As much as I hate Assad, and I would agree with you if the pilots of Russia and the regime were cluster-bombed like that, the average soldier in Assad's army and militias is either an Afghan refugees from Iran, who were blackmailed to go to Syria, or IRGC folks (kinda like joining the Communist Party in China) and some Syrians who were drafted or will starve if they don't join the army. They are only sporadically brought for operations, and most just stay at their home base playing cards. If they have an offensive, they can't say no, and they can't even de-enlist. If you defect to the rebels and your relatives live in regime-held areas, the rest of your family will never forgive you when Assadists kill them.
To be honest, I really feel sorry for them. Not those who actively commit crimes, but those who didn't want to be part of all of this.