BBC presenter John Simpson slammed for calling Assad ‘weak rather than wicked’ after downfall of Syrian regime
BBC World Affairs Editor John Simpson has sparked outrage after describing fallen Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad as “weak rather than wicked” following the dramatic collapse of his regime.
The veteran journalist posted on X: “Bashar al-Asad has done many evil things, but he’s weak rather than wicked. His family members, Iran and especially Russia told him what to do, and he feebly did it.”
Simpson added that he found Assad “meek and anxious to please” and the “reverse of the traditional dictator” when meeting him in person.
Former skills minister Robert Halfon condemned Simpson’s remarks as “disgraceful”, pointing out that “Assad is the dictator who imprisoned thousands and massacred many many more of his own people using chemical weapons.”
Broadcaster Piers Morgan also criticised Simpson, stating: “Try telling the people he tortured, murdered and unleashed chemical weapons on, that he isn’t wicked…”
Simpson attempted to clarify his position an hour later, writing: “I’m not defending Assad, I’m trying to explain the precise nature of his crimes” later adding: “[Assad] had a three-way choice of refuge: Iran, UAE, Russia. Iran’s regime may not last, Dubai might eventually hand him over, but Putin definitely won’t. But how long will Putin last?
Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on Sunday that Assad had fled Syria after opposition forces stormed Damascus with minimal resistance. The former dictator “decided to resign from the presidency and left the country, instructing a peaceful transfer of power,” according to a Russian statement on Telegram.
The swift rebel advance put Russia’s strategic military assets in Syria under threat, with satellite imagery showing ships departing from the Tartus naval base in recent days. Historian Martin Whittaker called Assad “an extraordinarily brutal and cruel dictator” who brutally crushed a peaceful pro-democracy uprising in 2011.
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Whittaker said Simpson’s post was misguided: “The danger in saying this kind of thing is it kind of gives the impression that somebody is less culpable, that they don’t have agency.”
He noted that at least half a million people were killed during Assad’s rule, with up to 14 million forced to flee.
The speed of the ongoing situation in Syria also raised concerns about more regional instability on top of the Gaza war, Israel’s attacks on Lebanon and tensions between Israel and Iran.
Israel has pushed tanks over the border into the demilitarised buffer zone with Syria to prevent a spillover from the turmoil there, but says it intends staying out of the conflict engulfing its neighbour.
The Israeli military published photos of its forces in the Syrian Mount Hermon area, on the border with Lebanon and near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
During Syria’s civil war, which erupted in 2011 as an uprising against Assad, his forces and their Russian allies bombed cities to rubble. The refugee crisis across the Middle East was one of the biggest of modern times and caused a political reckoning in Europe when a million people arrived in 2015.
In recent years, Turkey had backed some rebels in a small redoubt in the northwest and along its border. The United States, which has about 900 troops in Syria, backed a Kurdish-led alliance that fought Islamic State jihadists from 2014-2017.