March 18, 2016
THE MIGHTY RUSSIAN WAR MACHINE...:
What Does Russia's Withdrawal From Syria Mean? (Fred Kaplan, 3/15/16, Slate)
[O]ver time, the mission's costs have soared and the benefits have waned. As for costs, the Russian air force ran out of "smart bombs"--munitions that can hit targets with pinpoint accuracy--after the first few days of airstrikes (this is why its jets hit so many civilians and hospitals), and it is now fast running out of dumb bombs as well. In other words, in addition to his many economic and political problems at home, Putin cannot keep this up for much longer.As for benefits, Assad has proved to be more trouble than he's worth. A few months ago, Russian diplomats started hinting that they weren't averse to a political settlement that would ease Assad out of power....
...impresses only the paleo- and the neo-cons.
Posted by Orrin Judd at March 18, 2016 10:19 PM