there's a reason assad hung on so long against the odds, which were so stacked against him. he was hardly some kind of military dictator. he was a figurehead that was trained as an optometrist and only went back to syria because his brother, who was supposed to be the ruthless dictator, died before seizing power. the form of government in syria for the last 20 years has been a military junta, which assad was trying to convert into a european style democracy. both he and his wife spent their formative years in britain, and apparently liked the british form of government enough that they wanted to implement it in syria.

this isn't hypothetical. there were multiple referendums in syria on a new constitution that was meant to transition military rule into a democracy. this was what assad was actually doing, as leader of syria - trying to dismantle the junta.

the dominant opposition to democracy in syria, and the key entity fighting against assad, was saudi arabia. the saudis vehemently oppose any form of democracy in any arab state.

it's not exactly that the syrian people were in favour of the baath regime, so much as that they overwhelming stood with the form of government called "secular arab nationalism", which the saudis have been trying to get rid of for over 50 years. to our great shame and discredit, we have supported the saudis in their quest to wipe out democracy in the middle east.

assad hung on so long because the people of syria don't want to live in an islamic theocracy run by nazis governing the country out of the back of a koran, and this fascist government won't last long for that reason, not even with heavy turkish backing.

when an ideology is as unpopular as islamism is in syria, it simply can't govern.