The Syrian Army Is Shrinking, And Assad Is Running Out Of Soldiers

IBT ^ | 12/17/2014 | Alessandria Masi

[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.

[PIF]

That’s the usual method - we have a lot of experience with Palestinian “freedom fighters”, but oddly, none with Ukrainian, Peshmerga or Iranian “freedom fighters. Now why is that? /s

[Capt. Tom]

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.

To become a head of Syria you must be a Muslim. Alawites are not considered to be Muslims by other Muslims.

This fatwa accepting the Alawites as Muslims helped Assad's father take over the country.

The Alawites are such a heretical Muslim sect it is no wonder the Sunnis want to destroy them.

The Alawites will be celebrating Christmas right along with us Infidels.
The Alawites also have several other un-Islamic beliefs. -Tom

[MinorityRepublican]

Time to split Syria in half. The regime can hold on to the coast, Aleppo and Damascus while the Sunnis gets to keep the desert.