We saw Laith’s footage yesterday of the fighting on the Syria-Lebanon border in the north. Today we have Vanessa Beeley’s extensive report of that activity, in which local farmers beat the HTS special forces, large weapons appear where none were suspected, the Lebanese army gets the right orders for once (i.e. to fight), and the resistance grows apace. And so far, no involvement from Hezbollah:

Lebanese tribesmen humiliate HTS elite forces

Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s son, has published an account of the Saturday & Sunday of the fall of Syria. Eva Bartlett attests to the validity of the newly opened Telegram account as belonging to Hafez (she is in contact with him) but she cannot verify he wrote this, and is in no position to verify the truth of his account – we must take as we find it until more comes from the family, if at all.

Links at bottom, and I hope I may repost all of his text here for convenience?

–BEGIN–

حافظ الأسد, [2/10/2025 5:13 AM]
1/2:

There was never a plan—not even a backup—to leave Damascus, let alone Syria.

Over the past 14 years, Syria has endured hardships and dangers no less severe than those of late November and early December. Anyone intending to flee would have done so long ago, particularly in the early years when Damascus faced near siege, daily bombardment, and the constant threat of terrorists reaching its centre.

Before everything unfolded, I travelled from Damascus to Moscow on November 20 via Cham Wings Airlines to defend my doctoral dissertation on November 29. At the time, my mother was in Moscow following a bone marrow transplant she had undergone at the end of summer, which required isolation as part of her treatment. I had planned to stay longer after my defence to complete certain certification procedures, but as the situation in Syria deteriorated, I returned to Damascus on Sunday, December 1, aboard Syrian Air to be with my father and brother, Karim. My mother remained in Moscow to continue her treatment, with my sister, Zein, staying by her side.

Regarding the events of Saturday, December 7, and Sunday, December 8:

On Saturday morning, my brother sat for a mathematics exam at the Higher Institute for Applied Sciences and Technology in Damascus, where he was studying. He was preparing to resume classes the next day. Meanwhile, my sister had booked a ticket to return to Damascus on Sunday, December 8, aboard Syrian Air.

On Saturday afternoon, rumours began circulating that we had fled the country. Several people reached out to confirm whether we were still in Damascus. In response, I took a picture at Al-Nairabain Park in Al-Muhajireen neighbourhood and shared it on my (now closed) private Instagram account. Not long after, some social media pages picked up the picture and began circulating it.

حافظ الأسد, [2/10/2025 5:13 AM]
2/2:

Until then, despite the distant sounds of shelling, nothing seemed unusual—just the familiar reality we had grown accustomed to since the early years of the war. The situation remained unchanged as the army prepared to defend Damascus, showing no signs of the subsequent deterioration—until the sudden and unexpected news of the army’s withdrawal from Homs, mirroring earlier withdrawals from Hama, Aleppo, and Idlib countryside. Even then, there were no preparations for departure, nor any indication that we would be leaving. That changed after midnight when a Russian official arrived at our home in Al-Malki neighbourhood. He conveyed a request for the President to relocate to Latakia for a few days due to the severity of the situation in Damascus and to facilitate the oversight of the battles, which were still ongoing on the coastal and Al-Ghab Plain fronts.

As for the claim that we left without informing my cousins, who were in Damascus at the time, I was the one who called them multiple times as soon as we knew we were relocating. Shortly afterward, we learned from their household staff that they had left for an unknown destination.

After a short time, we headed toward Damascus International Airport, arriving around 3a.m., where we were joined by my uncle, Maher. We found the airport deserted, with no staff present, including at the control tower. We then boarded a Russian military aircraft to Latakia, landing at Hmeimim Airport before dawn.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, we were supposed to head to the presidential retreat in the Burj Islam area, which is over 40 kilometres from the airport by road. However, all attempts to reach anyone there were unsuccessful, as every phone we tried was turned off. We soon began receiving reports of military withdrawals from the frontlines, and the fall of the last remaining positions. At the same time, a series of drone attacks began targeting the base, accompanied by both close and distant gunfire in the surrounding area; this situation continued throughout our stay.

In the afternoon, the base command briefed us on the gravity of the situation nearby. They informed us that leaving the base was no longer an option, as terrorists had spread through the country, the situation had descended into chaos, and all communication with military leadership had been lost. After consulting with Moscow, the base command informed us that our transfer to Russia had been requested. Some-time after, we boarded a Russian military aircraft bound for Moscow, where we landed later that night.

