Because they are the illegal weapons funnel from the USSA.
Cut off their supply! Warfare 101.
An interesting, but half-baked report.
For example:
“’What Russia is doing is basically the same as NATO’s game plan in Libya a few years ago. We are providing close air support to forces on the ground, in this case backing the government against rebels, but the same idea,’ says Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of Russia in Global Affairs, a leading foreign policy journal. “
‘Everything depends now on the ability of the Syrian Army to win victories with our help....’”
OK, except that analysis leaves out Hezbollah fighters and Iranian Revolutionary Guards, who are also supposed to be pouring in to Syria to help Assad. Russia will be providing air support to more than just Assad.
It also ignores a big reason for Russia avoid ISIS targets at this time. As Putin points out, he asked our mush-for-brains administration about sharing intelligence on where to bomb, but we said, NO. Then he asked mush-for-brains to share intelligence about where not to bomb, and we said NO again.
Britain and the US have already said they gave their pilots orders to shoot Russian planes in a conflict. The US also says it is bombing ISIS. What better way to have a conflict with the US and UK than for the Russians to try to bomb ISIS locations with US and British planes in the same airspace over ISIS?
Russia is cleaning out western Syria first, securing bases, cities and loc’s, then will move into central and eastern Syria (Battle of Aleppo is already underway)
The Russians have struck some ISIS targets, just not the majority thus far since they have not yet moved the battle eastward. They have given intelligence to Iraq that has led to some effective Iraqi strikes on ISIS in Iraq,
Thus far the Russians seem to have been targeting command nodes of the various islamist factions including their leaders, supplies and weapons, and command centers.
The Russians clearly stated that Assad is the best answer for now, and anyone against the Assad regime is considered an enemy. And most of them are. Islamists of various stripes such as AL QAEDA aka al Nusra and other names, who will never consent to be part of a secular representative government, and are not fighting for and have no goal of supporting one.
Russia invited the us to join them and fight ISIS, or give them ISIS targets. We declined.
Thus far the Russian coalition consists of Syria, Russia, Iran, Iraq, CSTO states (Central Asia, Cuba, and verbally Egypt and China and tacitly, Israel
...because after dodging coalition air strikes for 14 months ISIS is a much harder target. Sectarian forces will soon be using similar tactics otherwise they die.
Many dead Syrian Christians can’t tell the moderates from ISIS either.
They accuse Putin of strengthening ISIS because he’s targeting “moderate” rebels. Don’t they see the irony. The “moderate” rebels are attacking Assad and not ISIS so doesn’t that also strengthen ISIS? What I see US/Obama making excuses.