Russian President Vladimir Putin (2nd L) and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (2nd R) meet with servicemen as they visit the Hmeymim air base in Latakia Province, Syria, Dec. 11, 2017.
Martin Chulov, The Guardian: Moscow mired in Syria as Putin’s gameplan risks a deadly ending
Russian leader’s gamble backing Bashar al-Assad increasingly looks miscalculated
From his spot in the ruins of east Ghouta, Arif Othman sees the current phase of Syria’s war as brutally simple. The longer he holds out against Bashar al-Assad and his allies, the worse it will get – especially at the hands of the Russians.
“We were supposed to have surrendered by now,” he said at the end of the most intensive week-long barrage anywhere in Syria in the past three years.
“When we didn’t, the bombs were bigger, the planes more regular, and the injuries like nothing we’ve seen. All sent from Moscow.”
The Russian-led air blitz has been the sum of all fears for the besieged population on the ground. Up to 400,000 people, with nowhere to run, have been pinned down by Vladimir Putin’s air force as Syrian and Iranian-backed ground troops edge closer to the largest and most important opposition area anywhere south of Idlib.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: I think the Kremlin has finally begun to realize how incredibly messed up Syria is .... and that there is really no solution in sight.to placate any of the different factions that are now in play in Syria. And even if the war should end tomorrow .... the resources that will be necessary to rebuild the country are simply not there. In the meantime, the slaughter continues .... Syria death toll over 500 as eastern Ghouta bombing continues (The Guardian).
