The Assad regime has won the Syrian civil war. Trump's right in pulling out

To keep US troops in Syria now implies a forever war, with no realistic ending imaginable, and no authorization from Congress.

Take a deep breath, everyone, while contemplating the rapid-fire events that have culminated in Secretary of Defense James Mattis submitting his resignation.

Mattis is a distinguished public servant and an uncommonly knowledgeable warrior. Although he has his obsessions, at important moments he has tempered them with judgment. But no senior official is indispensable. If Mattis seems to be, it is only because the “adult in the room” meme has been invoked exceptionally often in his case.

Any hysteria about Mattis’s departure is