The mainstream media has surprisingly admitted that it is, in fact, the rebels in Aleppo who have been starving the city’s civilian population.
According to Reuters, residents found a stockpile of food at an abandoned rebel depot so large the civilians stated they had not seen that much food in ages. As one civilian claimed: “[T]hey [the rebels] forbid us from everything. There is no milk, there is no cooking, there is no meat.”
The media previously made a point of letting the world know the rebels dismissed claims it was starving the civilian population, taking the rebel’s word for it on good faith.
The rebel group in question is called Jaish al-Islam (or the Army of Islam in English). This is the same rebel group that has been documented carrying out ISIS-inspired executions, is intent on establishing sharia law in Syria, and cooperates and conducts attacks regularly with al-Qaeda. The group’s former leader has gone on record to say he will cleanse the region of Shi’ites, Alawites, and Zoroastrians. The organization has also been heavily suspected of using chemical weapons and shelling civilians.
It is for these reasons that Secretary of State John Kerry classified them as a subgroup of al-Qaeda, going off-script in the process.
But we’re still at war with al-Qaeda, aren’t we?