Assad again put his foot in his mouth.

Yesterday he announced a plan for an epic march against Raqqah in a style similar to Xenophon’s Anabasis. I do not know the exact details, but I presume that he planned to send Iranian and Bedouin troops through the desert until they reach Raqqah and take it with the help of Russian airstrikes.

Just one day after he announced that grandiose plan, his Iranian troops deployed south of Aleppo were attacked and defeated by Jaysh Al-Fath. He lost several villages and hills.

What an embarrassment. It reminds me of his embarrassment at Dayr Az-Zor last week, when he said that he was going to take Dayr Az-Zor from the IS and next he was defeated by the IS in Dayr Az-Zor, and the IS also killed and injured hundreds of his Alawite supporters in the coastal region.

I just do not understand how millions of people accept this ape as their leader.

I doubt very much that they really accept him. I expect that many of them will switch to the SDF if that force becomes a realistic alternative.