Syrian forces strategy?

[Drusus]

I am wondering what strategy the Syrian forces would use against an opponent like USA. Would it be something like only defend the cities and some key locations, let the enemy take control of the open areas? Or would it be defending the whole country with some sort of WWII style of defence. Immediately go to guerilla warfare? If the army was loyal, this could be a devastating strategy. Other half begins to fight guerilla style, the other half defends the big cities.

To me it seems the Syrians would not have an option to defend against the UN led forces out in the desert anyway, so it could be better not to fight until they have really the better ground. Defend some big city with 100000 men and the UN side has a real problem on their hands: Attacking the city will lead to high casualties, both civil and UN. Not attacking the city, just making sure nothing enters or leaves it will result in lots of civilian casualties and take a lot of time. I am ofcourse assuming that the Syrian forces would be fighting to the last man. Think about Grozny, only with the defender having lots of ATGMs...

What is the map of Syria like in strategical sense? Is there some key areas where the war would be win or lost? I can dig up maps of Syria with google, but I really can't say from a map where the key locations are. Is there some areas the UN troops would try to avoid, because they would be too easy to defend (mountaneous areas come in to mind)? That is, where are the big fights of the CM:SF campaing likely to be fought?

[Scott B]

Can't conjecture too much about their strategy without an understanding of the politics involved. A lot depends on the circumstances surrounding the coup and the reasons for the UN-mandated invasion.

Scott