You realize that Assad considers himself a dead man..

[busterbrown]

Or spending the rest of his life in jail...He is capable of doing anything...I am against going to war but I keep reminding myself of this fact...

[Warpy]

1. I think he's probably hoping for a last minute escape

followed by a retirement to an obscure life on a dacha somewhere in Russia if things go against him and the zealots win.

The zealots are pledging to commit genocide on Alawites, the sect that Assad is from.

[busterbrown]

3. With the internet, technology, money and informers it is almost impossible to do that

[Warpy]

6. Absolutely

Any money he loots from the treasury on his way out will have to pay for bodyguards. The genocide against Alawites will certainly extend to him no matter if he moves to the Russian area of Antarctica.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. So lemme get this straight--

Our support of the Syrian rebels will actually help them advance the cause of genocide against the Alawite sect of Shia.

Cute.

[Warpy]

10. Their slogan "Christians to Lebanon, Alawites to death"

tells us much of what we need to know.

There are a lot of compelling reasons not to bomb Assad's stockpiles of weapons. Helping some people who are likely a lot worse than he is is one of the biggest.

[Cleita]

4. Actually deposed ME leaders have traditionally

preferred Paris unless the French have taken back the "Welcome" mat.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. Tell that to Kadaffi.

[Cleita]

2. So we shouldn't provoke him then, it would seem.

Attacking him with missiles might do that.

[busterbrown]

7. Not matter what happens..

w/o any action from us he will be still fighting for his life everyday.

[MADem]

9. His buddy Pootie refused him asylum in the past....

That's the only country where he could live safely and half-way happily, really. Even in Iran or China he'd have a tough go--Iran is too conservative religiously, and China is far too foreign to suit him. He doesn't speak the language in any of 'em; he'd have done better in an Arab-speaking nation but his wholesale slaughter of his sunni enemies has sort of made that notion a bit of a problem.

[Chan790]

11. He speaks French and English...that will get him by in about 2/3 of the globe.

He attended French-language schools in Damascus as a teenager and did his medical residency in the UK.

[MADem]

12. No French and English speaking countries will have him.

No Arab speaking ones, either...

[davidpdx]

13. That's a shame, I could see him in Russia

Putin, Assad, and Snowden all dining together. The dictator, the murder, and the traitor.

[DFW]

14. He probably has a billion or two stashed somewhere.

If he can escape in time, he'll find safe refuge. He's useless to the Russians anywhere but right where he is, so I'm sure Putin will try to keep him in place as long as possible. If the rebels get him, sure, he's ground beef, but if sneaks out in time, I doubt he'll have to worry about his safety or where his next meal is coming from.

[Democracyinkind]

15. Lessons learned from Gaddafi. nt