Pursues crushing campaign
The President of Syria takes advantage of the U.S. led coalition combating ISIS forces to advance a crushing force against rebel forces. Changing tactics, the Syrian government scales back in certain areas to focus on key areas, such as the two cities of Damascus and Aleppo. Harmer:
Whereas previously the Syrian regime had some interest or some level of obligation to take direct action against ISIS, to the extent that the American military is now doing this, the Syrians don’t have to do it. If ever there was a time when the Syrian regime had everything lined up for them to do so, this is it. It is in a very favorable position and it’s got the opportunity to execute major offensives around Damascus and Aleppo.