The Controversial Legacy of Syria's Bashar al-Assad.

The return of Syria to the Arab League summit is a political victory for Iran, which backed Bashar al-Assad's regime during the Syrian Civil War. The war resulted in half a million deaths, 15 million Syrians displaced, the rise of the Islamic State, and irreparable damage to U.S. credibility. The U.S. stayed out of Syria for fear of undermining its diplomatic efforts to reach a nuclear arms control agreement with Iran. Iran and Russia provided the military solution, resulting in the first imperial deployment of Iran's military beyond its borders in centuries and the return of the Russian military to the Middle East in nearly half a century. The Syrian Civil War is a gift that keeps on giving to the worst people, and the new regional order is permanent Islamic Republic military bases on Israel's border and a Hezbollah-dominated Lebanon also doing Iran's bidding against Israel.