With ISIS pretty much kicked out of Syria I feel comfortable asking this WI to my fellow Alternate Historians. What if ISIS/IS/Daesh was able to kill Bashar Al-Assad? Could be as simple as a sleeper cell suicide bomber. I would think a good place would be to blow up at what ever Mosque Assad goes to. Kill Assad and the other Shia “kufr” as ISIS would call them. What would the ramifications of this be? I’m thinking of this happening at the height of the Islamic State’s power 2015/2016ish.
WI ISIS Killed Bashar Al-Assad
- Thread starter Happers
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BigBlueBox
Banned
Power would pass to Bashar's brother Maher or to a military junta (of which Maher would probably be the most powerful member).
Yeah, this seems the most likely. Maher is very much a military man and would take the opportunity to take power
BigBlueBox
Banned
He’s rumored to be a hothead as well - that’s allegedly why Hafez wanted Bashar to succeed him instead of Maher.
How would the world react to Maher and most importantly how would Maher be as a leader? With Syria in chaos and the backlash from the assasination of Assad, could Maher keep Syria together? Could he even win the Civil War or is Syria dead?
There wouldn't be much chaos, Bashar is more of a figurehead than an actual leader, the junta which runs the country would carry on, Bashar would be made into martyr, giving his life for the country, with Maher becoming the new figurehead. The problem would be fuhrter down the road as Maher is not as malleable as Bashar is, so he would strive to be an actual leader rather than just figurehead, setting the stage for future internal conflict. I mean he's the guy who shot his brother in law in stomach during an argument, he doesn't really take no for an answer.