The Truth is that Assad just like his father who gave away the strategic Golan Heights to Israel has ceded the sovereignty of Syria to the Russians. Assad cannot win the war with the over reliance on Russian Barrel bombs and Iranian - Hezbollah militias to continue staying in power. Assad is more focused on destroying the armed Syrian oppositionists in the North and has allowed Isis pockets down south to remain in their deserts and re-emerge from the same deserts they started in
Assad will most likely use the return of Isis to justify his brutal campaigns against Arabs and Kurdish political opponents in the North and East of the country.