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Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 4

Happy Hump Day, it is back and shoulders day at the gym. Then a 5-miler rucksack march. Ensure that your second pair of boots are well broken in and wear them today.

Remember to stay hydrated while on the march, and mark your progress in the workout log book.

Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, behind the neck (go as heavy as possible)

3 x 12 Lat Pulldowns, front

3 x 10 Deadlift

3 x 10 Dumbbell Side Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Front Raises

3 x 10 Dumbbell Arnold Press

3 x 8 Shoulder Shrugs

5-mile Rucksack march (45-lb minimum, 75-minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Mail Call – Prepping for SFAS Means Proper Fitting Boots, Socks

Your feet along with your brain are the two most indispensable parts of your body in Special Operations Forces. I’ve said many times what my mentors who trained me long ago have said over and over. Your feet are your lifeline in Special Operations. Take care of them and they’ll take care of you. Having spent many years in the Special Forces Regiment, care for your feet became second nature and will be a very necessary function.

We’ve posted several articles on having proper fitting boots and socks here at SpecialOperations.com in the past and much of what you’ll read here are things that we’ve said in one-way shape or form before. But with the Selection classes geared up and the inevitable flurry of packets submitted in the spring, we have gotten some email questions that we’ll try to answer in this and follow-on posts.

By far the majority of the posts we get around Selection, especially SFAS center around either rucking or the Star Land Navigation course. To be successful at each, candidates will be doing a ton of moving and that means moving out with a purpose under a heavy load. Therefore, it is imperative for the successful candidate to have proper fitting boots and socks. So today we’ll go back and touch on those two areas because if either boots or socks become a problem area in Selection, your chances of passing successfully will plummet.

It will also be a good time to revisit the care of your feet and along with the proper boot and sock fit. For many of the younger guys getting ready to attempt Selection, this may seem like a trivial matter, but trust me it is not.

In your prep for Selection, it is always a bonus to have a training partner that has been in a light infantry or an airborne unit. This knowledge will already be second nature to them, however, if you don’t have that advantage or background seek out the advice on this subject from any veteran before beginning your prep for Selection.

Proper Fitting Boots:

I don’t have any knowledge that things have changed at SFAS, although things are always in a state of change there. However, in this case, candidates have in the past not been able to wear any of the high-speed boots in Selection. If you’re attempting SFAS, boots must be compliant IAW AR 670-1. So, that means most of the cool guy boots from Merrell, Salomon, Lowa, Asolo, et al will have to wait until you get to an operational unit. If that changes, we’ll let readers know.

The key for proper fitting boots is ensuring that the boot’s heel sits tightly to the rear of the foot while giving the toes some wiggle room up front. If your foot is sliding around too much, either front to back or side to side, you’ll have friction, which leads to blisters. If your boots are too tight, your toes will be curled up inside and that is a blister waiting to happen. Some people advise buying boots a half-size too large because your feet will swell on a long-range ruck march. I wouldn’t recommend that but if your feet swell that much it may be an option.

Have at least two pairs of boots ready for your Selection class and break both in like you would a baseball glove. Walk everywhere in them until they feel like an extension of your leg. It is a good idea to get boots that have good ventilation and water drainage as they’ll allow your feet to breathe and dry out when wet which will cut down on blisters

Without a well broken in second pair of boots, you are setting yourself up for failure. You are going to get wet a lot during Selection, even on days when it isn’t raining or snowing. It is the nature of the beast. During the events of that day, your feet will inevitably get wet.

But that night, allow the boots to dry out and stuff them with paper towels or newspaper and allow them to dry out properly. Wear the second pair the next day and the first pair will be ready after that. And if your boots blow out on you during an event, you will have a second pair of well broken in ones to take their place. Having to use a new pair of non-broken boots in Selection is not the way to get thru the course with your feet intact.

While a cadre member at SFAS back in the day, one February class was very notable. It was cold and damp and it rained/sleeted and even snowed hard on the candidates nearly every day. The soft sand trails of Camp Mackall, North Carolina were soupy and underwater in many places. The candidates’ feet were wet nearly all the time, and because the training never stops, their feet suffered.

