AMU Homeland Security Intelligence Middle East Opinion

FSA Assassinates Syrian Air Force General

By William Tucker

General Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khalidi of the Syrian air force was reportedly assassinated by the Free Syrian Army late Monday along with a ranking official in air force intelligence. The sources for this information are Syrian state television and the FSA. These killings occurred during the continued fighting across the country in spite of a recent ceasefire. Of course, a violation of the ceasefire was bound to happen as the regime must take any initiative it can and the opposition doesn’t operate under a single command.

The failing of the ceasefire aside, what really matters is the motive behind an assassination. There are many profound reasons why the FSA would target a ranking military member, but assassinations are difficult operations and are not always necessary in the midst of conflict. In this case the assassination should be viewed in the context of the wider conflict. Across Syria the forces of the regime and the opposition have been fighting for over a year and a half and the war doesn’t appear to be favoring any one side as of yet. The Assad regime may be weak, and when it comes, its fall will come quickly, but waiting for that to happen isn’t much of a strategy. In essence, the conventional battles are not favoring either side. As such, the FSA is looking for alternative methods to harm the regime.

Conflict is not linear; it is multidimensional. Belligerents will look at a variety of means to bolster their position as fighting continues. The assassination of a Syrian general means very little in the larger scheme of things, but a concerted campaign of targeting the remaining regime loyalists, coupled with continued combat, both conventional and asymmetrical, will help the opposition in further weakening the regime.

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