|
Free Syrian Army getting attention
Landis, a supposed Syria expert, has flipped from the Assad regime will likely survive to the regime likely won't survive, over the last couple of weeks.The FSA was formally announced on July 29, but it can trace its origins to well before that. The groups formation was a reaction to regime brutality against peaceful mass protests. Desertion from the Syrian army increased as individual soldiers and small units refused to obey orders to shoot unarmed demonstrators or simply decided to abandon the regime. Although not all of these soldiers have joined the FSA, numerous media reports indicate a steady flow of defectors into the groups ranks. Defectors include individuals of all ranks, from conscript to brigadier general, and from a wide variety of combat units and organizations, including key regime props such as the Republican Guard and the intelligence services. Some small units have defected as a group, and several battalion-size defections have been reported but not confirmed. In at least some cases, the defectors took their weapons with them. And in most cases, they appeared to join local FSA elements. Easing the process of defection and FSA unit creation is the fact that the personnel in question are moving from a military organization to a fairly well organized quasi-military force. Based on available evidence, the FSA has a chain of command, organizational and rank structures, and named units. ORGANIZATION AND FORCES The FSA appears to be a relatively flat organization, with a command and headquarters in Turkey, possibly a set of regional or area commands with subordinate groups in Syria, and, according to media reports, one or two combat elements in Lebanon. Posted by: phil_b 2011-12-01 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=334429 |