Most Syrian rebels pulled out of the besieged Baba Amro district of Homs on Thursday after a 26-day siege by President Bashar al-Assad's forces, activists in contact with the fighters said. ...
He said defeat for the rebels in Homs would leave the opposition without any major stronghold in Syria, easing the crisis for Assad, who remained confident he could survive.
Holding a stronghold in the heart of Syria would be nice but it is not necessary. This is a guerrilla and irregular fight still, and the rebels don't have nearly enough men and equipment to fight toe-to-toe with the Syrian security forces for very long. Syria is supposed to be able to go wherever they want if they mass enough troops.
But if the rebels continue to stretch the Syrian ground security forces in the Damascus region, the rebels could yet establish strongholds in the east or near Turkey or Lebanon, as bases where they can rest and recuperate and sortie from to attack Assad's core areas.
Syria and Qatar want to arm the Syrian rebels. That seems like an easy call to make. And even if we don't want to do it directly, we should figure out how to openly provide some help to the rebels just to give them hope that they aren't alone.
