After successive high-profile attacks by the Syrian rebel militias this week, some are claiming they are increasing in effectiveness. But the opposition is still an unorganized mess, its just that now the arms they’re receiving are facilitating more carnage.
The rebels on Thursday bombed the Palace of Justice as well as a police station in downtown Damascus. The day before, militias attacked a pro-Assad television station, killing a number of civilians. And late on Monday, the so-called Free Syrian Army bombed the barracks of the Republican Guard close to the palace of President Bashar al-Assad.
The opposition is still a disparate, rag tag group of localized militias with conflicting agendas and many of whom are Sunni extremists or have ties to al-Qaeda. They are increasingly to blame for massacres of civilians as well. Nothing has changed, except that the weapons being funneled to them by the US, European Union, Turkey, and the Gulf Arab states are being put to use.
But none of this bodes well for an end to violence in the country. Foreign meddling on behalf of all sides in Syria has been instrumental in prolonging the conflict by emboldening both sides and making a political settlement more remote.
“The intensity of the divisions in the country, the external environment in which sides are providing arms to both of the contending parties—all of that suggests that the situation’s going to continue to deteriorate,” James Dobbins, director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center and a former US assistant secretary of state, told NPR.
UN envoy Kofi Annan has put together a meeting, which will take place in Geneva on Saturday, to work with the regional players to find a way to stop the bloodshed in Syria. But the only way Russia would agree to drop its support of Assad and oversee any kind of partial regime change is if they could be assured that Washington and its allies would not try to exploit a political transition for their own interests, which is virtually an impossibility.
We said that from day one, US and NATO hand in hand with Saudi – UAE – US and NATO are looking for a regime change or a long term wars, as in Iraq. By these governments are openly supporting “their" terrorist groups, by these government sponsoring terrorism as Saudis and UAE dose, so as US and NATO in arming, helping with logistic, having their mercenaries training these elements, is an act of sponsoring terrorism, this is the evidence for these regimes wanting to continue the war no matter what.
Look, Hillary Clinton have bet regime change in Syria, when asked about time frame she didn’t give a specific date but regime change is what she wants. That is to say, that US and NATO using these unholy “warriors” to continue this war until after the election in US then you will have a bigger bolder war on your hand, unless Hillary is not longer there by signing her resignation before election. That is to say, if Obama is reelected.
The effectiveness is no doubt due to training received from the British SAS (along with equivalents from other countries)
"But the opposition is still an unorganized mess,"
But if they wer more organized and not such a "mess" then it would all be okay…?…the US pursuing regime change by means of instigating and funding a civil war would all be kosher…
Just wondering about the logic of this particular talking point…which is a staple in the mainstream media…
They learn from CIA,IDF manuals….there is no way defend whole Syria from Gangs / by day normal citizen, by night terrorist – who can control situacion all over Syria?/. Its Yugoslavia, Lybia again and goes and will go on, because people fail to to do their own MINIMUM!!!!! research into facts, only sit like "sheep" and listen propaganda lies repeated hour by our, day by day……peter czech
John, thanks for bringing this up. Unfortunately it is not only foreign arms, but also paying the "rebels" hefty salaries either by US (remember article about US vetting rebels if they are not Al Queda terrorists so they can be paid their mercenary salaries). Whole this thing was debated by so called "Friends of Syria" in Instanbul just before starting of Annan peace plan and a ceasefire agreement. Quatar, Saudi Arabia and some ten other coutries are not even vetting their mercenaries. No wonder Annan's plan was doomed before even started. While US want to push Assad out by truly Syrian proxies, other "friends of Syria" are not so picky. They just want to kill that "apostate" dog of president and install Sunni own dictatorship. No woner even Annan had to acknowledge that Syrian conflict is getting openly about religions.
"U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr. pay their respects during a flower-laying at the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad, Thursday, June 28, 2012, in St. Petersburg, Russia". Is this women a joke or she is the joke, now she wants to show that she is respecting the RED Army of the USSR, meanwhile supporting terrorism whom are jihadist…? At the same time there is a report by RT saying that Saudis and Turkish army are massing at Syrian Turkish border waiting for the result of tomorrow meeting in Russia. This, if true, will change the dynamic of the matter because its questions the fact, from where and when the hell the Saudis military get involved in this, Syria don't have any shared border with Saudis, which question the fact if Turkey been asking for Saudis to be present in a direct war. What Iranians are going to do, and what Russia next step would be. If all parties involved get involved in a war then US and NATO are forced to get involved as well, so we have a third world war in our hand.