The genuinely shocking fall of Syria has led many here to conclude, correctly, I think, that the US and Israel are currently winning and that nothing can stop the imperial machine rolling onwards. This is a good time to NOT despair and remember that ALL empires eventually fall. Israel's mass killings in Gaza and Lebanon have not been consequence-free and in the medium to long-term can only weaken the country while the idea of the US as a coherent nation-state seems ever more frayed. Nil desperandum.