I'm John McCain and I approved this war.
Posted on 12/19/2014 3:07:26 PM PST by Viennacon
When the U.S. launched an airstrike campaign in Syria to “degrade and destroy” the so-called Islamic State, some were concerned that the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad would indirectly benefit from the destruction rained down on its enemies by America and its allies. Now, nearly three months later, Assad is desperate for manpower to maintain control in areas where pro-regime support is dwindling.
U.S. airstrikes, concentrated in areas with a heavy Islamic State presence, have allowed Assad to reallocate some resources, but his army is facing a huge problem: It's running out of soldiers. Ground forces have shrunk from 315,000 to roughly 150,000 troops since the beginning of the civil war in 2011, according to the Institute for the Study of War. The brutality shown by the Islamic State, or ISIS, against Syrian forces in certain areas has hurt morale among troops, and deteriorating living conditions have increased discontent in certain regime-allied minority groups. That has effectively dried up Assad’s conscription pool, and ended the regime's chances of beating the rebels on the ground.
“The war has reached a sort of dynamic stalemate where it is unlikely it will be ended by any short-term outlook,” said Christopher Kozak, a Syria Analyst at the Institute for the Study of War. “The regime cannot defeat the rebels and the rebels have not been able to decisively defeat the regime. Even ISIS has been bogged down.”
Assad's air force may control the skies, giving the regime a tool the rebels don't have, but allegiances and control on the ground vary from town to town and sometimes even from family to family. In Damascus and Aleppo, the regime is in control but getting boxed in from both secular opposition forces and radical Islamist groups.
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
Another Obola foreign policy 'victory' off the heels of Kim Jong Un's Skynet hack.
As I understand it there was money for the Syrian “moderates” in the budget deal last week.
People who think Assad is a problem haven’t seen nothin yet. Wait till ISIS runs Syria (and Lebanon).
Who cares!
Just read my tag line.
Assad is not only backed by Russia but Iran and Hezbollah as well.
Assad has attacked the “secular” rebels but only defended against ISIS.
Maybe this will force a truce between Assad and “secular” rebels. Assad was betting once “secular” rebels defeated the West would back them against ISIS. Maybe they no longer have the luxury.
The “moderates” ... are they the ones who defected to ISIS last week...
The headline reminds me of an old Areatha Franklin song;
‘Running Out of Fools!” 1964.
Yeah. We should cut out the middle man and just give the money to ISIS.
The Sunni fighters who want Assad ousted outnumber Assad and his Alawites.
Assad will have to depend on Shia Iran for support if the Sunnis concentrate their forces in Syria. Many Sunnis are tied up in Iraq now.
But will Iran put troops on the ground in Syria. After all Assad is an Infidel collaborator, i. e. Russia.
I believe Iran should have a plan to take over the Shia city Baghdad in Iraq. I would expect Iran to try that, especially if Assad falls to the Sunnis - tom
In mid 2012, there were 38,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey.
Today, there are 1.6 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, and more than 600,000 in Jordan.
That is where Assad’s replacement soldiers went.
Iran also collaborates with Russia, so that shouldn't be an issue.
Iran’s proxy Hezbollah is putting boots on the ground. They are much more effective than 30 years ago.
Alawites are only ~10% of the population. Since ISIS is in the habit of slaughtering minorities and Wahabis are not much better Assad has also drawn support from Armenians,Kurds and other minorities. All told about ~27% of the population are minorities(including Alawites).Strategically not ideal, but enough to win with resources and effective leadership.
Several thousand Syrian “freedom fighters” along the Syria-Israeli border just defected to ISIS ahead of the ISIS advance on that border.
Perhaps Iran can held drive the freakshow ISIS to hell.
I believe Iran collaborates with Russia because Iran wants to get nuclear weapons to wipe out Israel and other Infidels.
Russia can help them achieve that nuclear ambition.
Also Russia is no friend of ours.
Assad and his Alawites are a heretical Shia sect and don't share the same religious beliefs as Iranian Shias. Iran doesn't have to come to Assad's rescue , unless it is to Iran's advantage. - Tom
Nuke them all and let God sort ‘em out.
Are we now going to have ‘moderate’ ISIS murderers?
The explanation of Islam is getting more complicated each day because our political leadership plainly refuse to see it as the fatal and toxic movement that it is.
The rest of the "freedom fighters" can defect after we train them to be a more formidable force. -Tom
I'm John McCain and I approved this war.
If Syria falls to ISIS, I predict that Israel will nuke Damascus and thus fulfill the prophesy of Isaiah 17.
No country, save for the USA under Ds,does anything unless it is to their advantage.
Russia and Iran don’t have to prop up anybody but until now they support Assad.
In 1970s Musa Sadr, an Iranian cleric and head of Lebanon’s Shiite community,issued a fatwa declaring Alawites part of Shi’ism. He formally announced the acceptance of Alawites as Shiites, a move that significantly opened the way for the sect’s recognition within the general Shiite community.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.