Nearly all had multiple blister problems and our cadre’s medics were working overtime. Many of candidates had feet that resembled raw hamburger by the end of team week. They were forced into switching out their boots daily and those who didn’t have a proper second broken in pair suffered the worst of all. Most of them were gone before long.

Prepping and Caring for Your Feet:

Having been a cadre at SFAS as I mentioned above, I’ve seen all different kinds of foot preparation and care. When I had the night duty at SFAS, another cadre member Doug P. and I would walk around the candidate’s barracks incognito at night to see how they were caring for themselves and their teammates. (Yes, You’re always being evaluated)

You should have a good set of nail clippers with you when attending Selection and ensure that you take good care of those as needed.

Here is where you must know your own body and what works for you. Everyone is different and what works for me, may not work for you and vice versa. That’s where the proper preparation and training BEFORE you get to Selection is invaluable.

Some guys like to spray their feet or use a roll-on type of antiperspirant which is supposed to stop the sweating which is the cause of blisters. While I was never a big believer in this, if your feet sweat profusely as mine do, then by all means, try it during your prep phase to see if it works for you. Other guys, I’ve seen use Vaseline or some type of oil or cream to reduce friction. Again, it isn’t something I’d recommend but it does work for some people.

What worked for me was to use just a small amount of Gold Bond or talcum powder on your feet and in your socks before going on a ruck march. Not too much, it is like anything else, if you put half a tin in your socks, it will clump up and create just as many problems. It cuts down on friction which creates blisters. I’d recommend putting some around your crotch as well. If you get rubbed raw and many will in your nether regions, it isn’t pleasant walking for miles every day that way.

Proper Socks and Fit:

Socks are your feet’s last line of defense. Just as proper socks will protect them from blisters, poorly fitted ones will cause even more problems.

So first, what causes blisters? Heat, friction, and moisture. We’ve already covered getting a couple of pairs of boots that fit well, don’t rub, and are ventilated so your feet can dry out quickly and allow some air flow inside.

Initially, get a good pair of tightly fit synthetic or polypro socks that will wick the moisture away from your feet. Rub your feet down with a light coat of powder or whatever you choose and then turn them inside out. Why? So that the stitching inside won’t rub your toes and create hot spots. That stitching can and will cause blisters.

The thick military issued wool socks go over the inner layer of socks and once again inside out to prevent the stitching from rubbing and creating hot spots. The second sock reduces the friction and will absorb the moisture from the inner sock while cushioning your foot inside the boot.

The purpose of the two-sock system is so that the friction will occur between the layers of socks rather than between the socks and your feet.

Start Slowly and Work Your Way Up During Prep Training:

Once you get the proper boots and socks, then you are ready to begin your rucking prep work. Rucking is a lot like anything else. It is a skill that is learned gradually and by constant repetition. Many young people today want to be instant experts on everything, we live in that type of world today. However, don’t start off by trying to do a 20-miler or the equivalent of the Brecon Beacons on Day 1. Start slowly and gradually increase your speed and distance. As you get more comfortable and better at rucking, the speed and distance will become second nature.

If you begin to get hot spots or blisters forming during prep work, stop right away and deal with those. Waiting until completion may result in a much more serious blister which will set your training prep work back. Once the hotspots and blisters are no longer an issue your rucksack training can begin in earnest.

One more thing about your boots and again it is a personal choice is the way your boots are laced. Again, this is a personal preference type of thing but something to just keep in mind. I used to ruck most of the time in my favorite old jungle boots. The way the boots were constructed as was the way my foot is constructed, there was a bend in my foot that always rubbed during a long-distance ruck march right at the crease of the boot at the ankle.

I’d always skip the eyelet right smack in the middle of my boots right there as it was always a sore spot that would rub. And after many 20-milers under my belt, it didn’t take long to figure out what needed to be changed. With the boots I wear today for the vast majority of my rucking (Merrell MOAB/ Sawtooth), I don’t have that issue. That’s where the prep work and repetition is invaluable. You will find certain things that will or won’t work for you.

