{"id":14202,"date":"2012-04-24T23:17:14","date_gmt":"2012-04-25T03:17:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=14202"},"modified":"2012-04-26T13:57:43","modified_gmt":"2012-04-26T17:57:43","slug":"syrias-opposition-develops-into-a-real-insurgency-as-assad-uses-more-force-obama-refuses-to-jump-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/syrias-opposition-develops-into-a-real-insurgency-as-assad-uses-more-force-obama-refuses-to-jump-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria’s Opposition Develops into a Real Insurgency as Assad Uses More Force. Obama Refuses to Jump In"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Candidates for Parliamentary Elections<\/a> in Syria have been published – They reveal that Bashar al-Assad’s supposed reforms are the ruse that most thought they would be. The candidates from Latakia are sprinkled liberally with the names of well known crooks and Baathists of the region as well as their sons. There does not seem to be any potential reform going on in Latakia. The Baath may have been disestablished, but its members insist that they will win the upcoming elections to parliament.<\/p>\n

Syrian military forces subjected the Arba\u2019in district of Hama to intensive machine gun fire on Monday<\/a>,<\/p>\n

A car bomb in Damascus<\/a>\u00a0outside the Iranian cultural center killed and wounded several Syrians. Rebels launched three separate attacks<\/a> on security forces around Damascus on Tuesday, killing two ranking officers activists and state media said. Satellite images show that the roads going into Idlib are all manned by tanks and road blocks<\/a><\/p>\n

Kofi Annan told<\/a> the U.N. Security Council Thursday that the situation in Syria is “bleak” and expressed alarm at reports that government troops are still carrying out military operations in towns where U.N. observers are not present.<\/p>\n

“If confirmed, this is totally unacceptable and reprehensible,” he said.<\/p>\n

Annan told the\u00a0 U.N. Security Council that the situation in Syria remains “unacceptable” and is expressed particular alarm at reports that government troops entered the central city of Hama firing …<\/p>\n

President Obama’s Speech on Syria at the Holocaust museum <\/a>provoked an uproar from the neoconservatives who insist that the US should bomb Syria and do a Libya on it. Obama imposed some new sanctions on Syria but refused to give the green light to arming the opposition or taking military action. Tamara Cofman Wittes, <\/a>who served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs until January 2012, argued at Brookings that the Obama should not try to discourage the growing militarization of the Syrian opposition, but rather to step in a try to direct it toward the opposition members most likely to further US interests in the region.<\/p>\n

This is precisely what the US seems to be doing. The model for its actions is Afghanistan of the 1980s, when Washington and Riyadh armed the Mujahedin to take down the pro-Soviet regime. Everyone in the Obama administration is acutely aware of the outcome of that successful campaign: the creation of al-Qaida.\u00a0 No one wants to repeat that. Hence, Clinton’s insistence that all foreign aid to the Syrian opposition go to Burhan Ghalioun. He looks to the ideals of the French Revolution rather than those of an Islamic revolution as did Bin Laden. Clinton even got the Saudis to publicly sign on to this strategy in Istanbul. where the last “Friends of Syria” meeting was assembled.<\/p>\n

Recent reports on the Syrian opposition suggest that it is beginning to score some military successes. They also suggest that the regular pious youth who are doing the fighting are looking to Jihadists who fought in Iraq for their expertise. They will also likely look to the motivational power of radical Islamism, something they are going to need if they hope to defeat the Syrian Army.<\/p>\n

News Round Up<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"Rare inside view of Syria\u2019s rebels finds a force vowing to fight on<\/a>
\nBy David Enders | McClatchy Newspapers[photo: Mohamed Idris, shown in Qusayr, Syria, was the leader in the Baba Amr neighborhood of Homs of the Katiba Farouq, the largest group operating under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army. ]<\/p>\n

QUSAYR, Syria \u2014 After more than six months of fighting, Syria\u2019s largest rebel group appears to have developed into a resilient guerrilla force, unable perhaps to hold large swaths of territory for very long but still capable of inflicting heavy casualties on the Syrian military and operating fluidly within supportive populations….<\/p>\n

What the Farouq fighters have found is that the Syrian army, as a force built for a potential conflict with Israel, is poorly equipped for the type of asymmetrical combat the guerillas engage in. That allows the guerillas to inflict heavy casualties on the military when the two sides engage in close combat. It is one reason the Syrian military prefers launching artillery attacks on rebel-held cities from long distances.<\/p>\n

