The "rebels" are Islamic terrorists, their killing Christians in the street.
Feel free to believe they are all Islamist extremists, but that is not my understanding of the conflict.
America CANNOT get involved in this, we simply have no dog in this fight.
That is a realist line of thought. From my perspective, human beings should be empowered to enjoy happy, fulfilling lives reasonably devoid of injustices, violence, and oppression regardless of which tribal flag flies over their people's territory. The peoples of each country should accordingly be empowered to arrange for living conditions as conducive to that goal as possible. In the context of this civil war, Assad's authoritarian regime is an impediment to the Good Life, as are factions that would install new authoritarian regimes. There is a ripe opportunity here to usher in a brighter future for Syrians - for forces of good to defeat those of relative evil on this battlefield, if you will.
There are too many countries in need of liberation right now for us to tend to them all, and I am not an imperialist so intervening before help is called for seems inappropriate to me under most circumstances, but I am currently under the impression that a majority of Syrians either want the anti-Assad forces to win or do not care who wins so long as it ends the war - the latter more often siding with the Assad regime perhaps only because it seems more likely to quickly restore order and stability. The diehard loyalists do not represent Syrian society as a whole, nor does the current government. It must be crushed and replaced with one that is more representative of the Syrian people, responsive to their needs, and accountable to them without any need for future violence.
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