PDB Afternoon Bulletin | December 16th, 2024: Feds Deploy Drone Detection System To Northeast & Assad Speaks
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What are the key updates from Assad's public statement?
Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. Let's get briefed. First, former Syrian President Assad is speaking out from his exile in Russia for the first time since the collapse of his regime this past Sunday. Although you have to ask yourself why anyone would care what an overthrown, brutal, despotic dictator has to say. But we'll have those details. Then, from the U.S., an update on the unidentified drones that have baffled officials across the tri-state region as federal authorities announce plans to deploy a state-of-the-art radar detection system in New York to solve the mystery. But first, our afternoon spotlight. deposed Syrian President Assad has broken his silence from exile in Moscow, issuing his first public statement on the Islamist rebel uprising that toppled his family's dictatorship after 50 brutal years ruling over Syria.
What did Assad say about the rebels and his regime?
Assad, who fled the country on December 8th as the rebels took control of the capital city of Damascus, attempted to push back on what he called a flood of misinformation and false narratives regarding his departure. Ooh, I see a rewriting of history in the making here. He also condemned those casting the rebels as a liberation movement, arguing that they are nothing more than terrorists intent on subjugating the people of Syria. That's according to a report from ABC News. Well, if anybody knows anything about subjugating the people of Syria, it would be Assad. While it's true that the groups who overthrew Assad, particularly the leading militant organization HTS, are recognized internationally as terrorist organizations, the irony of his statement is still hard to ignore. He made no mention of his own storied history of oppression and war crimes, including longstanding accusations that he used chemical weapons on his own citizens.
Instead, he tried to paint himself as a man who worked tirelessly to save his nation from malign influence, saying he, quote, refused to barter the salvation of his nation for personal gain, seriously, or to compromise his people in exchange for numerous offers and enticements, end quote. The dude is actually playing the victim card here. I mean, it would be funny if there weren't so many dead Syrians left in his wake. Regarding his hasty escape to Russia last Sunday, which we detailed on Friday's PDB Afternoon Bulletin, Assad claimed that he did not choose to abandon his country, but left Syria after an urgent request by his allies in Russia. Assad said, "...my departure from Syria was neither planned, nor did it occur in the final hours of the battles." Official reports say he schemed to flee Damascus for safety in Moscow via a Russian air base in northwestern Syria and kept his inner circle in the dark about his plans. Well, not so, according to the exiled dictator.
How did Assad justify his departure from Syria?
Assad claims he traveled in the dark of night last Saturday to the Russian air base in the Latakia province in order to oversee combat operations. Oh, well, that's a different story, isn't it? But upon arrival on the morning of December 8th, Assad said it had become clear that the front lines had fallen and their forces had completely withdrawn. As the situation continued to deteriorate, with the Russian airbase coming under drone attack, Assad claimed the Kremlin requested that the base's command arrange for his immediate evacuation to Russia. Notably, he said the evacuation request came after the fall of Damascus and collapse of the military. Assad continued, quote, End quote. Wow.
In his statement, no doubt intended to burnish his tattered image with his remaining Syrian loyalists, Assad went as far as to claim that as the rebel offensive swept through the country, he, quote, stood alongside the officers and soldiers of the army on the front lines while they were actually in retreat, just meters from terrorists in the most dangerous and intense battlefields, end quote.
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