Do we really want regime change in Syria?

Much has been said by western politicians and media about what a monster Assad is.Yes, he is a dictator and controls his people with an iron fist. But Syria unlike a lot of middle-eastern nations is pretty much secular, in other words the Syrian government does not favor any one religion over another. There are Sunni, Shia and Alawite Muslims along with Christian and Jewish communities as well.
These groups have hatred for each other and have been at war with each other for centuries. Is it any wonder you would have to rule with an Iron fist to keep peace among these people in a Middle-Eastern country?
Assad also has never really "exported" terrorism like many North African and middle eastern countries.
I'm not implying Assad is an angel, just saying you would be hard pressed to find any nation in that region that isn't controlled by a heavy handed dictator or monarch.

Moving forward, a little more then 2 years ago a large "rebel" uprising started consisting of Syrian citizens calling themselves The Free Syrian Army or FSA. The FSA is a pro-democracy group looking for free elections and freedom for all Syrians. The FSA asked Obama for weapons and help in training. With support from many senators and congressmen(both D's and R's), Obama still said no and agreed to only humanitarian assistance.
This left the FSA with holding just their balls in their hands and most fled to Jordan.
With Obama's announcement of no military aide, an influx of terrorist's from all over Africa and the middle-east flooded into Syria.
Nusra Front, The Islamic State of Iraq Lament, Al-Qaeda, and other off-shoots came across the border in droves to fight "alongside" what was left of the FSA.
It must be said here that prior to this influx of terrorists, Russia and Iran were not heavily involved in Syria.
Yes they were ally's of Syria in the same way we are to say Israel, they supply aircraft and arms and have trade with them.
But it wasn't until the heavily and well equipped terrorists entered the equation that the Iranian Republican Guard and Hezbollah from Iran, and Russia becoming more involved with stepped up military aide and Intelligence, entered the picture.

With this scenario, if we were to kill Assad tomorrow, what would happen?
Likely a member of the Iranian Republican Guard or a coalition of Hezbollah and a Iranian backed member would take control and continue the "civil war" against the FSA and multiple terror groups.

If Obama's weak foreign policy of "leading from behind" had some real vision and balls two years ago, We could have had a much different scenario then the mess we find ourselves in now.

It will take years to correct Obamas failures. That's if we have the right leadership.

Hopefully it will only take years and not lost forever

Better the Devil you know,than the Devil you don't!

Tunisia,Libya and Egypt have definitely proven that!

American cannot afford to get tangled up in yet another ME war...If we do, we severely compromise our ability to deal with Iran if that ever becomes necessary�.Full scale war in Syria would also limit Israel's ability to deal with Iran�Remember earlier this year when Israel called for international response to what they claimed was a Syrian chemical attack?...They were basically told to STFU...Israel's initial reaction to this latest act and US response to it was shoot first, talk later�Now that Obama has delayed, Israel is skeptical about our ability to achieve desired or beneficial results by using limited action�Once it became apparent that rebel forces were unlikely to forge democratic change in Syria, Israel's strategy (or non strategy) has been "let them all fight until they kill each other"�Sadly, I have to agree�.

Also, if talking heads want US to punish Assad "just enough" to prevent further use of chemical warfare, but not enough to completely take him out, they need to GET ON BOARD WITH ASSETS, not lip service!...Before anyone strikes Syria, ALL nations favoring an attack need to hammer out a solid plan for "the day after" and have it IN PLACE before we strike!�How else are we going to keep Iran off nuclear and China and Russia's greedy fingers off everything else!...??