Reflections On The First Anniversary Of The Fall Of The Assad Regime In Syria

Yesterday was one year since the Assad regime in Syria finally met its deserved end after over half of century of tyranny and over a decade of one of the most horrific wars to curse this century. It feels so extremely bittersweet, knowing that one of the most evil men was finally overthrown for good (though hopefully someone finishes the job) but also knowing the new government in power is questionable at best and potentially could be just as bad as Assad at worst.

No one should regret celebrating the fall of Assad, not after what he did. But no one should ignore the fact that Syria's problems were far from over, that there are many real questions about what's going to happen next or if the new government can prove itself better than the last one. And that the new government led by Al-Sharaa already had a history of supporting Islamist terrorist organizations like ISIS and Al-Qaeda (and leading similar organizations themselves like Jabhat al-Nusra) and have attacked many Syrian opposition factions. And for many years until their recent rebranding under HTS, they have supported the idea of an Islamist state in Syria and have not been kind to non-Sunni Arab minorities. Even when they claimed to have changed, their rule in Idlib has been notorious for persecution of non-Sunnis and authoritarian rule. Their rule was so bad that mid-2024 saw protests against them. And then there's the SNA which is also part of the new Syrian government, which is basically just Turkey's mercenary arm in the country that has taken part in the ethnic cleansing of Kurds and other non-Sunni minorities (with the ethnic cleansing of Afrin being one of the most infamous actions of the SNA that Turkey also took part in) and is nothing more than a tool of Turkish imperialism in the region.

Whilst most people wanted to hope that things in Syria would get better, post-Assad Syria has already seen serious massacres and cases of persecution against Alawites and Druze and other minorities as well as the new government threatening the Kurds of northeast Syria. Furthermore, some Islamist members of the security forces have already been allowed to commit violence (such as violence against women) with impunity and justice has been very difficult to come by. Despite the government's claims that it was dedicated to justice for all and a country where all sects and ethnic groups and safe, these incidents and the government's failure to prevent them have already created massive distrust between minorities and the new Syrian government. While some people proclaim that the new Syria is already better, these actions, the shady past of the Sharaa regime, and the inclusion of Islamist militias that have committed have already created serious doubt whether this government is actual capable of being one for all Syrians or will become just as oppressive as Assad.

Is Syria truly free yet? In my opinion, not yet. Yes, one of the worst obstacles to Syria's liberation is out of the way. Yes, the opportunity for justice for the victims of the Assad regime is there. Yes, freedom of speech and dissent is somewhat better (though the bar was extremely low to begin with) with some semblance of civil society being able to emerge. And for all the problems of the new government, nothing as oppressive Assad's police state has emerged (at least we hope that's not the case here). Many Syrians who've fled the country have finally been able to return home too. However, repression of minorities and human activists, the concerning Sunni supremacist tendencies of members of the government, and the failure of the government to enforce any genuine accountability for injustice have already created serious worries that this government could be just as cruel and unjust as the previous Assad regime. As long as the country is unable to confront the long-standing sectarianism and authoritarianism that stemmed from the Assad regime, then Syria risks being unable to move on to a better future.

And of course there's Israel expanding in southwestern Syria, the Russian military bases in coastal Syria, and Turkey exerting its influence in the country in its quest for a neo-Ottoman empire (and waging against the Kurds of northeastern Syria/Rojava). Whilst hardly the fault of a country that has suffered over a decade of warfare and being trampled by imperialists of all stripes from Russia to Iran to the US to Turkey to Israel, it does mean that quest for a Syria free of imperialism is not over yet. And God willing they'll be able to overcome any attempt by foreign colonizers to subjugate it once and for all, especially since Russia and Iran have been defeated in Syria for good (the Russian military bases are another matter entirely).

Nonetheless, happy anniversary to the fall of Assad. May all remaining tyrants, colonizers, and religious fundamentalists be defeated in Syria once and for all.