Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, in this October 20, 2015 file photo. REUTERS/Alexei Druzhinin/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/ Files
Reuters: The road to Aleppo: how the West misread Putin over Syria
Last July, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad seemed to be losing his battle against rebel forces. Speaking to supporters in Damascus, he acknowledged his army's heavy losses.
Western officials said the Syrian leader’s days were numbered and predicted he would soon be forced to the negotiating table.
It did not turn out that way. Secret preparations were already underway for a major deployment of Russian and Iranian forces in support of Assad.
The military intervention, taking many in the West by surprise, would roll back rebel gains. It would also accelerate two shifts in U.S. diplomacy: Washington would welcome Iran to the negotiating table over Syria, and it would no longer insist that Assad step down immediately.
"That involved swallowing some pride, to be honest, in acknowledging that this process would go nowhere unless you got Russia and Iran at the table," a U.S. official said.
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WNU Editor: In hindsight .... there were many signs that the Russians/Iranians/Syrians were up to something. Political and military leaders were meeting, arms shipments were being stepped up, and concerns from Syrian President Assad, Russia, and Iran on the trends in the war were being blunt and very public .... in short .... they were telling their own domestic audience that something was being planned. My guess is that the West .... after reporting on the Syrian war for five years .... were sceptical that anything would change. Well .... they were wrong .... the situation on the ground has changed .... and I suspect that for the rest of 2016 we will be witnessing the fallout from this Russian decision to intervene directly in the Syrian war.