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U.S.: Russia to Start Flying Combat Missions Inside Syria
(Bloomberg) Josh Rogin - The Obama administration and the U.S. intelligence community have concluded that Russia is set to start flying combat missions from a new air base inside Syria, but there's disagreement inside the U.S. government on what to do about it. The options are to try to confront Russia inside Syria or, as some in the White House are advocating, work with Moscow to coordinate U.S. and Russian strikes in northern Syria, where the U.S.-led coalition operates every day against the Islamic State. But others in the administration fear Russia will attack Syrian opposition groups that are fighting against Assad, using the war against the Islamic State as a cover. "The Russians' intentions are to keep Assad in power, not to fight ISIL," one administration official said.