*This article was originally published in The Topeka Capital-Journal, August 13, 2016.
A week ago, Syrian rebels seized a major military installation in Aleppo and ended a month-long siege of the city. Afterward, citizens of east Aleppo rushed into the streets to celebrate, rebels captured a large stockpile of weapons and equipment stored at the academy, and supply convoys resumed their deliveries. Before Bashar al-Assad’s forces were routed, 300,000 Syrians had been isolated from the rest of the country at gunpoint — they faced starvation, a lack of medical resources and the daily horror of Russian and regime bombings.
The defeat of Assad’s vicious siege was the most significant triumph of the year for an embattled opposition that has lost critical ground in recent months. It was a much-needed morale boost, especially considering the daunting psychological impact of Russia’s involvement in the war over the past year. As Michael Weiss noted in a Daily Beast column last Monday, the victory proved that “the Assad regime, in spite of its continued support from Iran, Russia and assorted foreign sectarian militias, might still be bled, if not quite defeated.”
However, there’s a trapdoor under the rebels’ success — the operation would have been impossible without assistance from jihadist organizations such as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (formerly the Nusra Front) and Ahrar al-Sham.
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