Excellent article. Thank you. It is not artisan or even all that political. It explains some of the politics involved but it mostly explains why the reporting is so bad and cannot be trusted. In the case of Alleppo it is because the so called rebels are blood thirsty Muslims who like to rape and ransom so it is very unsafe for reporters. In Mosul it is much easier to report.
Good illustration from the article. In Mosul Isis prevents residents from fleeing the violence and that fact is heavily reported. In Aleppo it’s the same except it isn’t reported because, well, there are not any reporters.
Wait? Someone is admitting that neither side in the Middle East is our friend? How dense are these people?