After nearly two years of fighting, Syria’s vaunted war machine is showing serious cracks as emboldened rebels snap up more bases and airfields and force army units to retrench behind defensive lines in major cities, The Washington Post reported Tuesday, December 4. Bolstered by a steady flow of arms from foreign backers, opposition forces have scored a series of tactical victories in the Damascus suburbs in recent days and are advancing steadily toward the city’s airport, adding to what some analysts view as a sense of momentum that has been building since late summer. Powerful antitank and antiaircraft weapons have helped level what was once a lopsided contest, so much so that army commanders have been unable or unwilling to challenge rebel assaults on large military bases on the capital’s outskirts.