Students at Homs university are chanting, "Arm us, and send us to the coast!"
— Lindsey Snell (@LindseySnell) December 29, 2025
(Because they want to join in on the violence against the Alawites.) pic.twitter.com/zhUUJ0P9M7
There can be no true healing after a long conflict without justice being served or at least the public perception of it.
The Nuremberg Trials served this purpose after WWII as token Nazis were tried and executed.
Say what you will about the disasters in Iraq and Libya but at least we saw proof of Saddam and Gaddafi dead. One death came at the hands of mob justice and the other after a public trial.
Syria saw no such cathartic conclusion to its suffering and chaos because Assad ran to Moscow like a little bitch. This was the worst thing he could have done for his country and his people. He should have faced the mob, the tanks, and the bullets once he knew the war was over and his army was defeated.
And because of that fateful decision the Sunni mob has since focused its attention on the Alawite community that Assad was a member of to seek retribution. Whether they're wrong or right doesn't matter at this point. When the mob wants flesh they'll get it.
The Shiites in Iraq got theirs with the execution of Saddam. The Sunnis in Syria were denied their pound of flesh. And now they're rabid. They're going after innocent Alawites to quench their bloodthirst. And Syria lacks the leadership to rein these hounds in.
Trump, European leaders, and Netanyahu can wax poetic about the leadership style of Syria's new unelected President all day but that doesn't change the fact that he lacks charisma. He began his career as a terrorist puppet, not a revolutionary leader who attracted masses. He's not an authority figure. He's just a guy the MI6, CIA, MIT, and Mossad put in power in Damascus. His words carry little weight.
And until a true authority figure rises from the ashes in Syria we will see more violence targeted at minorities and innocent people.
