I agree. The only reason Obama was supporting the rebels was because they were Islamist and Assad, while very harsh and a nationalist and anti-US, was not an Islamist. But he could have been pressured or reasoned with to develop on our side, and we never took advantage of this.
Theyre all bastards, and as Harry Truman said, hes our bastard, or at least he could have been.
And as for what Assad did to his Islamist enemies, cry me a river.