(Newswire.net — October 2, 2016) — Instead of calming down, the war in Syria seems to have reached a new peak.
After shifting the focus on who first broke the ceasefire signed by U.S. and Russian foreign ministers, Assad’s and Russia’s airstrikes are killing civilians’ all over Aleppo. This however, is a well calculated plan by the Russian’s, and it is working too, NY Times reports.
While Western leaders gasp over Russia’s brutal bombing of hospitals and civilians in Aleppo, the Russian’s are stockpiling proof that the „moderate opposition“ in Syria are no different than Islamic State terrorists.
In fact, heavy bombing and suppressing rebels actually leaves them no other choice than to cooperate with IS fighters in order to survive. Given that the rebels are supported by the U.S., it is easy to come to the conclusion that Washington supports the ISIS terrorist groups. When the time comes, and Russia has proved they are not in a hurry, the world would realize that the U.S. is supporting the wrong side.
Analysts agree that the strategy Moscow is using is more about politics than advancing the battle lines. It appears to be designed to give Russia veto power over any high-level diplomacy. Also, the strategy is to exhaust Syrian civilians to get them to the point they renounce the rebels and simply give up resisting Assad’s rule.
According to the analysts, this approach could succeed even if pro-government forces never retake Aleppo. The thing is that Aleppo residents are so exhausted they just want the agony to end.
By forcing the rebels to unite with the extremists, Syria’s government aims to deprive the world of any acceptable alternatives for leading the country.
Syria, Russia’s last remaining ally in the Middle East, is governed by the Shia religious minority. If democratic changes bring Sunni Arabs, this would certainly change things for Russia.
The city of Aleppo is divided between the pro-government and rebel groups. Although the Russian Air Force is hitting the other side quite severely, the pro-government ground troops are too weak to take the whole city and win the battle for Aleppo. The western allies led by the U.S. are providing aid in the form of food and weapons for the rebels so they can provide the necessary resistance. This is why humanitarian aid convoys have been hit repeatedly.
Without the support, the rebels can’t survive. Trucks with humanitarian help, nonmilitary aid convoys, even hospitals among other civilian targets are primary objectives for Russian air raids.
While western leaders fume, blaming Russia for inhuman behavior, the “moderate opposition” is becoming less moderate, joining ISIS and Al-Qaeda against a common enemy.
Russia now only needs to win the media war by presenting the fact that the rebels in Syria have been radicalized and become one with the terrorist groups. Since the most influential media on planet is western, however, the task is not that easy even if the facts support the claim.