PARIS—On Feb. 25, during a trip to Syria with a French parliamentary delegation, I met with Bashar al-Assad. In the delegation with me were three other lawmakers, Socialist Gérard Bapt, center-right senator Jean-Pierre Vial, and centrist senator François Zocchetto. The result of this cross-party initiative was a huge public outcry in France. But it also served as a wake-up call to the ongoing Syrian tragedy, as well as French and, more broadly, Western policy toward Syria. President François Hollande, Prime Minister Manuel Valls, and Foreign Minister Luarent Fabius all voiced their consternation and disapproval.
Needless to say, the trip had not been approved by French authorities. Bapt, himself a member of Hollande’s ruling Socialist Party, was strongly advised by the Elysée presidential palace not to meet with Assad during the visit and wound up absenting himself from the event. I, for my part, neither expected to receive nor asked for...
