Major Syrian Army offensive in Aleppo. Rebels are in danger of being cut off completely. Yahoo/Reuters

Children walking in Aleppo. Yahoo/Reuters.

The Syrian Army has taken several surrounding villages near the rebel stronghold of Aleppo, cutting of the main supply route for the city. Yahoo/Reuters. Syrian troops have blocked the supply route leading to Turkey. Attempts by the UN to broker a cease fire have failed. Syrian loyalists have taken the villages of Bashkuwi and Sifat as well. Opposed to the Syrian Army are a disparate group of rebels, both of the secular and extremist type. Along with less extreme Islamic militias, Al-Qaeda's Al-Nusra Front are active in the fight, with western back rebels teaming up with the extremists. Syrian airstrikes have pounded the city of Aleppo while fresh troops from Hezbollah, the Iranian backed Shia terrorist group have poured into the area. With the new troops from Hezbollah, Syria hopes to have Aleppo completely surrounded by the end of the week. 

My Comment:

If this offensive succeeds, expect this to be a huge victory for Bashar Al-Assad and his government. Aleppo has been a thorn in the side of Assad and a meat grinder for all involved. Surrounding the city and cutting off its supplies will result in siege warfare, which favors Assad. All he will have to do is starve the city out and force a surrender. That is great news for the Syrian government and terrible news for the rebels. But since most of them are Islamic fundamentalists like the Al-Nusra Front, I am not going to be shedding any tears for them. There aren't many secular rebels left and the ones that are there have thrown in their lot with the Islamic ones. Of course there are still civilians left in Aleppo, so any siege will have a terrible effect on them. But at this point that is par for the course.  

Should this end up as a victory for Assad I see it as a good thing for the fight against ISIS and Al-Qaeda. Not only will the Al-Nusra front lose a major battle, Assad will be able to move his forces around to fight ISIS and the mini-state Al-Nusra has set up in Syria. He will also fight the more secular rebels but at this point there aren't all that many of those left. It won't be a major difference, but at this point any little bit helps. Both groups are a huge threat to the region, and indeed the world, and the more resources devoted against them the better, even if those resources come from a man as evil as Assad.  

In a perfect world Assad and the secular rebels would stop fighting each other and start fighting ISIS and the Al-Nusra front. But so much blood has been spilled I don't see that happening anytime soon. Indeed, I think the only way the war between the rebels and the Syrian government is for one or the other to be wiped out... or for both to be wiped out by the Islamist groups. The best solution, the secular rebels winning, is pretty much impossible at this point. The second best option, Assad winning, seems likely, but the third, and worst, option, is still a possibility. My prediction is for Assad to win in Aleppo, but it is going to be a long and bloody battle. The secular rebels will be wiped out. All the while, ISIS and the Al-Nusra front will be strengthening their grip on the territory they hold...