A Russian military official has claimed that ISIS is a CIA run organisation, and that it is essentially a re-branding of al-Qaeda, another CIA group. Colonel Alexander Zhilin lays out in laymen’s terms why it is in Russia’s interests to support Assad in the video below. Intifada-palestine.com reports: A number of Russians, and Westerners as well, have some misunderstandings about Russia’s involvement. Zhilin explains why this is not an optional fight for Russia. In the event that Syria fell, it would free up ISIS fighters for a renewed campaign in Chechnya, Dagestan and east of the Caspian as well, pushing north from Afghanistan into former Soviet central Asia. Recall that ISIS is a re-branding and broadening of the same Saudi (et al) backed network of ‘foreign legionary’ soldiers which previously was called Al Qaeda and the Maktab al-Khidamat network which preceded it.