Syrian army to re-concentrate on Daesh during truce: Analyst

Press TV has interviewed Jim W. Dean, managing editor of Veterans Today in Atlanta, to discuss a landmark two-week ceasefire which has come into effect in Syria, urging the “cessation of hostilities” by the warring sides of the conflict.  

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: There are doubts as to the commitment of the Syria opposition groups to the ceasefire agreement. Even as the truce took effect, the government has reported violations of the deal by some militant groups. How likely is that this truce will hold do you think?   

Dean: It is not really important that it holds with everyone because we know there are going to be some holdouts but it was very good news before the show and I was reviewing, I was surprised that they said they have 97 opposition groups who have signed on and this really spells a death knell for those who have it because those areas are going to be quiet, they will be able to get refugee supplies and the fighters there will get used to the life again without having to worry about getting killed and then it is going to release the bombers, the Syrian army is going to be able to re-concentrate now on al-Nusra and ISIL (Daesh) and if they are smart I think they are going to double down and start really hammering them.

So you are going to see a split where areas by they will get momentum going and piece by piece the areas of the country that are cleaned of terrorists and things quiet down will grow and the next two weeks are going to be critical for that.  

Press TV: And how genuine do you think the West is in trying to reach a political solution to the conflict in Syria?

Dean: It is a two-part question. Sure they are serious about reaching a political solution as long as they win and of course they are trying to stack the deck so that they can win by what parties are holding as much power as possible but they are trying to maintain things on the battlefield by showing that they are at least fighting ISIL and al-Nusra and they have really lost this game of the Free Syrian Army and whatever. Most of those guys are mercenaries now, they will join whatever group who can feed them and give them ammunition and pay for them. So as a political group, they are an absolute joke.

Turkey is the wild player here because Turkey said they are going to sign on to the ceasefire but then in diplomatic language said will violate it whenever we feel it is in our best interest to do so.

So it is going to be interesting. Turkey is going to be watching. As the ceasefire holds in Syria, takes more and more ground politically, they are going to become stronger and it is going to be harder and harder for people who are going to attack and use military force to be able to maintain not getting pummeled in the world opinion and that is what those of us in the media and all the civilians out there need to do. You need to call the Turkish embassies in your countries and let them know you know that Turkey is lying, they are supporting these terrorists and they are really hurting Turkey’s international reputation if they continue to do so.  

Press TV: And finally, what options do you think the warring sides have in case the ceasefire collapses?

Dean: I do not think it is going to collapse. It is just going to collapse with some people not getting involved. Once people stop fighting and they get a break and people start moving in and rebuilding their homes, the Syrians that return to their homes are going to fight like hell to not let this happen to them again and they are all going to join the self-defense forces and the holdouts are just going to find more and more sources or raid against them, it is going to be harder for them to get supplies and run out of ammo so anybody that wants to die as a terrorist in Syria they are going to find a lot of people willing to accommodate them.

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