Population-centric counterinsurgency?
Tyler Hicks' missive on Anthony Shadid's last mission has drawn attention and many tweets for the one sentence R2Pers will use to make their case: "The Free Syrian Army is much more organized than the rebel fighters in Libya." What this misses is the fact that the forces of the Syrian regime are far more intact than they were in Libya. Qaddafis officials and his military quickly defected in large numbers. The same has not been the case in Syria. There is much more to read the article for, however.
The pace down was faster and easier than coming up a week earlier, and this time our bags were carried by horses instead of on our backs. But then I could hear that Anthony’s breathing became strained, and within a mile he was asking to rest. He will get through this as he did on the much more strenuous hike in, I thought, and with one of my arms around his waist, and the other holding his forearm, we continued to walk.
Soon after, Anthony stopped and leaned against a large boulder, and unlike the first time, when he had merely labored for breath, now he collapsed onto the ground. I called out his name, but he was already unconscious and his breathing had stopped completely. I performed CPR for half an hour while begging the smugglers to find a doctor. I hoped for a miracle. ... Finally, a small covered truck drove quietly within sight of us and we carried Anthony, whose death I could still not come to terms with, into the back, where I climbed in with him.
Lionel Beehner explores the paradox behind terming a conflict a civil war, with an eye to events in Syria.
Adam Ahmad evaluates the prospect of Bashir al-Assad's survival in Syria.
Mike Few interviews civil war historian Mark Grimsley, research affiliate at The Ohio State University and author of several books, about reconstruction and insurgency.
