The battle for control of Aleppo, the second most important city in Syria, has ended in a victory for Assad’s forces, supported by the pro-Assad coalition – Russia, Iran, Hezbollah, and Shiite forces commanded by Iran. In the context of the battle, the forces opposing Assad felt that they were betrayed, having suffered siege and hunger, destroyed residential neighborhoods, hundreds of civilian casualties, and the use of chlorine bombs against population centers, while the world was silent. None of the parties who promised a change in Syria delivered on their promises.

The United States, which committed itself to achieve a political solution that would end Assad’s tyrannical rule, did not lift a finger. Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the leading Sunni forces in the region, which promised Sunni majority rule in Syria, have given up their efforts against the war waged by Russia and Iran to save the Alawite regime headed by Assad. The international community has abandoned the Syrian people, and has failed in both halting the bloodbath that to date has claimed nearly half a million victims and preventing a humanitarian disaster.