{"id":25318,"date":"2024-12-06T04:15:23","date_gmt":"2024-12-06T09:15:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/?p=25318"},"modified":"2024-12-06T04:15:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-06T09:15:23","slug":"syrian-rebels-surprise-offensive-highlights-assad-regimes-weakness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/syrian-rebels-surprise-offensive-highlights-assad-regimes-weakness\/","title":{"rendered":"Syrian Rebels\u2019 Surprise Offensive Highlights Assad Regime\u2019s Weakness"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"From CSIS:<\/a> “The Kremlin has been pushing for normalization between Ankara and Damascus and has been frustrated by Assad\u2019s intransigence. In the face of Assad\u2019s refusal to reconcile, Turkey may have allowed for a rebel offensive for the first time in years to encourage the regime to reconsider… [The] lightning-fast offensive is a monumental shift in the Syrian conflict and highlights the regime\u2019s inherent weakness. Only after years of siege and heavy bombardment, with the help of Iran and Russia, was the regime able to capture all of Aleppo city in 2016. Within a day, rebels were able to take the city with little resistance.” See CSIS article: HERE<\/a>\u00a0 – Upshot: The Assad government is weak while Russian and Iran-linked supporting groups are otherwise engaged. The Al Qaeda spin-off group Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS) in northwest Syria\u00a0 has spent four years of ceasefire building strength for this opportunity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From CSIS: “The Kremlin has been pushing for normalization between Ankara and Damascus and has been frustrated by Assad\u2019s intransigence. In the face of Assad\u2019s refusal to reconcile, Turkey may have allowed for a rebel offensive<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10167552604075290_133638503385018":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tweet"],"yoast_head":"\nSyrian Rebels\u2019 Surprise Offensive Highlights Assad Regime\u2019s Weakness – Project on Defense Alternatives<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/comw.org\/pda\/syrian-rebels-surprise-offensive-highlights-assad-regimes-weakness\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Syrian Rebels\u2019 Surprise Offensive Highlights Assad Regime\u2019s Weakness – Project on Defense Alternatives\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"From CSIS: “The Kremlin has been pushing for normalization between Ankara and Damascus and has been frustrated by Assad\u2019s intransigence. 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name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@defensealt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@defensealt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carl Conetta\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"ScholarlyArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/syrian-rebels-surprise-offensive-highlights-assad-regimes-weakness\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/syrian-rebels-surprise-offensive-highlights-assad-regimes-weakness\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carl Conetta\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/comw.org\\\/pda\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e5f32f920668cc51e114f8faf308f75b\"},\"headline\":\"Syrian Rebels\u2019 Surprise Offensive Highlights Assad Regime\u2019s 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