Syria headline attributing too much to a tactic to consolidate Al-Assad's Alawite region

Russia's Brutality in Aleppo May Be Calculated, and Effective is a headline that attributes too much long term thinking to a tactic. Aleppo is a city that Bashar al-Assad wants in his Alawite enclave and Russia is aiding that effort. But there is no indication that Russia would be willing to support an effort to bring Sunni Arab and Kurdish regions back into a unified Syria under his control.