Quote Originally Posted by OUTLAW 09 View Post
CrowBat...is it just me but in the last two weeks there has been a "sudden" alliance of necessity between Turkey, the US and FSA towards first of all IS but more importantly towards Assad...with suddenly weapons flowing that had been stopped and the US AF now openly flying CAS for FSA.
Not really. Oblabla remains Oblabla. But Saudis and Turks feel they've got 'free hand' to do what they like. There is a lot more Emirati involvement too, though we get next to nothing to hear about them: they're fiercely anti-Islamist (no matter what sort) and thus 'no story' for the media.

OR has Putin been outmaneuvered by the FSA and Turkey with the US realizing it must support both if they are to make any progress against IS??
Putin has got a problem with a combination of MANPADs and necessity to get out of Syria (at least publicly) on time. At the current level of intensity, he could really withdraw this troops 'tomorrow in the morning', and hardly anybody would pay attention.