Liz Sly: Bashar al-Assad’s fall was swift and unexpected – but the signs were always there

Bashar al-Assad ruled his country with an iron fist for 24 years, as his father had done for 30 years before him. When he appeared to prevail in Syria’s civil war, it was widely assumed he would remain in power until he was ready to hand over to his own son. Instead, his supposedly indomitable regime turned out to be a hollow shell, crumbling in only 11 days in the face of an advance by lightly armed rebels.

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