Today's Headlines and Commentary

Russia has commenced airstrikes in Syria, the New York Times reports. The strikes have largely targeted the rebel-held Homs and Hama provinces. Though Russian officials maintain that Russia aims to provide air support to the regime of Syria’s Bashar al Assad in its fight against the Islamic State, the Times notes that “Homs is not under the control of the Islamic State.” Instead, Reuters tells us that Homs is critical to the Assad regime’s control of western Syria. Shane Harris of the Daily Beast writes that some U.S. officials have speculated that Russia’s forces are operating exclusively to support Assad’s regime, rather than to fight against ISIS.