Submitted by Shoshanna Bryen via The Gatestone Institute,
As the Russians insist that the Assad government is the only legitimate government, all anti-Assad fighters -- ISIS, al Qaeda-related, or U.S.-backed or Turkish-backed "moderates" -- are, by definition, terrorists.
One of the most amusing things about Russia’s headlong plunge into Syria’s five-year conflict is the extent to which it effectively represented Moscow calling time on Washington’s strategy of seeking to bring about regime change in the Mid-East by intentionally destabilizing otherwise strong (if not always benign) governments.
As we never tire of reminding readers, it’s critical to understand that the conflict in Syria, as interesting and important as it is in isolation, is part of larger story. As we documented in “Mid-East Coup: As Russia Pounds Militant Targets, Iran Readies Ground Invasions While Saudis Panic,” an epochal shift is taking place in the region