Al-Nusra front is pushing back the Syrian Army. The regime loses yet another town. Yahoo/Reuters.

Al-Nusra fighters in a captured military vehicle. Yahoo/Reuters.

Al-Qaeda affiliates al-Nusra have taken the strategic city of Jisr al-Shughour from the Syrian regime. Yahoo/Reuters. Syrian media have confirmed that the troops pulled out of the city. Jisr al-Shughour lies on the M4 highway that runs between the city of Allepo, a major battlefield, and Latakia, a coastal regime stronghold. Al-Nusra fighters now have control of most of the Idlib province. Al-Nusra has united most of the rebel groups under a new banner with them at the head. With Jisr al-Shughour in Islamist hands, they can now threaten the regime heartland near the coast. 

My Comment:

Yet another massive defeat for the Syrian regime. The al-Nusra front is having a string of successes that have successfully pushed the regime back to their last strongholds. With Jisr al-Shoughour under their control, not only have the terrorists cut off the city of Aleppo, they are also threatening the coast. The coast has been the Syrian regimes only safe area. It seems like that is coming to an end. 

It seems clear to me that the Syrian regime is losing the war at this point. They were doing ok against the more secular rebels and had generally left ISIS alone, but with al-Nusra uniting most of the rebel groups, they are facing a very strong enemy. ISIS has also switched focus and is taking territory held by the regime. Attrition and the destruction of supplies and equipment is also harming the regime. I know the Russians are giving them weapons and that Iran/Hezbollah have sent troops, but it no longer seems to be enough. 

Another major disadvantage for the regime is that nobody else is fighting against al-Nusra. The U.S. led airstrikes haven't targeted al-Nusra nearly as much as they have targeted ISIS. And ISIS is largely leaving al-Nusra alone. The secular rebel groups that have been fighting al-Nusra have either been defeated entirely or are now fighting under the black flag of the extremists. 

So what happens if al-Nusra wins? Nothing good. They already have created a mini-state in Syria and by all accounts it is a pretty terrible place to live. They have Islamic law and are guilty of some atrocities. They claim to be more tolerant then ISIS, and there is some evidence of that, but they still treat religious minorities horribly. I'm guessing that if they win there will be a large scale attack on the Syrian Alawities. After all, Al-Qaeda has never been all that happy with Shia Muslims, even if they are an offshoot. 

Of course the defeat of the Syrian regime would not mean the end of the fighting. ISIS and al-Nusra are not compatible. They have a long standing score to settle, so after the defeat of the regime, they would likely fight each other. Remember, ISIS is an offshoot of Al-Nusra, and that they have fought each other before. They aren't fighting each other right now because they have a common enemy and they operate in different parts of the country. 

So what should be done about al-Nusra? Can anything be done about al-Nusra? Sending in more airstrikes might have an effect, but air campaigns alone can't win a war. Ground troops are needed for that. America isn't going to deploy troops and neither is any other European country. Even if the public wasn't war weary, nobody is going to come down on the side of the Syrian regime even if their opponents are much worse then they are. So nothing is going to get done and it seems like yet another government will fall to Islamic extremism.