ISIS is al-Qaeda. Blame the Saudis and Qataris who fund, arm and organize ISIS, just like they did AQ before it, and do something about that.

you know, the one who was a victim of cookies.

the Sunni Jihadis, which most of us now call ISIS. Petrodollars are a necessary ingredient for regional war. Assad is just the live bait.

Here we go again with the boggy man of the year now it's Assad

MOSCOW — President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia suddenly escalated the stakes in his contest with the West over influence in the Middle East on Wednesday, as Russian pilots carried out their first airstrikes in Syria.

Russian warplanes and helicopter gunships dropped bombs north of the central city of Homs hours after Mr. Putin pushed a measure through the upper house of Parliament approving the use of Russian military forces abroad. Russian officials and analysts portrayed the move as an attempt both to fight Islamic State militants and to try to ensure the survival of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Moscow’s main ally in the Middle East.

“The only right way to fight international terrorism — and it is gangs of international terrorists that are fighting in Syria and in neighboring countries — is to act preventively, to fight and destroy militants and terrorists on the territories that they already occupied, not wait for them to come to our house,” Mr. Putin said at a meeting of government officials on Wednesday, in remarks broadcast on state television.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/01/world/europe/russia-airstrikes-syria.html?_r=0

are only applicable to US-backed regimes.

Mubarak, Saleh, Qaddafi, Assad, and the Saudi Royal family all have to go.

ISIS is murdering and enslaving across Syria and Iraq. Russia is deploying dozens of aircraft to support the regime in Damascus. Huddled masses have been tempest-tossed into Europe. At the eye of the storm, Bashar al-Assad is pursuing a cynical, brutal, and risky strategy to cling to power.

Assad’s plan, it seems, is to deliberately aid the rise of ISIS—what I call the devil’s gambit. The logic is simple and ruthless: radicalize the opposition so that the Syrian dictator looks like a lesser evil to domestic and foreign audiences. Here, Assad benefits from the inherently polarizing nature of civil war, as a cycle of atrocities and revenge pushes all sides to the extreme. He has further spurred radicalization by focusing the regime’s fire on moderate enemies, while reportedly releasing jihadists from jail and purchasing oil from ISIS. In recent months, the Syrian military allegedly used air strikes to help ISIS advance toward the city of Aleppo. Khaled Khoja, a Syrian opposition leader, claimed that Assad’s fighter jets were acting as “an air force for ISIS.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/09/assad-syria-devil-endgame-putin-obama/407635/

This article covers similar themes.

The Assad apologists want to pretend the truth is not true.

In the first round of Eliminations which ended yesterday we saw the dispatch of the fictional "moderate" Syrian FSA and some rival Jihadi groups competing with Al-Qaeda/ISIS. Round two, we see semi-quarter final play between Russia and the surviving non-ISIS factions. We know who's going to win that one.

In the end, the region will not be recognizable, and Saudi Arabia -- the ultimate prize in this game -- will be divvied up by the great powers.

If so, who represents their interests?

working with the secret services of the UK/France, Italy and Qatar. The leaders of most of those groups that heeded the calls broadcast for simultaneous Days of Rage in Libya and Syria were smart enough to stay safely in London and Paris and Doha.

No, there are no "moderates" left in Syria, just persecutors, spooks and victims on all sides.

Are there really no Syrians who just want to live a normal life in a democracy?

That was far better than now. They now have neither democracy, and for millions, no longer have the means of life.

The point of the overthrow and dismemberment of Iraq for those who organized it from abroad wasn't democracy. Same with Syria. It was regime change of Shi'ia states (KSA's agenda) and eroding the military capability of all states the Israelis felt threatened by. We went along with both agendas for a while. This has backfired and now it is democracy in the U.S. that is most at risk.

What time frame are you referring to?

That was 1979-82, I recall. Hama was the center of the rebellion and was obliterated. The Saudis and Muslim Brotherhood led and funded that rebellion, as well. A coup within the Ba'ath Party in 1970 solidified Assad's father's rise and hold on power. It looks like there may be a similar outcome.

This from Islamic Uprisings in Syria Wiki:

Aftermath

at least by default.

Try to prop up moderate Rebels? They just defect, die, or desert.

Help Assad? it turns out he sucks too.

I think we need to start thinking defensively when it comes to ISIS. If they get their hands on nuclear weapons, the world is going be a terrible place.

them just as US troops with boots on the ground in Saudi Arabia invoked the hate of al Queada and brought us 9/11.
History teaches but fools never learn.

Thanks to Putin if he takes him out.

Maybe it's all arranged. I love mysteries.

I think another goofy thought. Obama may not trust Putin, but Putin trusts Obama and only Obama here in the US...

He's up to something he wants Barack to know about, even if no one else does.

"New" liberals seem to think just the opposite: repressive dictators are necessary to control and defeat terrorists.