And a lot of Americans, Israelis, Lebanese, Syrians, Iraqis, Kurds, and others are dead because of Assad and his alliance with al Qaeda, but never for get that he, like Putin, is a champion of Christianity.
Assad of Syria has an alliance with Iran, rather than Al Qaeda. The local Al Qaeda branch in Syria is the Al Nusra Front, which is always fighting against the Syrian govt.
A good dose of chemical weapons could get rid of quite a number of them.