Anyone think it would be best if Bashar al-Assad stays in power and wins in Syria?

Putin was warning us two years ago the "Syrian Opposition" were terrorists.

What I read at the time told me he was right.

The Obama administration armed ISIS with Libyan weapons shipped through Benghazi.

I do. The liberal West looked at the so-called Arab Spring through rose-coloured glasses. With the possible exception of Tunisia, where it started, it has been a disaster. As Erich implies, Assad never expected or wanted to be president. He was happily occupied as an eye doctor in London and has an English wife. He became a puppet of his father's regime.

If Obama does attack ISIS in Syria, he will be fighting against Assad's enemy - thus assisting what Obama once called his own enemy. But a post-revolution Assad will be a lot easier to deal with than he was before - especially if he regains power with America's reluctant help. So yes, it would be best if Assad wins.

Bashar didn't want to be president and he shouldn't be. The elites in Syria need to negotiate the assumption of power by somebody more suited to the job. But Bashar is of course a much better alternative to the crazed fanatical mob known as ISIS.

Yes, Assad should stay in power.

We ousted Saddam, which was a big mistake as we scrambled to put the country together again, failing to do so.

Who knows. Maybe Assad can defend Syria from ISIS.

~Aizen

yes bashar al-assad he's better than Isis I hate to say but we need to start backing him instead of the rebels and Iraq will fall completely without a joint force bulit on trust period

I think the CIA should have killed him 2 years ago. We knocked off a lot of world leaders during the cold war, and toppled 47 democratically elected governments. Knowing what I know about the things our government did during the cold war, I find it really surprising that Assad and Baghdadi are still alive.

I tend to agree.

If there is anything we should have learned from the "arab spring", it is that removing a despot simply leaves the path open for the Muslim extremists to take over.

He is not particularly desirable, but at least he does not invade other countries.

I'd take Saddam and Bashar over ISIS any day!

Yes he is the leader and has a lot of popular support. Many of his supporters fled to other countries during the war against him. We should tell Israel to do it themselves if they want to get rid of him. Other than Israel, I cant see what interest the U.S. has in removing him. The U.S. should stop micro-managing the Middle East.

Absolutely. We had stability before the Arab Spring that Obama took credit for.