The Expanding Caliphate/s
"For a long time [ISIS] has been keen to expand its presence further south and Homs makes sense as a platform for that. The choice of this location puts pressure on the Syrian regime, and also demonstrates that [ISIS] has a reach that the rest of the Syrian opposition is incapable of demonstrating."
"An area like Homs is also a target that [ISIS] would feel more comfortable with, as the chance of air strikes hitting this area is less likely."
Charles Lister, Syria analyst
Logic would have it that ISIS is counting on the United States experiencing huge distaste for giving aid in any capacity, even seeming to, to the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. So if the U.S. government were to decide to strike ISIS targets in the Homs vicinity in effect they would be providing air support to benefit the government of Syria.Charles Lister
@Charles_Lister
To do such a thing would also effectively undermine their argument that the air strikes targeting ISIS do not, in fact, reflect a rapprochement with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad whose state terrorism reveals a penchant for violence to punish Syrian Sunnis campaigning against his regime, more than equalling the atrocities committed by ISIS, albeit less visible, other than by accounts. With the exception of the fallout of forced starvation, chemical weapons attacks, barrel bombs and other niceties.
The Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham, in dominating northern Syria, pressed forward on a major assault on an air force base near Homs. Their success in the seizure of two gas fields also bodes well for their daily influx of cash support in the sale of gas and oil from the fields now under their control. Although the U.S. meant to bypass supporting the Kurds in defending Kobani, it was made a cause celebre similar to the assault of the Yazidis on Mount Sinjar.
Sympathy for the defending Syrian Kurds and the plight of the hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians fleeing the Syrian border town of Kobani forced the U.S. to re-think that position. And in the event, began pounding the area around Kobani to give the Kurds some advantage, while leaving other more strategically important areas in Iraq where the U.S. meant to defend Baghdad, open to an ISIS advance.
In Syria, with attention focused on Kobani, ISIS has redrawn its focus south to expand its position on a geography that it considers strategic to its own long range plan to control Syria. Photographs posted on social media show their flag over the Jahar gas field, with other images of vehicles, weapons and Syrian regime soldiers' corpses. That, following on the capture of the Sha'ar gas plant the week before.
The Tayfur military airbase, the largest, most valuable military post the Damascus government still holds, is now in the ISIS focus. With full knowledge of just how vulnerable the airbase is, the regime has frantically pulled out what they're able to from the airbase that is home to Mig-29s, SU-22m2s, radar and other vital military equipment ISIS will be only too happy to take possession of, in their winning streak.
As for their al-Qaeda kin, in northwest Syria Jabhat al-Nusra, the competing jihadist Islamist camp has obliterated many of the remaining 'moderate' rebel forces backed by the United States, and just incidentally armed by them. In their surrender to al-Nusra those arms have been surrendered as well, benefiting the al-Qaeda affiliate as well, to their great satisfaction.
Between them, in a pincer-like advance, the two terrorist groups have squeezed northern Syria out of the hands of the Syrian regime, and into their own competing caliphates.
Labels: Al-Qaeda, Conflict, Islamic State, Syria, United States
posted by Pieface @ Wednesday, November 05, 2014
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