Commentary: US shouldn’t let Bashar Assad leverage earthquake relief for his personal gain

For the past decade, Syrian kleptocrat and dictator Bashar Assad has seen himself ostracized by much of the world. In areas controlled by his regime, he used torture to sow terror in the hearts of the Syrian people through the Mukhabarat, a network of intelligence services. In opposition-held areas, he used lethal chemical weapons to target civilians, an atrocity verified by United Nations-backed investigations. Assad has rightly been condemned and isolated for these human rights abuses.

Then came the earthquakes.

Following the disaster,