New Rumors Circulate Amid Instability in Syria

With a major security vacuum left in the wake of the overthrow by rebels of Syria’s Assad, followed almost immediately by a massive Israel airstrike campaign that has decimated any strategic/military capabilities, we expect prolonged instability in Syria as external actors prepare to stake their claims, while Iran and Russia lick their wounds and Israel expands its territory. 

This week, we saw a shift in the balance of power in Lebanon away from Hezbollah/Iran, further indicating that Israel and its allies are forcing major changes across the region, for better or worse. Lebanon’s army chief, Joseph Aoun, was elected president after the country languished without one for two years. American and Saudi dollars funded this development. A weakened Hezbollah endorsed him. A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah was put into place in early December and has held for the most part. 

Back in Syria, we are still at the genesis of a political vacuum, and the rumor mill is running wild. Assad’s former media chief and advisor claims that Putin tricked Assad in the final days of his leadership, luring him to Moscow in late November, just a week before Syrian rebels took Damascus and forced him to flee. Assad is reported to have met Putin on 29 November, when rebels had already almost secured Aleppo before moving on to Damascus. With Hezbollah weakened in Lebanon and Iran downsizing its positions, the former aide claimed that Assad went directly to Putin for help getting…