Tuesday 31 July 2012

The Battle of Damascus: Armed opposition between the wrong choices and the Turkish-Gulf wishfull thinking

TRANSLATED BT ALEX


"The regime draged us to his strong fort and will defeat us this" said a Syrian former officer who previously worked in the military before retiring  and leave Syria to France. The former officer said this in a discussion between Syrian dissidents about the battle of Damascus prior to bombing the national security headquarters.

Speaking about the basis plan adopted by the leaders of the armed groups present in Damascus the or Homs or came to Deir Baalaba and the border areas with Jordan, the man said the whole process is based on the wishes that moving the military situation in Damascus
may encourage some military sectors around the capital to split.

He mentioned selected names and symbols of some military sectors, the opposition hopes it may defect and turns the balance of power. "If the army remained intact for 72 hours, the army will defeat us in the battle of Damascus and we will not be able to return to it with the current force before long.

A debate is going on among the Syrian opposition about the so-called zero hour in Damascus that led to the defeat, some say it was not necessary especially in the month of Ramadan, which according to some opposition circles was an oppprtionity for popular movements and demonstrations in Damascus, but the armed groups  by opening battle provided the regime a chance to smash the the untrained hotheads who lack coordination on the ground and ability to work according to field conditions and political and popular facts in Syria, not according to the wishes of Qatar or Saudi Arabia or Turkey.

This early and un-organized battle came under the pressure from the Gulf and Turkey rushing things in Syria for fear of possible Russian American agreement.

Seeking symbolism, the timing of the battle was chosen coincide with the beginning of Ramadan and the first anniversary of the so-called battle of Tripoli in Libya.

Marsh towards Damascus
They were told that priority is marching to Damascus; hundreds of gunmen began moving towards the capital after the collapse of Baba Amr  in Homs.
Officer Ahmed Abu Al-Sil of Deraa was the first followed by waves of militants heading to Damascus which culminated in June waiting for the advent of the holy month of Ramadan.  

The plan for Damascus fall and its details was inspired by fall of Tripoli in Libya, with one difference, the absence of sea in Damascus. The Salafi fighter mobilized in densely populated areas as happened last year in Tripoli and led fast collapse of Gaddafi, This didn't happen in Syria.



The Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad Ibn Jassem Al-Thani said at the Conference of friends Syria held in Paris on the 6th of last month, reflecting the primitive mentality in dealing with the crisis, especially in terms symbolism, said that there was no need for initiatives and political moves, the Syrian President will will fall before next September. His plan failed completely in Damascus.

After the shocking national security bombing and cleaning Al-Maydan in Central Damascus from Islamists, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan confessed that Assad still in rule and the situation remains unchanged; he then started speaking about the decisive battle of Aleppo the same way he talked about the decisive battle in Damascus


 Why the Syrian army in Aleppo would repeat what it did in Damascus?
The Syrian sources have no doubt that the Syrian army will regain control on neighbourhood controlled by armed opposition, and will repeat Damuscus scene in Aleppo due to several reasons, most notably that the Kurds in the city would not intervene in the interests of the opposition as well as most of the militants aee non-city residents who came from rural idleb would face the same fate of the gunmen who entered Damascus, besidesthe Palestinian fator is absent Palestinian in Aleppo while its influence was strong in  in Yarmouk camp in Damascus .

 Next week will be crucial, and decisive for all armed action in Syria if the Syrian army cleared the city of Aleppo, as he did in Damascus.
River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian  
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