Battle for Damascus Begins
Events in Syria are moving rapidly forward. The first moves of the battle for the capital, Damascus, have begun. Rebel units are targeting the regime’s military facilities in the city’s environs.
The Free Syrian Army, according to regional news reports, is already claiming to be in control of most of the air defense facilities in Damascus Governate. An FSA spokesman told the Sharq al Awsat newspaper on Thursday that the latest base to be besieged by the rebels is the Aqraba helicopter facility, situated between Damascus International Airport and Damascus city itself.
Once Aqraba falls, the spokesman said, the next target will be the Saida Zeinab military airport, used by the dictator’s helicopter gunships.
Fighting is also taking place in the eastern suburbs of the city. The regime is shelling pro-insurgent Sunni neighborhoods on the edge of Damascus. The suburbs of Jaramana, Saqba, Irbeen, and Zamalka are receiving the attention of Assad’s artillery, according to the respected Syrian Human Rights Observatory.
The rapid decline in the regime’s fortunes derives from a shortage of loyal manpower available which has been notable for some months. This, combined with the growing sophistication of the rebels’ weaponry, has led to the very serious setbacks which it suffered in November, and which have now brought the rebels to the gates of Damascus.
But there is still a long way to go.
The Syrian regime has by now surely abandoned any hope that it can re-conquer the large swathes of the country held by the rebels. There are no signs, however, that it is preparing to concede the fight. It is also not accurate to say that its forces are in a state of complete disarray or headlong flight, or that it is without options.
The core units that the regime requires to continue the fight remain intact. The overwhelmingly Alawi 4th Armored Division and the Republican Guard, both commanded by the president’s brother Maher Assad, are operative, as are the Special Forces. The regime, of course, still has the advantage in the air, and retains its heavy artillery capability. The insurgency has yet to complete the successful conquest of any of the main urban centers of Syria.
The 4th Armored Division is currently engaged in the battle to prevent the rebels from penetrating the capital beyond the eastern suburbs, which the insurgents already control. Assad’s army understands that it must, at all costs, and maintain this security perimeter around the east of the city.
The regime troops must also keep the road to the airport open, in order to maintain Assad’s links to the outside world.
With much of the north and east of Syria now in the hands of the insurgency, Assad has strengthened his defenses in the largely Alawi western coastal region. His troops are maintaining a defensive line at the eastern edge of this region, along the Orontes River Valley, west of the largely Sunni cities of Homs and Hama. This line must be maintained, in order to keep open the link between Damascus and the emergent Alawi enclave in the west.
To those who don’t understand:
Assad in best what America can have in Syria.
As far as this Israeli blogger is concerned, and based on her sourced info, here are some relevant conclusions – http://adinakutnicki.com/2012/11/25/the-coming-encirclement-of-syria-six-of-one-half-a-dozen-of-another-addendum-to-islamists-are-bloodthirsty-whatever-their-stripes-commentary-by-adina-kutnicki/
And while we are at it, although Assad’s downfall will be a short-term win for the west – as Iran loses an important ally – at the same time, the Iranian Hitler will join forces with its replacement, Syria’s Brotherhood Mafia.
Whomever remains at the helm will also kill innocents at will, this is because of the Arab/Muslim relationship with blood.’Islam & Blood’ are inextricably linked,as evidenced in a policy paper featured at my blog.
This is poignant:
“And if the capital falls, the war may enter a new phase — of conflict between rival militias representing the country’s major ethnic groups.”
….and, we Americans must, simply must, stay out of this and realize that there’s not a damned thing we outsiders can accomplish inside this centuries-old gestating culture war exacerbated by the Sykes-Picot hand drawn-culture-straddle-borders of 1916.
Frankly, the best thing [the pragmatic exception] may indeed be preemptive airstrikes against the known WMD facilities, carried out by the allied British and French. They both have the best file cabinets full of all of the necessary historical research data.
Let us hope that what’s left of the country falls into bitter internecine warfare, for our own sakes. We do not need to be enabling these factions who will turn upon us once Assad is gone.
Seems to me (from crawling thru Google Earth and Bing) that the regime’s primary bases are in western Damascus. There is an irregular but dominant swath of them beginning to the west of the Palace. From there, they run SSW and south (including the airfield), down to the 4th’s huge base on the south side, below Al Horjelah. Even if the rebels capture the airport, the really hard nuts to crack will still exist.
It’s the same up at Aleppo. We’ve heard of peripheral bases being captured, but the big bases in-town are still there. Tell me that the big mother on the near southwest side has fallen, with its outlying ammo (and probably CW) dumps, and I’ll give the rebels a figurative 21-gun salute.
