"Syria’s army has “purged” Aleppo’s Salaheddine district of armed groups and is pursuing others in several neighborhoods as it tries to regain control of the city, state television said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition group, reported heavy shelling in Salaheddine today, suggesting the district or parts of it are still under rebel control. An officer interviewed by the state-run TV channel said“mercenaries” from other countries, including Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, were helping the rebels in Aleppo.
Troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad have been battling rebels who seized several neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria’s most populous city and its commercial hub, since last week. The army pounded the city with heavy artillery and helicopter gunships, opposition groups say" Bloomberg
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IMO, the rebels have miscalculated. Their force has not "evolved" enough to confront significant conventional forces in an urban environment or anywhere else that the conventional forces can "pin" them in place against terrain or some other obstacle.
They will pay heavily for this error. They will lose a lot of men, and be driven from the city. Following that defeat IMO the Syrian millitary will move further north and northwest to regain control og the "sanctuaries" on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey. They will succeed in doing this unless Turkey intervenes directly in the fighting.
This would not mean the end of the war. Following such a defeat the rebels are likely to spend an extended period re-building their force in Turkey and launching a long term campaign of revolutionary warfare based on guerrillas. They may eventually succeed in bringing down the present government if they take a long view of the need to wear the regime down one "mouse" bite at a time.
There is a rumor circulating that there has been an attempt on the life of the Saudi minister of intelligence, Bandar bin Sultan. Does anyone knw anything of this? pl
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-30/syria-troops-overrun-rebel-areas-in-aleppo-state-tv-says
A few days ago DEBKA "reported" an explosion in the Saudi intelligence HQ in Riyadh (supposedly carried out by Iran) that killed Mashaal al-Qarni, Bandar's deputy. Debka is far from reliable, however. I haven't heard of anything else besides this one piece of reporting.
Posted by: Andy | 30 July 2012 at 01:56 PM
Several sources available by Google claim that Prince Bandar has died from injuries caused by a bomb blast a few days ago.
Posted by: Lars | 30 July 2012 at 02:45 PM
Syria eliminates Bandar bin Sultan in retaliation for Damascus bombing????
http://www.voltairenet.org/Syria-eliminates-Bandar-bin-Sultan
there are a few other blogs commenting on the above referencing other sources..
Posted by: Rd. | 30 July 2012 at 03:02 PM
I think you're taking state tv at face value and overestimating the Syrian army's morale.
There is video at yallasouriya of the opposition overrunning a military base north of Aleppo to open a direct route to Turkey; this is also reported in the Guardian, with an interview with the commanding officer of the Free Army; there are reports of new bomb-making capacity a chemistry professor developed for them in the last couple days which has already allowed them to disable a bunch of tanks; and yallasouriya says she has word of a major new defection coming as soon as the guy can get his exit sorted.
There is no actual evidence of a regime take-over of Salaheddine. Enduring America has footage of dead regime soldiers lying on the Salaheddine road (implying the Free Army still holds the ground and shot the video.) Al Jazeera says the Syrian Human Rights Observatory reports regime troops remain outside the neighborhood.
You don't normally let your theories race this far ahead of the known facts. Like Assad himself, you seem to have let your armor column get too far out in front of its demoralized infantry support on this one.
Posted by: giovanni falcone | 30 July 2012 at 03:43 PM
And here's the Free Army commander of the Aleppo district visiting with his troops today. Do they look like Al Qaeda? (A hint: Al Qaeda don't wear Messi jerseys and think of Barca as a former Taifa city, not the reigning Euro champions.)
Have you seen any video of the pinhead (Assad) visiting any of his troops recently.
Pour a cocktail and relax. This isn't going nearly as badly as you think.
Posted by: giovanni falcone | 30 July 2012 at 03:52 PM
http://www.voltairenet.org/Syria-reportedly-eliminated-Bandar
not sure what to make of this. rumint ?
Posted by: tunde | 30 July 2012 at 03:56 PM
A quick Google search yielded this result for all it's worth:
http://hamsayeh.net/world/2078-unconfirmed-reports-prince-bandar-bin-sultan-dies-of-his-injuries-after-a-bomb-blast.html
Posted by: Jose | 30 July 2012 at 04:21 PM
Why does bloomberg quote the "opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights"
Look up WIKI
"The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights
which is often cited by mainstream media is run out of a two-bedroom terraced home in Coventry, UK, by Rami Abdulrahman (or Rami Abdul Rahman, or Rami Abdelrahman), a Syrian Sunni Muslim who also runs a clothes shop."
Posted by: boindub | 30 July 2012 at 05:58 PM
Colonel, I don't wish to assume conspiracy when simple incompetence can explain events, but is this possibly an intended result? The Syrian revolution is largely stage managed from outside, and the strategy has largely been to make the case for greater outside involvement. Is the point here to try to generate a slaughter by Syrian forces to use as an excuse for foreign intervention? Also, I notice that there are many reports of international jihadis flooding into Aleppo. Is there a possibility that US/Western-backed rebels are letting the jihadis do the dying for them while they stand back and film the "massacre" for the world?
Posted by: Bill | 30 July 2012 at 06:03 PM
Bill
The people having their asses handed to them in Aleppo don't realy look much like AQ. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 30 July 2012 at 06:41 PM
Soemone should talk to '41 or '43 about this. If Bandar Bush has been killed, the Bush family would know.