–END–

Source is here: https://t.me/HafezBAlAssad/3

Eva’s repost is here: https://nitter.poast.org/EvaKBartlett/status/1888963982037319896#m

H/T to Fiorella Isabel and Syrian Girl for passing this along. Syrian Girl says we still don’t know who the traitors were who ordered the retreats, but to me it’s looking as one suspected, the fix made by Israel/US and unbeknownst to Turkey. Very well coordinated betrayal. Commenters say: Odd he doesn’t mention his father’s quick trip to Moscow (on Friday?), and another asks, the drone attack was from whom? Probably not HTS.

Many mysteries remain, but a colossal act of treachery to be sure.

They’re Bayraktar drones – presumably available on the open market, so not necessarily implying any great relationship with Turkey, but perhaps so.

More compelling to me was hearing the story of the “advisors” who were let back in 2010, and how they demoralized the army. And how France keeps trying with every stiletto of treachery it can slip between the ribs. And that Traore has already survived ten (!) assassination attempts.

I know it’s France, but the methodology seems universal and eternal. I keep seeing Wormtongue in Lord of the Rings, enfeebling the king of Rohan with his treacherous whispers, until that spell was broken. As we see now in the USA with this revelation about USAID, funding the forces that enfeeble us, stealing our money to pay for it, taking their privilege as a part of the money.

I don’t wish to detract from the African story, only to say we can all learn from each other throughout the resistance, because the story, we see, is the same everywhere. They strike in our weak places and enfeeble us, until someone says no and pushes back, and then they themselves weaken and fold, surprisingly easily when real strength is applied.

But they always retain the power of treachery and that never sleeps. Great lessons here from the story of Traore, who is a great man, and the inspiration from his actions. Many thanks.

For what it’s worth, I too think Trump doesn’t like Netanyahu. Since we’re all reading body language in this matter, my immediate impression was that Trump didn’t want Bibi present, viewing him as a distraction from the very real changes that Trump is focused on domestically in the US, but also representing a major political force domestically that had to be appeased.

I saw Trump’s face as that of a man who was not among friends and having fun, but who was conducting business that had to be conducted. The New York real estate developer had dealt with unsavory people before, many times, and here it was again.

Had he been Japanese, his eyes would have been slitted during that public episode, and his mind would not have been on display.

my 2 cents.

Yoav Galant has admitted in an interview on Israel’s Channel 12 that “he thinks” the Hannibal Directive was given during the October 7 raid “tactically in some places..and not in others.” He’s passing the buck to the fog of war, but he was asked this question very directly by his interviewers. So, is Israel preparing society to understand the truth, that Israel killed its own? (As we all knew from October 8 when we saw the horror of the melted cars.)

The Cradle has the story, and Electronic Intifada has a short clip from the interview:

https://thecradle.co/articles/ex-israeli-war-chief-confirms-issuing-hannibal-directive-to-kill-own-civilians-soldiers-on-7-oct

I’m interrupting the Krainer interview again to share an important concept that he reminds me of. Around minute 27:00, Nima starts talking about the new era of Chinese tech dominance and Krainer speaks of the sheer cost of the globalist control the US has spent trillions on, and also how the entrenched oligarchy and bureaucracy – and corruption fueled by entities such as USAID – has stifled innovation in the US.

This last point is an important concept that was addressed this morning in one of his best essays ever by Jeff Childers at the Coffee & Covid substack. He devoted his whole column to his thesis, reinforced with plenty of collateral, including from prior commentators who have also been putting this thesis together – namely, that the US has been stuck in a cultural and development rut for all of this century. The culture feeds on its old creations, and nothing new is being produced, and this is the result of the rot and corruption that has taken hold to such a degree now that, from sheer fear of unrest and challenge, it forbids innovation.

Childers is an excellent writer and his coherent essay is very readable. I recommend it highly:

https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/the-big-thaw-thursday-february-6

Too many great interviews happening right now.  Imagine, Professor Marandi and Alastair Crooke in the same interview – in person with Dmitry Simes Jr in Moscow:

“Trump’s Madman Strategy” – https://nitter.poast.org/NewRulesGeo/status/1887535802626023526#m

(And that video is downloadable/adjustable with a simple right-click if desired.)

You can feel how they relish having chanced upon the unproven “cable break” claim as the gift that keeps on giving…until the punch in the mouth, of course