Michael Weiss

Finally, in the last month, MBS, the Saudi crown prince, tried to organize a face-to-face meeting between Erdogan and Assad, and Assad snubbed him.

So Assad, who is this petulant pygmy in Damascus, who has mortgaged his country to Iran and Russia, who one-third of the country is an American protectorate, and the northern half of the country is a Turkish protectorate, completely at cross purposes with one another, he thinks that he is an equal player to Putin and Erdogan. He thinks that this is a peer contest. And Erdogan

So Assad, who is this petulant pygmy in Damascus, who has mortgaged his country to Iran and Russia, who one-third of the country is an American protectorate, and the northern half of the country is a Turkish protectorate, completely at cross purposes with one another, he thinks that he is an equal player to Putin and Erdogan. He thinks that this is a peer contest. And Erdogan

So Assad, who is this petulant pygmy in Damascus, who has mortgaged his country to Iran and Russia, who one-third of the country is an American protectorate, and the northern half of the country is a Turkish protectorate, completely at cross purposes with one another, he thinks that he is an equal player to Putin and Erdogan. He thinks that this is a peer contest. And Erdogan

and Putin disagree on many things, but they have this kind of bromance, right? They're strategic rivals. Going back to, for historical reasons, I mean, the Crimean War, the Black Sea region, they don't, Turks don't want the Russians there and vice versa. As I mentioned, Turkey sent the SNA to Libya to clean a Russian proxy's clock.

and Putin disagree on many things, but they have this kind of bromance, right? They're strategic rivals. Going back to, for historical reasons, I mean, the Crimean War, the Black Sea region, they don't, Turks don't want the Russians there and vice versa. As I mentioned, Turkey sent the SNA to Libya to clean a Russian proxy's clock.

and Putin disagree on many things, but they have this kind of bromance, right? They're strategic rivals. Going back to, for historical reasons, I mean, the Crimean War, the Black Sea region, they don't, Turks don't want the Russians there and vice versa. As I mentioned, Turkey sent the SNA to Libya to clean a Russian proxy's clock.

Turkey has helped the Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh, which that was meant, those were Russian peacekeepers, right? We're on the ground there. And yet every time Erdogan and Putin punch each other in the face, their respect for each other only increases. They have several things in common.

Turkey has helped the Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh, which that was meant, those were Russian peacekeepers, right? We're on the ground there. And yet every time Erdogan and Putin punch each other in the face, their respect for each other only increases. They have several things in common.

Turkey has helped the Azerbaijanis in Nagorno-Karabakh, which that was meant, those were Russian peacekeepers, right? We're on the ground there. And yet every time Erdogan and Putin punch each other in the face, their respect for each other only increases. They have several things in common.

Number one is a deep abiding contempt for the United States and the West, which they see as culturally bankrupt. Number two, they love to make their Assad bend the knee, and they would love to show him who's boss. So Turkey finally threw its toys out of the pram and said, screw it. They let HTS off the leash The SNA, their janissaries, are also part of this offensive.

Number one is a deep abiding contempt for the United States and the West, which they see as culturally bankrupt. Number two, they love to make their Assad bend the knee, and they would love to show him who's boss. So Turkey finally threw its toys out of the pram and said, screw it. They let HTS off the leash The SNA, their janissaries, are also part of this offensive.

Number one is a deep abiding contempt for the United States and the West, which they see as culturally bankrupt. Number two, they love to make their Assad bend the knee, and they would love to show him who's boss. So Turkey finally threw its toys out of the pram and said, screw it. They let HTS off the leash The SNA, their janissaries, are also part of this offensive.

And here's what nobody, I think even Jolani, the head of HTS, reckoned with. How easily it would be to take... Syria's second city. Another comparison to the Taliban. The rebels before this, yes, from 2012, but really up until the mid-teens of the last decade, it took them years. I was in Aleppo in 2012 when it began to fall to the rebels.

And here's what nobody, I think even Jolani, the head of HTS, reckoned with. How easily it would be to take... Syria's second city. Another comparison to the Taliban. The rebels before this, yes, from 2012, but really up until the mid-teens of the last decade, it took them years. I was in Aleppo in 2012 when it began to fall to the rebels.

And here's what nobody, I think even Jolani, the head of HTS, reckoned with. How easily it would be to take... Syria's second city. Another comparison to the Taliban. The rebels before this, yes, from 2012, but really up until the mid-teens of the last decade, it took them years. I was in Aleppo in 2012 when it began to fall to the rebels.

I was in the Bab al-Hadid quarter, which I think a week or two earlier before I got there, it was Ramadan, had fallen to a consortium of different rebel groups. These guys basically just waltzed in. The regime evaporated. It crumbled. They ran away. And now HTS finds itself the keeper of not just, I think, all of Idlib province is now theirs, but most, 90 plus percent of Aleppo province.

I was in the Bab al-Hadid quarter, which I think a week or two earlier before I got there, it was Ramadan, had fallen to a consortium of different rebel groups. These guys basically just waltzed in. The regime evaporated. It crumbled. They ran away. And now HTS finds itself the keeper of not just, I think, all of Idlib province is now theirs, but most, 90 plus percent of Aleppo province.

I was in the Bab al-Hadid quarter, which I think a week or two earlier before I got there, it was Ramadan, had fallen to a consortium of different rebel groups. These guys basically just waltzed in. The regime evaporated. It crumbled. They ran away. And now HTS finds itself the keeper of not just, I think, all of Idlib province is now theirs, but most, 90 plus percent of Aleppo province.

And now they're going on the march in Hama, where if they really do... make a play for Hama City, that's going to be very difficult for Assad and his backers, because that poses a strategic threat to the hold on power. And it certainly poses a threat to Russia's main interests, which are their two coastal bases. Latakia, they have an air base there. And Tartus, it's their only warm water port.