I can’t vouch for how accurate this is, but there’s a report that the Syrian army is a mere 3.5 kilometers outside of Palmyra and may be planning to mount an attack to retake the ancient city from ISIS. You’re not likely to find many examples of yours truly rooting for Assad, but this is one of them. His regime is horrible, absolutely, but so (obviously) is ISIS, and with the humanitarian element being a wash, I’ll take the side that won’t destroy the irreplaceable historical site over the side that surely will (and may already have started). There is the possibility that ISIS will destroy the site because the Syrian army is about to run them off, but, look, they’re almost certainly planning on destroying it anyway and the only outcome that prevents that is for the Syrian army to move in fast enough to stop them from doing it. ISIS has been pushing toward the important T-4 Syrian military airbase near Homs ever since it took Palmyra back in May, but it may not be able to sustain that offensive now if its hold on Palmyra is threatened (though conversely, if T-4 is seriously threatened the Syrian army may have to pull back from Palmyra to defend it).
Less nifty are recent reports that Assad and Hezbollah have made gains around the city of Zabadani along the Lebanon border. The majority-Sunni Zabadani was one of the first cities to come under rebel control after the civil war started, though it’s changed hands a couple of times since then. Control of Zabadani gives the Assad-Hezbollah team a secure cross-border corridor, which strengthens Assad’s ability to hold out in Damascus and incidentally is probably not great news for people in Lebanon who would prefer that Syria’s war not wind up in their front yard.
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The Foreign Exchanges Companion 