The Battle of Aleppo

[Peter1469]

It has been a long battle, but it may be ending. Rebels are all but forced out of the ancient city center in Aleppo.

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Syrian government forces swept through the Old City of Aleppo on Wednesday as rebel forces — besieged and facing certain defeat — debated when to withdraw from their shattered stronghold.

The government’s push into the historic heart of Syria’s largest city marks a defining moment in more than five years of war. The army and allied militiamen now control three-quarters of east Aleppo, the rebels’ most important enclave.

The accelerating rebel collapse came as Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Germany for a last-ditch effort to agree on conditions that would allow the city to be evacuated. Kerry said the two would meet again Thursday morning.

[Peter1469]

The rebel defeat is almost here in Aleppo. Assad's forces are punishing residence who sided with the rebels. Rapes, torture and execution.

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Troops loyal to Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and foreign militias under Iranian command swept into eastern Aleppo on Monday, recapturing nearly all of the city’s opposition-held areas and seizing the citadel of the Syrian revolution.

The triumphal takeover followed a day of intense bombing of houses and apartment buildings, destroying so many that it was impossible to determine the death toll. The neighborhoods of Bustan al-Qasr, al-Kallasa, al-Farod and al-Salhin in the Old City, as well as Sheikh Saed, in the southern district, are all now under regime control.

The United Nation’s top human rights official on Tuesday charged the U.S. and other countries with collectively wringing their hands in the face of the “wanton slaughter of men, women and children” in Aleppo and pleaded for the world to take measures to protect those fleeing the Russian and Syrian regime onslaught.

The U.N. had received credible reports of scores of civilians being killed either by intense bombardment or summary executions by pro-government forces. Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.

[Tahuyaman]

All I can say is, it's a mess. An unsolveable mess. At least it's unsolveable in that no one has the will to do what it would take to solve it. And I don't know if anyone should.

[Peter1469]

[Tahuyaman]

[Peter1469]

It looks like the battle may be over. Reports are coming in that the rebels have fled the city. There are also reports that Assad forces with their Russian and Iranian allies are massacring civilians who supported the rebels and jihadists. But keep in mind what the rebels did. There are reports that they brutalized those who would not play along with their rule.



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The evacuation is part of a cease-fire deal reached this week to have the opposition surrender their last foothold in Aleppo to Syrian government control in the face of a devastating ground and air offensive by government forces in the past weeks that chipped away at the rebel enclave. It marks the end of the opposition's four-year control of eastern Aleppo.

Syrian TV showed live footage of a long convoy of ambulances and green buses driving out and crossing the Ramouseh bridge, en route through government territory and into a rural, rebel-held part of Aleppo province.

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In the past when ISIL fighters retreated they were not treated well. Some were burned alive by their fellows.

[valleyranch]

There have been so many killed in Aleppo. The Syrian people have really been hurt. Every one has lost someone, some have lost all. imagine that filthy shit, Clintons wife, Asaad has to go. What right did she think she had, if this were a movie a child of a family killed would come over, devoting his or her life to iceing that rotten hag!

[valleyranch]

The media are misleading the public on Syria


COVERAGE OF the Syrian war will be remembered as one of the most shameful episodes in the history of the American press. Reporting about carnage in the ancient city of Aleppo is the latest reason why.

For three years, violent militants have run Aleppo. Their rule began with a wave of repression. They posted notices warning residents: “Don’t send your children to school. If you do, we will get the backpack and you will get the coffin.” Then they destroyed factories, hoping that unemployed workers would have no recourse other than to become fighters. They trucked looted machinery to Turkey and sold it.


This month, people in Aleppo have finally seen glimmers of hope. The Syrian army and its allies have been pushing militants out of the city. Last week they reclaimed the main power plant. Regular electricity may soon be restored. The militants’ hold on the city could be ending.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/201 ... story.html

[Peter1469]

The American people have been lied to about Syria. The rebels are Sunni Islamists. They want Assad gone because he is Shia (an offshoot group). Assad is a tyrant in many ways, but he did protect religious minorities from the Jihadists. The rebels effective committed genocide against them- the people our government said were the good guys who we must support.