This is indeed a devastating setback for the long-suffering peoples of Syria and the wider region, but it is by no means the end of their liberation struggle.

The collapse of the government of Bashar al-Assad is a grave setback for anti-imperialist forces from which we must learn.

Imperialist sanctions, occupation and war have hugely exacerbated the effects of the recent quake on the longsuffering Syrian people.

If Erdogan isn’t careful, he could find himself in outright confrontation not only with Syrian but also Russian armed forces.

Kurdish nationalists must choose between unstable US-backed ‘self-rule’ and returning to a united Syrian fold.

After eight years of bloody war aimed at shoring up its control over the middle east, the US has achieved exactly the opposite.

As Syria advances towards liberation, facts on the ground are pushing Turkey ever closer to Russia, deepening the splits in Nato.

Only total liberation will allow the country to rebuild a tolerant society and solve the problems that imperialist invasion has created.

With or without the assistance of the west, Syria will rebuild. It is winning the war and will win the peace.

Last-ditch efforts by the terrorist forces and their imperialist backers to turn the tide merely serve to underline the desperate straits to which they have been reduced.

A sign of waning US imperialist power?