This has been fascinating: when the Syrian regime troops advance, Western correspondents go silent, or even make up a victory to attribute to the Syrian rebels

It has been hilarious as of late. Western correspondents in Beirut have for the last three years been upping any real or imaginary victory for the Syrian rebels and using it in a narrative about how the regime is about to fall, any day now.  Even when a low-ranking clerk defected, it was made into a big story about how this will really change the reality in Syria.  And when the rebels advance and take over a checkpoint, the story is peddled as the biggest victory on the battle field since Alamyan.  Yet, even Arab media are now admitting: that Syrian regime troops have been steadily advancing and routing out Syrian rebels, and yet the story has not made it into the Western media with the exception of a story here and there about Yabrud, as if this is the only story from the battlefield.