After three days of massive bombardment of the Syrian city of Aleppo, it seems clear that the ceasefire negotiated between the US and Russia was a ruse to allow President Assad and Vladimir Putin to organize their forces to make a primal push to take the city and deal a huge blow to the rebellion.

It's being called the most intense fighting of the 5 year civil war as cluster bombs, barrel bombs, and other ordnance rains down on helpless, defenseless people. Russia has targeted aid stations, the rebel water supply, and rebel held neighborhoods in a bid to soften up the opposition for what one Syrian officer said was a ground assault on the city.

It appears that there was never a serious effort by Assad to obey the terms of the ceasefire. And because of John Kerry's stupidity and naivete, the two million people trapped by the Aleppo seige are paying for it.

Associated Press:

Government forces captured the rebel-held Palestinian refugee camp of Handarat as airstrikes pounded rebel-held eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo, killing 52 people, including 11 children and six women, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Local Coordination Committees, another monitoring group, said 49 were killed on Saturday alone.

The Observatory said the death toll in Aleppo is expected to rise since many people are in critical condition and rescue workers are still digging through the rubble.

Residents say the latest bombardment is the worst they've seen since rebels captured parts of the city in 2012. Activists reported dozens of airstrikes on Friday alone.

"Since the beginning of the crisis, Aleppo has not been subjected to such a vicious campaign," said Mohammed Abu Jaafar, a forensics expert based in the city. "Aleppo is being wiped out."

For days, videos and photographs from eastern Aleppo have shown flattened buildings and paramedics pulling bodies from the rubble. Wounded people have flooded into clinics, where many are being treated on the floor because of a lack of stretchers.

"People in Aleppo already suffocating under the effects of the siege, have yet again come under horrific attack," said Carlos Francisco of Doctors Without Borders, which supports a number of area clinics. "No aid, including urgent medical supplies, is allowed to enter."

"We are deeply worried by the high numbers of wounded reported by the hospitals we support, and also know that in many areas the wounded and sick have nowhere to go at all — they are simply left to die."

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon condemned the "chilling" escalation in Aleppo, which he said marked the "most sustained and intense bombardment since the start of the Syrian conflict." The statement issued by his spokesman said the reported use of "indiscriminate" weapons in densely populated areas "may amount to war crimes."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, speaking at Tufts University in Boston, said what was happening in Aleppo was "beyond the pale."

"If people are serious about wanting a peaceful outcome to this war, then they should cease and desist bombing innocent women and children, cease cutting off water and laying siege in medieval terms to an entire community," he said.

Did Kerry actually believe that Assad and Putin were "serious about wanting a peaceful outcome to this war"? Why should they be when they are clearly on the cusp of a stunning military victory? Kerry's arrogance in believing in his own powers of persuasion would be amusing if the consequences of his doltishness weren't so profound. 

And that includes his being taken in by Iran during negotiations over the nuclear deal. Kerry's massive failure has been covered up by soothing lies told about the agreement by the administration and their surrogates. Only now are we beginning to understand the depth of the betrayal by Kerry and Obama as we continue to fund Iranian terrorists and their military with assets that have been released.

The humanitarian disaster that will result from a protracted ground campaign in Aleppo will be unthinkable. It will be another war atrocity committed by Vladimir Putin and his puppet Bashar Assad.

Kerry's breathtaking stupidity in being duped by a negotiating partner is something we've come to expect.