Assad continues air campaign as US-backed talks grind to halt. Somewhere in the Kremlin, Putin is smiling.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials speaking off the record say Putin has accomplished main Syria goals.

As the fighting bogs down in Syria and passions become ever more bitter, an organized “population exchange” along sectarian lines is taking place.

Are losses among regime supporters reaching an unsustainable level?

And we don’t expect 2015 to be much better.

The number is a huge increase—but also a drop in the bucket.

Bashar al-Assad is starting to lose the confidence of his closest base of support: his own Alawite sect.