The Syrian War Is Shifting In Favour of The Assad Regime

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Bloomberg: Advantage Assad After Five Years of War in Syria

* Turks, Saudis have few options to aid embattled rebel allies
* War heads to shootout with Islamic State as `moderates' wilt

After five years of war and a quarter-million dead, President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian and Iranian allies now have the upper hand in Syria, and they’re seeking to drive home a growing battlefield advantage rather than negotiate.

In the past week, the United Nations has tried to get peace talks under way in Geneva, European leaders met in London to seek ways to halt a refugee influx that’s playing political havoc across the continent. But those events looked like sideshows to the action unfolding in northern Syria, where Assad’s forces -- backed by pro-Iranian fighters and reinforced from the air by Russian planes -- are moving closer to recapturing Aleppo and winning the most decisive victory of the war.

Gains by Assad and his allies in the past month have squeezed overland supply lines to Turkey that may represent the last bulwark against defeat for the rebels in northern Syria. Tens of thousands of refugees have already fled toward Turkey, which is hosting German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday to discuss the crisis. To the west, another opposition stronghold in Idlib is also under threat from government forces.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: It is hard to believe that this conflict has been going on for 5 years.