July 19: Comparing Operation Damascus Volcano with Vietnam's Tet Offensive, which had Saigon as its focal point, in three days President Johnson was able to announce the offensive "a complete failure." Operation Damascus Volcano is today (July 19) going into its fifth day. That the Assad regime hasn't been able to do by now what Saigon's defending forces did in three days probably means the Assad regime is about to fall.
July 25: It's the eleventh day since Operation Damascus Volcano began. The Washington Post reports that "Col. Malik Kurdi, spokesman for the Free Syrian Army command, said the rebels had no choice but to pull out of the Damascus neighborhoods they seized last week, because they lack the weapons to confront the better-equipped regular army." The Post adds, "In a valley tucked away behind the mountains just to the north of Damascus, Free Syrian Army rebels are gathering their strength and preparing for what they hope will be a final assault on the capital."
Copyright © 2012 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.