The rebels also have suffered heavy losses. Idris said he had 250 soldiers under his command during the fighting in Baba Amr, and that 114 of those had been killed in the fighting…..<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the international community really wants peace in Syria, they will help us with weapons,\u201d Idris said, making it clear the group was planning to step up attacks against the Syrian military. He said his fighters would continue to plant roadside bombs to destroy military vehicles outside of populated areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will attack the Syrian army in their bases and their checkpoints and try to capture their weapons,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are also training fighters. We have many new volunteers without military experience.\u201d….<\/p>\n

More than a half-dozen fighters, when a reporter told them he had spent time reporting in Iraq, offered that they also had fought there during the U.S. invasion and occupation. Often, their first question was whether the reporter had visited Fallujah,…<\/p>\n

Last week, Farouq\u2019s commanders were making preparations to expand their reach into the suburbs of Damascus, which are presently the domain of other rebel groups….<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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In Syria, Lebanon\u2019s Most Wanted Sunni Terrorist Blows Himself Up<\/a>
\nBy Aryn Baker<\/p>\n

\u00a0Lebanese terror leader Abdel Ghani Jawhar detonated himself accidentally in Syria, raising questions about the kind of company the rebels are keeping…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

According to Abu Ali and another fellow fighter, Jawhar arrived in Qsair two weeks ago with a group of 30 Lebanese fighters. While many were members of Fatah al-Islam, they were not traveling under the terror group\u2019s banner. Instead they called themselves mujahideen<\/em>, holy warriors seeking to help fellow Muslims under attack by the Syrian regime. Jawhar, an explosives expert and a charismatic commander, sought to train fellow fighters how make bombs. In the short time he had been in Qsair, says Abu Ali, he was able to set up dozens of improvised explosive devices destined for members of the Syrian security forces. \u201cHis aim was to make a tour in all the districts of Syria to teach the fighters on how to fight a guerrilla war.\u201d….<\/p>\n

A 30-year-old biochemist from northern Lebanon, Jawhar came of age during the country\u2019s brutal civil war.\u00a0 First he joined the Muslim Brotherhood, but left over doctrinal disputes\u2014he felt that the group was not strict enough in its interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law. He then joined, and left, the extremely conservative Salafis for the same reasons, and finally became a member of Fatah al-Islam in 2008. He was promoted to leader after his predecessor was killed in a 2010 shootout with Lebanese security forces. According to the Lebanese intelligence official, he was a master recruiter, and even managed to induct Lebanese soldiers to his cause. His terror efforts spanned Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, where he is thought to be responsible for several of the devastating explosions that killed international troops.\u00a0 \u201cHe was a network by himself,\u201d says the official. \u201cHe had relations all over the region; he was a ruthless killer.\u201d…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Pierret: <\/strong>This is an interesting follow-up to our recent exchange on the FSA and crime. The people on the video present themselves as a kind of “Free Syrian Police”<\/a> in the region of Idlib:<\/div>\n

It’ll be a cakewalk, says Ba’ath Party<\/a>
\n2012-04-22 The Hindu:<\/p>\n

Even though it is yet to announce candidates for the coming elections to the Syrian Parliament, the ruling Ba’ath Party predicts that it will return to power. \u201cIt is mathematically impossible for any other party to win,\u201d claims Speaker Mahmoud …<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

VOA<\/a> – Europe and US extend sanctions to include caviar and other luxury products<\/p>\n

Luxury goods ban<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the European Union banned the sale to Syria of luxury goods and dual-use items that could be used for repression. The restrictions were adopted at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg Monday. The extent of the luxury ban has yet to be defined but the aim is to deliver a symbolic blow against the posh lifestyle of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his British-born wife, Asma The dual-use goods could include anything from vehicles to fertilizers and other chemicals.<\/p>\n

Technology sanctions<\/strong><\/p>\n

The United States announced Monday plans to impose technology sanctions on Syria and its ally, Iran. Meanwhile, Lynn Pascoe, the U.N. undersecretary-general for political affairs, told the 15-nation Security Council during an open debate on the Middle East that “the cessation of armed violence remains incomplete” in Syria.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Daily Caller: Krauthammer castigates Obama on \u2018embarrassing\u2019 Syria policy: \u2018Be quiet\u2019<\/a>
\n2012-04-24<\/p>\n

On Monday\u2019s \u201cSpecial Report\u201d on the Fox News Channel, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer attacked President Barack Obama\u2019s Monday speech at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., where he announced the first meeting of …<\/p>\n

I have an effective response: Deployment of the U.S. military to, at the very least, provide, as Danielle Pletka of the American Enterprise Institute urged:<\/p>\n