Excellent analysis from @Maysaloon …

Last Wednesday was a milestone for the Syrian revolution. It is clear now that the Free Syrian Army have been re-organising and changing their methods. No longer do they try to hold ground in the face of the Syrian army. Instead, they are engaged in what can only be described as a textbook guerrilla war. I think this change has taken place since their disastrous attempt to make a stand at Bab Amr in Homs. Since then, they have been striking the regime wherever it is weak, melting away when it tries to strike back, and have been reorganising themselves.

Having taken over parts of Damascus for the past few days, they are now declaring the battle for the liberation of Aleppo begun. It seems now that they have abandoned their initial attempt to wrest control of Damascus. On one level these might seem as wild exaggerations, but on the other this might be an attempt at dissimulation and misinformation. In doing so they would keep the Assad regime constantly guessing where they will strike next, and reacting rather defining the pace of the war. Gone are the days when the Syrian army would declare campaigns for this or that region of the country. It seems to me now that they are going to be dragged to exhaustion by constant attacks throughout the country. The taking over of border checkpoints is not much use, but it is politically significant, and means that the regime has to keep troops at the borders, constantly chasing after units there rather than keeping them close to its power bases

As for Manaf Tlass, there is still no sign of the man. He has yet to make the promised speech declaring his intentions for the future, and yet to make a public appearance. More and more pictures of him with his cigar are in circulation than ever before, and many people continue to see in him a suitable strong man for a post-Assad regime. This would be bad news for democracy, but it would reinforce the view that Syria is now the frontline for a Sunni-Shiite divide. Post-Assad Syria is going to be unmistakeably Sunni in its outlook, and a drastic re-alignment of its foreign policy is going to redraw the map of the region yet again.

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