We have already tested a couple of different pairs of boots and posted reviews here on the site. I have reached out to a few different manufacturers to get a test pair for future articles here as well.

As always, I appreciate the many questions that you have and will always be here to help in any way I can. Any questions or comments can be emailed to me [email protected] or at my Twitter account @SteveB7SFG

Happy Rucking… DOL

Photos: US Army

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 3

Tuesday is Leg Day at the gym, our favorite (sometimes), but we’ll begin with pull-ups. The squats and lunges build up the strength in your lower body for carrying a rucksack, which is the bread and butter of SOF. And the focus of our post later today. Then a four-mile run in under 32 minutes.

UBRR Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR

3 x Pullups 10 reps

3 x Deadlifts 10 reps

3 x Front Squat 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x Goblet Squats 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

4 x Sled push heavier weight

3 x 10 reps Dumbbell Lunges

3 x 20 Side planks

4-Mile run (32-minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

The US to Label Iran Revolutionary Guard a Terrorist Organization

Iran Threatens Tit-for-Tat

In a slightly surprising move, the United States is for the first time labeling the military of a foreign power as a terrorist organization. Possibly as early as today, the U.S. State Department may label Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

While the U.S. has frequently stated that Iran is the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, it was only a matter of time before it went after the IRGC since the Guards, as well as the Quds forces, are the major players in Iran’s support for terrorist organizations around the globe. They provide training, logistical support, and direction for Iran’s proxies. They have aided in assassinations, bombings, cyber warfare and have funded missile development in the Third World.

Last week, the State Department’s Brian Hook made an announcement that the Iranians were responsible for the deaths of 603 U.S. troops from improvised explosive devices (IEDs), rockets, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades, and small-arms and sniper attacks by Iranian-backed proxies.

However, critics of the administration believe that this opens the door for unfriendly governments to do the same to U.S. intelligence and military assets abroad.

Since he became the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has strongly advocated a change in labeling the IRGC as a terrorist organization. He stated, “the Islamic Republic of Iran is not a normal state” because “normal states do not support terrorism within their armed forces” like Iran does with the Revolutionary Guard.”

This expected move isn’t without precedent. Back in 2007, the U.S. Treasury Department designated the IRGC’s Quds Force, at that time the unit in charge of operations abroad, “for its support of terrorism,” and has described it as Iran’s “primary arm for executing its policy of supporting terrorist and insurgent groups.”

The Treasury Department began to move against the IRGC in 2017 when it labeled the Guards as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, which made it a target for the U.S. to combat Iran’s terrorism funding by targeting its financing and imposing more sanctions. In their statement at the time, Treasury said this:

“The IRGC has played a central role to Iran becoming the world’s foremost state sponsor of terror. Iran’s pursuit of power comes at the cost of regional stability, and Treasury will continue using its authorities to disrupt the IRGC’s destructive activities,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “We are designating the IRGC for providing support to the IRGC-QF, the key Iranian entity enabling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s relentless campaign of brutal violence against his own people, as well as the lethal activities of Hizballah, Hamas, and other terrorist groups. We urge the private sector to recognize that the IRGC permeates much of the Iranian economy, and those who transact with IRGC-controlled companies do so at great risk.”

Republican Senator Ted Cruz from Texas has been pushing for the IRGC to be designated a terrorist organization since 2015. When the Obama Administration entered into the nuclear deal, Cruz among other Republicans were against the deal, which the U.S. withdrew from last year. Cruz was outspoken about the revelation about the U.S. troops’ deaths as well.

“The Obama administration downplayed the scope and nature of these murders in the interest of promoting its diplomacy with Iran, including the Obama nuclear deal.”

Republican Senator Ben Sasse approved of this latest move to go against Tehran. “A formal designation and its consequences may be new, but these IRGC butchers have been terrorists for a long time,” Sasser released in a statement.

Back in 2017 as well, IRGC commander Mohammad Ali Jafari warned that if Trump and the United States went ahead with the move “then the Revolutionary Guards will consider the American army to be like Islamic State all around the world.”

