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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Syrian Army far from done |
| 2012-09-08 |
| Though degraded by a war of attrition against increasingly capable guerilla militias, the Syrian military remains a cohesive force capable of continuing its operations for the foreseeable future, according to independent military analysts. The assessment that the Syrian military remains a potent force contradicts months of suggestions by Obama administration officials that defections and the pace of the increasingly violent conflict is overstretching the military, a theme that’s been voiced repeatedly for months in official State Department briefings. “We think that the army is increasingly overstretched. We think that the economy is under increasing strain. And we think the rebels are getting stronger,” State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said Aug. 9 in one typical comment. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #6 Sunnis can run. Plenty of neighboring Sunni countries. Unless the West decides to admit the entire Alawite population of Syria (problematic since Syrians of all denominations will claim to be Alawites), Alawites will win or be exterminated. Bottom line? Alawites are way more motivated. Yes, a minuscule number of Sunnis participate in high profile suicide attacks, but when you add Iraq and Afghanistan together, the Sunni casualties are about 1/10 suffered by the Vietnamese communists over a similar time span. In the areas of wife-beating and throat-cutting of bound prisoners, Sunnis probably outnumber every religion or sect combined. But their collective willingness to fight, as opposed to boast or whine, is very overrated. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2012-09-08 18:44 |
| #5 bet some made their way through Gaza tunnels, too |
| Posted by: Frank G 2012-09-08 17:39 |
| #4 Oh and BTW, whatever happened to those 20K (or so) Libyian ManPads anyhoo? At least a hundred are in Syria. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2012-09-08 16:02 |
| #3 The rebels have managed to destroy significant amounts of the armyÂ’s equipment, becoming particularly adept at attacking armored vehicles with rocket-propelled grenades and roadside bombs. HmmmÂ…now where have I heard about those tactics before? He predicted that the rebels eventually will acquire anti-aircraft weaponsÂ… What could possibly go wrong? Oh and BTW, whatever happened to those 20K (or so) Libyian ManPads anyhoo? |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2012-09-08 10:08 |
| #2 The assessment that the Syrian military remains a potent force contradicts months of suggestions by Obama administration officials Lets look at the record. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2012-09-08 08:22 |
| #1 There are reports rebel units are less than 10Ks from the coast, which means they are taking the fight to the Allawite areas. This is the main problem for the regime. It wouldn't surprise me if the strategy was to tie down Assad's forces in Damascus and Allepo, while the rebels move through the countryside. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2012-09-08 01:03 |