Syria's Assad says Western strike could trigger regional war

[SinglePot]

Putin's request for no military intervention by the west was for humanitarian reasons. (?)

Assad is a spoilt Arab bully who doesn't like it when things don't go his way. That is how he and many others in that part of the world are brought up. Cry to daddy when the casino money runs out. Cry to mummy when the kids in the playground give him a hard time.

Assad and Putin talk out of both sides of their mouth to suit. Highly manipulative.

Obama administration is expected to deal with these schisters with integrity and transparency.

US and the international community expect too much when dealing with these manipulative selfish rats.

[Scott]

More off-topic posts deleted.

[Mosha]

Assad reported om BBC - War is at a stalemate and a ceasefire may be called for.

[FDog]

Putin's request for no military intervention by the west was for humanitarian reasons. (?)

Assad is a spoilt Arab bully who doesn't like it when things don't go his way. That is how he and many others in that part of the world are brought up. Cry to daddy when the casino money runs out. Cry to mummy when the kids in the playground give him a hard time.

Assad and Putin talk out of both sides of their mouth to suit. Highly manipulative.

Obama administration is expected to deal with these schisters with integrity and transparency.

US and the international community expect too much when dealing with these manipulative selfish rats.

Since when has Obama's administration been transparent. hahahaha, that's a good one. Heard of Snowden?

Your last sentence says it all. Why then hasn't anything been done? It is simply because Obama has no balls to follow through with what he said he would do. Which is a good thing because getting involved in Syria will just be another headache. That's why Obama is very lucky Putin stepped in to give him a free pass on his coat tails which Obama grabbed on to with both hands.

[Sing_Sling]

Putin's request for no military intervention by the west was for humanitarian reasons. (?)

Assad is a spoilt Arab bully who doesn't like it when things don't go his way. That is how he and many others in that part of the world are brought up. Cry to daddy when the casino money runs out. Cry to mummy when the kids in the playground give him a hard time.

Assad and Putin talk out of both sides of their mouth to suit. Highly manipulative.

Obama administration is expected to deal with these schisters with integrity and transparency.

US and the international community expect too much when dealing with these manipulative selfish rats.

Since when has Obama's administration been transparent. hahahaha, that's a good one. Heard of Snowden?

Your last sentence says it all. Why then hasn't anything been done? It is simply because Obama has no balls to follow through with what he said he would do. Which is a good thing because getting involved in Syria will just be another headache. That's why Obama is very lucky Putin stepped in to give him a free pass on his coat tails which Obama grabbed on to with both hands.

I doubt anyone with an open mind believes that Putin is doing this for benevolent reasons . . . but in the end it is the result that matters - in his case it is stopping/slowing down of ever increasing mayhem and death.

It is in Assad's interest to stop the civil war - that much is as logical as 1+1=2

The US? Didn't get a chance to use their new toys of mass destruction and again show the world what an amazing array of firepower they possess.

Yes, Putin did offer a way out and Obama took it = win/win/win

[Baloo22]

Well, it looks like the fighting between rebel factions (otherwise known as the slightly less bad-guys) is moving right along. The Al-Qaida Jihadists have taken over the town of Azaz on the border with Turkey. That is taken it over, not from Assad's control, but rather from "Free Syrian Army" forces. This is a instructive preview of what will happen if the Assad government collapses or is greatly weakened. The Jihadists will prove to be much more ruthless and vicious than the "moderate" rebel groups, and this will enable them to win the struggle against those "moderate" rebel groups that some here are putting so much hope in.

"Residents of Syria's Azaz Enraged over Al-Qaida Takeover"

"A day after an al-Qaida front group took control of the north Syrian town of Azaz, on the Turkish border, residents on Thursday shared online messages expressing their resentment and anger.

The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) took control of Azaz after an hours-long battle against what had been the town's main fighting group, the Northern Storm brigade."

More at the link.

http://www.naharnet....-qaida-takeover

[boomerangutang]

Putin's request for no military intervention by the west was for humanitarian reasons. (?)

Assad is a spoilt Arab bully who doesn't like it when things don't go his way. That is how he and many others in that part of the world are brought up. Cry to daddy when the casino money runs out. Cry to mummy when the kids in the playground give him a hard time.

Assad and Putin talk out of both sides of their mouth to suit. Highly manipulative.

Obama administration is expected to deal with these schisters with integrity and transparency.

