The Times editorial board correctly characterizes as “hallucinatory” the Obama administration’s strategy of seeking to support nonexistent forces in Syria that are both opposed to ISIS and not opposed to the Assad regime. But the recommendation of “ironing out of stark differences between the United States and Mr. Assad’s chief backers, Russia and Iran” is no more realistic. Iran is an extremist, expansionist regime that threatens US interests and our moderate allies in the region and is now strengthened by Russian support and by the benefits in finances and prestige accrued through the recent nuclear deal. The United States must respond to the current geopolitical reality from a broader regional perspective. What is required is a refocusing of US policy towards a balance-of-power strategy. Russia and Iran together are more than capable of defeating ISIS without the support of the United States. Let them knock themselves out doing so. By focusing on ISIS, the United States appears to our moderate Sunni allies to be allied with the Shiite block, an impression that our recent behavior in the region has quite reasonably fostered. Instead, the United States must focus on mending fences with our moderate allies in the region and supporting them in resisting the threat posed by the Russian-backed Iranian-Shiite sphere of influence extending through Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen.  These allies include moderate Sunni countries, moderate Sunni forces such as Iraqi warlords and both Iraqi and Syrian Kurds, and Israel.  We must also demonstrate genuine concern in word and deed for the humanitarian crisis created by Mr. Assad’s forces, including by the creation of a safe haven for refugees in Syria.   These steps would do much to restore the credibility and respect of our allies in the region and to counteract the growth of Iranian influence and power.