She's a Lebanese Christian who grew up in the US, so I don't think her statements necessarily apply or don't apply to Lebanon - it's just impossible to say.

If someone were to ask me now personally what I thought about Syria, I'd say that I'd rather see Assad stay because ironically, of all the groups that have any power in Syria, he's the only one who wants to see a pluralistic Syria (obviously for selfish reasons, but still...).

The quick and dirty parallels should become evident if I characterize the Thirty Years' War as follows: it was a war that was fought for power in Europe, using religion as a weapon to mobilize nations, and it was fought in Germany (and the Czech Republic, since that was part of the Holy Roman Empire). Some parts of Germany lost up to 50% of their population in the back and forth fighting. At first it was the Austrians and Bavarians ("Catholics" against the Danish and northern Germans ("Protestants", and when the Danish withdrew, the Swedes took their place. When Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus was killed in his moment of victory, the French, though Catholic, took up the Protestant cause because they opposed Habsburg control of Europe.

I don't doubt that there are plenty of Syrians willing to talk, but as long as Assad thinks he can win on the battlefield he'll just stall, and if he's losing I'm not sure the rebels that are capable of credibly negotiating will want to talk because they will think they can win (especially if the Saudis goad them on).