Democracy is a great idea, and anyone can have an election. However, elections don't make a democracy. When democracyies are tried in the middle east we see that they try to gain more power once elected, and/or there's never a second eleciton and they never leave office. Great, you were elected, you're not a democracy because of that. So I think that the Arabs are starting to realize that they aren't ready for a democracy, so what else is there? How about a strict fundamentalist religious government structure? Once that keeps people in line with dogma and fear? That sounds like something everyone can get behind? And during a war time, using fear and dogma to motivate your people and soldiers works wonders. If the leaders are gaining support through religious fervor, because they believe that they and in turn the leaders have GOD in their corner, it just makes the government stronger. So good choice, you're all well on your way to replacing once crazy leader with yourselves as the next one.

Just as a Christian leadership is needed in Lebanon and Israel.

Now even pro-rebels Reuters puts aside their bias long enough to admit that the rebels are a bunch of extremists who don't want democracy and would be far worse than Assad. Also that "Tawhid Brigade" is notorious for not only killing religious minorities but also declaring Sunnis who are not extreme enough to be "polytheists" and thus liable to summary execution. But Reuters apparently doesn't care about such details. It is not just Qaeda and Nusra that is the problem!

With such goals, how can the rebels hope to garner Western support. Just showing dead bodies will not suffice. Conditions would be much worse under their rule than Assad's. Maybe putin is right after all.

It's a big mistake for the West to back any of the players in this war.

EGYPT - they tired monarchy, they tried military rule, they tried democracy now they are back with military rule. IRAQ - tried royalty, tried military rule, tried democracy and making a pigs ear of it. SYRIA - royalty, military and with there being so many conflicting opinions once Assad is gone they will kil each other and military rule will return. JORDAN - royalty GULF STATES - royalty IRAN - might be Persian rather than arab but still they had their royal dictator the Shah and he was deposed and replaced by clerics. Israel's problem is democracy overkill so we got to many parties with different ideologies which creates the unstable government in Israel. Arabs have no concept of democracy Israel has to much. As for Syria I think when Assad goes they are going to experiement islam, democracy screw it up then some charismatic general will carry out a coup and it will be back to military rule but under the guise of it being democracy.