Why all people think that Assad and ISIS are the only choices?

[Minimalist]

Name me one country which simply rolls over to a group of rebels.  Replace Assad with some Sunni shithead and we'll have the Alawites fleeing the country in waves.

And the beat goes on.  And it will continue to go on until muslims learn that just because someone disagrees with you there is no need to kill them.

Tunisia. It's now a democratic and free country. 
AFAIK sunnis are already fleeing the country (95% of the refugees are sunnis).

I guess that you're talking about Assad when you say that. Are you aware that the people who were shot were just protesting in a civilized way? I think that every muslim should be given a chance to live in a democratic country. Extremism is just the consequence, not the cause of all this.

Tunisia?  That's not how they tell it.

First, on December 17, 2011, a young Tunisian street vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, set himself on fire in hopelessness and to protest his treatment at the hands of the authorities. Demonstrations broke out in his rural hometown followed by protests in other areas of the country. A brutal security crackdown followed, reported in chocking details by online social media. Second, when protests reached the capital, Tunis, the government responded with even more brutality, arresting demonstrators, activists, and shutting down the Internet. Lastly, the President, Zine el-Abedin Ben Ali, shuffled his cabinet and promised to create 300,000 jobs, but it was too late; protesters now just wanted the regime to fall and its President stripped of any power.

Don't confuse 'failing to respond with violence' with not being any good at it.  There is another dynamic at play in Tunisia, though.  Well over 90% of the population are Arab-Berbers.  There was no ethnic element.  You did not have the situation in Iraq, Libya, or Syria where there was a minority group ruling over a majority.  Egypt, too, had a 'successful' revolution against Mubarak but again, there was plenty of violence employed against the protesters but ultimately they won....until the army said "fuck this" and then they lost.  So much for successful revolutions.

How did the Arab Spring work out in the Gulf States?  In Saudi Arabia?  In Iran?


"I guess that you're talking about Assad when you say that. Are you aware that the people who were shot were just protesting in a civilized way?"

What is - and what is not - a peaceful demonstrator is often in the eye of the man holding the gun.



The person being aimed at here is the unarmed son of a United States Congressman from MInnesota who was "peacefully protesting" the murder of a young man by the police.

So you can continue to be naive about the reality of power or you can accept the fact that all Assad did was hasten the outbreak of civil war.  I assume that he well understood the tenuous nature of his Alawite rule in a country that is only roughly 20% Alawite.  The other side gets to make decisions based on their own needs too, you know.