From an AFP story on Syria: Syria troops advance in rebel bastion as war enters year 4
[A]n insurgency became full-scale civil war after the regime bombed the central city of Homs in February 2012. Two years later, the war appears to have reached stalemate, with some predicting it could last another 10 or 15 years.
…
The regime is advancing on three fronts, south of Damascus, in the strategic Qalamun region and in Aleppo in the north.
How can this be a “stalemate” when one side is advancing on three important fronts?
Also this: Pro-regime Sunni fighters in Aleppo defy sectarian narrative
The piece talks about Sunnis fighting in local defense groups on the government side. Such reports were lacking in “western” media and that makes it welcome. But the writer still keeps up the “it is a sectarian fight” nonsense by neglecting that the soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army, as well as the government, have been and are in their majority Sunnis.
Adding: Contrast the “stalemate” fairy tale to this from next week’s Swoop:
Regarding Syria, US attention has dropped precipitately, with the result that US intelligence analysts are warning that Assad is making military gains that will be near impossible to reverse. One analyst commented to us: “Assad has as good as won.”