US and the international community expect too much when dealing with these manipulative selfish rats.

Since when has Obama's administration been transparent. hahahaha, that's a good one. Heard of Snowden?

Your last sentence says it all. Why then hasn't anything been done? It is simply because Obama has no balls to follow through with what he said he would do. Which is a good thing because getting involved in Syria will just be another headache. That's why Obama is very lucky Putin stepped in to give him a free pass on his coat tails which Obama grabbed on to with both hands.

It sounds like you wanted Obama to drop bombs on Syria, in the hope that things would devolve further, so you could continue to bad-mouth Obama.

You choose to take the most derogatory spin on evolving events. Instead, I see Obama as trying to take the best course of action in lieu of tough circumstances. By anyone's reckoning (re; what to do), he's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. He's got millions of Monday morning quarterbacks - half of whom are trying their darndest to find fault at every step. There is no magic wand solution for the M.E. The best one can hope for there, is the least problematic outcome of several ugly options.

[Credo]

I've got to agree with Boomerangutang. A lot of people are just plain anti-Obama. The point is, though, that once he threatened to use military strikes because of the chemical weapons, stuff started to happen and it started to happen rather fast.

I don't believe the US has any grand desires on Syria. I would guess that they have more ideas of what they don't want to happen than what they do want to happen. It's been pretty well understood that the mercenaries that flock to these conflicts are not pretty dodgy characters and their agenda is about the opposite of any western power.

US relations with Syria have varied from almost non-existent to strained, but never have they been good. That would mean that a huge % of the population have grown up with a media that is pretty anti-American and as they likely don't trust the US. Any attempt to intervene would probably be counterproductive to the desired outcome.

[simple1]

Well, it looks like the fighting between rebel factions (otherwise known as the slightly less bad-guys) is moving right along. The Al-Qaida Jihadists have taken over the town of Azaz on the border with Turkey. That is taken it over, not from Assad's control, but rather from "Free Syrian Army" forces. This is a instructive preview of what will happen if the Assad government collapses or is greatly weakened. The Jihadists will prove to be much more ruthless and vicious than the "moderate" rebel groups, and this will enable them to win the struggle against those "moderate" rebel groups that some here are putting so much hope in.

"Residents of Syria's Azaz Enraged over Al-Qaida Takeover"

"A day after an al-Qaida front group took control of the north Syrian town of Azaz, on the Turkish border, residents on Thursday shared online messages expressing their resentment and anger.

The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) took control of Azaz after an hours-long battle against what had been the town's main fighting group, the Northern Storm brigade."

More at the link. http://www.naharnet....-qaida-takeover

US/NATO has been training non Al Qaeda aligned fighters in Jordon and Turkey, one reason to counter Al Qaeda fighters & territory gains & in the event of the Syrian government collapse. Lets hope it's not too late in providing sufficient training, weapons & so on. I still don't understand that whilst US claims to know the fund raisers & route for money being sent to Al Qaeda affiliate groups from Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Gulf States & claims could be closed down at any time; at least in the public domain, US still has not taken action to close down the funding.

Assad's Deputy Prime Minister has requested a ceasefire in order that political negotiations can commence as he claims the fighting is at a stalemate. Unless Assad agrees to step down, I seriously doubt this will get any traction. In the meantime Syrian Army & militias continue the deliberate killing of civilians in FSA held locations

[Publicus]

Well, it looks like the fighting between rebel factions (otherwise known as the slightly less bad-guys) is moving right along. The Al-Qaida Jihadists have taken over the town of Azaz on the border with Turkey. That is taken it over, not from Assad's control, but rather from "Free Syrian Army" forces. This is a instructive preview of what will happen if the Assad government collapses or is greatly weakened. The Jihadists will prove to be much more ruthless and vicious than the "moderate" rebel groups, and this will enable them to win the struggle against those "moderate" rebel groups that some here are putting so much hope in.

"Residents of Syria's Azaz Enraged over Al-Qaida Takeover"

"A day after an al-Qaida front group took control of the north Syrian town of Azaz, on the Turkish border, residents on Thursday shared online messages expressing their resentment and anger.

The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) took control of Azaz after an hours-long battle against what had been the town's main fighting group, the Northern Storm brigade."

More at the link.

http://www.naharnet....-qaida-takeover

The prediction business is a pretty risky one even for people with Tarot cards, Ouija boards and crystal balls. You give too much credit to the Jihadists, almost to the point of wishing them well, or expecting that, because they are Jihadists, victory is inevitably theirs - perhaps already theirs.

