THE HINDU Editorial Vocabulary-December 12, 2016- Topic 2
The battle for Aleppo is almost over. Syrian
government troops have captured almost 85 per cent of the eastern part of the
city which fell into rebel hands in 2012 in one of the early setbacks to the
regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the civil war. Given the pace of the
battlefield advances, it’s only a matter of weeks, if not days, before the
Syrian army recaptures all of Aleppo, the country’s largest city and commercial
capital before the conflict broke out. The regime will now have direct control over
all the major cities and population centres in Syria, while for the army, which
was on the brink of collapse a year ago before the Russian intervention, the
victory is certainly a morale booster. But Mr. Assad has had to pay a heavy
price for Aleppo. This military triumph is the result of a brutal strategy the
regime and the Russians put in place earlier this year. Damascus knew that if
Aleppo were to be recaptured, it would shift the balance of the civil war
decisively. Eastern Aleppo was the priciest catch of the rebels where they
built a parallel government. Their plan was to expand the “revolution” to other
regime-held territories and they had the backing of regional powers such as
Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Syrian government, however, launched a relentless
bombing campaign in July, imposing a siege on the rebel-held parts of the city.
After months of bombing by Russian and Syrian jets broke the rebel supply
lines, the army, backed by Hezbollah and Iran-trained militias, moved in to
make quick gains.
The battle for Aleppo has been a humanitarian disaster. The rebels accuse
the regime of indiscriminate bombing and killing civilians, while the
government says it had no option but to move in as the city was controlled by
“terrorists”. Both are partially true. From the beginning of the Aleppo
operation, both the regime and Russia adopted scorched earth tactics. But
government troops frequently opened humanitarian corridors for the civilians to
escape the war and the Russians had even negotiated a retreat deal with the
rebels under Turkish mediation recently. But the rebels, including Fateh
al-Sham that was al-Nusra Front till August, the al-Qaeda branch in Syria,
refused to retreat; they also prevented residents from fleeing the city. Now
that government troops have captured most of the city, the question is, what
will President Assad do next? Will he move troops to Idlib, another rebel-held
city, or kick off a long-awaited political process where he could negotiate
from a position of strength? The latter option would avert more bloodshed,
while the military’s resources could be rechannelled to fight the Islamic
State.
Vocabulary
Battle: a sustained fight between large, organized armed forces.
Example: The Battle of Shiloh
Synonyms: fight, armed conflict, clash, struggle, skirmish, engagement
Recapture: an act of recapturing.
Example: Fierce fighting was reported during the recapture of the television station
but the radio station was apparently given up without a struggle, with the
dissidents fleeing.
Brink: an extreme edge of land before a steep or vertical slope.
Example: The brink of the cliffs
Synonyms: edge, verge, margin, rim, lip, border, boundary, perimeter
Morale: the confidence, enthusiasm, and discipline of a person or
group at a particular time.
Example: Their morale was high
Synonyms: confidence, self-confidence, self-esteem, spirit(s), team
spirit
Decisive: settling an issue; producing a definite result.
Example: The Supreme Court voided the statute by a decisive 7–2 vote
Synonyms: deciding, conclusive, determining, key, pivotal, critical, crucial
Relentless: oppressively constant;
incessant.
Example: The relentless heat of the desert
Synonyms: persistent, continuing, constant, continual, continuous, nonstop
Scorched: burn the surface of (something) with flame or heat.
Example: Surrounding houses were scorched by heat from the blast
Synonyms: burn, sear, singe, char, blacken, discolor
Bloodshed: the killing or wounding of people, typically on a large
scale during a conflict.
Example: Fresh troops arrived in the city throughout the day, triggering fears of
further bloodshed .
Synonyms: slaughter, massacre, killing, wounding, carnage, butchery, bloodletting
