The U.S. is right to oppose both ISIS and the Assad regime. Syria's government has sponsored terrorism not only against every single one of its neighbors, but also against the United States in Iraq. But let's be honest: There will be no nonviolent political transition in Syria. The regime is overwhelmingly dominated by members of the non-Muslim Alawite minority, who will never negotiate with jihadists who want to impale them as infidels, nor with the ragtag democratic forces (now largely driven by Kurdish fighters) theoretically backed by the U.S.
Moscow on the Tigris: Russia Joins the Terror Nexus (19 February 2016)