He probably realized that if he launched a war on behalf of al Qaeda, that’s the end of him politically right there. His “coalition” is already falling apart - the wheels are coming off the wagon.
I believe he is an islamic operative or at least a dupe under control of one. Not sure which branch of islam, but al quaeda seems likely.
If he/they are concerned that starting this war would make it obvious and they don’t want to do that, it means that this is not the end game. It means they have something bigger and more disastrous for the US that they are waiting to unleash. That is my big worry.
If starting a war by striking Syria was their goal, they’d go for it and not care what happened to Zero. So what is next?