Give the moderates some credit, please. They are strong in number and fierce fighters themselves. Just because the Jihadists are religiously motivated and fanatics doesn't necessarily mean they can, would or should prevail. The moderate forces are not Boy Scouts. The moderate forces are hardened Mid-East fighters who themselves are tough, determined and ruthless in battle.

Two major moderate groups of fighters have joined in the battle to retake Azaz and are doing well. Yes, the residents of Azaz don't want the Jihadists and complained bitterly when just the past week the Jihadists forces took control of many parts of Azaz but did so without much organized opposition. Now however the two strong moderate forces that have joined to fight the Jihadists over Azaz have had successes and are doing well, as the report below clearly states.

ISIS is the Jihadist fighting group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and it is getting hammered and pushed out and back from Azaz by the significant new alliance of the largest rebel group in Aleppo with the Free Syran Army. During the past few days the Aleppo moderate force relocated to Azaz specifically to join with the FSA to force the ISIS out of Azaz.

The moderate rebels apparently have decided that the radical Jihadist groups in Syria must be eliminated first so that the civil war against Assad and his forces can continue without the presence of the Jihadist groups, or with the Jihadist groups significantly degraded. Also keep in mind that during the summer the CIA sent out its first groups of newly trained and armed rebel groups, with the assistance of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, France and the UK.

This may be why it's reported here that the BBC is reporting Assad wants a cease fire. Assad would know that after the reinforced and strengthened moderate forces degrade the radical Jihadists, the moderates with the support of the Syrian people will be in charge of the civil war and will go directly after him.

Now There's A Civil War Within The Syrian Civil War

"There's been a real shift in focus [among Syrians in the north]," a Western official working with the opposition told The Wall Street Journal. "A sense of 'We can't get rid of the regime without getting rid of [iSIS] first.'"

Jenan Moussa, a reporter for Dubai-based Al Aan TV who is at the border, reports that fighting has started. Moussa and Al Jazeera reporter Anita McNaught report that Liwa al-Tawhid, the largest rebel group in Aleppo, is now fighting ISIS on the side of the FSA.

If true, that Liwa' al-Tawhid is fighting with FSA battalions against ISIS, that is quite significant.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/al-qaeda-and-syrian-rebels-fighting-2013-9#ixzz2fPCJ1avb

[Publicus]

Putin's request for no military intervention by the west was for humanitarian reasons. (?)

Assad is a spoilt Arab bully who doesn't like it when things don't go his way. That is how he and many others in that part of the world are brought up. Cry to daddy when the casino money runs out. Cry to mummy when the kids in the playground give him a hard time.

Assad and Putin talk out of both sides of their mouth to suit. Highly manipulative.

Obama administration is expected to deal with these schisters with integrity and transparency.

US and the international community expect too much when dealing with these manipulative selfish rats.

Since when has Obama's administration been transparent. hahahaha, that's a good one. Heard of Snowden?

Your last sentence says it all. Why then hasn't anything been done? It is simply because Obama has no balls to follow through with what he said he would do. Which is a good thing because getting involved in Syria will just be another headache. That's why Obama is very lucky Putin stepped in to give him a free pass on his coat tails which Obama grabbed on to with both hands.

Why don't you quit the same-same anti-Obama bombast to instead learn something?

Jane's Defense Weekly terrorism and insurgency specialists even have produced a clear and easy to read and understand chart at the link below that even people such as yourself can read and understand, if not comprehend.

Did you know for instance that the total number of rebels fighting in Syria is 100,000? No, you didn't know.

So now learn something, please.

Here's The Full, Extremist-To-Moderate Spectrum Of The 100,000 Syrian Rebels

The complex reality is that there are as many as 1,000 individual armed rebel groups, each of which fall somewhere on the spectrum from al-Qaeda ideologue to secular Syrian Arab Army defector.

Charles Lister of IHS Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Center recently published a fantastic article detailing "specific nature and composition of the insurgency itself." According to Lister, nearly half of the rebel forces are jihadist or hardline Islamists.

We've drawn on Lister's insights and other estimates to establish a rough breakdown of the rebels fighting Assad:

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/graphic-the-most-accurate-breakdown-of-the-syrian-rebels-2013-9#ixzz2fPFJxdli

[Sing_Sling]

Putin's request for no military intervention by the west was for humanitarian reasons. (?)

