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Subscribe to RSSThe ancient, once-bustling city has been devastated by war and even health clinics are forced to operate in secrecy to avoid being bombed. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
Syria's most powerful ally, Russia, said for the first time Thursday that President Bashar Assad is losing control of his country and the rebels might win the civil war.
While Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov gave no immediate signal that Russia would change its stance and agree to impose international sanctions on Assad's regime, his remarks will likely be seen as a betrayal in Damascus, The Associated Press reported.
Russia's assessment could further strengthen the hand of the rebels, who have made some significant gains in their offensive, capturing two major military bases and mounting a serious challenge to Assad's seat of power, Damascus.
"We must look at the facts: There is a trend for the government to progressively lose control over an increasing part of the territory," Bogdanov, the Foreign Ministry's point man on Syria, said during hearings at a Kremlin advisory body, the Public Chamber, according to the AP.
"An opposition victory can't be excluded," he added.
Destruction and resistance: Window into war-torn Aleppo
NATO also predicted Assad's fall, with Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying the regime's collapse is "only a matter of time."
"In general, I think the regime in Damascus is approaching collapse. I think now it's only a question of time," he said.
Russia mulls evacuating its citizens
Bogdanov's statement marks a clear attempt by the Kremlin to begin positioning itself for Assad's eventual defeat.
He said that Russia is prepared to evacuate thousands of its citizens from Syria, although he didn't say when that might happen.
At the same time, Bogdanov reaffirmed Russia's call for a compromise, saying it would take the opposition a long time to defeat the regime and Syria would suffer heavy casualties.
A look back at the violence that has overtaken the country
"The fighting will become even more intense, and you will lose tens of thousands and, perhaps, hundreds of thousands of people," he said.
"If such a price for the ouster of the president seems acceptable to you, what can we do? We, of course, consider it absolutely unacceptable,” he added.
Syrian forces have fired Scud missiles at rebels, US officials say
Bogdanov repeated that Russia would stick to an agreement reached in Geneva in June calling for negotiations involving the government and the opposition.
Russia has joined with China at the United Nations Security Council to veto three resolutions that would have imposed sanctions on Assad's regime over its bloody crackdown on the uprising that began in March 2011.
Moscow also has continued to provide the Syrian government with weapons despite strong international protests.
The Syrian military is now firing Scud missiles at rebel forces in the north from the Damascus suburbs -- and so far at least two of the Scuds have landed in civilian neighborhoods. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
'The moment of collapse'
Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs, told the AP that Bogdanov's statement marked an effort by Russia to position itself for the fall of its ally.
"It's better to talk about it now than keep saying until the moment of collapse that things remain under control," he added.
Obama says US recognizes Syrian opposition coalition
The statement may also reflect new information about the situation on the ground received by the Kremlin, he told the AP.
"A public statement like that appears to indicate that the balance is shifting," Lukyanov added.
Asked if and when Russia is going to evacuate its embassy in Syria, Bogdanov said that the "moment hasn't come yet."
He added that the Foreign Ministry is looking at possible evacuation plans for thousands of Russian citizens, most of whom are Russian women married to Syrian men and their children.
"We have plans for any occasion," Bogdanov said.
He said that "half of them support the opposition," adding that Syrian opposition delegations that have visited Moscow have included some Russian citizens.
The Interfax news agency said that if the government decides to evacuate Russians from Syria, it could be done by ships escorted by the Russian navy and by government planes.
Tens of thousands trapped in city
Meanwhile, the humanitarian group Medecins Sans Frontieres said Wednesday that fighting in Syria had trapped tens of thousands of people in the city of Deir al-Zor and there was urgent need for medical teams to be authorized to evacuate the wounded, Reuters reported.
Deir al-Zor has become one of many urban battlegrounds in the 20-month-old revolt against Assad in which more than 40,000 have died. With daily army shelling and routes cut off by fighting, many residents are trapped.
