"Moderate, Democratic Forces."

Here is our history on all of this: 

President Jimmy Carter. "Let's support the moderates in Iran now that the Shah has left."
Really?!
President Carter, WHAT moderates are those?

President W. Bush, "Iraq will be a shining example of democracy now that Saddam is gone and it will pread throughout the Middle East (to more or less paraphrase.)" President Bush, how'd that "spreading democracy" work out?

President Barack Obama, "We are supporting the democratic forces aligned against dictator Gaddafi in Libya and giving them NATO and US air cover."
President Obama, WHAT democratic forces in Libya are those?

President Barack Obama, "Let's support, train, and arm the moderate democratic forces in Syria."
President Obama, WHAT moderate democratic forces are those?

Maybe the US needs to be pragmatic and ally itself with forces that have a realistic chance of actually winning and gaining power. In very violent countries moderate and "nice" political forces stand NO chance. Just look at the Weimar Republic in Germany.

Remember what FDR said about Somoza in Nicaragua, "He's a bastard but he's OUR bastard?"

The world is a sorry and violent place.