US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta commented Monday, July 30 on his way to the Middle East that the Syrian army’s shattering assault on Aleppo, Syria’s commercial hub, “will ultimately be another nail in Assad’s coffin.”

This was a measure of the frustration generated by the failure for now of the Western-backed Arab bid to establish a safe haven in the Aleppo region.

It was thwarted by the ruthless drive of Syria army’s 18th and 11th Divisions and parts of the 14th with massive air and artillery support to destroy rebel forces.

When Panetta declared, “It’s not a question of whether he’s coming to an end, it’s when,” pro-Assad forces were again rooting out and liquidating rebel forces in Aleppo as they did in Damascus ten days earlier.

[link to www.debka.com]