In this Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria and accessed on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, flames rise from a house from Syrian government shelling, at Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs province, Syria. (Local Coordination Committees in Syria)Assad Commits Nearly All His Forces In Race To Crush Uprising, Experts Say -- McClatchy News
WASHINGTON — Syrian President Bashar Assad is now using most of his regular ground forces in an intensified drive to crush the uprising against his family's four-decade-long rule in what could be a critical test of his minority-run military's cohesion, according to U.S. officials and experts.
Assad and his inner circle are apparently betting that their ferocious artillery-backed onslaught on the city of Homs will deal a crippling blow to the insurgency, which will quickly be followed by seizures of other rebellious cities and towns. Refugees arriving in Lebanon say Assad's forces already have retaken the town of Zabadani.
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My Comment: Assad and his allies know that that if this civil war continues, it will quickly morph into a sectarian conflict with his minority Alawite community being the only ones left to support him.What's my prediction .... they will fail. This conflict is a war to the finish, and while the Assad government will continue to receive weapons and political support from Russia and Iran .... thereby extending the conflict for another year .... his support in Syria is isolated and very limited. Knowing this .... he has now committed himself to a full scale civil war and is banking on the brutality of his security forces to end it.