The rat leaves the sinking ship.

 Not surprisingly president Assad, like a - rat has left the sinking ship of state - to save his arse. The religious Islamic group are now in charge of the country. However these are uncertain times for everyone. Moreover there are a variety of religious sub-groups throughout Syria, and there will be great anxiety that one or other could be victimised by the new political order. The first act by the insurgents rebels was to open the doors of a notorious prison in the capital. Many people were kept prisoner there and had been either tortured or killed by this authoritarian and repressive regime. As we know if there is a political vacuum - someone or other will fill it. Will they be democrats or more of the same religious overweening bigots? Where there is little or no history of democracy it’s not easy the transplanted it or - graft it on to a hostile host. It’s a political nightmare and miasma. As someone who co- conducted a weekly large group with Dr Pat de Mare of over 20 people for 10 years at the Institute of Group Analysis, London - we wrote a book together about the experience entitled Kiononia: From Hate through Dialogue to Culture in the Larger Group. Karnac books, 1991. 

Assad is apparently in Moscow with his mate Putin. They will make a very dysfunctional couple as they live out their pensions as outcasts to wider civilised humanity. The reason Syria imploded was Iran and Russia were preoccupied with other wars - Iran with Israel and Russia with Ukraine. What next for Syria - will there be a theocratic regime running Syria? What about Islamic State (IS) in the country that could be a threat to the West? What about the various minorities, how will they be treated? All imponderables at the same time in a country racked by years of brutal civil war. What a mess.