Rick Francona Profile picture
Sep 5, 2018 6 tweets 4 min read Twitter logo Read on Twitter
Always great to be on @cnni with @rosemaryCNN Church.

Francona: #Syria would be insane to use chemical weapons in the assault on #Idlib governorate. Bashar al-Asad knows using chemical weapons will draw a military response from the United States, France and possibly the UK.
It’s hard to understand the absurdity, but it appears that as long as you only use barrel bombs, artillery, rockets, and missiles to kill, it is deemed almost acceptable, but cross that line and use chemicals, the ire of the world demands a military response. So why use them?
There is no military reason for the Syrians to use chemical weapons. With #Russia|n airpower, artillery, and rocket and missile strikes, combined with #Iran|ian and Hizballah support on the ground, the Syrian military has the required force to reassert control over Idlib.
The “battle of Idlib” will likely be the last major military operation in the Syrian civil war, but it's not the end of the crisis. After Idlib falls-and it will–we need to address the political situation. What of the Turkish-supported rebels in the ‘Afrin area north of Aleppo?
What of the US-supported mainly #Kurd|ish Syrian Democratic Forces (#SDF)?

Are they to be integrated into the Syrian Army? Not likely,

Will the Kurds be allowed some form of autonomy like their Iraqi cousins? Bashar says no, as does Turkey.

The US position? Hard to say.
#Turkey – you know, our #NATO ally(?) – wants all the Kurdish “militants” (I think he means the #SDF) to leave northern Syria. Hey @RT_Erdogan, they’re Syrians, where are they going to go?

Idlib is just the next step on the long road to putting Syria back together.
.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Rick Francona

Rick Francona Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(