Syria's President Bashar al-Assad (R) shakes hands with a military personnel during his visit to a military site at Darya area, on the occasion of the 68th anniversary of army day, in this handout photograph distributed by Syria's national news agency SANA on August 1, 2013. REUTERS-SANA-Handout via Reuters
Kamal Alam, National Interest: Why Assad's Army Has Not Defected
The Syrian military's resilience should not be dismissed—nor should its support.
Four years ago, Turkey’s then Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that within in a few weeks he would be praying in Damascus’s Umayyad Mosque, as Assad was about to fall. Similarly, Israel’s most decorated soldier, former Defense Minister Ehud Barak, predicted that Assad and his military would be toppled within weeks. That was at the beginning of 2012, when there were no Iranian soldiers on the ground or Russian planes in the skies.
As another round of Geneva peace talks collapses and the world wonders what’s next for Syria, it is time to begin with the warnings of Henry Kissinger and Zbignew Brzezinski. Kissinger and Brzezinski, the most seasoned and influential U.S. policymakers on the Middle East since World War II, have gone against popular opinion and stated that President Bashar al-Assad has more support than all the opposition groups combined.
It is no secret that the Saudis and Qataris, with full U.S. support, have tried to bribe some of Assad’s innermost circles to defect. The all-important professional military cadre of the Syrian Arab Army, however, has remained thoroughly loyal.
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WNU Editor: This commentary goes against the grain of what is the Western consensus on Syrian President Assad's support base .... i.e. his support is far more deeper than what is being acknowledged. As to what is my take .... he may have a lot of support, but he certainly has a lot of enemies.
4 comments:
"The fact remains: The moderate Syrian opposition only exists in fancy suits in Western hotel lobbies. It has little military backing on the ground. If you want to ask why Assad is still the president of Syria, the answer is not simply Russia or Iran, but the fact that his army remains resilient and pluralistic, representing a Syria in which religion alone does not determine who rises to the top. The military also represent as challenge against the spread of terrorism, which is why three of the top British generals of the last five years have openly called for the recognition that the Syrian Arab Army, loyal to President Assad, is the only force capable of defeating ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Levant."
Yup.
And in short, they are loyal because they are SYRIAN ARABS first. Most "Westerners" with their little BS identity politics, parochialism, and divide and conquer schemes just can't understand. These Arabs are simply more sophisticated than they or their db Gulf semi literate inbred bum buddies. Some of them even name their kids after Michel Aflaq.
I wish I could honestly believe that Canada had such calibre of men running her military.
Dec 16, 2011
Fred Hof: Assad Regime is a "Dead Man Walking"
“This regime is the equivalent of dead man walking,” Hof told the House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on the Middle East today. “But the real question is how many steps remain. I think it’s very difficult to project how much time this regime has.”
http://mideasti.blogspot.com/2011/12/fred-hof-asad-regime-is-dead-man.html
Hof left State but is still being paid to exclaim on Syria -- amazing.
I hate Assad.
But between Assad and Al Nusrah or ISIS, I will take Assad Thankyou
""The fact remains: The moderate Syrian opposition only exists in fancy suits in Western hotel lobbies. "
When I saw Syrian expatriate currying favor and not leading the troops whatsoever and the troops had no success, why even the f___ try to support them?
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