NOt a bad summary, but I would add or contend a few points.
1. London and especially Paris pushed hard for the attack on Libya. So they own a lot of that too.
2. Assad didn’t really use chemical weapons. That was a set-up run out of British intelligence in order to gain political support in the West for an invasion of Syria. Check out Seymour Hersch’s reporting.
3. The idea that there are “rebels” in Syria that aren’t allied with ISIS or just ISIS itself is largely a phantom. There probably aren’t even 100 people like that. When people like McCain or Hillary talk about supporting “Syrian rebels,” they’re talking about supporting radical jihadists. Call them Qaeda or ISIS or whatever, that’s what it is. And the McCains of the world know it.
4. Turkey knows all this too. Thus they announce that they are going to “bomb ISIS”, but treally they’re just bombing Kurds, because they hate the Kurds. They see the rest of NATO saying they are going to “bomb ISIS” when they’re really just bombing empty buildings or Assad assets. And the whole time ISIS continues to “mysteriously” rack up American-made arms and materiel, as they have been since Benghazi. It’s really not that mysterious.
Turkey created ISIS.
I agree with most of that but we know Rebel factions have fought against ISIS, one of these US jihadists who joined ISIS was killed by one of the Rebel Factions.
Obviously, I don’t know this for myself but plenty has been written on Assad trying to weaken some rebel groups by bombing them and that actually helps ISIS. These are just two articles of many, including what some Syrians say, that say this.
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-assads-air-force-is-now-a-force-multiplier-for-isis-2015-6
http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2015-June/262209.html
Lt. Col. Oliver North likewise, I know has favored certain Rebel groups as well: http://blog.godreports.com/2015/08/oliver-norths-five-point-plan-to-defeat-isis/ It is not clear to me if he is talking about Syria or Iraq. We don’t hear as much about “other rebel groups” in Iraq.