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No more rebels, thanks.
None of the others are strong enough for the administration to restart the PNAC engine of destruction. They could, though, be side benefits for US "interests" and/or the interests of "coalition" member states. 
The real objective of this rolling disaster has to be stabilizing the Middle East to ensure the flow and price of oil for the West. The US has had better luck with the Sunni strongmen in the region than with the Shia factions (at least since the Shah was deposed). So, chances are that's the side we'd try to prop up -- despite the inconvenient fact that the ISIS boogeyman are also Sunni.
Assad and his family are Alawites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawites
http://middleeast.about.com/od/syria/tp/The-Difference-Between-Alawites-And-Sunnis-In-Syria.htm
Here is an "Old" French map (1920-1921) of how to break up Syria among its various Minorities:
The Alawites are a branch of Islam, but what was its relations with the "Twelve" School of Shiite Islam is unclear. Alawites celebrate both Christmas AND Zoracaseric New Year (Zorcastism was the Religion of Ancient Persia, before the Islamic Conquest). They also celebrate other Christian and Zorcastisic Holidays and drink wine in their religious functions. They do NOT have Mosques, but just places to meet for their were repressed within the larger Sunni State of the Ottoman Empire for centuries.
Now, under the Elder Assad (the present President's Father) he tried to move Alawites into Sunni Islam. Thus you will read reports that Alawites was just closed down by the elder Assad for he had Mosques built in Alawites towns and told his relatives (Who he trusted the most and they were ALL Alawites), to be good Sunni Moslems. Thus how Sunni is the present leadership of Syria is an open debate, but a debate where the secret nature of Alawites brings up how Shiite are they, how Sunni are they, how Christian are they how Zorcastisic are they?
Now, most of the Religious angle may be moot, for the real question is HOW seperate do they think of themselves? Most are close relatives to each other thus more a large TRIBE then a religion looking for converts. Thus they all may be good Sunni Moslem now, but their TRIBAL roots still exist and that ties them with the Christians of Lebanon (These two groups traded with each other for centuries, in fact the reason the Elder Assad went into Lebanon during the Lebanon Civil War was to bail out his Christian Trading partners AGAINST the raising tide of the Shiites, the Shiites later allied with Syria for they opposed Saddam in Iraq and supported Iran. Thus bringing about the present Iranian-Hezbollah-Iran-Christians of Lebanon understanding, it is NOT an alliance, but it is more then friendship).
Thus the above map shows the Christian and Alawite areas of Syria and Lebanon, both could be used to carry the pipeline to the Greek Cypriot held part of Cyprus and then to Athens by undersea pipeline.
At the same time any pipeline from Sunni Controlled Qatar and Saudi Arabia will want to avoid these same areas AND make them unstable for any Shiite Pipeline.
Just a comment that we are looking at Natural Gas energy issue NOT religious, tribal, local etc issues. Those issues are just excuses that no one is willing to spend money on, but who gets what Natural Gas, that is MONEY and people will spend MONEY to MAKE MONEY.
