Obama never wanted military intervention in Syria or Libya.  Unrelenting neocons at the State Department (Sec. Clinton et al) and the CIA foisted it on him and then ground him into submission.  He called Libya the worst mistake of his presidency.

It took the impervious self-certainty of an egomaniacal sociopath—enter Donald Trump— to resist and then ultimately defy deep state neocons and order the CIA to stop arming the Islamic jihadists fighting to overthrow the Assad government in Syria.  The opposition to this decision is hard to overstate.  Trump was under intense establishment pressure not only to continue the program, but to expand it.  His Russia problem didn’t help.

The implications of his decision are beyond significant.  It virtually assures the collapse of the rebel forces and hastens an end to the civil war.  What’s more, it drastically reduces the likelihood of a US military confrontation with Russia in Syria.  This decision may turn out to be the most consequential of Trump’s presidency—and the best foreign policy decision for America (and the Syria) in a very long time.

If the CIA didn’t import, train, arm, fund, and provide diplomatic cover and media coverage for Islamic extremists to overthrow the Assad government, there wouldn’t have been a civil war in Syria or a refugee crisis in Europe.  Trump’s decision will save thousands of Syrian lives and prevent untold human suffering—it could also prevent nuclear war.