“If the opposition were not to be armed early on, [Syrian President Bashar al-]Assad would not have had the excuse for such violence against our people, and he would not have committed such despicable crimes,” Ahmad, a Syrian from Aleppo who fled to Turkey nearly a year ago, told Al-Monitor.

There is no dispute over the cruelty of the Assad regime and that he ultimately needs to go, and neither is there need to excuse the regional powers from their roles and responsibilities in the making of this carnage in Syria.

Looking back and grumbling over whether the Saudis, the Qataris and the Turks could have taken a calming approach, or what would have happened if the Russians and Iranians were included from day one in finding a political solution to this crisis, have little relevance today to ending the bloodshed. But the international choir condemning the atrocities of the Syrian regime and slamming Assad’s recent remarks does not do any better.

On Sunday, Jan.6, when Assad took the stage in an opera house in Damascus to propose organizing a reconciliation conference that would exclude “those who have betrayed Syria,” Ahmad got furious.