Realpolitik can be a very callous thing, but supporting Assad is pretty much out of the question. Intervention I suspect would lead to a bigger mess...and I'm not just referring to future budget deficits. Some battles Americans just should not fight, no matter the horrendous cost, because sometimes it's better to let the civil war be settled internally, even if it seems the biggest casualties lately are among the Druze and Christian populations in Syria. Lose-lose all around.