The die is cast. The US will now supply the 'rebels'. In actuality we are now supporting the Sunni Muslim tribes against the Shia Allawite tribe of the Assads. We will be pitting ourselves against Iran from Syria's east and Hezbollah from Lebanon to the south. Remember. Syria is an artificial state created by the British and French after WWI. If the Allawites are defeated they will retreat into the hills of northern Lebanon, there homeland. Allied with Hezbollah, they will continue the war from the border. Northern Lebanon will become a de facto Shia state which will create turmoil in Lebanon, much like the 1980's when Reagan sent the Marines into Lebanon (I hope we learned a lesson from that). Believe this, no Sunni government will be a western democratic ally. Much of the Sunni rebel movement is the Muslim Brotherhood and Sunni jihadists like Al Qaeda. And if and when they 'win', they will be on the Golan Heights, overlooking Israel. One only needs to see the track of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, where a westernized middle class, judiciary, and military are trying to maintain moderation. Those forces due not exist in Syria. If the Muslim Brotherhood controls both Egypt and Syria we may again see the creation of the ' United Arab Republic' that Gamal Abdul Nasser created in the late 1950's, a united Arab state surrounding Israel. Then all they will need is another charismatic leader like Nasser. The Middle East is a 'tar baby' in a briar patch, surrounded by a quagmire. All this created by centuries old religious hatreds and Western imperialism. I, for now, can see no 'moderate' or successful outcome.