Nonetheless Russia as a major nation could be subject to international sanctions over it's war crimes. Accidents are one thing, but deliberate targeting of aid convoys and hospitals is another. Merkel is already on the case:
https://www.rt.com/news/361772-germany-sanctions-russia-syria/
Germany is aspiring to be
the EU power. And Merkel specifically, as well as Germany more broadly, is in a political confrontation with Russia. It makes sense that when they can no longer push for more sanctions over Ukraine (in fact they may have problems preserving the current level of sanctions) they have to change the focus to something else. But it's easier to accuse then it is to prove guilt.
And another thing to think about. Turkey has been using humanitarian aid convoys to deliver weapons for some time. They even jailed some of their own journalists for investigating it. Could this convoy have been carrying things other then aid? Again, it seems unlikely, to me at least, that Russia would target a perfectly innocent aid convoy for no reason. It doesn't send a message, like bombing the US-backed rebel group did. It doesn't accomplish any military objectives. It creates considerable negative fallout. And to top it off, it costs resources to do it.
Yes this I see to be true. Difficult now to see what the US can do with so many ground forces from different nations on the scene, Turkey playing a vague role, and SA passive. The answer is they can do nothing. Just letting their air force loose would be a PR disaster. The air defenses that they would have to negotiate is another problem. Upsetting Russia another. The US as much as I do not want to accept the fact have been totally neutered in this conflict. I can not make up my mind whether they are seething or indifferent.
The US is far from neutered. However the US is not playing first fiddle, like it has in the recent past in other wars. And the US has a very messy policy, with no clear, realistic, and tangible objectives in mind. This is the biggest problem. Until the US can come up with some realistic strategic goals (not just the proverbial "democracy and prosperity for all") for the near to medium term, the US will continue to suffer when dealing with players who do have them.
To add to the complications, Shia forces from Iraq and now crossing the border to support the seige of Aleppo. This is going to do nothing to support the humanitarian cause or for that matter serve any US interest as far as I can see.
Iraqi militia fighters pour into Syria to support Assad | Fox News
It seems to me that Russia's plan is to force out the US from the whole axis from the Med to Iran as they slowly gain influence now with Iraq.
This is not news. Iraqi militias were airlifted to Syria by Russia, last year, to participate in iirc the defense of Damascus. They've since been provided with strategic and operational airlift by Russia to various fronts within Syria.
As for Iraq, the US lost a lot of ground when they held back those F-16s, as ISIS was pushing on Baghdad, and it took an emergency buy of Su-25s from Russia, and transfers from Iran, to give the Iraqis some decent fixed-wing CAS. Ever since then Russia has made gains in Iraq in proportion to its willingness to provide modern gear and equipment. There is even a coordination center in Baghdad with Russian and Iranian personnel, to work with the Iraqis on a combined war effort of sorts. That having been said, Iraq is a very long way from being a Russian client state. Russia has some interests there in the form of oil holdings, weapon sales, the strategic air route to Syria, and a joint effort in the war. However they have relatively little leverage to bring to bear on Iraq. It seems to me that Iraq is working with Russia because it's advantageous to the Iraqis.
