Syria

The Syrian regime has been bombing the rebel held enclave of Eastern Ghouta. The civilian cost has been horrific. 
I have tried to put myself in the shoes of the Syrian regime to understand their actions.
As far as I can see there are two options for them – cede power or retain it.  They have obviously chosen the latter and their actions are designed to do it.  The West has said Assad has to go, so why would you align yourself with the West if you want to keep power?
Wars are never nice.  They are always messy. Once upon a time, campaigns were conducted in secret.  There were sieges of towns in the past.  No way in or out, no food, no water, people starving, people eating every animal and then other people.  Finally they were over run or surrendered.  Generally, if they were over run, every one there was massacred.  This included civilians, who were seen to have aligned themselves with the opposition.
Now the eyes of the world are on everything that happens.  Hence at this point the rebels are trying to win the propaganda war.  They point out hospitals being bombed, children being killed and any atrocity that, while not right, will score the rebels points in the eyes of those not involved. 
Support of the cease fire, would at this point, seem to serve the Syrian regime well.  They could be seen to be humanitarian, while letting anyone out who was not committed to the rebels cause.
I personally have never seen anyone start a war with the aim of losing it.  The Syrians are fighting to win.  It sure helps that Russia is a powerful ally and that the West is divided and in disarray. 
I honestly need to ask myself “what would I do differently?”  I would definitely keep chemical weapons out of the equation, as the last thing the Syrian regime need is something that unites the west (for example Boris Johnson in London has justified “limited strikes” if there was “incontrovertible evidence of further use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime or their supporters.” (The Independent).  To win the war, it seems the regime needs to herd the rebels into one spot and bomb them out of existence (little personal contact to preserve their own people).
The Syrians and Russians can win this war but only for a time.  The enemy thinks really long term.  It may take 100 years, but if the rebels keep chipping away they will eventually win.  It seems to be the nature of Middle Eastern conflicts.  Election cycles versus life cycles.  Short and sharp versus long and messy.  Russia is merely a means to an end.  Of course the rebels may get an ally actually willing to get their hands dirty.
Western powers need a new strategy to win these wars. As yet they don’t have it but they will.  We saw a dress rehearsal “shock and awe.”  One day it will be for real.  Abhorrent as it is to the West right now, it will be justified.  It is called obliteration.  No one will want to argue with that.