SO.. JUST HOW IMPORTANT IS A DAM???

So, what does the loss of the Taqba Dam mean to Assad?

To put it simply, it's huge!

It's a given that this Dam was probably highly protected and its loss produced a virtual stockpile of weapons and munitions for the rebels.

Yet, weapons cache was captured is not even 1/10 of the story at the strategic level.

There's been a saying in the Middle East for centuries; "he who controls the water controls the land"!

I can just imagine the conversation inside Iraq when word came at the rebels had captured this strategic location on Euphrates River.

Although this Dam is not critical in the production of electricity, it's the simple flow of water in the psychological damage of its loss that will impact what is left of the Syrian governments confidence, not to mention leadership of Iraq and Iran.

Some are already pondering, how hard with the Syrian government try to regain this facility?

Let me explain to you just how difficult a task this could prove to be.

Once the rebels occupied the control room for the locks in the dam itself the Syrian government was forced to contemplate a virtual man on man conflict in any attempt to regain the dam.

You see, you cannot use artillery, you cannot use helicopters, at least not at her full potential and you cannot use fighter aircraft even with precision munitions without destroying the physical facility you are trying to retake.

The psychological damage of losing such a strategic facility is perhaps the largest prize of  all for the rebels.

The water from Euphrates is every bit as important to the people of Iraq as it is the people of Syria.

Why the rebels chose this target speaks to their ability to comprehend strategic value versus tactical value or targets of simple opportunity.

This was a story that was easily overlooked today!

This is also a story that I can promise you provides us with one of the best indicators yet of Assad's future.

The battle for Damascus continues in the long run that truly is more important than the capture of the largest dam in Syria on Euphrates River, but this event, in my opinion, was overlooked to quickly today.

I can assure you it was not overlooked by Assad or his Bosses in Tehran.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/02/2013211154422865528.html