One of the reasons I hate these kinds of discussions is that they are so boring and simplistic.  The notion that &quot;it&#x27;s all the US&#x27; fault!&quot; seems to always rear its head.<p>I&#x27;m not a fan of a lot of US foreign policy, but people like Assad and Putin are &#x27;not very nice people&#x27; to put it mildly, and have done more than their fair share to cause problems in Syria.<p>Russia has a direct interest in Syria, BTW: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Russian_naval_facility_in_Tartus" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Russian_naval_facility_in_Tart...</a>