President Donald Trump held an apparently successful meeting with President Ahmed al Sharaa of Syria at the White House on Monday. Sharaa’s former status as a dedicated jihadist makes him a highly unlikely American partner. Still, Trump has a fragile but nevertheless substantial opportunity to help shape Sharaa in favor of all Syrians and Middle Eastern stability. Trump deserves credit for having the political courage to attempt engagement with a former American nemesis.

Sharaa’s visit coincides with the lifting of U.S. and U.N. sanctions on his person. Those sanctions were imposed in response to Sharaa’s previous tenure of the al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al Sham group. Other sanctions relief agreed last week should free up billions of dollars for Sharaa’s cash-starved government

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