-Putin us propping up a Baathist NAZI dictator in Syria who is killing his own people. -
Prior to Obama the United States propped up a bevy of similar thug dictators. The number one basic problem is that Islam is a tribal war cult. The Russians and the West are trying to impose a western national model on a bunch of warring tribes. Churchill famously created these new countries by drawing lines on a map after World War 1, with no consideration of the cultural, ethnic or social divides that had existed for centuries. Those lines must be maintained by force or the entire area will fracture into another Somalia. (That is what the much vaunted Arab Spring almost did.) The dictators, through the only means possible, force, maintain order and the semblance of civilization. This gives the west reliable and profitable trading partners. Notice there is no appreciable trade with Somalia.
Unlike Obama, who is operating in the interests of Iran, Putin is operating in the best interests of Russia. I am no Putin fan, but I believe propping up Assad is the least bad of a number of horrible alternatives.
You are referring to the Sykes-Picot Treaty. I think we are seeing the unraveling of that in spite of what other world powers do.
Obamas Arab Spring has opened Pandoras box and all hell has broken loose.