A turning point for Bashar Assad?

摘要

The collapse of rebel resistance in Qusayr near the Lebanese border on June 5th may not be the decisive battle of the Syrian civil war that supporters of Bashar Assad are claiming, but there is no denying its significance. The signs are growing that the regime has got a fresh lease of life by developing new offensive capabilities with its Iranian and Hizbullah allies. It may also be setting strategic objectives that it is increasingly able to achieve. For the West, which has long assumed that however bloody and vile the conflict, there was little prospect of Mr Assad and his backers (Russia as well as Iran) prevailing, the fall of Qusayr should be a belated wake-up call. If it is not heeded, Qusayr could indeed be a turning-point.