Article

2012-02-07 Syria-Lebanon-Iran

Syria's most senior defector: Assad's army is close to collapse

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Posted by Steve White 2012-02-07 00:00|| || Front Page|| [7 views ] Top

#1 "We want very urgent intervention, outside of the security council due to the Russian veto. We want a coalition similar to what happened in Kosovo and the Ivory Coast."

On the one hand, Assad's army won't last through the end of February. On the other, foreign intervention is an absolute necessity. Sounds like the Sunnis are simultaneously panicking and hoping that they can scare the Alawites into handing them the keys to the kingdom, given the lack of foreign appetite for a direct intervention. That could be difficult, given the sectarian atrocities perpetrated against Alawites, something that Sunnis around the world have proven both willing and able to orchestrate against non-Sunnis on a large scale.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2012-02-07 09:33|| 2012-02-07 09:33|| Front Page Top

#2 On your own on this one.

Posted by newc 2012-02-07 11:30|| 2012-02-07 11:30|| Front Page Top

#3 It should be interesting to see if Turkey jumps in and what happens if Russia intervenes. Under Bush, NATO backed off over the Russian invasion of Georgia. Would Obama square off with Russia over Syria? The Turks have been using a lot of aggressive rhetoric lately. Are those words a substitute for deeds or a prelude to them?

Real information on the Syrian unrest - as opposed to partisan propaganda - is almost impossible to get these days (if it ever was available prior to the unrest). But based on this general's pronouncements, Assad should last out the month. ~~Baghdad Bob~~ General Mustafa al-Sheikh will have months, if not years, to repeat his assertion about the impending fall of the Alawite regime. And one of these days, assuming he lives that long, he'll be right.

Posted by Zhang Fei 2012-02-07 18:59|| 2012-02-07 18:59|| Front Page Top

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