Russia and Assad are preparing for a bloody reconquest of Idlib, the last region of Syria where Arab rebels have control.

Those rebels are Sunni Islamists; if they had taken over Syria, things would have gone badly for other groups.

However, if Assad takes Idlib, he is likely to torture and kill thousands more prisoners.

I can't see anything that anyone could plausibly do to prevent this, and that's what is the great shame.