Once again. What if half a million trump supporters stormed the government after a Hillary win? Syria is not America, democracy might not work.
By Middle East standards, Assad was VERY moderate. Very. In fact, when he first came into power he was extremely liberal.
I'm not saying he's a good guy. But good guys get it in the ass in that region.
If a million Trump supporters actually "stormed" government offices there would be a mobilized national guard crackdown. And I'd agree it would be justified. But you are looking at this from the perspective of a westerner (granted you've had tours there, I know) that gets democracy and the freedom to speak your mind.
It's easy to say (and even accurate--I'm not arguing that you're wrong, Democracy MIGHT NOT work there) "Democracy doesn't work there (the ME), those that want to speak their minds need to STFU and keep their heads down" when you aren't forced to live under that type of regime. I'm not taking issue with Assad using military force to quell violence against innocents carried out by those who oppose him. I'm saying excusing his behavior toward political rivals PRIOR to that as "Well, if you don't want to be tortured, killed, etc. than shut your mouth. It's Syria, not America or France or Germany" is not acceptable governance.
Do we westerners have the "right" to Democracy simply because we are westerners? What if Trump (or Clinton, or whoever) won and declared martial law. Threw out the constitution, got rid of all checks and balances and we all had to STFU or risk being jailed, tortured, whatever. Declared themself able to run unopposed in every election. And they somehow took control of the military to enforce it? The rest of the world should then step back and not get involved because "Well, looks like Democracy may have run its course in America, not our problem".
I think the world might be too small a place for that type of attitude. That does NOT mean (as I said before) we topple every despot unilaterally or involve ourselves in every conflict. I'm in agreement with you on that. With Syria, I don't know. As I said I don't claim to have the right answer. It's a complicated situation.