Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can breathe easily Saturday morning, as can his Russian and Iranian benefactors.

The strike landed overnight by the United States, France and Britain on chemical weapons facilities in Syria was too limited in scope to cause any lasting damage to the regime, and has certainly not exacted such a price so as to make Assad think thrice before deciding to deploy such weapons again.

The Western allies did intend to deter Assad—to make it clear that using chemical weapons will cost him dearly, and that the international community will respond with force to any further violations of the treaty banning the manufacture and deployment of chemical weapons.

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