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A Summary of Article about Assad

Nakhoul (2014), in the article tiled once on the edge of defeat, Syria’s Assad runs again for president published in Reuters on June 1, 2014, describes the recent trends of the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. By summer 2012, Assad was almost defeated by the rebels, who had already taken over many strategic cities in Syria, and had already entered the capital city, Damascus. However, Assad managed to defeat the rebels consecutively and to recapture many cities, with the help of Iran and Hezbollah, a Lebanese paramilitary group. Assad is now being elected for a third term and he is believes that after winning, he will be able to recapture the remaining territories and to reconstruct Syria, despite the major effects of the war, such as the displacement of 10 million people and loss of 160,000 lives. One of the strategies that Assad aims to use is to overlook an al-Qaeda division called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant that has been fighting the rebels in Syria.

Assad has won the support of powerful allies, such as Russia, Iran and Hezbollah, whereas the Europeans, the US and other Arab have been supporting the rebels. Despite defeating the rebels, experts opine that he has not won the overall war and chances of winning in the future are slim. The US government has expressed concerns that Assad’s leadership may allow the revival of the al-Qaeda in Syria and thus, the US is determined to provide support to the rebels to overcome Assad. However, the US government is also concerned about the lack of a suitable replacement for Assad and thus, they are cautious to avoid a situation similar to the one experienced in Iraq and Libya. Nakhoul notes that, although Assad claims that he walks around Damascus without experiencing any security threat, other sources indicate that he moves under tight security of his army and mortars have even hit close to his private residence recently. Due to fear of insecurity, Assad has not even visited his summer residence recently. Although Assad’s close loyalists insist that they will continue to support him, western diplomats believe that the he should be forced out of power.

References

Nakhoul, S. (2014, June 1). Once on the edge of defeat, Syria’s Assad runs again for president.

Reuters, Retrieved from, HYPERLINK “http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/01/us-syria-election-” http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/06/01/us-syria-election-assad-insight-idUSKBN0EC19D20140601