As Rebels Pound Aleppo, Kerry Threatens Assad

Kerry Warns Assad Faces 'Repercussions' If Ceasefire Fails

Though the only incidents reported in Aleppo on Tuesday were rebel forces firing on a government-held district, hitting a hospital and killing 19 civilians, the talking points of US officials continued to center on blaming the Assad government for all ceasefire problems.

Secretary of State John Kerry warned that there would be “repercussions” for Assad if the ceasefire failed, hinting at previous reports that the US intends to begin massive weapons shipments to “vetted” rebels as soon as the ceasefire ends.

The fighting in Aleppo, however, has seen both the Assad government and rebels trading fire, both regularly hitting civilian neighborhoods, and both killing scores of civilians. Despite this, the Obama Administration has only warned the government over the incidents, and is avoiding any criticism of the rebels, even when they attacked a hospital today.

And in spite of all of this exchange of fire, neither side appears to have gained any territory or inflicted significant harm on the other’s combatants, almost exclusively killing civilians over the course of this period. US officials, however, are still presenting the stalemated situation as the Assad government attempting to seize territory militarily.

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.