The rise of ISIS was due to Assad? It had nothing to do with the US retreat from Iraq with even a minimum stabilizing force? Is Saunders truly this blinded by subjective ignorance? His progressive agenda is clearly having difficulty in reconciling the reality of Iraq since Obama took power. I'm sure the Globe still has some editorials congratulating Obama on "doing more with less" in Iraq. Syria, Iraq, and Yemen are the battlegrounds of a multi-state sectarian war between Sunni and Shia that also has major geo-political energy implications in terms of the flow of oil and gas to Europe and Asia from the Middle East. Saunders has consistently demonstrated an ability to skew objective fact to fit a personal subjective bias and this article is no exception. Who are the "moderate" rebels? Are they just like the "moderate" rebels in Libya that turned out to be rabid Islamists?