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Small-Scale Question Sunday for July 16, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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So, why does the Western multi-national coalition want al-Assad dead or dethroned? Since the WMD narrative fell apart for Iraq and I believe the chemical attack narrative was a false flag by rebels, there has to be something more. But I never see these rationalist or rat-adjacent spaces talking about it.

It’s accepted truthiness among the alt-right and conspiracy spaces that Gaddafi was killed for trying to make a pan-African state backed by a gold Dinar. Is it something like that?

  • Syria is a Russian & Iranian ally.
  • They've been refusing a Saudi oil pipeline to Europe for a long time.
  • The governing tribe is made up of Alawite Muslims. There's a longstanding conflict between the Alawites and the Sunnis. The Saudis feel that the Alawites are heretics unjustly ruling over their Sunni brothers.

So really it's an assortment of reasons, but the US & allies wanted al-Assad gone and Sunni leaders brought in.