continued right through the end of the obama administration and into the start of the new administration, too. none of that is new in terms of our u.s. military involvement in the syrian civil war. what is new as of last night is that now we are bombing both sides in that war. previous u.s. air strikes and even occasional commando raid targeted isis or al qaeda affiliated fighters. now the new administration has made sort of momentous decision to target the syrian government, as well. the syrian military, the forces of bashar al assad. and whether you like this turn of events or not it's truly not clear why the u.s. government has made this change. bashar al assad undoubtedly is a butcher with the blood of hundreds of thousands of people on his hands as well as the ultimate responsibility for what has been the wholesale destruction of his own country. bashar al assad has been a butcher all this time.