Just on Saturday, the Iranians took to Twitter to utter a tit-for-tat designation. “If the Revolutionary Guards are placed on America’s list of terrorist groups, we will put that country’s military on the terror blacklist next to Daesh (Islamic State),” Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, head of parliament’s national security committee, said in a Twitter post.

Former Under-Secretary of State and lead Iran negotiator under the Obama administration, Wendy Sherman, said she worried about what this means for U.S. forces in the region and hinted that this may have been the rationale behind the move..

“One might even suggest, since it’s hard to see why this is in our interest, if the president isn’t looking for a basis for a conflict,” said Sherman, who is now the director of the Center for Public Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School. “The IRGC is already fully sanctioned and this escalation absolutely endangers our troops in the region.”

What does that mean for U.S. troops abroad? Things could get more dangerous for U.S. troops in Iraq. Several of Iran’s proxies, Shi’ite militias are located in close proximity to U.S. forces. If they are taking Jafari’s comments to heart, then they may decide to test the water and try to attack U.S. troops there.

During the latest fighting in Iraq to rid the country of Islamic State fighters, a coalition of U.S. Special Operations troops and air assets, Shi’ite militias, and the IRGC have formed an unlikely, uneasy coalition in ridding Iraq of ISIS. The Iraqi military has done a good job of holding it together and keeping the IRGC and the U.S. apart and on target during this time.

This move may not result in open fighting, however, any kind of confrontation, open or non-confrontational will ultimately benefit ISIS and will undermine the efforts of the U.S. troops in the area. That in itself can be a more dangerous environment for them.

IRGC Commander Major General Mohammad Ali Jafari said on Sunday that if the U.S. takes such does make the announcement, its forces in western Asia “will lose peace and quiet”.

“If the U.S. takes this step and endangers our national security we will take reciprocal measures, based on the policies of the Islamic Republic,” Jafari said.

On Sunday, Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted the accusation that he believes the #NetanyahuFirsters of pulling Washington’s strings in the decision to designate IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization.

“#NetanyahuFirsters who have long agitated for FTO designation of the IRGC fully understand its consequences for US forces in the region. In fact, they seek to drag the US into a quagmire on his behalf,” Zarif tweeted. He added, “DonaldTrump should know better than to be conned into another US disaster.”

On Sunday, 255 out of 290 Iranian lawmakers have decided to take reciprocal action. “So the leaders of America, who themselves are the creators and supporters of terrorists in the (Middle East) region, will regret this inappropriate and idiotic action,” they said in a released statement.

Photo: Wikipedia

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 2

Some good pretest work for the Upper Body Round Robin (UBRR) with many of the exercises that will be tested. Always go for perfect form when doing the pushups, it will be an area that is always looked at hard during the PT tests in Selection.

After the exercises, a three-mile run as fast as you can. The standard is 24 minutes, aim to better that. Mark the time in your workout logbook

UBRR Training:

More preparation for the UBRR

1 x 1-minute Pushups

1 x 1-minute Sit-ups

1 x 1-minute, Crunches

1 x 1-minute, V-ups

1 x Dips as many as possible to muscle failure (no time limit)

1 x Pullups as many as possible or to muscle failure (no time limit)

3-mile run (24 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 6, Day 1

Sunday Morning Ruck March. Rucking is on the agenda for today after a quick warmup of pushups and sit-ups. Stretch well both before and after the ruck march.

Remember to drink plenty of water and stay hydrated out there, despite the bitter cold weather. And ensure that you have at least two pairs of boots broken in for the course.

UBRR Training:

Warm up

2 x 20 Pushups

2 x 20 Sit ups

Rucksack march over varied terrain. Go as hard and as fast as you can in one direction alongside a road for one hour. Mark your distance. Then head back to the start point. This will be good practice for the selection course where you won’t know the route or the distance. And mark your times in your workout log book.