Posted by: Matthew | 30 July 2012 at 07:45 PM
The Guardian (UK) has a piece entitled "Al-Qaida turns tide for rebels in battle for eastern Syria". It concludes with this rather chilling observation by a young doctor working for the revolution:
"They are stealing the revolution from us and they are working for the day that comes after."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/30/al-qaida-rebels-battle-syria
This on-the-ground report paints a chilling picture of the ruthless efficiency of these battle-hardened AQ jihadis from all over the ME, in contrast to the amateurish and lackadaisical performance of the FSA.
Whether the Assad regime falls or survives (with the insurgency continuing in a lower key), it appears that the jihadis will be well-established in Syria. From where they will destabilize Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan. Israel and the West will come later.
All thanks to the brilliant policy pursued by the US administration and its camp followers.
Posted by: FB Ali | 30 July 2012 at 08:41 PM
Seems like the media is doing its usual song and dance declaring they 'both sides declare victory' while I'm seeing a lot of dead rebels.
Posted by: Tyler | 30 July 2012 at 09:25 PM
The Vietnamese made the same mistake early on? In the aftermath of WW2 and well before Dien Bien Phu.
Posted by: Eliot | 30 July 2012 at 09:25 PM
Eliot
Yes. What comes to mind were the heavy losses the Viet Mnh took before the Chinese communists too to training them. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 30 July 2012 at 09:33 PM
Boindub, welcome to the world of information operations... or propaganda... or damned lies.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 30 July 2012 at 09:52 PM
I had a question regarding Panettas public statements about Aleppo and his "final nail" comment refering to Asad. Is that just bilge for public consumption? The regime seems fairly stable and quite capable of projecting force within its borders. Why stake your reputation on something that could be undeniably wrong in the space of a week? What purpose does it serve?
Posted by: Eliot | 30 July 2012 at 10:08 PM
This is totally off-topic, but I thought you might like it.
I came across a book, "America Through Hindu Eyes", published in 1918. The author was a student from India, and later returned on official business. His foreword has this:
It is said that the American's love for his country is so strong, that if he had the choice between Heaven and the land of his birth, he would unhesitatingly prefer the latter. A story is told illustrating the love of country of the Bostonian. His wife dies and goes to Heaven and he telephones here:
From earth - "Hallo."
From Heaven - "Hallo."
"Is that you, Angelina dear?"
"Yes, darling."
"Well, how do you like it up there?"
"It is all right here, but it is not Boston."
But the patriotism of the Virginian beats even that of the Bostonian. I heard the following story in Virginia: A man in Heaven was tied to a stake. Somebody seeing him in that plight said to St. Peter: "Your Holiness, is Heaven a free country?"
"Of course, yes".
"Then why is that gentleman over there tied to a stake?"
"Because he loves his own country better than Heaven; if we were to set him free, the first thing he would do would be to quit Heaven, and go back to earth."
"Is that so? Where is he from?"
"From what other place can he be? He is from Virginia."
---
Posted by: Arun | 30 July 2012 at 10:25 PM
From what I know,see,hear,read ,think and feel I think you are close to the truth.I cannot see this dragging out for a long time before Asad is out.The area is too volatile,too many big players with their necks out and too much at stake,ego wise if nothing else.The momentum ,IMO,is on the side of the "rebels".The visceral strength and ardor brought to the fight by the young long suppressed rebels will win the day.As Napoleon said morale is half of the army.What happens the day after Asad goes out,hopefully feet first,is another story.
Posted by: Phil Cattar | 30 July 2012 at 11:00 PM
In this article John Bolton makes the case for a foreign intervention in Syria.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/07/24/america-and-its-allies-must-prepare-to-secure-syria-weapons-mass-destruction/
Does the American public buy into this after the Iraq WMD fiasco?
Posted by: fatsamurai | 31 July 2012 at 02:23 AM
http://www.voltairenet.org/Syria-reportedly-eliminated-Bandar
Posted by: fatsamurai | 31 July 2012 at 02:30 AM
I wonder how the people of Aleppo feels about the fighting.
One day peaceful and the next a battlefield with all the negative consequences for the residents in the affected areas.
Is that something which strengthens the rebels or the regime when it comes to the political support.
Posted by: Poul | 31 July 2012 at 05:27 AM
A brief follow-up piece appeared on the Voltairenet.org site yesterday:
“All through the day, numerous media have tried to ascertain whether or not Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been the victim of a deadly attack on July 26, as announced by Voltaire Network citing a non official-source [1].
“Strangely, Saudi authorities have not responded to inquiries by the media, refusing to confirm or deny the death of their newly appointed chief of the intelligence services.
“Clearly, regardless of whether the Prince is dead or alive, such muteness denotes a serious disarray within the Saudi royal family.”
(See http://www.voltairenet.org/Riyad-neither-confirms-nor-denies )
Posted by: David Habakkuk | 31 July 2012 at 08:54 AM
Ban Ki Moon is still talking about a transitional government. Are you kidding me? If he was out of touch with reality before as everyone suspected, he surely is now.
Posted by: Kunuri | 31 July 2012 at 11:08 AM
I suspect most people are simply trying to survive. It's the radicals who will pick up arms and fight, and that goes for both sides. Most will do their best to avoid provoking trouble with the rebels or the government forces.
Posted by: Eliot | 31 July 2012 at 04:09 PM