They are powerful only against pathetic Iraqi and Syrian armies.
I remember that curdish pishmarga with their natianalistic zeal were almost fucked by ISIS. you konw what could happen to irbil if it weren't for US and Iran help? no force in the world can alone fight these salafists. more than 40 or 50 countries are engaged in air campaigns but what happend? their recruitment doubled and estimation from 10000 rose to 200000 for ISIS militants.
Initial? Here some most recent examples: Pathetic flee from Tabka, Wadi Deif, Nawa. Even after 2 years of besieging and barrel bombing they cant take totally encircled Dariya and Jobar.
it is more about strategy than poor performence. why ISIS could not take D_O_Z air base after 10 days of nonstop attacks? they even for the fist time used a bombed tank to hit the walls of the airbase?
faraway besieged bases that have little importance are just waste of soldiers capable of fighting in more critical fronts.
The more Syrian army fights the more they turn into junk militia.
eastern half of aleppo was lost to rebbels in less than 2 days. in 2013 many analysts considered aleppo as the rebel capital and assumed no chance for SAA to retake the city. but now prospect of aleppo is a hell for rebels.
Capital of the rebellion is Dar'a. Homs was one of the most pro Assad towns in Syria. Assads wife is Homsi + about 1/3 of Homs population are alawis.
oh. homs province had at most 500,000 alewaites mostly in rural areas. but homs city is dominantely sunni.
thats why 80 percent of the city is now rubble? darraa was ignition and homs was the bonfire.
Assad sent tons of troops into Aleppo. Many Hezbollah and Afgani Shias fighting there. What he is trying to achieve there i dont know. Judging his performance in Jobar it will take 10 years to take Aleppo after complete destruction.
the slower your gains the more stable they are.
damasqis is over for rebels. no need to danger the lives of soldiers for hasty gains.
In Deir ez Zor Assad can only survive.
oh yes. I see how assad is coming down from hassaka to D_O_Z and how ISIS is shedding like autumn leaves in huwaja sqker to forestall SAA to complete their noose around them in the city itself.
He is fighting his own poor peasants.
a peasant who is trained and armed by qatari and saudi money and supported by Turkish and Israeli inteligence is no more a peasant. he is a terrorist suitable to be eliminated.