Assad - not dead but lucky!

[Zonda_]

Been ousted by rebels, knock on effects of this will be big!

[Mito Man]

Shame he didn’t end up like Gaddafi.
Unsure if the Syrian rebels are the good guys though. They’re described as a break off and rebrand of Al Qaeda so hopefully it doesn’t end up like Afghanistan.

[DaveE]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/ ... 30-seconds

[Explosive Newt]

Assad day for autocratic dictatorships.

Some reports on social media state that people tracking his jet saw it suddenly lose altitude so there are suggestions it may have been shot down (unclear who or indeed why). Although if I were him I would have sent the jet off as a decoy and got out in the boot of a Qashqai*.

Somewhat scary as to who or what will fill the void of government.

[duncs500]

Yeah, reports say that the rebels softened their hardline tone to garner more public support, but it was undoubtedly lip service that will soon be forgotten. I fear that it'll be a case of replacing one brutal regime with another, all we can do is hope at this point.

[GG.]

Shame he didn’t end up like Gaddafi.
Unsure if the Syrian rebels are the good guys though. They’re described as a break off and rebrand of Al Qaeda so hopefully it doesn’t end up like Afghanistan.

They're certainly not the "good guys" but there are several different factions - as far as I'm aware they broadly fit within the category of Islamist quasi or committed terrorists representing views common in society between the dates of 1200AD to 1800.

I'd caution anyone to celebrate this a good thing rather than just another shift in the sands of a chronically unstable middle east. The Gaddafi reference is actually quite apt because there are many parallels there of tryannical but ironically more religiously liberal rulers being ousted and then leading to a greater proliferation of Islamist actors within the country. Egypt, the deposition of Mubarak during the Arab spring and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood is another.

[IanF]

Anyone remember the Russian chap whose aircraft blew up.. yeah, don’t go in an aircraft supplied by comrade Putin!

Assad going is great, the replacement could be an improvement; just need to see what the PM (of Syria) does - assuming he doesn’t fall out the window of his basement in the next week

[Mito Man]

Looks like Assad could have fit in well here, he was just a car guy with a slight propensity to murder his own people.

Weirdly nothing for Porsche that I can see.