A Power Vacuum Looms In Syria As The Assad Governments Authority Slowly Disintegrates

Syria’s Civil War: A Vacuum Looms -- The Economist

Bashar Assad is losing his grip in both Damascus and Aleppo; a vacuum looms.

WAR came suddenly to Aleppo, Syria’s second city. Locals in a public park sheltering from clashes between government forces and rebels stared at the sight of a couple kissing against the backdrop of gunfire. The pair explained that they had married the day before in the city centre, which had hitherto been calm and apparently loyal to President Bashar Assad; the new reality of rebellion had not yet overcome their first flush of marital love. But any lingering doubt that Syria’s richest city had been dragged wholesale into the national conflict zone was blown away on July 24th when helicopter gunships began to hammer Aleppo’s outskirts. The civil war had arrived with a vengeance.

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My Comment: The rebels have learned that holding territory is a guarantee of been pulverized by the Syrian military. Hit and run tactics are the best for them .... and more to the point .... incredibly effective. This is a war of attrition, and by slowly chipping away at the Assad military machine will guarantee it's eventual collapse.