Taking The Initiative
Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is tickled pink about the situation in Egypt. Proving his point precisely, he crows. Islamism is a threat to good and responsible government, not a panacea that its supporters insist represents a response to the failure of dictatorships to recognize the will of the people. That is clearly a concept deliberately drilled into the minds of dissatisfied ingrates who cannot recognize good government when they enjoy it, characterizing his own regime as intolerant and brutal, when it is anything but.The plot that originated in the base minds of Syria's enemies -- the United States and Israel above all, joined by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar -- would be of huge benefit to their illegal misfit countries, and in the process tear apart the Middle East. Just look at Jordan and Lebanon teetering on the edge of complete chaos because of the presence of Islamist elements among them; the tentacles of the Muslim Brotherhood are everywhere, conjoined with al-Qaeda.
And so, with his great good friends and supporters, Lebanese Hezbollah 'freedom' fighters, and fellow Shia Muslims, Syrian troops have been bombarding Homs. Opposition-occupied areas of the third-most-populous city in the country have been pounded by artillery and airstrikes, delivering the message that the Alawite regime is in the ascendancy, the near-final solution to a conspiracy of its enemies to bring it to its knees, prepared to recapture the legitimacy that belongs to it.
Having punished and pummelled the rebel fighters of the Free Syrian Army in Qusayr and tasted the sweet flavour of finally routing the "terrorists", the Syrian military is now set to retake Homs as well. The Syrian National Coalition has appealed to the United Nations and the West who have committed to supporting the opposition "to intervene immediately". In any event, intervene in the provision of food and medicines to the besieged rebels in Homs and Daraa.
"The areas under attack in Homs have been cut off from the rest of the world and suffer from an urgent shortage of medicine and food", read the emergency appeal. Hezbollah fighters are contributing to the mayhem by shelling the city from three sides, using rockets, tanks and mortar shells. The rebels are putting up a fierce resistance, refusing to allow the regime's forces to advance. The unevenness in military hardware in the possession of the military and their Hezbollah allies is evident.
All the more so, that it seems that here too the regime may be using Sarin gas. "From the footage this is a potential use of a nerve agent or a weapon banned if used against civilians. It's certainly part of a clear pattern in which an area is shelled and then some sort of agent is introduced into the battle", clarified Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, former commander of Britain's specialist bio-security forces.
Authorities in Britain, France and the United States believe that samples they have collected corroborate the rebels' insistence that the regime has targeted them with chemical weapons as part of the intensification of its offensive. Those who claim to have suffered from chemical attacks describe breathing difficulties, and were treated by rebel-affiliated medics after being exposed to a white smoke rising from a shell strike on a mosque.
They are furious, and accuse the international community of disinterest in their welfare. "They are using weapons of mass destruction against Homs, while the international community does nothing", said Wassif Shemali, a rebel representing the Syrian National Council in Homs.
"It's a top concern that Assad will slip something into the Homs battle to give his troops some extra edge", warned a source, involved with Western efforts in collecting and testing evidence of chemical weapons use. "If it can take Homs without too much interference, it is going to be a big boost for the regime."
Doubtless Bashar al-Assad in a spirit of generosity would be more than glad to make his formula for success available to the Supreme Council of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It's hugely doubtful, however, that General Abdel el-Sissi would be much interested in any advice handed out by the Syrian dictator.
Labels: Chemical warfare, Conflict, Revolution, Syria
posted by Pieface @ Tuesday, July 09, 2013
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