SECOND FRONT... SECOND OFFENSIVE OPERATION!!
For months, clashes have taken place around and even in the
vitally important city of Aleppo, but all of those events were minor in nature.
These reports from Aleppo seemed to signal a change and that
change is just more bad news for Assad.
Why Aleppo?
The concept of attacking Damascus and then as soon as
Assad's forces seem committed to countering in the capital, shifting the offense
to another, distant, location is classic.
All last week, the people of Aleppo, who have basically watched
in fear for the past sixteen months, witnessed the capital city under siege;
only wondering if they were next.
It didn't take long to get the answer they were horrified
of.
Damascus may be the capital, but Aleppo is the economic
engine of Syria.
The actions against Aleppo have another chilling impact on
Assad's forces.
Just when Assad was thinking he may get the upper hand on Damascus,
he receives word Aleppo is under attack.
Aleppo, the city Assad's business supporters count on has
now become a primary target of the rebels and this is no accident.
Now, stack on top of this the issue of the border crossings
and a clear picture becomes very apparent.
Assad is completely on the defense!
For months, the Syrian government and Iran have had the
luxury of deciding how hard to come down on the rebels and what locations to
punish.
That has completely changed now.
Perception rules the Middle East and the overwhelming
perception right now is the rebels are winning, a fact that is driving Tehran absolutely
crazy!
What I find interesting about the past few days and I have
been somewhat stunned at the ignorance of the "talking heads" on most
media stations, is the complexity of the rebel's actions.
Assaulting Damascus..
Follow on Assaults in Aleppo.
Simultaneous / multiple / attacks on virtually every major
border crossing on all four sides of Syria.
All three of these events point to a major point the media
and the rest of the world seems to overlooking.
The rebels are planning at a level far more sophisticated
than anyone gave them credit for.
Up until last week, every "expert" analysis out
there painted the same picture; A rebel forces that lacked the logistics..
leadership and skill to be a truly threatening force.
Well, that's why I always avoid the title of
"expert"... . it usually leads you to looking like an idiot!!!
The rebels are so corridinated, so supported and so
tactically capable, it is no wonder the Russians and Iran are accusing them of
getting help.
Again, the fatal error of not giving the rebels credit for
knowing what they are doing.
Any military leader will tell you, the one critical mistake
one can make in battle is underetimating your enemy!!
Not only has Assad done this, but so has the rest of the
world.
Now, do the rebels have help?
It depends on what
your definition of help is.
Are they getting logistical support / guns / ammo / cash?
Yes...
Are they getting someone helping them figure out where to
attack and how to attack?
Probably not.
Here is an interesting point to consider when someone tries
to explain away the rebel's successful operations.
The US has been " helping" the Iraq and Afagan
militaries for years and look what that has lead to!
If there is one thing the US government has learned in the
past ten years, it's the age old adage of " you can lead a horse to water,
but you can't make them drink"!!
"Help" is only effective if the group you are
"helping' has the skill, determination and courage to utilize the
"help".
One thing the world needs to stop doing is selling the rebels short.
What you have seen them achieve in the past week is about 85
percent their doing accompanied by an idiot leader in Syria and a military that
is not near as good as the world was lead to believe.
Not only is this Syrian military not as good as they were
painted to be, but they are demoralized and exhausted.
If the rebels have a flaw, it's the same flaw the US had
with the Iraq / Afghanistan
campaigns.... an Exit Plan!!!
That is the topic of my next post...