"MSF appeals for international and impartial medical assistance to be officially authorized by the government and for such assistance to be respected by all parties of the conflict," the group said in a statement.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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As a Syrian bomb maker said to a CNN reporter, there will be two revolutions. One against Assad, and one against the extremists who try to take over.
that is what was said in Iran,Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and now Syria; the Islam extremists have all taken over those country's we have a choice anti Islam radical dictatorships or pro Islam radical dictatorship, hell of a choice; once Syria falls the Islam radicals have Israel surrounded, then they will make their move; as Kissinger said a few weeks back, Israel will not exist in 10 years, they will go down fighting, they will also make sure the Islam radicals will not get control of their Nuclear weapons, they will use them up first.
The problem isn't Assad. The problem is a civilization that doesn't respect the dignity of life. Until that is addressed it doesn't matter who kills who the most. Few in the world seem to understand this.
Peace doesn't come from picking up a weapon. Peace comes from putting them down.
Peace can also come from resupplying both sides...eventually they will all kill eachother and when nobody is left....Peace.
I'm going with - Islam and freedom are incompatible.
Isreal should train every nuclear weapon they have at every major Muslim city in the middle east and tell the last guy standing to hit the button.
Once the Islamists get control to people of Syria are going to regret dumping Assad the same way that many people in Egypt are regretting dumping Mubarak. If the people thought things were bad under a secularist like Assad just wait until they see how bad it gets when the Islamists start instituting Sharia law and persecuting everyone who does not follow their particular brand of Islam. The fall of Assad will not mark the end of the fighting in Syria, i will mark the beginning of the real chaos as all of the different rebel factions start fighting with each other for control the way they have been in Libya. The people think that the fall of Assad will bring back some peace and stability but that is about as far from the truth as it can possibly get.
Assad will be in the news shortly as a hanging burnt weenie.
@js;
Ya know JS I showed you yesterday that Lybia has an elected government. I also showed you that sharia will not be instituted there. The ME like I told you yesterday is the land of Islam, who do you think will get elected, a white Christian?
The new leaders are not extremist, extremist would institute sharia, Lybia nor Egypt are doing this. Islamist yes, extremist radicals, no.
They are regretting putting an Islamist from the MBH in office, not getting rid of Mubarak. Use your head sir.
Where do you guys get this stuff?lol Extremist have not taken over these countries. If radicals were in charge they sure as hell woudnt be invited to the White house.
They are fighting for power, not for peace. No good can come of this. If you think Assad is the worst person in Syria, then that would be one thing. Sure then anyone else would be better. What are the chances of that?
@saxon,js; Lets not leave out Tunisia;
Radicals do not call for respect of womens rights, and say the will not put sharia on you.All Democracies go through growing pains, and many times they are not bloodless, or without chaos, give this time, we are talking about reversing thousands of years here of people living under opressive regimes, and you guys try to say they were better off?
Maybe we were but the citizens themselves were not.We helped liberate them regardless.
Coral Taxi,
Extremists are people who give themselves unlimited powers and hijack the writing of a constitution. The sudden power grab is extreme. Therefore they are extremists. There is a difference between extremists and terrorists.
The current administration's actions changed before and after the power grab, but it has been a long-standing philosophy for the current administration that refusing to meet world leaders doesn't solve issues. In this case, these issues affect 90 million Egyptians and they believe it is better to try to use some leverage during a meeting than giving him the silent treatment.
There is nothing good that will come from a government that does not respect it's own people. Morsi is unacceptable and needs to go. There is no reforming a person like that. Once you don't dignify your own people, you have forfeit your legitimacy to rule. This is true of Mitt Romney as well. No president can begin with the notion of disdain for half a country. It is unacceptable.
Hello folks, all logic and ethics have been thrown by the wayside. The end justifies the means. Obama and the Europeans support the "rebel coalition" who the majority of the rebels aren't even from Syria. Obama also has these same rebels on his terrorist watch list. Go figure. We have bombed over 65 countries and have been at war for 216 of our short 236 year history. This madness must stop!
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
George Orwell
@dante;
Now if Egypt does not keep the president in check extremism could creep in. The problem with Morsi is that he is tied to the MBH , wich some sects do have radical views. The are seperated in ways such as the dems and the republicans.
