The Syrian protesters had little army support and that is why the protests failed, large swathes of the country is in ruins and millions are displaced.

Russian assistance to Assad in the last few years helped him to victory too as the fighting until then was at a stalemate.

Deceased China communist Mao Tse Tung (how we spelt his name in the 1960’s) once said “political power comes out of a barrel of a gun” as we all now know.

The first USA civil war in 1776, what they call the “War of Independence”, was only won by Washington continental army with the help of the French kings army and navy.

Washington would have lost without the French kings help who incidentally the USA failed to help a few decades later during the French revolution. So much for supporting your allies.