We can argue technically, and u will lose. you're already losing by siding with the loser in the Syrian war, so ur butthurt. Assad is def not stupid. The fact that he should have been : assasinated, tried, jailed, deposed and none of them happened despite Syria experiencing a long bad crazy war is a testament to his cunningness,witty political maneuvering, etc. I dont like Assad as a person first of all. Who the F is he to me at the end of the day? nobody. But he has played a pretty good game in Syria over the past 10 yrs or so. Europeans are sending people to Damascus to "talk" to Assad. why? they know the war is more or less over and they will have to deal with him. Assad lost most of the wars, but he is winning the battle so whats your point? Imo the fact that Assad is surviving as Syria's national leader with most of SYria's territory in his control, i think thats decent. I dont need to learn more, esp. not from someone like you, because you also need to learn more too.