Story highlights Syrian government forces seem set to retake Aleppo, which would be fundamental to ending the civil war

Wedeman says he saw signs of Aleppo divisions in early days of uprising

What he saw in Hama decades ago could be harbinger of what's to come

(CNN) Thousands of people are fleeing the eastern, rebel-controlled part of Aleppo. Pro-regime forces have breached the once stable front lines in this battered city. The end is near.

It's the beginning of the end of the uprising against the regime of Bashar al-Assad that began March 15, 2011, in the opening phases of what once was optimistically called the Arab Spring. It is also, perhaps, the final death knell for that string of revolts or revolutions or uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain and Yemen, which have ended in catastrophe (with the possible exception of Tunisia).

I reported from Aleppo in August 2012 , when it appeared the Syrian uprising had a chance to succeed. Aleppo, Syria's largest city and its industrial powerhouse, had initially stayed out of the rebellion. But in the summer of 2012 it rose up against the regime, and when it joined the revolt it seemed, back then, only a matter of time before the regime would come tumbling down.

In the already severely battered neighborhood of Salahadin, a masked rebel fighter told me he was confident victory was near. "We will win, because we have iman -- faith -- we have faith," he told me. "We believe in God. They, the regime, don't believe in God."

But in the time I spent in Aleppo, there were also hints already that the opposition was divided, and already some of the factions showed signs of extremism.

Read More