Originally Posted by
SL33
FSA: a loose coalition of soldiers who are more or less suitable for the US that emerged as soon as the Arab spring popped off. They're still in Aleppo.
Al Nusra: an Al-Qaeda spin off.
Keep in mind that there are 1000's of turncoats amongst ISIS, Nusra and the FSA that change their armies when needed.
If it wasn't for the Russian campaign Assad would have been dead or exiled by now. In reality, his army consists of Alawites and they (as all Arabs in general) are pathetic soldiers, excluding Hesbollah. The Russian SPETSNAZ is on the ground and they were leading the Palmyra operation.
Given the TV debates, it seems to me that Syria/Russia is the main topic of the US election which is so, so strange to me. It seems to me that Clinton wants a Cold war-like situation in the world.
TSA, the Biafran movement will fail without a serious international support, and as you probably know, the West can easily play on few fronts. Without key players of the international scene (the UN Security Council members for example), the Igbo will be perceived as separatists and be doomed to fail.