In December 2024, Assad loyalists ambushed a team of law enforcement officers in western Syria. At least 14 people died.
The attack in the countryside of the Tartus region also injured 10 officers, according to the ministry. It came hours after the new government’s military operations command said its forces killed “a besieged group of remnants of the former regime” in the same area.
The ambush is the first known large attack by Assad loyalists since his ouster less than three weeks ago and adds to the tests for Syria’s new ruling administration, including protests by religious minorities concerned over their rights under an Islamist rule and a new Israeli military occupation of Syrian territory in the south.
“We will not tolerate any criminal gang that seeks to undermine the security and safety of our people,” the director of public security in Latakia, a western governorate on the country’s Mediterranean coast, told state-run news agency SANA on Wednesday.
Assad’s Downfall
Hafez Assad took power in Syria after a 1970 coup. He quickly established a hereditary dictatorship, and upon his death in 2000, his son, Bashar Assad, replaced him. The younger Assad survived a 2011 Arab Spring rebellion and seemed destined to cement his place in power until late 2024. Then, quite unexpectedly, Assad’s government collapsed in less than a month.
In November 2024, after planning the operation for more than a year, a Turkish-backed militia group broke a 2020 ceasefire and attacked the northern city of Aleppo. For reasons that are still unclear, government forces were utterly unable to defend the city. Abu Hassan al-Hamwi, head of the military wing of HTS (Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a Sunni militia), spoke to the significance of that victory. “We had a conviction, supported by historical precedent, that Damascus cannot fall until Aleppo falls,” he said. “We believed that once Aleppo was liberated, we could move southward toward Damascus.”
The retreating SDF (Syrian Defense Forces) abandoned much of their equipment in Aleppo, limiting their ability to reverse the momentum of rebel groups. Another Turkish-affiliated group kept driving the SDF south despite several Russian airstrikes. By the first week of December, the rebels forced the SDF to abandon a key outer Damascus suburb, and the beginning of the end was in sight.
Simultaneously, other rebel forces, including some U.S.-backed rebel groups, launched offensives of their own against the deteriorating SDF. On December 8, Assad went into exile in Russia, bringing his family’s rule to an ignominious end.
Rebuilding Priorities in Syria
Rebuilding the government of Syria, or rather creating one from scratch, is probably the first rebuilding priority, followed by a security apparatus and large capital projects.
Modern Syria has never had a stable, democratic government. A French-created parliamentary republic, which first met in 1945, survived multiple coup attempts but ultimately lasted less than twenty years. In 1963, the Ba’ath Party, a socialist group featuring such luminaries as Bashar Assad and Sadaam Hussein, took power and held it until 2024.
In one sense, Syria is ready for another parliamentary democracy. Several diverse political groups hold varying degrees of power. However, these groups do not play well with others and are accustomed to resolving political problems through political violence.
Many countries in Syria’s position skip step one and proceed directly to step two, which is creating a security force. This mistake is often fatal, as the security force usually does not represent the will of the people. So, instead of helping people feel safer, it makes them feel less safe, especially if they hold ideals counter to those of the regime.
If a secure democracy is in place, which is a big “if,” rebuilding can proceed to step three, which focuses on roads, bridges, hospitals, and other large capital items. Most refugees, at least those who have resettled in foreign countries, do not even consider returning home until such basic services are restored and stable.
Rebuilding Contractors in Syria
Contractors usually play no part in government building. In fact, American private military contractors intentionally stay clear of such political matters. Syrians, and no one else, decide the future of Syria.
Steps two and three are much different. These rebuilding efforts never get off the ground unless private military contractors actively participate in them.
Contractors often train government security forces. Many training contractors have hands-on experience in the country battling insurgents. So, they teach recruits lessons that cannot be learned in school. Additionally, many American private military contractors are foreign nationals. They easily overcome the language barrier as well as the cultural barrier.
Contractors usually take an even more active role in step three. Contractors are typically the vital link between the blueprints and the actual work. Contractors supervise construction projects, helping to ensure that they keep moving forward despite the obstacles and delays that inevitably arise.
This arrangement works well for everyone. Local residents often never know about the role a foreign company plays in a project. Moreover, when local residents earn money as construction workers, they become invested in the project.
Steps two and three frequently overlap. Capital projects in places like Syria require active protection. In fact, in many cases, the number of armed security guards almost equals the number of construction workers. Only private military contractors know how to protect an area without making workers and families feel as if they’re on lockdown.
Injury Compensation Available
Private military contractors cannot do these vital jobs if they’re injured. So, a Defense Base Act lawyer works to get these contractors back on duty as quickly as possible. The two primary DBA benefits available help make that happen.
Job injury victims usually receive two-thirds of their lost wages for the duration of their temporary or permanent disabilities. Maximum cash benefits are available even if the victim was entirely at fault for an injury, as long as the injury was deployment-related.
The amount of cash usually depends on the date of disability and the victim’s average weekly wage. The DOD could be weeks or months prior to the filing date. The AWW is a fluid number that changes as the victim’s income is scheduled to increase.
The DBA insurance company must also pay all reasonably necessary medical bills. This obligation covers all direct costs, such as ER bills, and ancillary costs, such as prescription drugs.
Many insurance adjusters only approve the cheapest possible medical interventions. A DBA lawyer helps ensure that the insurance company pays for what’s truly reasonably necessary.
For more information about DBA eligibility issues, contact Barnett, Lerner, Karsen, Frankel & Castro, P.A.