Assad is a spoilt Arab bully who doesn't like it when things don't go his way. That is how he and many others in that part of the world are brought up. Cry to daddy when the casino money runs out. Cry to mummy when the kids in the playground give him a hard time.

Assad and Putin talk out of both sides of their mouth to suit. Highly manipulative.

Obama administration is expected to deal with these schisters with integrity and transparency.

US and the international community expect too much when dealing with these manipulative selfish rats.

Since when has Obama's administration been transparent. hahahaha, that's a good one. Heard of Snowden?

Your last sentence says it all. Why then hasn't anything been done? It is simply because Obama has no balls to follow through with what he said he would do. Which is a good thing because getting involved in Syria will just be another headache. That's why Obama is very lucky Putin stepped in to give him a free pass on his coat tails which Obama grabbed on to with both hands.

It sounds like you wanted Obama to drop bombs on Syria, in the hope that things would devolve further, so you could continue to bad-mouth Obama.

You choose to take the most derogatory spin on evolving events. Instead, I see Obama as trying to take the best course of action in lieu of tough circumstances. By anyone's reckoning (re; what to do), he's damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't. He's got millions of Monday morning quarterbacks - half of whom are trying their darndest to find fault at every step. There is no magic wand solution for the M.E. The best one can hope for there, is the least problematic outcome of several ugly options.

The best course of action would have been getting involved at the outset, not under some specious reason a few years and 100.000 deaths later.

He certainly isn't damned if he didn't and doesn't. No-one wants the US to be the self-appointed world policeman, so why does the US continue to behave this way, administration after administration . . .

I've got to agree with Boomerangutang. A lot of people are just plain anti-Obama. The point is, though, that once he threatened to use military strikes because of the chemical weapons, stuff started to happen and it started to happen rather fast.

I don't believe the US has any grand desires on Syria. I would guess that they have more ideas of what they don't want to happen than what they do want to happen. It's been pretty well understood that the mercenaries that flock to these conflicts are not pretty dodgy characters and their agenda is about the opposite of any western power.

US relations with Syria have varied from almost non-existent to strained, but never have they been good. That would mean that a huge % of the population have grown up with a media that is pretty anti-American and as they likely don't trust the US. Any attempt to intervene would probably be counterproductive to the desired outcome.

Nothing to do with anti-Obama, that is simply a red herring from those who can't understand why their chosen one is behaving as badly a his con predecessors.

Look under any other topic concerning Obama re/ my comments (except Syria and the NSA) - for my money the best president since Clinton, who was handed a poison chalice for his one/two term(s).

In terms of a bigger picture, I'd say it is power-politics. Russia has influence, the US has Israel, Saudi and Kuwait and is losing Egypt and several others.

It is the cold war all over again, from both the US and Russia.

[Publicus]

You talk a lot against Obama while you say it isn't about Obama.

The most active in supporting the rebels in this fight are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, France, the UK.

The US isn't trying to do it alone.

Yet you and so many others focus on Obama, Obama, Obama and the USA, the USA, the USA.

Look in the mirror to see the problem here.

[StasD]

I do not know who used chemical weapons, maybe rebels maybe Assad, but I know exactly who give money to rebels, mostly Saudi and Qatar. These countries are suspected as the sponsors of islamic terrorists in all other the world, of course unofficially. so I support Assad as less evil

[Publicus]

Ok, let's say that the report shows that Assad did use chemical weapons, which no-one would really put past this guy

What then?

The Russian proposal will be followed and the civil war continues as before . . .

I agree with this ...the west needs to understand some of these conflicts have been going on for years and will go on long after the west retreat from the casualty, political pressure and running out of $$$.

The people in the middle east wants peace and not the western ideals of democracy and voting ...this peace will come in time when they are ready...the culture there is different and interference is unwanted.

Iraq still has sectorial violence, Taliban still at the forefront in Afghanistan and these rebels in Syria are hard line jihadists and the CIA and the USA is providing intelligence, training and light weapons ...

Hard lessons to learn and the USA never seems to learn.

I can only imagine the money spent on rebuilding crappy roads in downtown New York, flood relief in Colorado and upgrading Amtrak are better uses for the funding than trying to win Mr Popular Unwanted Cop of the World award .

The United States in 1917, in Prez Woodrow Wilson's brilliant words, entered the Great European War to "make the world safe for democracy." The consequence was that the US and its democratic allies Britain and France won World War I and the absolute monarchies of Europe collapsed.

