“Despicable as he is, there’s no good alternative to Assad.”
Agreed. and I strongly suspect Trump believes that too given his campaign attacks against Obama/Clinton for taking out Qaddafi in Libya.
The military actions Trump, the UK, and France took did not weaken the Assad regime, but merely punished it for using poison gas by taking out the facilities (including airfields) thought to be directly involved in the gas attacks. I suspect that Assad is simply being “told” what he can and cannot do in the conduct of his civil war.
Given the many times Assad has gassed opponents, in the recent past, if the “United States Assessment of the Assad Regime’s Chemical Weapons Use” is even, say, 1/4 correct, it would appear that as implied by that document, Assad is “staggering” (my word) toward a temporary finish line, and would have a great deal of difficulty “finishing off” the rebels without the use of chem weapons.
I had previously thought Assad’s actions were largely based in sadism plus a need to strike fear — perhaps taking away the chemical weapons option would hamper his current ops more than you think (and I previously thought)?