Special to WorldTribune.com

NICOSIA — President Bashar Assad, relieved of the threat of an imminent U.S. military campaign, has resumed air strikes on rebel strongholds in Syria.

The offensive, in wake of a U.S.-Russia agreement that essentially shelved any Western air campaign, combined air and ground strikes against Sunni rebel strongholds throughout the suburbs of Damascus in the largest assault since the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attacks attributed to the Assad regime.

“These agreements are a victory for Syria, achieved thanks to our Russian friends,” Syrian National Reconciliation Minister Ali Haidar said. “They have prevented a war against Syria by denying a pretext to those who wanted to unleash it.”

The opposition said the latest Assad offensive came after a lull of more than three weeks. Opposition sources said the Syrian military suspended most operations as it prepared for a threatened attack by U.S. President Barack Obama.

Analysts said Assad was expected to intensify his offensive against the rebels. They said the Russian-U.S. agreement was seen by Damascus as a green light by the West to destroy the Sunni revolt by any means other than chemical weapons.

“Assad is effectively being rewarded for the use of chemical weapons,” Shadi Hamid, research director at Qatar’s Brookings Doha Center, said. “Now, he can get away with nearly anything — as long as he sticks to using good old conventional weapons.”

Senior members of the U.S. Congress agreed. Both Democrats and Republicans expressed doubts over whether Assad would honor any agreement to surrender CW.

“We’re back to where we started — except Assad has bought more time on
the battlefield and has continued to ravage innocent civilians,” Senate
Foreign Relations Committee chairman Sen. Robert Menendez said on Sept. 15.

  ‘Thanks to our Russian friends’, Ali Haidar, Bashar Assad, Brookings Doha Center, Sen. Robert Menendez, Syria declares victory and resumes air strikes