Stretch well after completion

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 5 Day 7

Saturday morning work in the gym hitting your shoulders and back. Followed by a 4-mile run. Log your numbers down in the workout notebook

UBRR Training:

More Preparation for the UBRR:

3 x 10 Lat Pulldowns, rear

3 x 10 Barbell Dead Lift

3 x 10 Wide Grip Pull-ups

3 x 10 Seated Rows

3 x 10 Seated Bent-Over Delt Raise

3 x 10 Dumbbell Shoulder Press

3 x 10 Arnold Dumbbell Press

4-mile run (32 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

“I Can Put That Range Fire Out…” Tales of the Green Beret

It is amazing sometimes to think back on some of the good funny, ridiculous, and at times unbelievable stories from your time under a Green Beret. And as always, SF stories like fishing tales, as you grow older, get better with age.

Now I am not saying that any of these stories are BS, but let’s just say, that time is a wonderful thing. The passage of time makes the fish bigger, the girls prettier, and the stories so much better. ‘Nuff’ said.

So, just a few months ago, I was on the phone with Danny C. my old A-Team leader from way, way back in the day. When I say way back, that isn’t an exaggeration. Danny was an outstanding officer, a great Team Leader, and an even better man. During a deployment to Honduras during the 80s….(I told you it was way back), Danny was injured during our deployment and would be forced to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair.

But that has never stopped him from living a very active lifestyle, Danny’s gone skiing at Aspen, skydiving and 100 other things that I never find the time to do anymore. We were talking on the phone that night, Danny had just sent me a gift in the mail and he was making sure I got it.

We began to talk about that last deployment before he got hurt and some of the stuff that went down and some of the fun we had training with the Honduran Infantry guys and then later the Airborne Battalion located at Tamara, in the mountains.

The drop zone was right next to the highway and due to the prevailing winds, our Chinooks would drop us on the other side of the highway and you’d drift perfectly right over the DZ. Which always made drivers on the highway nervous to see paratroopers drifting across the road before hitting the hard ground of the DZ.

We spoke about the classified but very low-tech project we were working on with Pack Animals and other interesting tidbits that made us fondly remember the days of yore. But that got my own mind going and after I hung up I remembered another funny story from that deployment.

We had moved further up in the mountains with 6th Infantry Battalion (Centaurs) at Ojo de Agua. They were located in the mountains and had a large base for the Contras at the time. There were enough GP Medium tents where a battalion could refit and rest there.

They also had a large shooting range built on several of the rolling hills on the base. We were doing a range day with our Honduran counterparts using M-60 and M249 (SAW) machineguns. When we had first arrived the weather had been cold, raw and rainy. But about a week later, it had dried out and was hot and sticky. And a stiff wind had dried everything out to where it was like tinder.

We were high up on a hill shooting at targets located about 300-400 meters away. The Honduran kids, not used to having this much ammo were having a ball, blazing away at the silhouettes with reckless abandon. Those “6-to-9” round bursts we discussed in training were quickly forgotten.

Giving the pack animals a drink while crossing a river, Central America in the mid-1980s.

One of the tracer rounds from the SAW started a range fire on top of the hill. Our Hondo allies had a pickup truck, an old beat-up piece of junk that looked like it would fall apart at any minute, loaded with soldiers who raced down there and quickly put the fire out.

After lunch, we had a second group of guys firing, their mortar section, who were beginning to get the U.S. 60mm mortars. We did some crew training with them and their crew drills were pretty good. They had a few old Soviet 82mm mortars, from god knows where. They looked like antiques. Firing those looked like an iffy proposition. They used US 81mm mortar rounds, which we didn’t have any.

I never fired a US round thru that Soviet system (I started as a heavy weapons guy), but one of our other guys had. He said it was a weird sound when dropping the round. Instead of that metallic sliding, sucking sound, it was a click, clickety-click, sound as the slightly smaller American round would ever so slightly bounce down the tube. Although you could fire those, Luis A. said, they weren’t the most accurate…no kidding.

So, after doing some crew drill on the 60mm M224 mortar, the mortar guys got their turn on the machine guns. After a few moments, one tracer round hit in front of one target and bounced backward about 10-20 meters and started a small fire in the grass. It was burning in a small neat circle.

