He was never the smartest in the family

Assad has lost numerous opportunities to reconcile with his opponents and the international community, and has also failed to resolve his country's economic problems.

The fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime was swift and unexpected, but the signs of it were always there. It has now emerged that before his overthrow, Assad rejected a deal offer from the US that could have secured his rule.

The Washington Post writes about this with reference to the information of the Syrian diplomat Bassam Barabandi, who fled in the first days of the uprising.

In particular, the United States, through the United Arab Emirates, offered the lifting of tough American sanctions in exchange for Assad's commitment to stop providing Iran with the opportunity to supply weapons and support Lebanese Hezbollah fighters through land routes in Syria.

According to Barabandi, some advisers suggested to Assad to adopt such…