Assad Has Won and America Must GoWhat does Washington think it can accomplish in Syria?by Gil Barndollar 
Image: A picture of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad is displayed on a damaged structure at the entrance of al-Dukhaneya neighbourhood near Damascus, as civilians carry their belongings recovered from their homes after soldiers loyal to Syria's President Bashar al-Assad regained control of the area from rebel fighters October 7, 2014. REUTERS/Omar Sanadiki Syrian government forces and their allies stand ready to roll into the province of Idlib and extinguish the last major rebel stronghold in the country. Russian air attacks pummeled Idlib in early September. Today’s announcement of a Russo-Turkish agreement for a buffer zone in Idlib appears to have postponed a full-scale attack on the province, but it is likely to be only a temporary reprieve . The Syrian civil war is in its endgame.
Yet at this late hour, holding few cards, the United States has doubled down on its Syrian intervention. Why?
America’s Syrian policy is now in dire straits. On September 3 President Trump made a typical Twitter threat, warning Bashar al-Assad not to “recklessly attack Idlib Province.†This bluster was paired with a far more serious announcement. The administration’s newly-appointed “representative for Syria engagement,†retired diplomat James Jeffrey, told reporters that the United States had redefined its Syria goals to include the withdrawal of all Iranians and Iranian proxy forces from Syria and the “establishment of a stable, non-threatening government acceptable to all Syrians and the international community.†Jeffrey added: “That means we are not in a hurry .â€
In March, President Donald Trump proclaimed, “We’re coming out of Syria, like, very soon.†So much for that.
There is little use in fully discussing the illegality of further American involvement in Syria. The post–9/11 Authorization for the Use of Military Force was stretched to provide a legal fig leaf for the counter-ISIS campaign in 2014. Employing it to justify an anti-Assad and anti-Iran intervention is untenable. A reassertion of congressional prerogatives is not something the Trump administration has to worry about, however. With a few notable exceptions , most American legislators are too timorous take a firm stand against any war. Some don’t even know where our troops are .
<..snip..>
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/middle-east-watch/assad-has-won-and-america-must-go-31447