Danny was reaching for the radio to tell the Hondos in the beat-up truck to put out the fire when one of the other guys spoke up. “I can put that range fire out, sir,” Bruce P. said. Bruce was a big, huge guy who was loaned to us from the 2nd Ranger Bn. for this deployment. He was also the Weapons Plt. Sgt. in the Batt.

The Hondurans were in awe of his size, he was easily double their diminutive height and scared shitless of him. Bruce had a very typical Ranger haircut, where he was buzzed on the sides. In the Honduran army, they only did that to the criminals, “ Los Castigados” in their terminology.

He grabbed the smaller M8 baseplate for the 60mm mortar, he put a round in the tube and lined up his range estimation. Giving himself a bit of windage, he pulled the trigger and we all waited a few seconds for the round to go down range. Bruce grabbed another round and was preparing to fire again when the mortar landed with that flat sounding explosion. It landed squarely on the fire, which was no more than 3-4 meters wide at that point.

The results were electric. The Americans whooped, “Good shot bro,” while the Honduran mortar section sat there dumbstruck with their mouth’s literally wide open. It was a shot in a million. “Holy shit,” Bruce said to Danny. “I’ve never hit one on the first shot before.” Castillo laughed.

Look at them,” he said. “They are going to kneel and ask you to bring to bring back the sun any minute.” We all cracked up. The Hondos sat there mesmerized for a few more seconds. “Hijo de puta! Their Lieutenant yelled. He turned with a big grin and began to bark at his troops. We all cracked up. Bruce who at that time, had a very limited Spanish vocabulary, asked Danny what they said.

“Basically, he is telling them that until they can learn to shoot like that, he’s going to shave all their heads.”

Bruce again tried to tell us that he’d never hit anything like that on the first shot. Danny told him to act as he did it all the time. Bruce played along and set down the tube and told the Hondos, “Eso fue fácil” (that was easy), after asking Danny how to say it. Again, they stopped to gawk at the blown out fire down below.

After that, every time Bruce walked thru the compound, the Honduran kids would salute him like he was a field grade officer. Not long after we returned from that deployment, Bruce joined SF and went thru the SFQC as an 18E and later became an officer…and a very good one.

Just another great day in the 7th SFG.

Photos of Honduran Anti-Tank Company and Pack Animal training: Author,

Special Operations Forces Selection PT Preparation Week 5, Day 6

It’s Friday, which means our favorite, Leg Day at the gym this morning. Let’s get the weekend started off right with some squats and deadlifts. Mix in some lunges and the Weighted Sled Push and capped off with a 4-mile run.

Stretch well and ensure you stay hydrated. Finish with a 4-mile run in 32 minutes or less.

UBRR Training:

Continue to prep for the UBRR.

3 x Front Squat 20-15-12 reps (lighter weight)

3 x 12 Deadlifts

3 x 10 Barbell Squats

3 x 10 Dumbbell Lunges

3 x Weighted sled push (heavyweight), or Fireman’s Carry

4-mile run (32 minutes maximum)

Stretch well after completion

With ISIS Routed in Syria, Assad Is the Big Winner in the Civil War

Opinion: The US-led coalition which supported the SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) have routed the Islamic State’s (ISIS) fighters out of Baghouz which was the last bastion of their self-proclaimed “caliphate” in Syria and Iraq.

And while the SDF, supported by U.S. airstrikes continues to pound the remnants of the ISIS fighters in the tunnels and caves along the eastern Euphrates River as SDF technicians remove mines and booby traps from the liberated areas, the question remains, is Syria any better off now?

Removing ISIS is a plus anywhere in the world but the eight-year bloody civil war will go down as a resounding victory for the oppressive regime of Bashar Assad.

When in 2011 the civil war started, many both in the West and in the Arab world were looking for a change from the authoritarian brutal rule of the government of Assad. But as events played out, everything worked in favor of Assad.