Making the world safe for democracy, i.e., the United States and its always increasing number of democratic allies, has since been ongoing and shall continue to be the purpose of the United States. The process involves many aspects.

You resist this purpose. China has never had democracy, save for a blip under Sun Yat Sen. China hates democracy and is absolutely opposed to it. To the Chinese, democracy is a modern idea that contradicts the 2500 year old tradition of Chinese dictatorship.

Democracy is a Western idea that has already permeated Asia and most of the world. Many dictatorships remain and some US allies are dictatorships, which reflects the world of realpolitik and nothing more. The US works with what there is, seeks to change what it can change, accepts what it cannot yet change.

Now the world accepts the use of chemical warfare in Syria - against civilians. This shall not stand in the longer term because it endangers all of us, sooner or later. It makes the world safe for no one.

Try re-reading this to try to get some better idea whey the policies continue from administration to administration.

Thank you.

[StasD]

Even THE TIME put PUTIN as cover man (only for foreing editions). does it mean Thank for stop Syria war?

[SinglePot]

Putin is free of restraint. No one expects integrity or transparency from him.

Nice position to be in eh?

There are no Snowdens in Russia ....apart from the real American one.

I very much doubt if Assad would offer leniency to anybody prejudicing the security of his regime from within either.

[Sing_Sling]

I'm not sure why the very few here refuse to accept that Putin's - and therefore Russia's - efforts have had a positive effect (irrespective of the political points-scoring) on this schlamozzel?

Surely saving lives is paramount . . . not taking lives.

Syrian government says war has reached stalemate

Exclusive: Deputy PM says neither side is strong enough to win and government may call for ceasefire at Geneva talks

The Syrian conflict has reached a stalemate and President Bashar al-Assad's government will call for a ceasefire at a long-delayed conference in Geneva on the state's future, the country's deputy prime minister has said in an interview with the Guardian.

Qadri Jamil said that neither side was strong enough to win the conflict, which has lasted two years and caused the death of more than 100,000 people. Jamil, who is in charge of country's finances, also said that the Syrian economy had suffered catastrophic losses.

"Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," he said. "This zero balance of forces will not change for a while."

more:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/19/syrian-government-civil-war-stalemate

[PoorSucker]

Stop the bickering or this thread will be closed.

[boomerangutang]

I would like to believe the Syrian 'rebels' lean to democratic principles, and away from Sharia Law and other forms of extremism. It's quite possible, most of them are reasonable, at this time. However, scenarios within and outside the M.E. have shown that even a relatively small % of extremist Islamists among larger groups of moderates, will wind up dominating.

They do so by a combination of intense 'holier than thou' rhetoric, designed to cow anyone less intense into compliance or at least shutting up. And they also do so by strong-arm tactics, such as gang raping (or stoning) any young woman who happens to be outside her house, unchaperoned.

In sum, I'm cynical about moderates gaining and keeping political control, anywhere in the M.E. Along with that assessment, I can't say, at this time, whether Assad's thugs are a better controlling agent, than what will ensue if/when the rebels prevail - or months hence.

[Chicog]

You just have to laugh at Assad calling for a "ceasefire".

The families and the tribes that he's butchered will only settle for one thing - his death.

Revenge is an integral part of Arab culture.

He will never be safe.

So he can try and keep playing these stupid games but there's only one way this will end up - with his departure by fair means or foul.

[F430murci]

You just have to laugh at Assad calling for a "ceasefire".

The families and the tribes that he's butchered will only settle for one thing - his death.

Revenge is an integral part of Arab culture.

He will never be safe.

So he can try and keep playing these stupid games but there's only one way this will end up - with his departure by fair means or foul.

You hit the nail on the head here. We are seeing a lot of geopolitical manipulation by Putin. Meanwhile, Russian sends in better weapons and builds another nuclear plant in Iran . . .

I am sure Assad is just going to walk outside, hug and kiss all the rebels whose families he slaughtered, all will be forgiven, Syria will rebuild and be a model of peace nation from this day forward.

[Credo]

It would be nice to believe that the rebels lean more toward democracy than to Sharia Law, but I would surmise that they do not. Democracy, and democratic principles, are not a part of some groups' genetic code. It's not a part of some more highly developed moral code.

