American Presence in Syrian Skies Muted Since Arrival of Russian Air Force

The American-led coalition of fighter jets ostensibly fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria reportedly has not flown a single sortie against ISIS targets in the past three days, saying it’s “on the lookout” for more targets. Telling, though, is the report that while the US coalition was looking for targets, the Russian force was able to find at least 94 of them – the number of targets Russia says its forces hit in a 24 hour period alone. Not all is as it seems at first glance, though. Many are questioning whether the Russians are hitting ISIS targets or are focusing only on rival groups opposing Syrian strongman President Bashar Al-Assad. On the American side, it has been noted that very little, if any, progress in stemming the success of the ISIS fighters has accompanied the year-long activities of the US-led coalition. The number of sorties flown by the US coalition has trended downward every month since July.