The Syrian regime’s collapse came more quickly than the rebels had dreamed — the circumstances were both serendipitous and part of a larger global realignment.

Syria’s Assad regime never fully complied with its obligations to declare and dispose of its chemical weapons. The new government must forego these weapons and prosecute those who used them.

Militias loyal to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which let the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said they were heading to the Syrian coastal cities of Tartous and Latakia, historically loyal to the Assad regime.