Answer: Because you want to get the job done fast…

As told to me, the Syrian army hoped by mid-August to have control of Homs, and by early-September to be wrapping up victory in war-ravaged Aleppo.

In late-July, following June’s strategic victory in Qusayr of cutting rebel supply lines, Assad’s ambitions to get the country back in his control were on the rise. But two things happened, rebels attacked Alawite stronghold Latakia on the coast, temporarily distracting regime forces.

The Latakia thrust was soon repulsed but not without shaking Assad’s new found confidence. Second and more worryingly for him, rebels in the capital, loosely termed the “Damascus Brigade” by one regional source involved in supplying them with weapons and honing their fighting skills, were becoming a serious irritant.