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Originally Posted by calgarygeologist
Whether or not this is good is unknown at this point because a potential take over by the terrorist HTS is not really a step in the right direction.
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I'll quote myself from the Ukraine thread;
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HTS, the rebel group mainly responsible for taking Aleppo, has been putting in a lot of work to shed their image as terrorists and Islamic radicalists, doing things like helping civilians get their water and electricity back after the fighting, clearing rubble from the streets and giving proclamations to local shia-muslims that the HTS (sunnis) don't mean any harm to them.
As a personal opinion, I think the West is much too eager to slap the "islamist terrorist" label on various armed and political groups in the Middle-East, but of course since there is no obvious definition, there's a lot of subjectivity involved. In chaotic times people tend to turn to religion, and religion has always been used as a way to "other" the opposition in wars... but there really is no obvious line between that being a real motivation and it being simply rhetorical.
That said you can't be good and win wars. I'm not saying the HTS are fine now, I'm just saying them winning is not necessarily a bad thing.
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Also, ending the war would be good.
If Russia can't stop the rebels from winning, that would be a major blow to their credibility as a military power. Their only Mediterranean naval base is located in Syria, plus three airbases, and they've spent a decade solidifying their presence and influence there.