You know what? It's simply a fact that Assad is killing people

[RZM]

8. My theory is that it's mostly just classic 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend'

Many posters here view the US as public enemy number one. Therefore, they cannot under any circumstances side with the US on a foreign policy matter and are very reluctant to side against a regime with a proven anti-American track record. That's especially true of the ME, where the US of course does have a recent rack record of invasion and intervention.

It's kind of amusing to watch, because it's actually a very American way of looking at the world. Americans tend to think the world revolves around them and nothing really happens without some sort of US role. On the right, this usually translates to 'we're number 1 and we run things.' On the left, it's 'America is evil and responsible for the world's problems.' What's so funny is that neither side realizes both arguments are essentially coming from the same flawed premise.