# End game in Aleppo **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 28, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-game-in-aleppo/773313 "2016-11-28T19:49:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 1
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2016, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-game-in-aleppo/773313/1 "2016-11-28T19:49:23Z")
[Syrian government forces have captured more than a third of rebel-held territory in eastern Aleppo.](http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38128370) > [@](#): > > Thousands of residents of east Aleppo have fled to areas controlled by government forces and Kurdish groups since the fighting intensified on Saturday. > > The tide is clearly turning in Aleppo in favour of the Assad regime - raising serious questions about the ability of the disparate rebel groupings to maintain a significant area of control in northern Syria. This is good news both for the inhabitants of eastern Aleppo and for Syria itself. Despite the concerted efforts of the Syrian rebels and their Islamic extremist allies, supported by short-sighted Western powers (have they forgotten Libya?), the Syrian government is finally beginning to assert control over the country. Whether we realize it or not the West owes a debt of gratitude to Russia and Iran. Now, rather than a country shattered into fragments, with areas controlled by fanatics forcing women into niqabs and burkas and throwing homosexuals from rooftops, we will hopefully see a strong Syria as well as a strong Iraq. Is Assad a ruthless dictator? Of course he is. Is he preferable to the maniac extremists of ISIS and their allies? Of course he is. In an ideal world democracy would thrive in Syria but this isn’t an ideal world. The root of the problem, in both Syria and Iraq, is the discontent of the Sunni. I don’t know how that can be solved but it certainly won’t be solved by having Saudi Arabia (a staunch US ally and incidentally a far more brutal tyranny than Assad’s) and the Gulf States adding fuel to the fire and fomenting rebellion. By the way, I wonder if democratic rebels arose in Saudi Arabia whether the US would support them with money and arms? The answer of course is no way Jose. The stench of hypocrisy is strong. --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/end-game-in-aleppo/773313)._