The Syrian Army Is A Shell Of Its Former Self

Forces loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad get briefed before being deployed from the al-Sabaa Bahrat district to the old souk of Aleppo February 21, 2013. REUTERS/GEORGE OURFALIAN

Tom Cooper, War Is Boring: What’s Left of the Syrian Arab Army?

Not much

The general impression is that the Syrian Arab Army remains the largest military force involved in the Syrian Civil War, and that — together with the so-called National Defense Forces — it remains the dominant military service under the control of government of Pres. Bashar Al Assad.

Media that are at least sympathetic to the Al-Assad regime remain insistent in presenting the image of the “SAA fighting on all front lines” — only sometimes supported by the NDF and, less often, by “allies.”

The devil is in the details, as some say. Indeed, a closer examination of facts on the ground reveals an entirely different picture. The SAA and NDF are nearly extinct.

Because of draft-avoidance and defections — and because Al Assad’s regime was skeptical of the loyalty of the majority of its military units — the SAA never managed to fully mobilize.

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WNU Editor: I am sceptical of the claim that there are 10,000 to 15,000 Russian troops in Syria .... Russian social media puts the numbers at around 7,000 Russian troops. And as for the rest of the Syrian army .... reports from last year publicized the man-power shortage that the Syrian army was facing .... so now relying on outsiders (Hezbollah/Iraqis/Iranians/etc.) is not a surprise. The establishment of Syrian sectarian militias is also not a surprise .... I have been reading and posting  reports for the past 3 years outlining this development, and we are now seeing Iraq use the same tactic (i.e. Shiite militias) in its war against the Islamic State .... Forces fighting for Iraq's Fallujah (AFP).