As the risk of asking a stupid question: why WON'T Assad just let the civilians leave Aleppo?

[Ken Burch]

Why does he keep stopping the refugee convoys with new rounds of bombing?

He's totally trashed the place...the rebels are crushed...the people in the convoys are old folks and children...why can't he let it go at what he's already done?

[marybourg]

1. Those who have stayed

this long are seen to be rebel sympathizers and/or rebels.

[HoneyBadger]

2. That is the thinking

They had 6+ months to figure it out and while some may have had circumstances that did not allow them to leave, or were too young or old to decide themselves, I would say that most chose this. If they were fighters or families of fighters and left earlier, they would have lost earlier. Procrastinating during wartime is very very dangerous.

[oberliner]

3. Aren't the rebels the ones preventing the evacuation?

Aleppo battle: Rebels burn Syria evacuation buses

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38358177

[Ken Burch]

4. The way I've heard it reported, both sides have broken the cease-fire at different times.

The rebels know they are beaten, so why would THEY want to force civilians to stay?

Why should anyone ever have to live in Aleppo again?

The city will never be rebuilt, no matter what.

[David__77]

8. Much of Aleppo is relatively intact.

People are going to work and school, parks are maintained, trash is collected, traffic is flowing in much of Aleppo.

[LittleBlue]

7. They are. This borders on "fake news" level truthiness

It was the rebels who were holding people by force in Aleppo.

[loyalsister]

14. It is an opportunity for some ugly forces

It reminds me that where we are internationally has a lot to do with the fact that after Afghanistan allowed their country to be destroyed and their citizens killed on our behalf they were left with at least 50% of children under the age of 18 and angry radical Muslims as their role models.
We keep screwing up the end game.

[oberliner]

16. What should US policy with respect to Syria be at this point?

It seems like all the options are bad options.

[loyalsister]

19. I have no idea how to solve it

I doubt there are many who do. I do think it's possible that if we had kept our promises to rebuild Afghanistan and not invaded Iraq we would all be living in a more peaceful world.
Hopefully, for all of our sakes, in 2020 we will elect a president who will navigate our foreign policies without forgetting how much of this is our fault.
It's a heartbreaking thought to consider what the next administration will or won't do because I feel certain that they will only screw it up more.

[shadowmayor]

5. Not a stupid question - it's a fundamental question

Why do "we" willingly accept the media narrative in Aleppo? Why are we to believe that there are "moderate" rebels? Aren't these the same people we are trying to remove from Mosul? Why are all the stories about Aleppo slanted to tell just one side?

I don't think Assad is a good guy - he's another dirtbag ruler. I also don't think the rebels holding Aleppo are fighting for democracy and the rights of the people they have captured. It's a giant middle east style mess and we keep poking our fingers into the fray and lying about what the hell is actually going on over there. I for one, don't trust any information coming from that part of the world - the American version, the Syrian version, the Russian version, or the UN version.

Why did the rebels burn the evacuation buses? Or so it has been reported.
Why was most of Aleppo not under seige and the media refuse to report that fact?
Why did people run to the Syrian Army away from the rebels when they had the chance? Or so it has been reported.

Why are the ISIS rebels in Mosul bad guys but their comrades in Aleppo are freedom fighting rebels?

Thanks Cheney. Thanks Rumsfeld. Thanks media. The incompetence of these powers that be is stunning.

[David__77]

6. There's a deal on evacuation and insurgents attempted to sabotage it.

As pointed out above in a link, insurgents burned buses that were to evacuate people from two towns encircled by insurgents. This joint evacuation is part of the deal.

[True Dough]

9. Yeah, it's really looking grim

[Wellstone ruled]

10. This is a Religious War with the

Assad Family as the titular head of their Religion.

[David__77]

11. By the way, Asma Assad comes from s Sunni family, I believe.

I do think that, for some insurgents, the fact that Bashar Assad is Alawite is a problem in itself.

[Wellstone ruled]

12. Read some where

that is the main reason things will never be solved and until Assad goes away. Some many players in this pig pen it's nuts.

[Ken Burch]

18. It's the same fatal flaw that existed in the old political order in Iraq

(and which still hasn't been dealt with in THAT country) :

Power held entirely by an ethnic/religious minority, in which members of that minority are given privileges over everyone else in the nation.

No way to sustain that kind of thing indefinitely without the most brutally repressive methods possible.

No way to overthrow it without letting the most heavily armed faction in the conflict lead the resistance.

[David__77]

20. I don't agree with that assessment.

I don't consider that Alawites are privileged over non-Alawites as a matter of consistent policy.

[JHan]

13. Ken, all I got for you is this quote:

"The Syrian conflict is a immensely complex civil war in a geographically, linguistically, and culturally distant part of the world, one that involves both centuries-old history and minute-by-minute events, between a vast and shifting number of agents, both internal and external to the country, which have conflicting and overlapping interests and methods, all of which are obscured by a lack of journalist presence in a dangerous country, the prevalence of disinformation and propaganda on all sides, and the fog of war. I do not know what’s happening in Aleppo, and I suggest that you don’t either."

- Freddie DeBoer

[shadowmayor]

17. Where's Bri-Wi now?

Anybody remember the annihilation of Fallujah? Twice in 2004? We bombed the hospitals, shot the ambulances, broke the cease-fires and prevented the evacuation of wounded from that city. Twice. Who was the "good guy" there I wonder?

The Marines that came over to Abu Ghraib were absolutely disgusted by their leadership, and by what they had done to the residents of Fallujah. And after a week or so in Abu, they decided Fallujah was probably better than the rot and bullshit going on at the prison. Since my return, I have never trusted mainstream western media when it comes to anything our military is involved with over there. It's a big packet of bullshit wrapped in propaganda and designed by our own DIA creeps running psyops on our own press.

Moderate rebels my ass. Assad was our boy when we were sending him prisoners to be tortured. Wonder why the change of heart?

Anyone ever wonder why Assad's troops would use "barrel bombs" when they have their own artillery?

[Nevernose]

15. Iranian militias aren't under Assad's command

Or at least are only nominally under his command. According to Vice and some other stories I've seen, it's them specifically targeting civilians and executing even women and children.