US President Donald Trump’s spur-of-the-moment decision to attack a Syrian government airbase on April 7 threatens to prolong an intractable armed conflict that has dragged on for six years. By targeting a key military installation of the Syrian state with 59 Tomahawk missiles, Trump has breathed life back into a failing insurgency against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and muddled the US’ core purpose of eliminating the Islamic State, al-Qaeda and other jihadist groups