Syria is different from these three countries, as they(citizens) have dissed the U.S foir quite awhile, including the rebels we are helping. The outcome here is an unfinished novel. I am no fan of the Syrian, as I have read years of hate for us from them.
This has always been the case with every revolution. The Russian, the French, The Cuban, the Spanish, just to name a few.
Assad is a dead man walking.
Coral Taxi... As I see it, what is going on in the ME is akin to the Christian Reformation in Europe centuries ago, in many respects brought about by the invention of the printing press, and the mass printing of The Bible. Now the ME has access to technology which allows for information worldwide. There is no Reformation in international trade and commerce. Trade and commerce bring new ideas, and new ideas are not always compatible with old religions, especially those religious cultures who lack the new technologies. It will remain a long and bitter struggle for power among the various religious belief systems in the ME, who look to the past days of their collective glory, and not to the future of their survival. I think there are but few who understand which group represents what, and I'm included. In the US there are hundreds of "Christian" sects, few can name 20.
The accuracy and quality of what NBCnews reports will be markedly improved and accepted when nbcnews decides to hire proof readers and competent journalists who know how to write English!
The following statements are two examples of how badly this article is written and why it cannot be accepted at face value:
"most of whom are Russian women married to Syrian men and their children."
One can easily construe this to mean that the Russian women are married to their children.
it takes but a few seconds to rewrite the statement without this embarrassing stupid misconception.
"most of whom are the children of Russian women, Russian women, and their Syrian husbands.
The second glaring dimwitted statement is the following:
He said that "half of them support the opposition,":
Does this mean that the Russian women support the opposition or does it mean their husbands support the revolution or does it mean that the Russian women and husbands support the revolution or does it mean the Russian women and their children support the revolution or that the husbands and the children support the revolution or does it mean that the children of the Russian women, the Russian women and their husbands support the revolution?
The abuse of the English language and the complete neglect in knowing how to use the English language and convey to the reader the real information and facts only demonstrates the disdain with which nbcnews holds it readers.
TrustVerify Would you enlighten us how many years the Vatican, Germany, England and France have been at war or in revolution during the last 236 years?
And add to that list China, Russia and Japan. Remember to add to the term wars, revolutions and subjugation of the population. It took China and Russia many years to enslave its own people. I do believe if you rephrase that statement to how many English, Germans, Cathlolics, French, Chinese, Russians and Americans lost their lives in all their years of war, revolution and subjugation, you will find that Russia and China lead the list with the number of dead who were killed either by wars or subjugation.
dante2308 Therefore you mean that the English 13 colonies through their people should not have taken up arms when they requested to become a free county and England denied them that right?
@steve;
Yes, religion has blinded them from progress for many years. Let us hope they can form a collective to govern without their religous beliefs skewing their views of what is right for the majority.
My new saying to them is...
Keep your religion,just keep your religion out of politics.
They have a long way to go, but this must start somewhere. Those here trying to degrade this and paint the wrong picture of what is really going on,only help the enemy(radicals) they rail against.
Assad was the vestigial remnant of the Baathist party. In many respects he was a respectable leader. Unfortunately when you have a patron based dictatorship, the minions beneath define the spirit of your leadership. I hope Assad escapes with his family, or at least his family escapes. There is going to need to be an intermnational effort to protect the former ruling minorities and those who sided with Assad. Retribution genocide looms.
I can understand Russia's position in supporting Assad, but in the end the regime had an untenable hold as the vast majority wanted it's downfall.
But the international concern is, what is next? Islamists are burning for a power grab, and liberal secularists can easily be assassinated or coerced by religiously motivated zealots. Perhaps Syria will become like Afghanistan, a once great historic nation, evolving into a den of assassins.
What? they just figured this out.
They say on the one hand, the loss of life is unacceptable, while the other hand ships them weapons to do just that.
That country will end up like Egypt, constant chaos.
Assad will exhaust his WMD stocks before being defeated.
Wow... so they were able to do it without the need for US meddling? How uncanny!
Yes all they received was weapons, humanitarian aid and political cover from the US.
