my 2 cents this is about putin repairing the russian reputation. he has shit the bed with the ukraine situation, and the africa situation. syria just makes him look bad, and it might have made sense before ukraine, but it doesnt anymore. with trump in office, he has a genuine option for business to go back to usually. if assad has to die for that to happen, then so be it. he is looking at a frozen conflict that will continue for years in ukraine, and sanctions that will depress growth till the end of time.
Confederate