Bashar al-Assad prefers a small Ottoman palace on the slopes of Damascus’ Mount Qasioun to his vast official palace, once telling foreign visitors he found it “more cozy” than the fortress-like presidential compound in the west of the city.

If he strained his ears while strolling the palace gardens, the Syrian regime leader might even be able to hear the blasts of barrels bombs or the roar of artillery as his forces and their Russian allies assault Eastern Ghouta. 

For nearly six years, Syrian rebels have clung on to the suburb just a few miles from Assad’s headquarters and flown their black Islamist banners and green revolutionary flags in defiance of the president and his generals.

But that…

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