Democracy exists when there are strong institutions which actively prevent a subversion of democratic principles. It exists in various forms and works to varying degrees in different countries and cultures. In Russia it seems to be struggling quite a bit, but the seeds are there. In places like Syria, they are very far from having the judicial system, police, military and political separations to have democracy be very workable at this time.

It could work, but it's going to be a real challenge. A very real challenge.

[Baloo22]

Well, it looks like the fighting between rebel factions (otherwise known as the slightly less bad-guys) is moving right along. The Al-Qaida Jihadists have taken over the town of Azaz on the border with Turkey. That is taken it over, not from Assad's control, but rather from "Free Syrian Army" forces. This is a instructive preview of what will happen if the Assad government collapses or is greatly weakened. The Jihadists will prove to be much more ruthless and vicious than the "moderate" rebel groups, and this will enable them to win the struggle against those "moderate" rebel groups that some here are putting so much hope in.

"Residents of Syria's Azaz Enraged over Al-Qaida Takeover"

"A day after an al-Qaida front group took control of the north Syrian town of Azaz, on the Turkish border, residents on Thursday shared online messages expressing their resentment and anger.

The jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) took control of Azaz after an hours-long battle against what had been the town's main fighting group, the Northern Storm brigade."

More at the link.

http://www.naharnet....-qaida-takeover

The prediction business is a pretty risky one even for people with Tarot cards, Ouija boards and crystal balls. You give too much credit to the Jihadists, almost to the point of wishing them well, or expecting that, because they are Jihadists, victory is inevitably theirs - perhaps already theirs.

Give the moderates some credit, please. They are strong in number and fierce fighters themselves. Just because the Jihadists are religiously motivated and fanatics doesn't necessarily mean they can, would or should prevail. The moderate forces are not Boy Scouts. The moderate forces are hardened Mid-East fighters who themselves are tough, determined and ruthless in battle.

Two major moderate groups of fighters have joined in the battle to retake Azaz and are doing well. Yes, the residents of Azaz don't want the Jihadists and complained bitterly when just the past week the Jihadists forces took control of many parts of Azaz but did so without much organized opposition. Now however the two strong moderate forces that have joined to fight the Jihadists over Azaz have had successes and are doing well, as the report below clearly states.

ISIS is the Jihadist fighting group the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and it is getting hammered and pushed out and back from Azaz by the significant new alliance of the largest rebel group in Aleppo with the Free Syran Army. During the past few days the Aleppo moderate force relocated to Azaz specifically to join with the FSA to force the ISIS out of Azaz.

The moderate rebels apparently have decided that the radical Jihadist groups in Syria must be eliminated first so that the civil war against Assad and his forces can continue without the presence of the Jihadist groups, or with the Jihadist groups significantly degraded. Also keep in mind that during the summer the CIA sent out its first groups of newly trained and armed rebel groups, with the assistance of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, France and the UK.

This may be why it's reported here that the BBC is reporting Assad wants a cease fire. Assad would know that after the reinforced and strengthened moderate forces degrade the radical Jihadists, the moderates with the support of the Syrian people will be in charge of the civil war and will go directly after him.

Now There's A Civil War Within The Syrian Civil War

"There's been a real shift in focus [among Syrians in the north]," a Western official working with the opposition told The Wall Street Journal. "A sense of 'We can't get rid of the regime without getting rid of [iSIS] first.'"

Jenan Moussa, a reporter for Dubai-based Al Aan TV who is at the border, reports that fighting has started. Moussa and Al Jazeera reporter Anita McNaught report that Liwa al-Tawhid, the largest rebel group in Aleppo, is now fighting ISIS on the side of the FSA.

If true, that Liwa' al-Tawhid is fighting with FSA battalions against ISIS, that is quite significant.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/al-qaeda-and-syrian-rebels-fighting-2013-9#ixzz2fPCJ1avb

You could likely find some of your points in the book "The Great Moderates of Arab Conflicts"! You could, that is, if such a book actually existed. The moderates do not have the motivation or fanaticism of the Jihadists, nor are they as vicious and ruthless. These moderates or "hardened Mid-east fighters" as you call them will be no match for the Jihadists in a post-Assad Syria.

Just look at the reaction of the residents of Azaz when the Jihadists took over. Plenty of complaining on the internets but how many actually picked-up a weapon, stood up on their own two feet, and fought against the Jihadists? They know better. That's moderate for you.

