August 29, 2016
THE MIGHTY RUSSIAN WAR MACHINE:
Fight for Syria's Aleppo exposes limits of Russian air power (Maria Tsvetkova and Christian Lowe, 8/29/16, Reuters)
Russia's politically-sensitive and ultimately fruitless decision to launch bombing missions on Syria from Iranian soil has exposed the limits to its air power, leaving Moscow in need of a new strategy to advance its aims.People familiar with Russia's military said Moscow opted for the sorties from Iran - and Tehran agreed to allow them - because they were struggling to achieve their aim of crushing rebels in the city of Aleppo.The gamble failed and rebels fighting their ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Aasad, remain ensconced in parts of Aleppo.
Posted by Orrin Judd at August 29, 2016 1:01 PM