Just one day after an unexpectedly fierce offensive against towns in Daraa, along the Syria-Jordan border, the Syrian military is now widening offensives on two fronts, attempting to deepen gains in Daraa and reclaim some strategically important territory along the Lebanese border.
The fighting along the Lebanese frontier involved fighting in Qusair and air strikes against rebel forces inside hilltop villages along the border. Those villages have been contested not only between Syria’s government and rebels, but also by Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia, which has fought to protect Lebanese Shi’ites living on the Syrian side of the border.
The suggests a major change in strategy for Syria’s military, which had long been willing to cede territory to rebels while shoring up defenses in the major cities. The change likely reflects the growing use of the borders to smuggle arms to the rebels. Nowhere has this been more apparent than Daraa, where the US is openly operating a rebel training facility on the Jordan side of the border.
The Syrian government is also pressing Lebanon to do more to prevent arms smuggling along their border. Lebanon’s government is seen as mostly pro-Assad, but seems limited in its ability to actually stop the rebels along their frontier.
This war would never have lasted this long without the tacit support of Obama and NATO. Absolutely would have fizzled out.
Obama will go down in history as a proxy drone warrior, more inclined to hide behind the curtain and point fingers as misdirection.
When it comes to contra-war, Obama is trying to outdo old Ronny Raygun. it's actual quite remarkable to imagine. The first black US president is a crypto fascist.
Old Bob Dylan must be brain dead. Has to be, what other excuse for "counter culture" to be giving the war criminal Obama a pass?
This is dangerous. There is a Doctrine of hot-pursuit. We used to chase Vietnamese into Cambodia.
There is no way to stop infiltration by taking the border. There is always a way through. If the US is willing to train and arm insurgents in Jordanian camps, then they will no matter what happens along the border.
If that is why they are fighting there, they are wasting their resources. The US could not stop it in any of its wars with far more resources than Syria will ever have.
The only way to stop it is to stop Jordan from allowing this on its territory. That is a matter of power politics, not border operations.