Assad's Syria is wearing down? Don't count on it

Rebels destroyed 10 helicopters at an airport in Syria also another warplane shot down, Syria's air forces exhausted. Syrian rebels have begun a major operation in the Aleppo region, aiming to strike at security compounds and bases around Syria's largest city, activists said Friday.

Syrian rebels have begun a major operation in the Aleppo region, aiming to strike at security compounds and bases around Syria's largest city, activists said Friday. The rebel offensives in Aleppo are led by a brigade made up mostly of army defectors who specialize in operating artillery and tanks, said Mohammed Saeed, an activist based in the city.

PHOTOS: Unrest in Syria He said the first attacks began shortly before midnight Thursday and lasted until Friday, when the "Brigade of Free Syrians" launched coordinated strikes on several security compounds in Aleppo. "The new operations aim to strike at regime forces' centers and air bases throughout Aleppo (province)," Saeed said via Skype.

Syrian rebels targeting fighter jets on the ground - FSA commander: Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, FSA Commander Colonel Riad al-Asaad revealed that Syrian rebels had shot down between 8 and 10 regime helicopters, whilst activists had also been able to document and photograph the downing of two MiG warplanes. Al-Asaad revealed that the first MiG warplane was shot down on 13 August near the Iraqi border, with its pilot being captured by the FSA, whilst the second MiG was shot down earlier this week in Idlib province. The Ahrar al-Sham battalion, which claimed responsibility for shooting down the two MiGs, claimed to have downed the warplanes utilizing a 14.5 mm heavy machine gun.

As for the shooting down of the MiG on Thursday, the warplane was reportedly shot down shortly after taking off in an attack on the Abu Zohur airbase by “hundreds of rebels”. The FSA claimed that 11 grounded MiGs at the airbase were also destroyed, and that the Syrian soldiers manning the base either fled or were killed in the attack. Observers have claimed that Syria’s aerial capabilities are “exhausted”

Airport Attack: Rebels destroyed 10 helicopters at an airport near Idlib, Al Jazeera television reported, airing footage of the attack. Syrian security forces killed at least 142 people across the country yesterday, Al Arabiya television reported, citing the Syrian Network for Human Rights.

More than 23,000 lives have been lost during the unrest, the U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights estimates. The United Nations refugee agency warned yesterday that the tide of Syrians leaving the country was rising. The number reaching northern Jordan doubled to 10,000 in the week to Aug. 27, the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on its website.

Syria rebels claim warplane shot down: Rebels said they shot down a MiG aircraft near Abu el-Zohur military airport in the northwestern province of Idlib on Thursday. "A MiG was shot down this morning by our men using automatic weapons ... The two pilots who parachuted from the plane were captured," Colonel Afif Mahmoud Suleiman, provincial commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, said. There was no immediate confirmation of the claim. France and Turkey plan to channel aid to rebel-held parts of Syria so that these "liberated zones" can administer themselves and staunch an outflow of refugees.

Buffer zones: In Deir Ezzor, eastern Syria, rebels sent mortars crashing into a military security headquarters in Albi Kamal town, while fierce clashes broke out in Deir Ezzor city near another military security headquarters, the Observatory said. The Security Council meeting called by France is aimed at "appealing to world conscience and for mobilization" in the face of the Syrian humanitarian drama, a diplomat said in New York. Turkey has floated the idea of creating buffer zones within Syria to receive those displaced by the conflict so they do not flood across the borders into neighboring countries.

France to help Syria's "liberated zones": France plans to channel aid to rebel-held parts of Syria so that these "liberated zones" can administer themselves and staunch an outflow of refugees, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. He said France and Turkey had identified areas in the north and south that had escaped President Bashar al-Assad's control, creating a chance for local communities to govern themselves without feeling they had to flee to neighboring countries.

Isn't France and Turkey just asking Assad to attack those people, slaughtering even more, and pushing themselves into direct confrontation with Assad?

Envisioning a post-Assad Syria as civil war grinds on: On Tuesday, the United States Institute of Peace issued "The Day After" plan for a post-Assad Syria. The 133-page statement of goals and principles for a new Syria was six months in the making.

It was produced by 45 Syrian opposition figures brought together by the State Department-funded institute's Middle East experts and partners from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. It is long on institution-building wonk-speak and short on how the opposition is supposed to get to the post-Assad era. But analysts hailed it as a worthy undertaking even as government and rebel forces are mired in protracted battles to control key areas of Damascus and Aleppo.

now that we know how involved Russia, Iran and Hezbollah are in the slaughtering that is going on around the country that is beginning to look like the beginning of their fight not nearing the end. I think France and Turkey are in for a surprise and will take this mess to the next level.

You have to be very concerned about what is happening in Syria especially. Russia, China, and Iran are not going to allow Syria to fall to Democracy. What we saw after the voter fraud in Iran was mild compared to what the IRG will do if this movement spreads to Iran. I really wish Bashar would step down but Iran is the elephant in the room any way you look at it. The total middle east breakdown we have written about numerous times is well under way. We can only hope we keep it from erupting into WW3.

In closing: You know Putin just got himself reelected as President, he did this so he could be at the helm of Russia as he like me knows 100% that world war is our future. He plans on marshaling China who is rapidly building a more formidable military and whoever he can to take on US hegemony.Russia watched helplessly as we had our way in Libya. Putin blames what is happening in Syria on our interference and Libya for training the protesters to fight against Bashar Al-Assad.

Putin is going to do everything possible to keep us from helping the Syrian people and I really feel for them. I do not see this going down the way Libya did and Iran and Russia are going to make sure it does not. I am afraid the Syrian people are going to be sacrificed, sacrificed in what is merely an opening salvo in this the wars for future dominance. I just heard that Russia is gathering forces to go into Iran via Armenia for a quick strike through Georgia. We have a showdown setting up that looks disastrous for the worlds future. It will be a miracle if we can keep this from turning into WW3!




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