The more this situation develops, the more it becomes evident that Putin really has thought this through much better than Obama. I believe Putin realizes that the place is a mess but a mess with Assad being the biggest power there is far more stable than the Jihadists taking over. And the longer Assad is in power and supplied with lethal weaponry, the more Jihadists end up dead.

[Ulysses G.]

I've got to agree with Boomerangutang. A lot of people are just plain anti-Obama. The point is, though, that once he threatened to use military strikes because of the chemical weapons, stuff started to happen and it started to happen rather fast.

Not really. Obama had already backtracked on using force without congressional approval and it was very obvious that Congress was going to turn him down on an "extremely small" mission.

Putin saw an opportunity to take advantage of his weakness and he took it, leaving Putin with his base in Syria, Assad in power and very little chance of actually getting rid of Syria's chemical weapons.

[Publicus]

I'm not sure why the very few here refuse to accept that Putin's - and therefore Russia's - efforts have had a positive effect (irrespective of the political points-scoring) on this schlamozzel?

Surely saving lives is paramount . . . not taking lives.

Syrian government says war has reached stalemate

Exclusive: Deputy PM says neither side is strong enough to win and government may call for ceasefire at Geneva talks

The Syrian conflict has reached a stalemate and President Bashar al-Assad's government will call for a ceasefire at a long-delayed conference in Geneva on the state's future, the country's deputy prime minister has said in an interview with the Guardian.

Qadri Jamil said that neither side was strong enough to win the conflict, which has lasted two years and caused the death of more than 100,000 people. Jamil, who is in charge of country's finances, also said that the Syrian economy had suffered catastrophic losses.

"Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side," he said. "This zero balance of forces will not change for a while."

more:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/19/syrian-government-civil-war-stalemate

The longer the civil war goes on, the less Assad can hold out.

Assad is buckling badly now.

Press forward. No cease fire. Continue to be relentless against the Assad regime. It's costing Putin a lot of cash money and resources too to continue to support the teetering Assad regime.

Posters here are certain the Jihadists will prevail - they've bought in to the myth that the Jihadists are invincible. The Jihadists are not invincible. A Jihadist victory is not inevitable.

Posters here fail to give the moderate forces their due credit. The moderates have been successfully fighting Assad's forces for more than two years while holding the Jihadists at bay. The moderate forces are doing a practically superhuman task while continuing to hold up well. The moderates now are getting increased tangible Western-Arab material support.

The cold hard fact is that the Assad regime lost its ability and its legitimacy to govern Syria long ago. The only solution is for Assad to go, one way or the other, along with his regime.

Putin is backing a loser and Putin knows it. Putin and Assad desperately need a cease fire or the whole house of crap will come crashing down on them very soon.

Snowden and Assad in Russia would make a handsome couple at Sochi.

[Ulysses G.]

It seems to me that the ceasefire request is just another trick. Assad is winning handily, he has much superior weapons and troops and he has Iran and Russia bankrolling him and supplying arms. There is no way that he thinks the war has reached a stalemate.

[JemJem]

I don't think the jihadi forces can be in full control of places for any long period. It will be just a matter of time before the US bombs the jihadis in Syria.

If it is proven that Turkey and some Gulf states provide any kind of aid to the jihadi forces, the US should cut all aid to those countries.

The way things look, the best option is for Assad and his government to stay in power, BUT free and fair elections should be called for within 2 years.

[simple1]

I don't think the jihadi forces can be in full control of places for any long period. It will be just a matter of time before the US bombs the jihadis in Syria.

If it is proven that Turkey and some Gulf states provide any kind of aid to the jihadi forces, the US should cut all aid to those countries.

The way things look, the best option is for Assad and his government to stay in power, BUT free and fair elections should be called for within 2 years.

You do realise that Assad violently suppressed demonstrations calling for democracy in 2011 that triggered the civil war. Assad will not permit free and fair elctions

[F430murci]

I don't think the jihadi forces can be in full control of places for any long period. It will be just a matter of time before the US bombs the jihadis in Syria.

If it is proven that Turkey and some Gulf states provide any kind of aid to the jihadi forces, the US should cut all aid to those countries.

The way things look, the best option is for Assad and his government to stay in power, BUT free and fair elections should be called for within 2 years.

You do realise that Assad violently suppressed demonstrations calling for democracy in 2011 that triggered the civil war. Assad will not permit free and fair elctions

Haha, you do realize that truth and reality is a pretty irrelevant concept on here.