I’m hoping for the lesser of evils, Assad.
Be careful what you hope for.
If Putin reveals himself to be interested in airlifting Assad and his wife out of Damascus for his own murky purposes we’ll have merely a continuance of factional butchery elsewhere.
I’s prefer Assad to die in his bunker, Hitler style.
Not knowing the subtleties of the Chechen-Muslim problem with Russia, and their own hall of mirrors Muslim problems…who does?…Putin can’t be supporting Assad for nothing….all the more why the idea of America staying at arm’s length in the complexities of West/Central Asian Muslim treachery seems to sanest policy for us.
Asia has in the past and will in the future suck us dry if we’re not careful.
correction…insert “I’d” for “I’s”
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Also, see if this paste works with Google:
“Russia refuses to budge on Syria; experts see Putin staying the course on Assad…” try to bring it up.
We Americans simply aren’t psychologically equipped to fight all of these interlocking Muslim complexities…let’s confine ourselves to defending our country by remote control. If the Paki’s are angry about our drones hitting their Taliban sanctuaries, we’re doing good work.
Charlie Griffith,Pakis aren’t angry at terrorists being killed, they are angry at the enormous number of innocents being wiped by play-station murderers.
Apparently the murderers are only allowed to attack weddings and funerals on Tuesdays otherwise the “incidental” murder rate would be higher.
The depths were plumbed by the (private company) CIA when their play-station terrorists targetted those going to aid drone missile victims.
The US regime is the no1 terrorist org with the CIA-NSA leading the charge. The Pentagon isn’t far behind.
FEMA concentration camps await the US public. Obama will declare martial law (legally) once the dollar is made to collapse (QE to infinity) and the riots start. Drones will be used against the public.
Do most Yanks have their head up their butt?
Arms sales increased 48% after Obama got elected. Why?
Dan Brown…call your office.
We’ve got here a source of abundant, imaginative plot material which could use some editing.
Hitler died in Argentina – having had a second daughter there.
So that’s where Hillary Clinton came from!
1. The United States should not commit its forces to military action overseas unless the cause is vital to our national interest.
2. If the decision is made to commit our forces to combat abroad, it must be done with the clear intent and support needed to win. It should not be a halfway or tentative commitment, and there must be clearly defined and realistic objectives.
3. Before we commit our troops to combat, there must be reasonable assurance that the cause we are fighting for and the actions we take will have the support of the American people and Congress.
4. Even after all these other tests are met, our troops should be committed to combat abroad only as a last resort, when no other choice is available.
- Ronald Reagan
Thanks, Feral Cat, I wish I’d said that.
Permit me to add that it was Dwight Eisenhower, he of no little military expertise, cautioned against getting into any land war is Asia. I think at the time he had in mind maybe the French colonials’ collapsing in their coveted but ill-managed Indochine…..”Veetnayum and Lay-ahss” in Kennedy-speak.
Good Grief!….look what’s happened since 1957. Blood….blood….American blood. Now, it’s West and Central Asia…..absorbing us. [...remember that our Muslim problems start in the Balkans, cross the Bosphorus and Dardanelles and then continue on....on....and on ...until Indonesia.]
Drones are now lookin’ pretty good, right? “Hey! you out there! You ‘moderate’ Muslims!…..how about some help?”
Fat chance.
Obama’s Sunni FSA allies must seize the WMD for a strike on Israel.
Assad will be blamed- or a video.
“Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city,
And it will be a ruinous heap.”
- Isaiah 17:1
When you look at all of the possible permutations, this is some scary shit. I don’t believe that the leadership of this country, both military and civilian, are competent to try and finesse this. And however outstanding Spyer’s report is, and it is priceless, there is not one mention of the 800 pound gorilla in the living room. Of course, that is Iran.
We currently have Algerians, Moroccan, Libyans, Saudis and who knows who else mixing it up there now. I can see this moving from a very localized conflict to a regional war. What will the Israelis do? I’m not certain (who is?) that their Iron Dome is 100% foolproof and they have enough lunatic neighbors eager to find out.
Hey, gang, don’t focus upon Bashar Assad. Maybe his father could be a Stalin-esque solitary dictator, but the chinless one certainly can’t. As an authoritarian ruler, he can’t quite get out of the shadow of his own wife.
Syria is run by a family clique. Bashar is merely one of several. If you want to know “who” (besides Maher), look at the men who run the Intelligence services and the telecom company tycoon, Whattizface.
