Syrian Rebels Send Mixed Messages on Aleppo Fighting

Rebel Victory or Rebel Loss Will Be Spun as Proof of Assad's Impending Ouster

As fighting rages in Aleppo this weekend the narrative is clear on one count, that whatever happens it will be vindication of rebel demands for Assad to be immediately ousted. Exactly what it happening and how that narrative will be advanced remains to be seen.

On one hand rebel factions are predicting a “massacre” by Assad’s troops, demanding Western intervention including either a full-scale international invasion to install them or, failing that, a dramatic increase in armaments.

At the same time, other rebel leaders are predicting an imminent victory of their own and promising to turn Syria’s largest city into a “graveyard” for the military and by extension the regime.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta appeared to try to avoid guessing which of the two was going to happen, and instead insisted only that Aleppo would be a “nail in Assad’s coffin” in some vague manner, and will assure that his regime is going to be ousted. Whether Assad needs to be ousted for losing Aleppo or ousted for winning Aleppo is just a detail.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.