The Economic War In Syria Is Just As Important As Combat

A line to buy bread on the outskirts of Idlib Province in northern Syria. Armed rebels help to keep order at some bakeries. Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

Bread Is Staple As Syria Rebels Press Strategy -- New York Times

ALEPPO, Syria — Just before sunrise, a select group of Syrian rebel fighters step away from the front lines here for a task their commanders now consider a vital and urgent part of the war effort: baking bread.

The floppy moons that they produce, pita to Americans, usually go quickly to hungry residents and rebels. Bread is a mainstay of the Syrian diet — it accompanies every meal — and in a city paralyzed by two weeks of war, the bakery lines show that basic commerce has become a battleground of its own.

“The regime has tried to deprive our supporters of water and gas, and now they are using bread,” said Basheer al-Hajeh, a member of Al Tawheed Brigade, one of the main rebel militias in Aleppo. But he said the rebels had learned how to fight back against the government’s attempts to keep bread and other resources out of opposition-controlled areas.

Read more ....

My Comment: It is amazing how certain basics and essentials that we take for life become vital and precious during wartime.