Barack Obama has a new foreign policy disaster on his record, this time in Syria. Having dithered as a revolt against Iran's ally built, he allowed Islamists to stream in and take over the opposition. Then he destroyed his and America's credibility when he invoked a "red line" on chemical weapons, only to back away and allow Vladimir Putin to play the hero and assume a dominant role. Now, because of all his bungling, American weapons supplied to the rebels have fallen into Islamist hands.

Adam Entous and Rima Abushakra report in the Wall Street Journal:

Islamist fighters ran the top Western-backed rebel commander in Syria out of his headquarters, and he fled the country, U.S. officials said Wednesday.

The Islamists also took over key warehouses holding U.S. military gear for moderate fighters in northern Syria over the weekend. The takeover and flight of Gen. Salim Idris of the Free Syrian Army shocked the U.S., which along with Britain immediately froze delivery of nonlethal military aid to rebels in northern Syria.

The turn of events was the strongest sign yet that the U.S.-allied FSA is collapsing under the pressure of Islamist domination of the rebel side of the war. It also weakened the Obama administration's hand as it struggles to organize a peace conference next month bringing together rebels and the regime.

A weakened hand for the US seems to be the strategic thrust of Obama's foreign policy. The biggest bungle of all lies ahead in the now-foreseeable future: a nuclear-armed Iran intent on bringing the 12th Imam back via armageddon.

Hat tip: Cliff Thier