Putin and Assad Are Outdoing ISIS at Mass Murder

The all-out assault on Aleppo by Russian and Assad regime aircraft, targeting as it does aid convoys, hospitals, homes, market places, and mosques, seems to have mildly surprised and deeply upset senior American officials. Saddled with a president content to look the other way while mass murder unfolds, they had persuaded themselves that Moscow’s demands for joint Russian-American air strikes against terrorists presented a genuine diplomatic opening. This explains the administration officials’ “big stick” in response to ongoing Russian war crimes: They threaten—as if Moscow cares—to walk away from an agreement embodying tactical and strategic collaboration with Russia in Syria. This is the sad, pointless diplomacy of desperation and wishful thinking.