[thriftwy]

But aren't they stuck in abyss now? If that's the choice, maybe it wasn't a good plan after all.

[ido]

The current situation is not a stable state, at some point one of the combating sides will win or the country will split into several independent states.

[pjc50]

The combating sides include outside parties, so the war could continue until every Syrian is dead and then beyond even that.

[thriftwy]

I don't think it will ever recover to pre-war levels. Not in our time.