Obama is playing into Islamists' hands by waiting to intervene in Syria

As I warned in June, the presence of jihadists will only make an eventual resolution in Syria that much harder. Coupled with the possibility of Syria’s chemical weapon stockpile falling into the hands of extremists once al-Assad falls, Syria’s instability is a major threat to America’s interests in the region and globally…

While al-Assad’s murderous reign will ultimately come to an end, America’s ability to influence what comes afterward is diminishing by the day. It’s hard to imagine a worse fate for Syria than for al-Assad to stay in power. But allowing Islamic extremists to overrun the country and enhance Iran’s power would be devastating to brave Syrians who have fought so hard.

America’s opportunity to protect our interests in Syria and to support people struggling against a terrible regime that has killed more than 30,000 of its own citizens is slipping away, but we can still act.