Syria hails 'a new Middle East'

[dan/california]

I think it was one of the last things I did before a short camping trip. Something i did when I got back made it post again. Everyone may feel free to vent their invective at this mistake in the Peng Challange thread.

[dan/california]

I think it was one of the last things I did before a short camping trip. Something I did when I got back made it post again. Everyone may feel free to vent their invective at this mistake in the Peng Challange thread.

[Neutrino 123]

Originally posted by Battlefront.com:

In peace time that is correct. They are tightly controlled or kept largely inactive. This is why my suggestion above won't happen in Syria. Meaning, militarily Syria would be much better off if they got rid of the bloated and expensive conventional military and instead focused on "cells" of well trained and well armed unconventional fighters. But once that happens Syria can no longer threaten its neighbors or squash uprisings (like the elder Assad did). So although it makes military sense to do as I suggested, it isn't practical.

Steve

This is an interesting suggestion. However, I would think that in practice, a dictatorship doing this would keep some conventional forces around, sort of like a small "Republican Guard". This would offset many disadvantages of this method, though of course not totally.

[Battlefront.com]

Neutrino,

I agree. A dictator with some vision, some balls, and at least SOME support from his people, could pull it off. The main problems would come from the perception of weakness that such a move would surly bring out of the woodworks. The officer class in the Syrian Army is just that... a class. They aren't, by and large, the sort of people that want to give up their titles and posts for the greater good. Also, nation states have a strange notion that one can not be powerful unless one has a big military. Even the most neutral of the industrialized nations keep a pretty good conventional military force at the ready.

Me, I'm all about what works and what is cost effective. Syria's military is antiquated and now totally surrounded by enemy states. It's expensive military can be eliminated within a few weeks. Their air force is expected to last less than an hour. So why bother having these things when there is so much more effective ways to defend the country? Because Human Nature is like a train wreck in slow motion. You can see it getting ready to hit the section of track that is compromised, but seemingly nobody in charge does because its leaders are rarely the best and the brightest

Steve