Do you realize that the pics are photoshopped?
Assad is rather puny when in comes to dictatorship.
Just ten years ago he was praised as a reformer by the very same Department of State screaming he is a dictator now.
Syria was a country where US Ambassador could go to a pub after work without a security detail and eventually run into Assad who were having his beer among regular folks without his security detail too.
Kinda like Lebanon in 1970s.
Of course Assad is not Jefferson but the only thing dictatorial about him is taking a mighty stand against Al-Qaeda and alikes.