An excellent assessment by Tom Luongo is, we feel, important enough to suggest our readers read the full article:

Tom Luongo

Decoding Putin’s Response to Attack in Syria is a most interesting read and explanation for what may be going on, on the geopolitical stage around the Latakia events of the past days. It gives also some very valid explanations as to why Putin is acting in the way he seems to.

“The fog of war and geopolitics makes initial responses to the attack on Russian and Syrian forces recently difficult to assess.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response seemed timid and was at odds with statements from his Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and more recent statements from Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

Putin backed off on explicitly blaming Israel for the downing of the IL-20 ELINT aircraft which killed 15 Russian servicemen, but made it clear he holds them responsible for the attack as a whole….”

Crucially he brings up the likelihood that it was a French missile that took down the Russian plane and that could have opened up the hornet’s nest.

Russia, and Putin, did the one thing that makes this whole thing look like a frame job, it accepted the narrative of Israeli malfeasance in the interest of stopping a wider conflict by accusing and/or attacking a NATO member, France.

This whole saga is not going away any time soon, for sure…..

Read the full article here