Has President Assad Won?
The Inquiry
BBC
4.6 • 1.7K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2016
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Bashar al-Assad and his Syrian National Army appear to have the upper hand. The president has the momentum in a civil war that has raged for five years. It is a very different picture from that of 2011, when a wave of popular protests spread through the country and the international community demanded Mr Assad’s resignation as his army brutally crushed demonstrations.
At home, he remains in the presidential palace, supported by his inner circle. Russian air strikes and support from Iranian Revolutionary Guards have helped the Syrian leader win key battles. And on the international stage, the threat from so-called Islamic State and the role of jihadi groups within the opposition have caused those countries which wanted him gone to consider whether that remains a viable policy. So, has President Assad won?
(Photo: President Assad makes a speech. Credit: AP)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC World Service, this is Helena Merriman with the inquiry. |
| 0:08.0 | This week has President Assad won. |
| 0:15.0 | ALEPO in Northern Syria, the country's largest city. The streets are quiet. A man is selling |
| 0:28.6 | cigarettes at the side of the road. Another stands by his market stool with boxes of oranges, tomatoes and herbs. |
| 0:36.0 | But with prices soaring, no one's buying. |
| 0:40.0 | With President Assad's Russian-backed forces closing in on the city, food is in short supply. |
| 0:46.0 | Soon, hundreds of thousands of people here could be trapped. |
| 0:51.0 | I'm in the U of London here, I'm not if I walk away. could be trapped. When we started the war on the war on the end. |
| 0:58.4 | When we started the revolution we knew there would be a high price to pay, this young man says. |
| 1:03.8 | We're not surviving on food. |
| 1:05.9 | We're surviving on dignity. |
| 1:08.7 | Aleppo could soon become the latest in a string of cities recaptured by the government. |
| 1:14.0 | With Iran and Russia now backing Assad, he's looking increasingly stable. |
| 1:18.0 | Back in 2011, few would have predicted he'd even still be here. |
| 1:24.0 | So our question this week has President Assad won. |
| 1:30.0 | In a moment you're going to hear from three expert witnesses. They're going to tell you about |
| 1:37.1 | the strengths and weaknesses of Assad's position, militarily, diplomatically, and politically. |
| 1:43.0 | But first, here's the story of the war in Syria, from someone who's lived through it. |
| 1:59.0 | Part 1, five years of War. |
| 2:11.0 | Everyone's life has changed. Family members killed, houses lost. We've all been affected. |
| 2:16.7 | That's Syrian journalist Lena-Sinjab. Seven members of her family have been killed in the war and there are others she hasn't heard from in years. She's |
| 2:21.5 | now in Beirut working for the BBC, but she spent years reporting on the conflict |
... |
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