SYRIA - Homs Overwhelmed

"Syrian Forces Overwhelm Stronghold of Rebels in Homs" by NEIL MacFARQUHAR, New York Times 3/1/2012

Excerpt

The Syrian Army overwhelmed the main rebel stronghold in the embattled city of Homs on Thursday, setting the stage for its elite soldiers to turn their attention — and superior firepower — to other insurgent redoubts farther north, despite the increasing international pressure for a cease-fire and humanitarian access.

In announcing their “tactical withdrawal” from the Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs after enduring a pounding by artillery, tank and sniper fire for nearly a month, the rebel Revolutionary Brigades of Baba Amr said in statement that they were both heavily outgunned and unable to justify keeping thousands of civilians marooned under dire conditions. In a quarter where most buildings are pockmarked by shell blasts, residents lack food, medicine, water and electricity, and are cut off from the outside world.

The rebel retreat was a significant victory for President Bashar al-Assad, as his troops hurry to put down an armed insurgency before international pressure grows so great or the cohesion of the armed forces breaks down under the relentless intensity of a nearly year-old uprising. The Syrian government lacks enough elite troops to subdue all rebellious cities at once; hence its strategy has been to stall for enough time to regain control of one hot spot at a time while pushing its own proposals for limited political change.

But it remains a race against exhaustion, defections and diminished resources.

The Syrian military “is not strong enough to fight in the whole country, but it is strong enough to fight civilians and defectors with light weapons,” said Akil Hashem, a retired Syrian general who has advised the Syrian National Council, the umbrella opposition group. “They don’t have enough troops to deal with all these uprisings at the same time, so they go from one to one to one.”

With the apparent victory in Homs, the Syrian military is expected to step up its assault on Hama, farther north, and beyond that try to tame Idlib Province, where many towns and large areas of the countryside have declared themselves government-free zones.

And that begs attention to....

"Leading Activist: Free Syrian Army Needs Weapons to Defend Citizens"
PBS Newshour 3/1/2012