Sorry if this was addressed earlier in the thread, I only skimmed the first few pages, but for all the people who vehemently support the rebels and believe the West should supply them arms or even intervene militarily: why? Not to say you should like Assad, but how do you see a better outcome if the rebels win? Especially if they win with some extra toys from the West? Does anyone seriously not think the country will descend into sectarian, near-genocidal slaughter if the rebels win?
It's Western geopolitical madness aimed at stopping the Chinese and Russian influence within the Middle East and Africa. The Zbigniew Brzezinski policy. Nothing to do with freedom or democracy. Egypt is a mess, Libya is a mess, Syria is a mess, Iraq is a mess, Lebanon and Mali are in the process. The end goal is, of course, the destabilization of Iran. It always has been. The West have continually overthrown, or tried to overthrow, governments that don't promote their interests (Operation Gladio in Europe during the Cold War, Iran 53, Chile and Afghanistan in the 1970s, as well as Iran in 79, Latin America in the 1980s - Nicaragua and Panama, Afghanistan 2001 and Iraq 2003). Some of these were actually democracies as well - shock horror!
Do I like President Assad? No. Do I like the so-called Free Syria Army? No way. If you want stability, bite the bullet and stick with the more secular Assad for now, reform can come later. If you want chaos then by all means root for the opposition, largely full of Islamist fighters and foreign mercenaries, but it won't get any better. Oh and here is a hint - if Saudi Arabia are endorsing / arming the opposition you know that democracy is not the goal.
Why do I think this? I study Geopolitics at university, along with other geography / political modules. This doesn't mean that I'm right of course but I have some knowledge in this area and this is simply my opinion. It's incredibly ignorant to believe everything you see in the western press / media.
Read Samuel P. Huntington's book "The Clash of Civilizations".
Also Belgian MP Laurent Louis has recently said this in parliament:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCTZDH3WDjo