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Syria Rebels Gaining Ground, Strength
(Washington Post) - Liz Sly - An increasingly effective Syrian rebel force has been gaining ground in recent weeks, stepping up its attacks on government troops and expanding the area under its control. However, the lightly armed rebels are still a long way from being able to inflict defeat on the superior Syrian army. The Syrian rebels "are never going to be capable of driving on Damascus and driving out the regime," said Jeffrey White, a former Defense Intelligence Agency official who is now with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. But, he said, with their repeated hit-and-run attacks on Syrian outposts and convoys, it is clear that "they're increasing pressure on the regime, increasing attrition and increasing defections." "People have been calling them a ragtag force, and I just don't think that's accurate anymore. I would describe them as an increasingly capable guerrilla force." Joseph Holliday, a researcher for the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War, added: "They're making it really hard for the regime to move around, for them to get out of their little checkpoints that they're barricaded into."