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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Analysis: Airstrike in Damascus an embarrassment for Syrian regime at crucial time
2018-12-26
[Jpost] Syrian air defense confronted a complex threat over Damascus Tuesday night. It comes after several months of relative quiet for Bashir al-Assad's Syrian regime, which is grappling with a crises in eastern Syria as the US withdraws.

The Arclight airstrikes took place as the Syrian state media was seeking to highlight Christmas in Syria. Syria was witnessing a "victory over terrorism," SANA said. However the airstrikes were the most serious since September when an Israeli airstrike targeted Latakia and resulted in Syrian air defense shooting down a Russian IL-20 aircraft. That incident caused Moscow to give Syria the S-300 system and warn Israeli "hotheads" against further incidents.

For months it has been relatively quiet. An incident on November 29 and December 9th worked up Damascus as air defenses were activated. But both incidents seemed minor. One was a false alarm apparently. However December 25 was a major escalation. It comes as Syria is seeking to deal with a major crises in eastern Syria as the US withdraws.
Posted by:trailing wife

#1  it took Assad four years to clear ISIS from the area with 10 miles of the Damascus governorate (last ISIS position was overrun in mid Nov 2018)

To me, the four years it took is way more embarrassing.
Posted by: lord garth   2018-12-26 12:33  

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