When a dictatorship cannot regain control over a country in revolt for 18 months despite repeated offensives, when it cannot police the countryside away from the main roads, cannot secure the capital or its main trading hub, cannot even protect its innermost citadels and has to pull troops from its borders to protect its palaces, it is finished. This is the case with the dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, who is still trying to kill his way out of the crisis, even as poorly armed rebels swarm through Syria’s cities and his supporters melt away. He is finished.
当一个独裁政权在18个月的叛乱中多次发动进攻，仍无法重新取得这个国家的控制权，当它无法保卫远离主要道路的农村地区、无法保护其首都和主要贸易中心、甚至无法保护其最隐秘的堡垒（不得不从边境抽调军队来保护王宫），这时，这个政权就已经完蛋了。巴沙尔•阿萨德(Bashar al- Assad)独裁政权现在就面临这样的情形。装备不良的叛军正大举涌入叙利亚各城市，阿萨德的支持者四散而逃，即便在这种时候，这位独裁者仍在试图通过杀戮走出危机。阿萨德已经完蛋了。