Syrian troops continue with their gains against anti-Assad rebels in the northern Aleppo Province, and have now virtually surrounded the city, controlling all but a single road, which is yet held by a US-backed faction.

Once the country’s industrial and financial capital, Aleppo is virtually a ghost town at this point, and the Syrian military seems set to retake what’s left of the rebel-held portions of it.

Yet the US plan for Syria centered heavily on installing moderate rebels across the nation, with Aleppo as an ideal northern capital for them to launch their war from.

The moderates, however, have been losing ground left and right, whether to ISIS or al-Qaeda or the Syrian military itself. The Assad government retaking Aleppo would be a huge blow to what passes for a US strategy, as the smaller, moderate factions are simply getting pushed out.