IN an irregular war or any civil uprising , how can one tell when the goal is achieved ?? if you are the non-state element seeking a change , have you achieved it when the state has been completely destroyed ? or when you take the place of your opponent and become the state .
To assess if the struggle did indeed depart from the initial main strategy , or that circumstances of the struggle have fundamentally changed , planners may need to reassess and maybe alter the going strategies into developing and adopting a new more adequate grand strategic plan .
The difficulty of irregular warfare and its political goals , is that it's difficult to say when you have achieved these goals . Switching roles with your opponent and becoming the state while you still are in an irregular war , just on opposite sides of the equation . Or is the goal simply not being destroyed as you conduct the struggle ? in which case how long do one have to survive before one can declare that one achieved his goal ? this is a true problem of the Syrian uprising .
Historical events and uprisings taught us ample lessons about fully understanding what to wish to achieve before utilizing military force for a political end . Today in Syria the unintended consequences of having a poorly defined or almost non existent goal , when entering into an irregular warfare situation with the Assad regime , are readily evident .
While the initial goal seemed rather clear , the removal of the existing regime , The inability of the political opposition to fully understand and establish a post-conflict political plan resulted in another irregular war , raging now in many parts of the country . Then it would appear the future is not really fixed at all , the future's history is quite open .
For the Syrian upcoming leadership and aspiring politicians , it is of primary importance to have a clear will to assess and reassess clearly the objectives and tactics of the uprising . They should all argue , that the overthrow of the regime or removal of the president and his immediate entourage is not enough and never a final ultimate goal .
The objectives at this time needs clearly to be , the establishment of a free society with a real democratic system of government , and not replacing a dictatorship with another . Clarity on this point will influence the development of a major strategy acceptable by the majority of Syrians .
Finally , a better and realistic recommendation one could give , is that everyone calm down , political involvement is a good thing , but people over these parts of the world , have become fanatical . Religious fervor , hysteria , and zealotry is clouding reason and sanity , throughout the Syrian nation and the Arab world .
I'm indebted to the inspiring G.Sharp , for many of his ideas of fighting dictators , correspond literally to the Syrian theater and the Levant . My usual thanks for your patience with my ideas and writings .
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