With so many things going on in the world, it is hard to keep up with the current Administration’s “strategy” on defeating the threat of the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, or ISIL). I put that in quotes since the President himself admitted, wearing his beige suit no less, that his Administration has “No formal strategy on defeating ISIL”.

This week it seems that the Administration has decided a change to its non-existant ISIS strategy is in order. Specifically, one that forces the U.S. to take an official stand on getting rid of Assad. Earlier this fall, Obama said that he recognized the “the contradiction in a contradictory land and a contradictory circumstance” of the U.S. being at war with Assad’s foes. He did not seem to realize that by attacking ISIS we would end up essentially “backing into” the Syrian civil war.

So, now here we are going after ISIS, a foe of Assad-which means we are essentially helping him out when we bomb them. Helping an enemy is bad enough, but when you are helping an enemy and getting lied to by those you are helping, that is worse.

Earlier this week, Daniel Greenfield blogged about a Westerner named Theo Padnos who was kidnapped in Syria by Al Tanzeem Al Qaeda when he was studying Islam in Damascus. When he escaped, he thought that he would find safety by asking to be taken to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), you remember them right? They are the “moderate forces” that we are training to help topple Assad that Senator McCain  of Arizona suggested training and funding. Upon finding his FSA “saviors”, Mr. Padnos was told that he was safe and that everything was fine. The FSA folks left him alone for awhile in a cell next to a family whose “crime” was being Shia, and when they came back they had his kidnappers with them.

“Ten minutes later, the F.S.A. officers returned, accompanied by my kidnappers, and I was trundled into a car and taken to an F.S.A. safe house. There I was placed in a hole in the ground. Was I six feet below the surface? Only three? I didn’t know. Officers threw dirt on me, laughing and shouting insults. Someone jumped down and landed on my chest. Someone else beat me with the butt of his Kalashnikov. One officer insisted that I reply to his questions by yelling out, “I am filth, sir!””

In September of this year an FSA commander came out in an interview covered by PJ Media’s Tatler and admited that they were affiliated with Jabhat al-Nusra, the Al Qaeda affliate in Syria.

“We are collaborating with the Islamic State and the Nusra Front by attacking the Syrian Army’s gatherings in … Qalamoun,” said Bassel Idriss, the commander of an FSA-aligned rebel brigade.

“We have reached a point where we have to collaborate with anyone against unfairness and injustice,” confirmed Abu Khaled, another FSA commander who lives in Arsal.

“Let’s face it: The Nusra Front is the biggest power present right now in Qalamoun and we as FSA would collaborate on any mission they launch as long as it coincides with our values,” he added.”

So, what to do now that we are faced with the fact that we are funding the same people we are bombing and that all this is doing is helping a ruthless dictator who uses chemical weapons on his own people? I have one suggestion-grab your beverage of choice and a bucket of popcorn, its going to be a long show.