The war rages on in Syria, even in the outskirts of Damascus:
Residents of Syria's eastern Ghouta district said they were waiting their "turn to die" on Wednesday, amid one of the most intense bombardments of the war by pro-government forces on the besieged, rebel-held enclave near Damascus.
At least 10 people died in one village and more than 200 were injured early on Wednesday. At least 296 people have been killed in the district in the last three days, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said.
The government has besieged the 400,000 people living there for years now.
If Assad has won the war in the aftermath of the defeat of ISIL (through the American-organized campaign) you can't prove it by the resistance and the intensity of the Syrian effort to kill their way to victory in Ghouta.
That's just one place where Assad's regime has no control.
And then you have to consider that even in "Syrian"-controlled territory, it is actually Iran that runs the show with their money and leadership of so many local and foreign militias, including Hezbollah (as I noted in this post).
No, the multi-war is not over. Not even close.
The question is, what is it? It started as a civil war. But then it got complicated. Without ISIL as a major factor as a caliphate, I thought maybe it was no longer what I eventually called a "multi-war" of different factions fighting their own wars kind of unrelated to other wars, although participants might overlap.
Is the new post-caliphate phase back to a civil war? Is it still a multi-war?
We might be in an internationalized civil war with the American-led coalition, Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Israel as outside states (add in al Qaeda which still fights there rebranded to avoid American JDAMs) with clear military roles in the fight.
Think of it as the modern-day Spanish Civil War, as I've noted it resembles a couple times over the years. As foreign actors expand their roles, it strengthens the resemblance.
If this goes on, the Kurds who seem to want to stay out of the civil war to just hold their own ground may find that they have to commit to either the defeat of Assad or the defense of Assad to make a Syria they can live in through concessions over autonomy. Separatists who think they don't have a dog in the fight have a difficult position.
All I know is that I'm so grateful we didn't further militarize the conflict 6 years ago by helping the rebels win. Gosh, civilian bloodshed might have been worsened!
And if this is more like the Spanish Civil War, let's take precautions that the X-war isn't a dress rehearsal for a wider war of far more consequence and bloodshed.
