Don't @%$# With The CIA

The Battle for Aleppo: Assad's Syrian Army is in its third day of attacking the Salaheddine district, the key to the battle. The bad guys are throwing everything they have into the district, blackening the sky with smoke from mortars, artillery shells, missiles from jet fighters and other heavy ordnance. The rebels are absorbing this punishing fire and holding the district, against all odds. The FSA says it is gaining ground around the periphery of the battle, starting a pincer movement to engulf Assad's army as it gets sucked into this hellish firestorm.

Assad's army is tearing apart buildings in the city because of its reliance on heavy weapons. The resulting rubble is giving cover to the rebel fighters, turning the once proud city into a nightmare of urban warfare where tanks and jets are not that useful and the fighting quickly descends into hand-to-hand combat and sniper duels. This is exactly what happened at Stalingrad.

The battle wasn't supposed to be going down like this. The rebels aren't following the playbook that the media and the West laid down for them. This battle was supposed to result in a rebel massacre. War crime courts were geared up to prosecute Assad's people for the expected bloodbath.

Russia is making plans to abandon its naval base in Syria in case it is overrun by rebel fighters. This is Russia's only big overseas military base; Russia's pride and joy. The Russians are looking to build a new base elsewhere. They have approached Cuba and other countries.

Why are all the analysts so wrong about this battle? What is it that they don't understand? They answer is that they don't understand what it means to @$#%& with the CIA.