In northern Syria, is the US running out of rebel allies?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Harakat Hazzm, a US-armed group vetted by the CIA for training, has fallen to an Al Qaeda affiliate that is targeting moderate rebels.

Gains by Jabhat al-Nusra, an Al Qaeda affiliate, have forced two major US-backed rebel groups to disband at a time when Washington needs solid partners to counter the influence of jihadists in Syria.

Al Nusra, the main jihadist rival to the self-declared Islamic State, delivered a deathblow over the weekend to Harakat Hazzm, seizing the moderate rebels' headquarters in Aleppo Province. It also took its remaining weapons, including dozens of US-supplied TOW anti-tank missiles, according to images the group disseminated.

Hazzm’s defeat is a setback for Washington, which has struggled to create a coherent strategy that bolsters pro-Western groups among the opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. After careful vetting, the CIA had zeroed in on Hazzm as a movement worth arming and training in a covert program launched in 2014.

Al Nusra had previously knocked out the moderate Syrian Revolutionary Forces (SRF), the largest US-backed rebel faction, which it defeated in the fertile basin of Idlib in November. The US ally folded almost without a fight. Its leader, snubbed by locals and other rebel groups for corruption and smuggling, fled to Turkey.

Syrian activists issued a statement condemning the latest offensive against Hazzm, saying it distracted from the fight against the regime of President Assad and the extremist IS. They also accused Al Nusra of copying IS by using allegations of corruption as a pretext to attack rivals.

In the end, however, none of the other Aleppo-based rebel groups were willing to stick their neck out for Hazzm.

http://news.yahoo.com/northern-syria-us-running-rebel-allies-133648623.html

A watershed moment is coming, to where no one is left in Syria willing to be Obama's boots on the ground. No worries. Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard will take up the slack.

[JohnR! 5,495]

It seems fighters expect to put their lives on the line for a reason. Nobody wants to risk life and limb for another Vietnam or Iraq invasion.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

It seems fighters expect to put their lives on the line for a reason. Nobody wants to risk life and limb for another Vietnam or Iraq invasion.

You never served, did you?

[JohnR! 5,495]

Not with Harakat Hazzm, I didn't.

How about you stay in topic. It's your own thread you should be the last person highjacking it.

You never served, did you?

Edited March 4, 2015 by JohnR!

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

[JohnR! 5,495]

It's your thread. I find it interesting you should highjack it. Somewhat futile, isn't it so?

[Boiler 45,466]

The only reason I can think of signing up with the US is if it gives you a way put to the US when everything goes tits up and they pay well.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Think again... That's why I mentioned Vietnam and Iraq...

http://www.middleeasteye.net/in-depth/features/left-behind-america-abandons-iraqis-who-helped-them-617359264

http://www.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/02/19/intv-amanpour-matt-zeller-iraq-afghanistan-translators-holmes.cnn

The only reason I can think of signing up with the US is if it gives you a way put to the US when everything goes tits up and they pay well.

[Boiler 45,466]

42,000 waiting, that would represent a larger force than ISIS.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The only reason I can think of signing up with the US is if it gives you a way put to the US when everything goes tits up and they pay well.

When you are trying to recruit indigenous forces to fight an insurgency against an established government, it usually helps to demonstrate two things:

First, there is a reasonable path to victory.

Second, there is no way to avoid the inevitable.

Usually, the first is relatively easy to demonstrate, with a simple demonstration of US hardware. The second, is a little harder. Usually, indigenous forces have found a way to maintain some sort of coexistence with whoever is in charge, and it is hard to demonstrate that this time is somehow different.

[JohnR! 5,495]

Historically the US hasn't been very effective with the cleanup operation in the aftermath of major conflicts.

42,000 waiting, that would represent a larger force than ISIS.

[Boiler 45,466]

When you are trying to recruit indigenous forces to fight an insurgency against an established government, it usually helps to demonstrate two things:

First, there is a reasonable path to victory.

Second, there is no way to avoid the inevitable.

Usually, the first is relatively easy to demonstrate, with a simple demonstration of US hardware. The second, is a little harder. Usually, indigenous forces have found a way to maintain some sort of coexistence with whoever is in charge, and it is hard to demonstrate that this time is somehow different.

US has not won a war in 70 years

I am sure most of those recruited know the real score. US offers good money, just a question of managing the exit strategy if the reasonably foreseeable happens.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

US has not won a war in 70 years

I am sure most of those recruited know the real score. US offers good money, just a question of managing the exit strategy if the reasonably foreseeable happens.

We kicked the Bejesus out of Cuban forces in Grenada!

Seriously, though. The US has won many a conflict, only to stay around too long one the party is over. And, Democrats have a peculiar way of snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory, this President is an extraordinary example of that.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

The US has no allies in Syria - I would have thought that somewhat clear by now.

When you don't know what these groups stand for, supporting them with weapons is an effing stupid thing to do.

[Boiler 45,466]

We kicked the Bejesus out of Cuban forces in Grenada!

Seriously, though. The US has won many a conflict, only to stay around too long one the party is over. And, Democrats have a peculiar way of snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory, this President is an extraordinary example of that.

Cuban presence c700, unclear how many of those were combatants.

Never thought of that as a war mind you.

I can think of battles won, campaigns one but no wars.