Heard an interesting interview of Bashar Assad of Syria on 60 minutes?

Basically this is what I realized about Assad's position when asked whether he would resign. It's like this. If he resigned now all of his family, friends and army would be massacred by ISIS and Al Qaeda like groups without mercy. He knows this. All his friends and family in Syria know this. This is just a fact of life.

Next, the entire middle east is mostly tribes who are historically Some sect of Shia (Alawite) in his case or Sunni Tribes in another case. IF Shia tribes and Sunni tribes don't protect their people any way they can they will all be massacred. He isn't resigning only because his family, all his relatives, and all the Alawite sect of Shia would be massacred now to the last man woman and child if he resigned now. It is just a horrific fact of life.

Does he massacre Sunnis without limit. Yes.

Does that horrify the western world: Yes.

However, if he didn't do this all his family, and friends would either be beheaded or tortured to death and this is just a fact of life in Syria.

This is the major fact of life that people who don't live over there where Shias and Sunnis have been killing each other for about 1000 years now have dealt with historically and will deal with until the present what looks like a 30 years war of bloodletting continues between Shias and Sunnis.