[MTVN]

Originally Posted by JoshBB

No, I don't think it would be wise. It could whip up more anti-west sentiment there as well, considering he is someone who has been elected unlike the Saudi King.

He won two elections where he was the only candidate and one that took place dubiously in the middle of the civil war and lacked any monitoring. He has now governed Syria for 15 years after taking over from his father who governed for 30 years: its not exactly a model of democracy.

That said, we should not get rid of him. He is a dictator but the two things that are clear in Syria is that he has no intention of relinquishing power and that the Syrian state and the Syrian army are really the only forces capable of defeating IS in the country. It's unfortunate but we cannot get rid of both Assad and IS and he has to be a part of any long-term solution to ending the conflict there.