Ed.: We may be seeing the opening moves of World War III:
- Vladimir Putin's overall strategy is to prop up Russia's long-time regional ally, Syrian President Bashar al Assad.
- Russia has bombed targets in northwestern Syria, an area mainly held by non-ISIS rebel groups such as the Free Syrian Army and an Islamist coalition, Jaysh al-Fatah.
- The aim is to eliminate non-ISIS groups first. Then the Syrian, Russian, Iranian, Hezbollah alliance can turn its attention to ISIS and, thereby, force the United States to support or, at least, do nothing to hinder their operations.
- Controlling northwest Syria also safeguards Assad's Shia-Alawite home region and his base of support, as well as securing the strategically critical coastal area containing the Latakia airbase used by Russian forces and the important port of Tartus.




















