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Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/vladimir-putin-russia-syria-216609
Russia Bogging Down in Syria
(Politico) Michael Crowley - U.S. and Israeli officials say Putin's intervention in Syria is showing slower results than he had hoped. "The Russians thought they would make a lot more progress on the ground fast," said one administration official. "They haven't made really any....It's measured by low-digit kilometers at the most." "The whole idea of the Russian presence in Syria is to launch an offensive," Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon told the Brookings Institution's Saban Forum last Friday. "It seems to be a failure." Russian planes and cruise missiles began striking Syrian rebel forces in late September as Assad's army began a ground offensive, assisted by 2,000 Iranian-led fighters, including religious militias and Revolutionary Guard troops. But that ground offensive has mostly sputtered, with indications that Iran - which has taken significant casualties - has withdrawn more than half of its forces.