Frederic C Hoff: Assad's free ride for mass murder may be over

Frederic C Hof, previously the special coordinator for regional affairs in the US State Department's Office of the Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, has written that the US strikes in Syria could finally put a break on Assad's war in the country:

"If the battle against violent extremism is serious, the United States should be prepared to obstruct, complicate, and frustrate Assad’s free ride for mass homicide. Ideally, Russia will cooperate in getting its client out of this bloody business.

"Whether it does or not, however, the Trump administration must act on what it already knows: that Bashar al-Assad’s political survival strategy of collective punishment and mass homicide is a gift that keeps on giving to ISIS, al-Qaeda, and other forms of violent, terrorist extremism.

"If the strikes of 6 April 2017 end the Assad crime wave against Syrian civilians, good. If they do not, further action will be essential. “Never again” must not become “Well, maybe just this once.” Civilian protection aside, resisting mass murder in Syria - irrespective of the murder weapon - is an essential tool in countering and defeating violent extremism."

Hof in 2015 wrote of his regret about his time in office and how he badly miscalculated the situation in Syria.