Mosul and Aleppo Are Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

Two of the biggest cities in Iraq and Syria are about to fall. But the wars aren't any closer to ending.

Two cities, two battles, one question: Will Aleppo and Mosul be turning points in the vicious war that has consumed Syria and much of western Iraq? Militarily, yes. Politically, no. The fall of these cities would merely mark the transition from one phase of this sorry conflict to another.

In Aleppo, the Bashar al-Assad regime, backed by Russian airpower and Iranian-sponsored ground forces, have relentlessly and indiscriminately pounded the rebel-held eastern districts of Syria's second city.

While some rebel factions in Aleppo are hard-line Islamists, the city is one of the last bases for what remains of the supposedly more moderate rebel factions originally supported by the West. As things stand, the regime looks likely to take the city in due course, having inflicted horrific levels of civilian casualties in the process....

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