Syrian Conflict: The Battle for HomsTony Cartalucci The western city of Homs Syrias third largest city, located near the northern Lebanese-Syrian border has served as one of several major battlegrounds between foreign-backed terrorists and Syrian security forces over the past 3 years. Militants were armed and arrayed against Syria using Lebanese territory under the auspices of the Hariri-Siniora political faction beginning as early as 2007, years before the so-called Arab Spring unfolded. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh stated in his thorough 2007 report titled, The Redirection, that (emphasis added): Clearly these Western-funded, Lebanese harbored terrorists served as the backbone of one of three main foreign incursions into Syrian territory the other two being through Jordan and into the Syrian city of Daraa and from Turkey into the city of Aleppo. Homs, however, is geographically located such as to benefit from both logistics originating in northern Lebanon as well as networks fed by Turkey-based terrorists in the north. Should the strength of terrorists in Homs wane, it would be indicative of not one, but two collapsing terrorist fronts and the diminishing resolve of their Western and Arab patrons. Should Homs be finally taken from occupying terrorist forces, it would signify a much larger shift in favor of Syria toward restoring order across the rest of the nation. Syrian Arab Army Poised to Liberate Homs Homs has been passed off by the Western media as the symbolic capital of the so-called revolution. Its liberation by the Syrian Arab Army would therefore be not only a tactical and strategic victory, but an immense psychological and political gain for Damascus as well. In recent weeks, such a victory has come visibly within Damascus reach. Thousands of civilians and fighters were granted safe passage out of the Old City of Homs, leaving behind a depleted and encircled handful of fighters. Despite a brief attempt by the Western media to portray a counteroffensive as being underway in the city, it is now admitted that the collapse of terrorist forces in Homs is imminent. The Associated Press in their article, Syrian rebels make last stand for Homs, reported that: Others have hit back with suicide car bombings in districts under government control. Some fighters are turning on comrades they suspect want to desert, pushing them into battle. We expect Homs to fall, said one activist. In the next few days, it could be under the regimes control. Advances in Homs are mirrored elsewhere across the country as the Wests covert war against Syria slowly and irreversibly unravels a process which began early in 2013 with terrorists being effectively countered from Damascus to Daraa, and along Syrias borders with Lebanon. Defeat of Wests Covert War in Homs Reflects Greater Overall Decline Recent revelations that the August 2013 chemical attack in Damascus was in fact carried out by NATO and its Arab partners, reveals just how far this unraveling has progressed. The failure of the attack to justify direct Western military intervention indicates a much larger problem for the West one of credibility that is effecting its agenda from Syria to Iran, across Eastern Europe including Ukraine, and amid its attempts to pivot toward Asia. With the Wests terrorist proxies being pushed out of one city after another across Syria, and with the Wests previously formidable media machine now seemingly impotent, options are becoming increasingly limited not only in Syria, but across the rest of the Middle East and beyond. A recent New York Times column titled, Homs Emerges as Turning Point in Shaping Syrias Future, sets the tone for how the West will handle its inevitable defeat in Syria. It disavows the prominent role the West and its Arab partners have played in funding, arming, training, and staging terrorists along the borders of Syria, purposefully fueling the destructive conflict that has rendered cities like Homs devastated. It also attempts to propose that the rebuilding of Syria should include the Western-backed opposition that carried out the deadly and costly conflict on behalf of its foreign sponsors and their designs of regime change as part of desired regional geopolitical reordering. For Syria and its allies however, regardless of the narratives penned by the Western media and espoused from the podiums of Western politicians, the process of rebuilding and reconciliation will be entirely theirs to decide. Such rebuilding and reconciliation will most likely reflect the same patience and perseverance exhibited throughout the last three years of Western subversion, provocations, and acts of war visited upon the besieged Middle Eastern nation. Tony Cartalucci,Bangkok-based geopolitical researcher and writer,especially for the online magazineNew Eastern Outlook, where this article first appeared. 