As the civil war began by rebels in Idlib province, springing out of the Arab Spring protests, calls for Assad’s removal were met with violent suppression. There were several factions involved in the very confused fighting. Facing the forces of Assad were a loose alliance of Sunni opposition groups (including the Free Syrian Army), Salafi jihadist groups (including al-Nusra Front), the mostly Kurdish-Arab Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Islamic State.

The Islamic State saw an opening and poured fighters in and began to seize territory in both Syria and Iraq to proclaim its own caliphate. The fighting spilled over into Lebanon with fighters from ISIS and al-Nusra battling Lebanese Army units.

The morass got worse with several other countries entering into the fray. Russia, a long-time ally of the Assad regime conducted airstrikes on the rebel-held areas. Iran saw an opening to make itself a bigger power player in the region and poured troops and money into the support also for Assad. They also saw an opening to establish bases on the border with Israel which they quickly have set up.

This prompted air strikes from the Israelis who vowed never to allow Iranian troops on their border. The Israelis ravaged Iranian, their puppet Hezbollah as well as Syrian government bases with heavy airstrikes.

The United States and a coalition led by them entered the fray on the side of the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, which the SDF fights for both militarily and logistically. They set up bases inside of Syria for the sole purpose of fighting ISIS and removing them from Syrian territory. Therefore, the U.S. coalition, enemies of Assad was actually helping the government by helping to rid them of the ISIS threat, which is a friend to no one in the region. The Americans and Russians worked out an agreement not to fly or operate in each other’s areas.

That arrangement was tested when Russian “contractors” attacked a U.S. base with armored vehicles reportedly by mistake and were savaged by U.S. airstrikes and artillery fire.

The situation took on an even more twisted perspective when Turkey became embroiled in it. The Turks supported the rebels battling the Assad government and attacked ISIS as well, but they also consider the SDF and the Kurds terrorists. They’ve moved into the northwestern part of Syria and have threatened an offensive against the Kurdish SDF. Like Israel with Iran, they won’t accept an armed Kurdish faction on their border.

The refugee crisis has become a world-wide problem. And no place that is more keenly felt right now than in Idlib province. With the ISIS threat removed and the US-led coalition scaling back their troop levels, the threat to Assad’s power is basically gone.

And in Idlib, which is still a rebel stronghold, Assad is targeting civilian infrastructure with his airstrikes. News reports had Syrians bombing a hospital, other medical facilities, and a bakery. Idlib is currently home to three million people. Two million of them are from there and a million are refugees fleeing from the fighting elsewhere.

Assad has shown in the past and currently that the ends justify the means. Therefore, his government forces along with Russia are conducting airstrikes with impunity, forcing the civilians to flee while he exerts control once again over the area.

“The ongoing attacks in Idlib fit the same pattern we’ve seen before, in Aleppo, Daraa, Damascus Countryside, whereby Syrian government forces hit hospitals, medical facilities, emergency responders, bakeries, schools, leaving people no choice but to flee,” Lynn Maalouf, Middle East Research Director at Amnesty International said.

The rebel forces in Idlib are no match for the government forces of Assad and although the fighting may become protracted like in other large population areas, the outcome is not in doubt. Assad has one and the other countries in the region have already come to grips with it.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and other countries are reestablishing diplomatic relations with Syria. The country is in shambles and despite Russia and Iran pumping a lot of cash into reconstruction, Assad will need money from the West to aid there.

Will the West and the U.S. see the overwhelming need to aid in a humanitarian crisis and offer their help to a government that caused it all in the first place? The lack of help from the West, should they refuse would be to set the stage for another civil war and even more bloodshed. And worse, set the stage for ISIS to return.

The European Union and Washington will ask for political reforms before they agree to commit billions to rebuild Syria. However, Assad, Russia, and Iran are hardly the players who give that any semblance of succeeding.

There are estimates that state that Syria needs $400 Billion to rebuild. Those estimates sadly may be smaller than what will actually be needed.

Syria is a mess and it isn’t getting better anytime soon, but in Damascus, Assad is happy…he won. With the help of his enemies.

Photo: Wikipedia

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