Someone on Fox this morning finally said something I wholeheartedly agree with in covering this. Tucker Carlson was talking about this story and burst out with something I've been saying for a good while.
To paraphrase - We have kicked out a lot of dictators, overtly or covertly, none of whom were doing anything particular to us for a very long time if ever (And may have even been counted as an ally up until we backstabbed him), all in the name of furthering democracy. Just about every time the result has worse than before we stuck our talleywhacker in it. Given that record, why the Hell is removing Bashar al'Assad a top priority? It's a lot more likely to make the situation worse for the Syrians, us, and even the Israelis than just dealing with Assad on a pragmatic, nonideological level based on force and money. The Islamists are just dangerous tools to him, not something to which he has any kind of religious commitment, unlike anyone who has the slightest real chance of replacing him.
