"Hebrew Radio10 envisaged that Bashar al-Assad could now reemerge as a strongman with a powerful army."
The Free Syrian Army had initial financial backing of Syrian exiles around the world.
In Metro Detroit, 17 million dollars was raised in non-lethal aid, according to the Detroit Free Press in 2013. One exile had stated that Syrian-Americans were cleaning out their bank accounts to assist the FSA and donating the money to the Syrian Support Group (SSG), who had a U.S. State Department license to collect such funds. Then-U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford had issued a letter endorsing these fund raising efforts and John McCain was interviewed with the SSG chairman (a former student of Dr. Cole's) on National Public Radio about the laudable efforts of the Syrian rebels seeking freedom from oppression and torture. At this juncture in 2013, The FSA had been confident that victory over Assad was imminent with recent defections of high-ranking officers from the Syrian Arab Army and the FSA was close to cutting off the Latakia to Damascus supply corridor that was crucial to the Baathists survival.
Today, the following situation exists:
(A) Ambassador Ford (a fellow commenter on this blog) resigned his ambassadorship and has been openly critical of the Obama administration's handling of the Syria situation;
(B) many FSA fighters have defected to Islamic-oriented groups;
(C) the Syrian Support Group has closed its doors - citing the bad media attention that anti-Assad fighters were getting due to ISIS and the other Islamist groups;
(C) ISIS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front have surpassed the FSA as the pre-eminent anti-Assad forces fighting within Syria;
(D) Russian intervention has tipped the scales in favor of the Baathists to place them on the verge of retaking Aleppo.
Vladimir Putin appears to be engaging in Cold War politics by attempting to rescue and prop up a Russian socialist ally in danger of collapsing - the "Brezhnev Doctrine" that justified the Red Army invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to counter Islamic fundamentalist fighters;
The scheduled Geneva III conference was used as a smokescreen for Assad and his Russian sponsors to "go for the jugular" of the Syrian rebel movement by attacking Aleppo.
The recent Russian air force intervention has allowed Assad to be in the best position he has been in in the last three years.
"......(t)he report said that the allies of the Syrian rebels had abandoned them....................."
Sadly, yes. I compare these courageous freedom fighters to the anti-Castro Cuban exiles who were waiting for air cover to arrive at the Bay of Pigs.
Maybe the policy wonks at the U.S. State Department are now considering rapprochement with the Baathist regime. This had been considered as an option in 2009. Maybe they now feel that the Baathists in Damascus are a better alternative to ISIS or the al-Nusra Front.
Could it be conceivable President Assad and the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry could pose for a photo op over in Damascus or perhaps at Foggy Bottom in the next few months and declare themselves as allies in the war on terror? Could a reconstituted Assad "steal the show" as Serbia's Slobodan Milosovic did in Dayton back in the 1990s?
"Hebrew Radio10 envisaged that Bashar al-Assad could now reemerge as a strongman with a powerful army."
The Free Syrian Army had initial financial backing of Syrian exiles around the world.
In Metro Detroit, 17 million dollars was raised in non-lethal aid, according to the Detroit Free Press in 2013. One exile had stated that Syrian-Americans were cleaning out their bank accounts to assist the FSA and donating the money to the Syrian Support Group (SSG), who had a U.S. State Department license to collect such funds. Then-U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford had issued a letter endorsing these fund raising efforts and John McCain was interviewed with the SSG chairman (a former student of Dr. Cole's) on National Public Radio about the laudable efforts of the Syrian rebels seeking freedom from oppression and torture. At this juncture in 2013, The FSA had been confident that victory over Assad was imminent with recent defections of high-ranking officers from the Syrian Arab Army and the FSA was close to cutting off the Latakia to Damascus supply corridor that was crucial to the Baathists survival.
Today, the following situation exists:
(A) Ambassador Ford (a fellow commenter on this blog) resigned his ambassadorship and has been openly critical of the Obama administration's handling of the Syria situation;
(B) many FSA fighters have defected to Islamic-oriented groups;
(C) the Syrian Support Group has closed its doors - citing the bad media attention that anti-Assad fighters were getting due to ISIS and the other Islamist groups;
(C) ISIS and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front have surpassed the FSA as the pre-eminent anti-Assad forces fighting within Syria;
(D) Russian intervention has tipped the scales in favor of the Baathists to place them on the verge of retaking Aleppo.
Vladimir Putin appears to be engaging in Cold War politics by attempting to rescue and prop up a Russian socialist ally in danger of collapsing - the "Brezhnev Doctrine" that justified the Red Army invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 to counter Islamic fundamentalist fighters;
The scheduled Geneva III conference was used as a smokescreen for Assad and his Russian sponsors to "go for the jugular" of the Syrian rebel movement by attacking Aleppo.
The recent Russian air force intervention has allowed Assad to be in the best position he has been in in the last three years.
"......(t)he report said that the allies of the Syrian rebels had abandoned them....................."
Sadly, yes. I compare these courageous freedom fighters to the anti-Castro Cuban exiles who were waiting for air cover to arrive at the Bay of Pigs.
Maybe the policy wonks at the U.S. State Department are now considering rapprochement with the Baathist regime. This had been considered as an option in 2009. Maybe they now feel that the Baathists in Damascus are a better alternative to ISIS or the al-Nusra Front.
Could it be conceivable President Assad and the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry could pose for a photo op over in Damascus or perhaps at Foggy Bottom in the next few months and declare themselves as allies in the war on terror? Could a reconstituted Assad "steal the show" as Serbia's Slobodan Milosovic did in Dayton back in the 1990s?