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Not so New from Linux Beach. These got delayed because I'm rebuilding my
Desktop:-) :
As Assad loses ground, he gains a new air force
<http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/05/as-assad-loses-ground-he-gains-new-air.html>
...
While the Assad regime continues to be bank-rolled and supplied with
weapons by Russia and Iran, the strength of the official Syrian Arab
Army had long ago been sapped by defection and attrition. For the past
several years the regime has had to rely on sectarian gangs like the
Iranian trained National Defense Force and foreign armies like the
Lebanese Hezbollah or Iraqi Shia militias to do its fighting on the
ground. Now these forces are beginning to falter and Assad has no
reserves to send in, so he is forced to fall back and give up ground.
The one advantage he still has, thanks to the forbearance of the
world's great powers, is the ability to cause almost unlimited death
and destruction from above. This is euphemistically known in military
circles as /"air supremacy."/ Since August of last year, air space
over Syria has been shared by US and Syrian war planes - not attacking
each other - but co-ordinating their activities so as to jointly
maintain air supremacy over Syria.
President Obama said that he was sending US war planes into Syria only
to fight ISIS and another unheard of group they said threatened US
national security. Although the Obama administration claimed it wasn't
there to help Assad, many observers saw that even by just targeting
ISIS, Obama was freeing up Syrian air assets to continue barrel
bombing schools, hospitals and breadlines.
Now, just as the Assad regime is losing ground to a big new rebel
coalition that includes al Nusra, the FSA and other militias in Idlib
and northern Hama provinces, the US has stepped up its air campaign
against those attempting to overthrow the Assad regime. From recent
reports it sounds like Assad has gained a new air force with Obama
targeting opposition forces in Idlib and Aleppo as Assad is fighting
to preserve positions there.
*More...*
<http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/05/as-assad-loses-ground-he-gains-new-air.html>
Response to Veterans for Peace on Syria
<http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/05/response-to-veterans-for-peace-on-syria.html>
/Written by *Andy Berman*, 25 May 2015, republished with permission.
Andy Berman is a member of VFP Chapter 27 in Minneapolis, MN and the
Committee in Solidarity with the People of Syria [CISPOS]. Earlier he
was in the US Peace Corps [1967-69], the US Army [1971-73], a
telecommunications engineer and Distinguished Member of Technical
Staff at Bell Laboratories. He became a Vietnam war resister and has
been a solidarity and peace activist since then. He blogs at
andyberman.blogspot.com. <http://andyberman.blogspot.com/>/
/
/ A former VFP board member writes:
No doubt Assad is a scumbag and a murderer. But those against him
(Al Nusra and ISIS) are too. So why do you keep harping on this?
What is it you think VFP should do about this? In my view we need
to get the US the hell out of there, since US bombing only fuels
the fire. Every day you harp on this, and it gets tiresome.
Peace,
Andy responds:
Thanks for your comments and questions. You posed them very civilly
and I therefore should respond to you. There have been more than a
few extremely nasty insults directed my way in this vfp-all forum and
in personal emails. Those I ignore (and I have the authors emails
automatically sent to my spam folder). But civil discourse is
definitely worthwhile. I appreciate your effort.
So here’s my response or all your concerns. It’s a bit long, but the
situation in Syria is complex. Please give this serious consideration.
*More...*
<http://claysbeach.blogspot.com/2015/05/response-to-veterans-for-peace-on-syria.html>
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