Syrian rebels push into Assad's Alawite mountain stronghold

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Syrian rebels push into Assad's Alawite mountain stronghold

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
AMMAN | Mon Aug 5, 2013 6:04pm EDT

(Reuters) - Syrian rebel fighters armed with anti-tank missiles pushed toward President Bashar al-Assad's hometown of Qardaha on Monday, the second day of a surprise offensive in the heartland of his minority Alawite sect, opposition activists said.

Forces comprising 10 mainly Islamist brigades, including two al Qaeda-linked groups, advanced south to the outskirts of the Alawite village of Aramo, 20 km (12 miles) from Qardaha, taking advantage of rugged terrain, the activists said.

On Sunday rebel fighters captured half a dozen villages on the northern tip of the Alawite Mountain, located east of the port city of Latakia. The area is the main recruiting ground for Assad's core praetorian guard units comprising the Republican Guards, Fourth Division and special forces.

Those pro-Assad fighters are mostly centered in Damascus where they are spearheading operations against mainly Sunni rebels battling against four decades of rule by Assad and his late father.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/05/us-syria-crisis-mountain-idUSBRE97410820130805

[Benton D Struckcheon]

1. Al Nusra massacres Kurds in the north

A bit of collateral damage, I suppose, from the above. Full confession: I did NOT watch the video connected to this story. No doubt extremely graphic. You can hit the pause button as soon as it starts playing, and just read the story.

You have been warned:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/08/05/317331/syria-militants-kill-450-kurd-civilians/

[John2]

2. This report is

, How can I say this? The Syrian Army Chief of Staff, was just in Homs inspecting Troops. He is not an Alawite. He is a Sunni. How can the Top General of the Syrian Army be a Sunni?

Most of those Brigades fighting around Lakatia and Aleppo are Foreign fighters. Alawites in and around Lakatia are Syrians. These people are not. So that is more propaganda. The Shahiba are civilians, that are loyal to the regime. When they talk about killing them, these Terrorists groups are talking about massacreing civilians. They use that term to deceive the public, because it would be War crimes. The civilians they massacre, they take these bodies and present videos of them, so they can blame the regime for War crimes. You notice how in the same text, they refer to Alawites as Dogs. This is their Fatwah, issued by rheir sheiks, to kill infidels.

Take notice also, the Taliban claims they sent fighters to help these people out. There are also Checyans, in Syria. The Russians know this, and the reason they were on to the Boston Bomber. They are fighting Jihad. The interests of Israel has been placed above the War on Terror, just like the U.S. left Afghanistan to attack Saddam Hussein. Obama has the same Neocon advisors and CIA advising him. They sold this regime change Policy to him. They just call it the Arab Spring now. You also got the neocons in John Mccain and Lindsey Graham running off to Egypt to save their warmonger scheme on the Middle East. The Muslim Brotherhood is very important to them.

Everyone of these Governments being overthrown, are now run by Islamic Jihadists, until the the overthrow of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt now. That is where the deceptrion is, and the U.S. being over zealous in protecting Israel's Interests, instead of the World's Interests in combating Islamic extremism. If you really look at the whole situation, they are winning, and getting the West to do the job for them. The most powerful groups and people fighting the Syrian Government are Terrorists.

This General Idriss is being paid. Once a traitor, always a traitor, because he can be bought. He has no control over units in Syria. He can't even discipline them. When you have no way of diciplining your troops, you are not in charge of anything. This man is nothing more than a figure head paraded out by Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, to make these groups look like an Army.

Last but not least, A professional Army with good officers knows how to win Wars. The Syrian Army is winning and I see the strategy being played out on the field. If all the rebels went to one area in the Mountains, they don't control any large urban areas of Syria. The population moves further in for protection by the Army, then what do you have left? All you have left is a bunch of empty villages with all the Terrorist groups in one area. Heaven help them when the massive fire power of the Syrian Army forces hit them, like in Al Quisair. You will have naval forces, the Air Force and ground forces hitting you from all sides. I suggest they get out of there as fast as they can, if they want to survive. Generals win Wars, Idiots lead gangs.