Unfortunately what they needed was a stable political framework that respects minority rights. I'm not hopeful they can come out of a bloody civil war and all of a sudden respect freedom, justice, dignity, or checks on power.
Revolutions just teach people to solve their problems through violence and death and winning one is a good way to ingrain that philosophy in the national myth.
I contend that wining and then glorying WWII meant the US would continuously be engaged in conflict without a break for the foreseeable future. Maybe war can be necessary, but it is a necessary EVIL.
don't full your self. There is more than one way for the USA to work an out come. You really think we had our hands off? Then clean out the chimney so Santa does not get dirty.
And then again, war isn't necessary at all. It is a failure of imagination.
dante: has the US actually admitted to supplying weapons and aid to the rebels? Not disagreeing with, I actually don't know.
The US is using third parties to supply weapons much as we did in Libya. We are legally not supplying weapons, however we have arranged for the rebels to receive them.
prepared to evacuate thousands
Too late Stick a fork in this. IT IS DONE
Thats what I was thinking. You just told your best good friend he is going down and then....eh, we'll wait and see when we need to evacuate our people. If they start killing them, then we'll talk about getting the rest out......wtf?
Russia has made a miscalculation. Unfortunately for Syria, they are not looking at a bright future should the rebels set up their version of dictatorship.
The Russians clearly do not want to lose control of one of their few warm water ports.
If that is the motivation, that's silly. The temperature of the water? Port control? What on Earth is the world's 9th largest economy going to do with a port in Syria?
dante,
House their only Naval installation outside of their borders that gives them the only access they have to the Mediterranean sea...oh wait, that's what they are worried about loosing....
Except they have access through the Black Sea for their boat. What exactly are they going to do with their port in Syria? Who on the Mediterranean Sea is capable of being conquered by Russia's boat and incapable of taking out a port in Syria and why is that plan even worth all this?
There is that and Syria buys a huge amount of military equipment..I think mostly that Russia has alot more to loose than most if Assad falls.
If Russia is doing it so they can sell more weapons, then they are irrationally cynical. What ever happened to social responsibility? Do the Russians value the dignity of life? I'm not saying that they should pick the rebels. I'm wondering why they would be motivated by selling weapons of war to people who are actively killing other people and doing it for pure profit reasons. Would they sell to both sides if there was a guarantee that they could keep the fighting going forever?
Would they sell to both sides if there was a guarantee that they could keep the fighting going forever?
profit. I don't think they would care at all if they were profitting from it.
Will be interesting to see how this plays out with Iran. Sunni extremists taking over Syria could eventually change the balance of power. Advantage to Iran now, but maybe not later...
Assad is going down....
The Syrian rebels desire to end this dynasty of tyranny and oppression....
...so they can create one of their very own.
not so fast. Obama hung on didn't he?
I think Russia has even less patience for Islamic extremists than the U.S. does, and I think they figured out the problem before we did.
We're viewed as hypocrites in the Middle East, but Middle Eastern countries force us into that position. We can either prop up dictatorships that ignore human rights, or, being true to our own principles, we can support democratic rule and watch every nation regress back to the Taliban. I think maybe Russia knows that about Syria.
Assad, run, run to Europe or America. You have the money for having a bank and be the CEO of that bank. In Europe and America you will never see jail time. Europe and America will just mark you as to big to fail. This is your loop hole as many have taken.
Hey, maybe he can head up AIG - unless they think he is too ethical.
Not much longer now Assad.
Do you think it will be Gaddafi style...with your body laid out in a grocery store refrigerator, with people lining up to spit on your corpse? Or do you think it will be more like a Mussolini situation where they will hang you upside down from meathooks at a gas station???
Either way, it's going to pretty soon. Hopefully they get his materialistic, shallow, shopaholic wife as well.
Looks like enough jihadists have flooded into the country to defeat the Syrian Army.
We'll soon see the loss of women's and minority rights that have occurred in Libya and Egypt.
Well done, Obama!
Well done, Obama? You better believe it!