There are now over 40,000 people massacred, mostly civilians, and over a half of a million refugees that are living in tents, and a humanitarian crisis within Syria itself. Does anyone care?
Does anyone care? I’m sure someone does. Me…not so much. Frankly, I hope for complete and utter victory for both sides!!
Christians and Jews feel obligated to bring succor to those suffering. This is a noble instinct, but we must be aware that our help will earn us the murderous hatred of those we help.
By all means, let’s help as many desperate refugees as possible. There are millions of desperate refugees in the “Democratic Republic” of the Congo who have been homeless for years.
After we are done housing and resettling every last refugee in the Congo, by all means let’s turn our attention to the Muslim-Alawi war in Syria.
“The overwhelmingly Alawi 4th Armored Division and the Republican Guard, both commanded by the president’s brother Maher Assad, are operative, as are the Special Forces.”
“http://www.worldtribune.com/2012/08/21/syrian-opposition-maher-assad-died-of-injuries-suffered-in-july-18-attack/”
Must have an I-Pod 6 to be able to communicate from the grave. Or maybe dual-core Ouija board? I’m into high tech but I don’t think that is an upgrade I really want.
THE UNITED STATES IS ARMING THE MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD GOVERNMENT IN EGYPT WITH U.S. TAXPAYER DOLLARS. Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi recently attempted to seize absolute power and impose Sharia Law on the Egyptian people. As a result, massive protests and violence have erupted all across Egypt. And how did the Obama Administration respond? By … READ MORE: http://bwcentral.org/2012/12/the-united-states-is-arming-the-muslim-brotherhood-government-in-egypt-with-u-s-taxpayer-dollars/
If people are hoping that the rebels win in Syria, all I can say is, “Be careful what you wish for.” We have no information as to who these people are, let alone what they believe in or what type of government they want once Assad is killed. Noticed I said “killed” and not overthrown. This is the Middle East we’re talking about and the only way you leave a dictatorship is feet first. You just have to look at what happened to Gaddafi (and to a lesser, but same, extent, Mubarak) to understand that.
So if Assad is killed, what’s next? My guess is that you’re going to have some radical Islamic militia group take over, just like what happened in eastern Libya. Libya now is about as failed a nation state as Somalia is, with rival militias killing each other for power. If you think al Qaeda-backed militia groups are quietly going to hand over power to the Muslim Brotherhood, dream on. You could even see an alliance between al Qaeda and the Syrian version of the Salafists that currently rule in Egypt. The Muslim Brotherhood in Eygpt doesn’t dare anger the Salafists, for fear of being overthrown by them. Likewise, you’ll probably have some radical ultra-conservative Islamic faction in Syria backed up by al Qaeda taking over the new government. And these people will have absolutely no love for either the United States or Israel, just like the militia groups in Libya have no love for us and showed it by killing our ambassador and three other Americans.
So if these radical Islamists take over in Syria, what really have we “won?” Not much. In theory, you could have a regime in Syria that is worse than Assad ever was and more allied to Hezbollah than the west. So I can’t really get all worked up over what happens in Syria. Either the homicidal maniac Assad retains power, or al Qaeda or a more radical form of the Muslim Brotherhood takes over. Some choice. Like Kissinger said during the Iran-Iraq War, “It’s a pity both of them can’t lose.”
Back in the day, the British had an Empire. One of their favoured tools for keeping the ‘wogs’ in line was gunboat diplomacy. When the local despot forgot his place, the gunboat would sail over and put some cannon rounds in his palace. Worked like a charm.
The modern version is drone diplomacy. When the local despot gets frisky, send a drone after him. Hit or miss, said despot will get the message. If they shoot down the drone, send a B-2.
Bush was stupid to invade Iraq. He should have kept running de-capitation strikes until we got lucky. Ditto for Assad and the Duck of death (Quadiffy).
When being a despot means cowering in a bomb shelter waiting for the Americans to find you, there will be a lot fewer applicants. Sort of like being the leader of Al Qaeda. The one before this one only lasted about 6 months. It will be amusing to see how long this one lasts.
I nominate Assad for the nobel peace prize on behalf of the Syrian armed forces for the thousands of al Qaeda terrorists and muslim extremists the Syrians have eliminated. Perhaps NATO could arrange for the CIA and the Saud ruler to hire and send in another 5000 Yemeni AQAP to reinforce the LIFG from Libya and the CIA’s AQIM that are the backbone of the bilderberg’s proxy coup attempt?