Aleppo will be the graveyard of the tanks" of the Syrian army

Syria Rebel Commander says Aleppo will be the Graveyard of Syrian tanks

Russia has doubts about Syria president's ability to hold on: "In daily consultations, Assad keeps telling us he is still very much in control," the official said. "We are trying to ascertain for ourselves whether the point of no return has been reached, and frankly we are not so sure either way anymore." The first sign that Russia is abandoning Assad would be a decision to evacuate its citizens, the official said, and that could soon be followed by the Syrian leader's departure.

On Saturday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied that any asylum plans were being made, telling journalists, "We are not even thinking about it."
Russia's objections to the campaign to oust Assad have had little to do with loyalty to a longtime ally or unease over a loss of influence in the Middle East, analysts and officials said. Instead, the Kremlin fears what it sees as a broader pattern of the West using its political and military power to squeeze out leaders friendly to Moscow.

Aleppo, the latest battleground in Syria's 16-month uprising, will be the Syrian army's "graveyard," said Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi, the head of the rebels in the city. Despite the heat and fierce fighting a few hours earlier, the former colonel in President Bashar al-Assad's army appears relaxed and confident that his men will win the battle and bring down the regime. "Aleppo will be the graveyard of the tanks" of the Syrian army, Oqaidi declares after a day in which the rebels claimed to have destroyed "eight tanks and some armored vehicles and killed more than 100 soldiers." "We ask the West for a no-fly zone," he says in order to prevent aerial raids carried out by Assad's forces.

The rebels have so far managed to fend off the assault although the shelling by regime forces continued on Sunday. "We are ready to bring down this regime," He assures that the rebel Free Syrian Army will not withdraw, as it did in Damascus earlier this month, but that it will face the attack. We await the attack," he says, refusing to reveal how many rebels are fighting in Aleppo as these were "military secrets." He said his men were positioned across Aleppo, adding that regime troops faced obstacles when it comes to entering the city. "We are positioned throughout the city and we have arms to defend ourselves against helicopters," "We expect them to commit a very great slaughter, and we urge the international community to intervene to prevent these crimes," the colonel says. "The Syrian army wavers, it is collapsing. It stands for no specific cause,"

The tide seems to have changed against Assad but this is going to be a long dirty tough fight. The climax is building but I like much of the world am long convinced that Assad is a mad man. If he is still alive he is getting beyond increasingly desperate. At the very least he will use chemical weapons on his own people that he calls foreigners and terrorists and in the process sacrifice many of his own supporters.

Syria is largely thought to have the largest stockpile of chemical weapons in the world and the most extensive and deadliest. Yes they are moving them around supposedly to protect them but I would not count on that. One of the General's now in the opposition is making a plan to secure them. Under Assad he was in control of them so he knows where they all are.

Not just that but you know Israel is monitoring their movement and knows where they are. They will do anything to keep them out of the hands of Hezbollah who absolutely would use them on Israel.

Lastly do not discount Iran's ability to get her hands on them "clandestinely of course" and get them into the hands of anyone eager to use them on Israel. This is not a good situation in an already volatile predicament. Not with everyone involved there eager to gain the upper hand in influencing which way the new middle east order goes.

Iran and Russia to top it off are not going to allow a western influenced Government take control of Syria. Russia is not going to give up Tartus or let go of her interests in Syria. This is onl the beginning of the fight to control the direction of the world in the 21st century. Worse is the question of which way China will go, with the US or with Russia?


James Joiner
Gardner, Ma
http://anaverageamericanpatriot.blogspot.com