 1 Chelsea 0
De Bruyne (70')

Man of the Match: Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Results

2.30pm: Park Avenue – Conditions (PA) Dh80,000 (Dirt) 2,000m; Winner: Rb Seqondtonone, Abdul Aziz Al Balushi (jockey), Helal Al Alawi (trainer)

3.05pm: Al Furjan – Maiden (TB) Dh82,500 (Turf) 1,200m; Winner: Bosphorus, Dane O’Neill, Bhupat Seemar

3.40pm: Mina – Rated Condition (TB) Dh105,000 (D) 1,600m; Winner: Royal Mews, Tadhg O’Shea, Bhupat Seemar

4.15pm: Aliyah – Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,900m; Winner: Ursa Minor, Ray Dawson, Ahmad bin Harmash

4.50pm: Riviera Beach – Rated Conditions (TB) Dh95,000 (D) 2,200m; Winner: Woodditton, Saif Al Balushi, Ahmad bin Harmash

5.25pm: Riviera – Handicap (TB) Dh2,000 (T) 2,000m; Winner: Al Madhar, Antonio Fresu, Musabah Al Muhairi

6pm: Creek Views – Handicap (TB) Dh95,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Al Salt, Dane O’Neill, Erwan Charpy

How has net migration to UK changed?

The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.

It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.

The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

Mountain%20Boy
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Company Profile:

Name: The Protein Bakeshop

Date of start: 2013

Founders: Rashi Chowdhary and Saad Umerani

Based: Dubai

Size, number of employees: 12

Funding/investors:  $400,000 (2018) 

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Fatherland

Kele Okereke

(BMG)

Roll%20of%20Honour%2C%20men%E2%80%99s%20domestic%20rugby%20season
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Akeed

Based: Muscat

Launch year: 2018

Number of employees: 40

Sector: Online food delivery

Funding: Raised $3.2m since inception 

TOURNAMENT INFO

Fixtures
Sunday January 5 - Oman v UAE
Monday January 6 - UAE v Namibia
Wednesday January 8 - Oman v Namibia
Thursday January 9 - Oman v UAE
Saturday January 11 - UAE v Namibia
Sunday January 12 – Oman v Namibia

UAE squad
Ahmed Raza (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Waheed Ahmed, Zawar Farid, Darius D’Silva, Karthik Meiyappan, Jonathan Figy, Vriitya Aravind, Zahoor Khan, Junaid Siddique, Basil Hameed, Chirag Suri

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

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Tips to keep your car cool
  • Place a sun reflector in your windshield when not driving
  • Park in shaded or covered areas
  • Add tint to windows
  • Wrap your car to change the exterior colour
  • Pick light interiors - choose colours such as beige and cream for seats and dashboard furniture
  • Avoid leather interiors as these absorb more heat
Company%20Profile
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ICC men's cricketer of the year

2004 - Rahul Dravid (IND) ; 2005 - Jacques Kallis (SA) and Andrew Flintoff (ENG); 2006 - Ricky Ponting (AUS); 2007 - Ricky Ponting; 2008 - Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI); 2009 - Mitchell Johnson (AUS); 2010 - Sachin Tendulkar (IND); 2011 - Jonathan Trott (ENG); 2012 - Kumar Sangakkara (SL); 2013 - Michael Clarke (AUS); 2014 - Mitchell Johnson; 2015 - Steve Smith (AUS); 2016 - Ravichandran Ashwin (IND); 2017 - Virat Kohli (IND); 2018 - Virat Kohli; 2019 - Ben Stokes (ENG); 2021 - Shaheen Afridi

TALE OF THE TAPE

Floyd Mayweather

  • Height 
  • Weight
  • Reach
  • Record

Conor McGregor

  • Height 
  • Weight
  • Reach
  • Record
Company profile

Company name: Suraasa

Started: 2018

Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker

Based: India, UAE and the UK

Industry: EdTech

Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding

Specs

Engine: 51.5kW electric motor

Range: 400km

Power: 134bhp

Torque: 175Nm

Price: From Dh98,800

Available: Now

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Dubai Rugby Sevens, December 5 -7

World Sevens Series Pools

A – Fiji, France, Argentina, Japan

B – United States, Australia, Scotland, Ireland

C – New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Wales

D – South Africa, England, Spain, Kenya

The Florida Project

Director: Sean Baker

Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe

Four stars

Results

Stage seven

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 3:20:24

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 1s

3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 5s

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates, in 25:38:16

2. Adam Yates (GBR) Ineos Grenadiers, at 22s

3. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain-Victorious, at 48s

The Greatest Royal Rumble card as it stands

50-man Royal Rumble - names entered so far include Braun Strowman, Daniel Bryan, Kurt Angle, Big Show, Kane, Chris Jericho, The New Day and Elias

Universal Championship Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns in a steel cage match

WWE World Heavyweight Championship AJ Styles (champion) v Shinsuke Nakamura

Intercontinental Championship Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe

United States Championship Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal

SmackDown Tag Team Championship The Bludgeon Brothers (champions) v The Usos

Raw Tag Team Championship (currently vacant) Cesaro and Sheamus v Matt Hardy and Bray Wyatt

Casket match The Undertaker v Chris Jericho

Singles match John Cena v Triple H

Cruiserweight Championship Cedric Alexander v tba

 

if you go

The flights

Emirates have direct flights from Dubai to Glasgow from Dh3,115. Alternatively, if you want to see a bit of Edinburgh first, then you can fly there direct with Etihad from Abu Dhabi.

The hotel

Located in the heart of Mackintosh's Glasgow, the Dakota Deluxe is perhaps the most refined hotel anywhere in the city. Doubles from Dh850

 Events and tours

There are various Mackintosh specific events throughout 2018 – for more details and to see a map of his surviving designs see glasgowmackintosh.com

For walking tours focussing on the Glasgow Style, see the website of the Glasgow School of Art. 

More information

For ideas on planning a trip to Scotland, visit www.visitscotland.com

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