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Sen. Bernie Sanders
“We are moving rapidly into an oligarchic form of society. Never before in American history have so few people had so much wealth and so much power." "In Russia, Putin has an oligarchy. We have an oligarchy here, too." — Rolling Stone
Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi
“What was surprising was, first, the Syrian Army’s inability to confront the situation, and, second, the rapid pace of developments.” Syria, a geostrategic centerpiece in the Middle East, was abruptly upended. So, too, was the region. — New Yorker
Indian historian/journalist V.J. Prashad
During the HTS drive against the Syrian army, the Russian presidential envoy for Syria Alexander Lavrentyev said that he had been in touch with the incoming Trump administration to discuss a deal between “all parties” over the Syrian conflict. Neither Russia nor Iran believed that the Assad government would be able to unilaterally defeat the various rebels and remove the United States from its occupation of the eastern oil fields. A deal was the only way out, which meant that neither Iran nor Russia was willing to commit more troops to defend the Assad government. — LA Progressive
Benjamin Netanyahu
Israel's government has approved a plan to encourage the expansion of settlements in the occupied Golan Heights.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the move was necessary because a "new front" had opened up on Israel's border with Syria after the fall of the Assad regime to an Islamist-led rebel alliance. Netanyahu said he wanted to double the population of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized during the 1967 Six-Day War and is considered illegally occupied under international law. — BBC
Geir O. Pedersen, the U.N. special envoy for Syria
The danger is the Libya scenario. After the ouster of Muammar Qaddafi, in 2011, rival governments fought from Tripoli and Benghazi. Other transitions after the Arab Spring uprisings have not gone well, either. — New Yorker
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientist
“We all feel like we have a target on our backs.” — Anxious scientists brace for Trump’s climate denialism
Jonathan Katz
Elon Musk and Joe Rogan, but Trump absolutely did praise neo-Nazis, and it's not a 'hoax.' — Zeteo
None of the Arab leaders give a shit about what Blinken thinks. He’ll be unemployed in a few weeks or teaching a class at Harvard and lobbying for a defense contractor.
Get prepared for life under fascism, with all its contradictions. Naturally, study all the regional players around and within Syria. But don't discount the various peoples of Syria. They also have agency. Watch the Kurds especially, which, over decades, has the distinction of being 'sold out' by both the CIA and KGB TWICE. Yet they fight on, with a left leadership inclusive of their women.