Should we sent OUR soldiers to fight THEIR civil war? Didn't we lose enough of our soldiers and spend enough billions in Iraq for NOTHING? Thank you Obama for staying out of this mess. Fo not trying to sell us on WMDs. We will be soon energy independent, no need to police the Middle East anymore. Lets spend our money on our people.
if its sunny, its obama's fault.
if it rains, its obama's fault.
if they are fighting against a dictator, they must be radical extreme jihadists. They can't be ordinary citizens, tired of a dictator.
Obama should send our soldiers to keep a brutal dictator in place!
no wait he should help the rebels, er, I mean jihadists!
Obama should do nothing!
Obama isn't doing anything!
Its all his fault, no matter what happens anywhere in the world. lol.
If the Arabs can figer out if you form a government that separates religion and state they may have a chance of living in a civilized country. Large organized religions only teach hate and intolerance. Show me one that dose not. Note I was raised as a southern baptise. Ya alota hate there. Catholics hate. Buddhists i didn't think so till recently but yes hate. Hindus hate. Muslims do i really need to say. Small groups who don't have a big a-hole telling every one what there version of a holly book says. seem to me be much more tolerant. My self I like taoism.
What would it be like today if some country interfere in the u.s. civil war and the other side won? Let them settle it themselves
Well, the American Revolution was not just a war against the British but also by degrees a civil war against Loyalists living here.
I guess if the French hadn't intervened, the British and Loyalists would have won. On the positive side, slavery would probably have ended much sooner had the Colonies stayed in the British Empire.
O Syria, thou has touched the apple of God’s eye “Israel” therefore a decree, in the name and the authority of their King Yeshua, had went out against those who have sought to terrorize Israel that they themselves be terrorized by their own devices! Seek now repentance so that your curses may be replaced with blessings from their God! How long will you choose to suffer such indignation?
April 5th, 2011 @ 5:45 pm
I decree in the power and the authority of Yeshua, that the individuals of the Gaza Strip be terrorized by their own rockets that they intended to fire towards the Jewish Israelites.
Zechariah 2:4-10
...Jerusalem shall be inhabited... For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her... For thus saith the Lord of hosts;... for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord.
Great, when can Saudi Arabia move in a Muslim Dictator as they did in Egypt & Libya?
Here we have an election.
Should be fascinating when Assad's head is put on a pike and the hopes of pro-democracy Syrians are dashed when the Islamicists take over governing. The Russians will lose a warm water naval base, the Americans will look impotent, and Israel will likely face even more Islamic terrorism on yet another front.
Charming. NOT!
All the countries with this type of turmoil do not respect woman...coincidence?
...and now we find out Rice is out. Too many coincidences....
Assad needs to call Barry to find out how to deal with that.
Glad to see that we have re elected a President which knows how to play a ""cool hand "".
He has learned how to play a fine violin and use strategy>> rather than brutal force>> as ROBME would have done and as most Repukes wanting us to jump in>>idiots.
Just like Bin Laden and Gadaffi, a coool hand.
Russia see's that assad's days are very limited.
Merry Christmas to all.
So basically Russia has decided to cut its losses and pull back, allowing Assad to fail on his own. Of course, Russia will keep the unpaid bills for the latest weapons shipments on the books, and will try to collect on the sale as soon as the next regime is up and running in Syria.
I guess we have been trying to get him out for two years now , we destroyed Syria along with NATO and Alqaida,s masters 9 the Saudis and Qataris ) now lets see how these thugs going to bring democracy to Syria , just like they did here on 9/11 , because folks these rebels in Syria , are the same thugs that attacked here on 9/11 . funny how our foreign policy works .
Looks like Russia is gearing up too re-place this regime once it falls with another that will work in there favor.
At least that is the way the article presented itself.
I wonder what Russia will do when it comes to the Iran problem?
Don't want to go there just yet, could spell disastrous implications if and when that war begins.
JMPO
Be careful what you wish for. Remember they kicked me out of Egypt and now???????????????
It'll be cool to see what happened to Qadafi happen to this creepy chinless wonder.
I mean, Assad isn't even funny.
NICE!!! I'm sure that the rebels will be our allies when this is all over...NOT. I thought russia already had its fill of problems in muslim nations. Why should they (or we) even care
They don't, I assure you.