Can anyone help me undestand who we want to win in Syria?

Read this earlier which is enlightening about Putin's involvement.

https://www.mena-researchcenter.org/why-russia-supports-bashar-al-assad-in-syria/

There’s a lovely (Russian, ironically) expression - both are worse.

Shhh, guess which country armed and medically treated militants from the terrorist group Al Nusra?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/yaalon-syrian-rebels-keeping-druze-safe-in-exchange-for-israeli-aid/

Also its a complete coincidence how this front was reactivated hours after the Lebanon ceasefire went into effect, after the IDF failing to eliminate Hezbollah on the battlefield.

The "rebels" though have told Israel not to worry (between releasing beheading videos).
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/syrian-rebel-officer-to-channel-12-offensive-against-assad-regime-will-stop-hezbollah-members-fleeing-to-syria/

I do wonder if the leader of HTS will want all Iranians, turkish backed groups and russians completely out of Syria. There will be knock on effect for Russia as well, it was using Syrian ports for its navy.

He objected to ISIS on the basis that they demanded centralisation of control over regional forces whereas Al-Qaeda was more hands off. Theirs is the strongest individual group and he seems very focused on being anti foreign influence. Which having the place overrun with IRCG, Hezbollah, russians, afghans, pakistanis, tajiks and Uzbeks will probably do to you.

However they are still Islamists. Lets hope they keep their word about the safety of minorities.

I think the SDF is kinda backed by the west, mainly kurds, they are often attacked by the SNA and a turkish group who are mainly central asian, some uyghers (I think).

HTS’s leader is ex Al-Qaeda and the group are considered terrorist by the US go enforcement. However whats interesting is that they have been releasing statements saying they aren’t interested in fighting anyone but the assad regime (and everyone backing him I assume). Point being not to worry if you are christian, druze, kurd etc etc. There has been some co-operation between HTS and the SDF. A Christian Palestinian on twitter said that when Hamas took over Gaza it wasn’t as bad Christians had feared whilst of course acknowledging that Islamist groups can’t accept parity for minority groups.

I don’t know, it’s a mess, I am however consistently surprised by how everyone (I mean the UN, western governments) has been ignoring Erdogans ongoing bombing campaign against the kurds. He’s literally trying to wipe them out.

It's confusing why a poster is bringing Israel into a thread on Syria especially when posters are constantly giving out to posters for not focusing on conflicts elsewhere

The IDF said differently this week, but OK.

@Lalaloveya NO

Was Israel not involved no?

More reposts from Twitter :)

It's confusing, isn't it, when there's no way to blame Israel.

"Three important points for those who want to understand Syria:

1- Millions of Syrians despise Assad more than anything else because he has brutally oppressed, bombarded, gassed, imprisoned, tortured, besieged, starved, and displaced them. His crimes have left deep scars on countless lives.

2- Not everyone fighting Assad is a liberator or a force for good. The conflict is full with complexities and competing agendas.

3- Desperation has led many Syrians to choose what they see the "lesser evil." For some, this means hoping their area would fall under anyone but Assad, while others would take Assad over the radical militant groups. This stark reality shows how people are forced to prioritize survival above all else."
@IbrahimAlAssil

Neither. On the one hand you have the murderous, Russian-backed Assad, and on the other hand you have islamist extremists, who are as we speak running around committing grotesque atrocities while shouting about how great God is.

It's an informed analysis, quite disgruntled sounding. I'm sure opinions will differ.
The mistake of people who think of themselves as liberal is to assume everyone is as full of love and charity as they like to think they are.
Bashar used nerve gas on his own people (as did Sadaam - WMD anyone?), he runs a sometimes brutal regime to keep a lid (ish) on dissension. The alternative will be a lot worse, especially for women and girls.
'The west' as ever is damned if they do and damned if they don't, and because it bothers a lot of 'westerners' that they should be perceived as the good guys that conscience becomes an exploitable weakness.

There’s a good explainer here:

thecritic.co.uk/a-rebel-advance-in-syria-is-nothing-to-cheer/

But I can't work out which of the sides would be better for us here in the UK if they won.
Surely it's about what's best for Syrian civilians

One side is an islamist terror group who have now taken over Aleppo the other is Iran and Russian backed Bashir government, so neither suggest a positive peaceful future for Syrians.