Mr. Trump’s decision was first reported by The Washington Post. Those discussions have been possible because Mr. Assad, secure in his support from Moscow and Tehran, no longer sees a fundamental threat to his ability to remain in power. Mr. Kerry fumed that Mr. Obama was not willing to provide the kind of military pressure on Mr. Assad that might bolster the diplomacy. But the pressure on Mr. Assad was not great enough to force him to enter negotiations to end the civil war. A different program there run by the Pentagon is supporting a Kurdish-Arab militia known as the Syrian Democratic Forces.

Source: New York Times July 20, 2017 00:41 UTC