The US government originally put sanctions on Syria as punishment for dictator Bashar al-Assad, his autocratic rule, and his brutalization of his own people. In practice, however, these sanctions primarily crushed the ordinary Syrians they were ostensibly meant to protect. So, with Assad finally gone, you would think now would be the ideal time to finally lift them.

Nope. It was simply “too early” to make that move, a host of US lawmakers said days ago, echoing — or, more accurately, steering — the statements of European officials, who are likewise refusing to end sanctions until they see that the incoming government is on its best behavior. At issue, these Western officials said, was the victorious Syrian rebels’ history of extremism and their terrorist backgrounds, and the question of whether they would respect the rights of minorities, of “women and girls,” and human rights more generally.

There is layer upon layer of outrageous absurdity here. Let’s first remember who these sanctions are actually hurting: not Syria’s odious ruling class, but its millions of ordinary, innocent people.