Mosul and Aleppo Are Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing | Foreign Policy

Also see: From Aleppo to Mosul | The Economist

“Aleppo is the symbol of the worst sort of external intervention. Russia is helping Syrian troops, and their Iranian and Shia allies, pound the besieged Sunni rebels. … Mosul, by contrast, could yet become a model for defeating the jihadists and creating a saner politics that recognises Sunni Arabs’ stake in Iraq. Iraqi, Kurdish and local Sunni forces are closing on the city, with American support; the jihadists are fraying.”