The Post-War War in Syria

Editor’s Note: for this article I relied a great deal on Elizabeth O’Bagy, who at the time was a Syria analyst for the Institute for the Study of War. She has since been fired from that organization for fabricating a PhD. I no longer have full faith in the accuracy of her comments.

Over at Defense One, I analyze the prospects for an end to the fighting in Syria:

Two major setbacks seem to have broken the SMC: the collapse of last month’s Latakia Offensive and last week’s apparent use of chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus. The offensive, led and endorsed by Idriss, failed to dislodge regime forces from Syria’s northwest coast. Days later, the Assad regime responded by  reportedly unleashing chemical weapons against upwards of a thousand civilians. Both were were devastating blows to the opposition.

“This is incredibly dangerous in terms of the radicalization of the population,” O’Bagy says. “If the international community does not respond to chemical weapons use, the radicalization of the population might be irreversible.”

Go read the whole thing.