The Obama administration hasn’t quite given up on Syria and is reportedly still considering military action there. But what once was likely going to be an effort to oust Bashar al-Assad is now possibly going to take advantage of the post-9/11 Authorization to Use Military Force in order to attack al-Qaida. In other words, Assad’s enemies. Al-Qaida has largely infiltrated Syrian rebel forces, who are now fighting both the regime and the jihadis. If Obama attacks al-Qaida, Assad could redirect resources to bear down on our supposed “moderate” allies. The strategically smart course would have been to leave a residual force in Iraq, which is where most of these jihadis are coming from. But Obama had a campaign promise to keep, and now we have no good options.