Part 11/14:
The 2003 Iraq invasion and subsequent regime change saw the fall of Saddam’s regime, with Iraqi forces crumbling and soldiers abandoning their posts—many not out of loyalty but fear or disillusionment. In Syria, the civil war that erupted in 2011 exposed the regime’s fragility. Driven by a mix of sectarianism and repression, Assad’s government relied on Russian and Iranian support to stay afloat. Yet, the pushback from rebels, notably capturing Aleppo, led to Assad’s flight to Moscow as his regime disintegrated under the weight of internal contradictions.