Assad’s no moderate. There are no moderates in that area. Assad’s spoken enmity against Israel and the USA several times in the past; especially, Assad has demanded repeatedly that Israel give him the Golan.
Assad is a Islamic moderate. Of course he wants the Golan back. Wouldn’t you?
He may give the obligatory tough talk but is not likely to start a suicidal war with Israel.
~Assad’s no moderate. There are no moderates in that area. Assad’s spoken enmity against Israel and the USA several times in the past; especially, Assad has demanded repeatedly that Israel give him the Golan.~
You don’t have a clue about Arab politics. What exactly Assad did to back these rants? It is 100% for domestic consumption to convince domestic audience that he is with them “on Joos”. For the radicals Assad is a Jew himself and it is a primary reason why he is attacked.
The problem is regime change. There are some in government - both houses - who believe that when someone is a monster it is their obligation to take them out. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but what is absolutely stupid is that they push for that change without considering what would come in its stead to fill the vacuum.
Assad is not someone I would want to invite for Sunday brunch, but he represented stability in Syria. Sure, he was friends with Iran. He did not like Israel. America was not on his nightly prayer list. But the same can be said for those fighting him. People concentrate on ISIS, but the other groups - such as Al Nusra (in essence, Al Qaeda), the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria, Ahrar ash-Sham, and the Fahrouq Brigades are not people who will be celebrating the 4th of July!
While folk like McCain may claim that they are 'good people,' they are absolutely not. Now, that does not mean that Assad is a good person. People tend to think of everything in terms of pure Black or White. The truth is that there are many instances where both situations are Black AND Black, or maybe a dirty charcoal black versus deep obsidian, or maybe soot vs midnight.
Saying one group is bad doesn't mean the other is ok.
Assad is a monster, but the West should never have tried to take him out. Same thing for Qaddafi! Daffy Duck was a joke ...he had mellowed a lot from what he used to be in the 80s, and was some old idiot who would wear ill-colored robes and a necklace made of someone's picture portrait. Look at Libya now.
Now, my only point is that the next time the West decides a country or region needs 'freedom' they better ensure that they come with a credible ALTERNATIVE to the person/regime they are trying to change. Certain regions in the world seem to require a strong hand, and taking out the strong man (even someone like Saddam) should not be done unless a credible alternative is first sought.
The point in the area is not what people say, it’s what they do. Assad HAS to demand the Golon be given back. But he has done nothing about it.
I wholeheartedly agree. Assad is our enemy, and that old saw that “the enemy of your enemy is your friend” is and always has been nonsense. The enemy of your enemy may be your enemy, and that’s the case here — the proper US policy is to make sure all sides are about equally well armed and don’t run out of ammo until there’s only one (literally) left standing. The FSA has begun an alliance with the Kurds; backing Kurdish independence should be US policy, regardless, but the FSA isn’t a “moderate Islamic” group, it’s the original armed rebellion against our enemy Assad, and like the Kurds (and Assad for that matter) the FSA was under threat from ISIS.