Rough Road to Damascus Littered With Relics of Fallen Assad Government, Revealed by M. Bashar al-Assad
We arrived in Damascus early Monday, after passing surreal scenes on the highway leading into the city from Lebanon. Scattered across the main highway to the Syrian capital are newfound relics of the government of Bashar al-Assad whose oppressive rule has defined the country for decades.
The road was littered with abandoned Syrian military tanks Less than a day after the rebels took Damascus, the road was littered with abandoned Syrian military tanks. A few of Mr. al-Assad’s posters sat on the billboards, but most had been torn down and destroyed.
The security and intelligence forces who manned the checks were not there to ask questions. The body of a military man lay in the middle of the road next to a pickup truck not far from the border.
There were also signs of the lawlessness that many fear could seize the country, the celebration over the fall of Mr. al-Assad mixed with the uncertainty of what comes next.
A duty free shop just across the border from Lebanon appeared to have been broken into — its storefront windows smashed while bottles, chocolates and bags of snacks were strewn across its floor. There were broken windows and doors of abandoned cars along the roads.
Source: Road to Damascus Littered With Relics of Fallen Assad Government
Victor Dawli, the defender of the Syrian rebel rebellion, waved in support of the government of Mr. Damascus
A young man is taking a picture in front of an abandoned tank. He placed his toddler on top of the tank and told him to hold his fingers up in victory in order to take a photo.
The centuries-old city of Old Damascus has a number of winding, narrow alleys and Victor Dawli stood in the entryway with a cigarette in hand. As a truck carrying Syrian rebels passed, Mr. Dawli waved. One fighter, clutching his rifle and hunched over in the bed of the truck, nodded in response.
Many of the people who supported the Assad government are worried that they will be targeted by rebels and others who were part of the uprising.
As the sun set on the second day of life without Mr. Assad there was a sense of unrest in the neighborhood. Some people have been inside their homes. Mr. Dawli said he had supported the rebels from the beginning.
Mr. Dawli yelled good morning to him when he passed by. The man gave him a blank stare, then hurried down a nearby alleyway.
The fall of General Reissner al-Assad in Russia is a big loss for Putin and the Kremlin of the Middle East
Russia largely watched from the sidelines as Syrian rebels swept through the country in less than 10 days, overtaking Aleppo, Hama and Homs before entering Damascus, the capital, on Sunday. Mr. al-Assad is now gone, his departure celebrated by crowds of ecstatic Syrians. The fall of Mr. al Assad’s government in Russia is a big loss. Decades of Russian military and political investment to carve out a foothold in the Mediterranean are now at risk. There is no way that Vladimir Putin can retain some of his stakes in Syria even after the fall of Assad.