Washington seemed stunned by the sudden collapse of Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime in Syria over the weekend. Albeit not as “stunned” as whoever found themselves on the ground when the US Air Force unleashed dozens of air raids on 785 sites in Syria – while Assad was still on his way to exile in Moscow.
The Americans weren’t suddenly swinging in behind the rebellion that swept away more than 50 years of rule by the Assads. The Pentagon unleashed B-52 bombers, F-15 fighters and A-10 Warthogs because the coalition that roared into Damascus, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), has its roots in violent global Islamist extremism.
