if you get rid of Assad you're just going to make the situation worse by creating a power vacuum.

And if he's ousted, the only thing the Syrians'll get (and what many areas out of Assad's control have gotten to my understanding) is religious fundamentalists and all sorts of people that put the tyranny and authority of Assad's rule to shame.

And okay, maybe that won't happen but I think it will if he is ousted. We have plenty of examples in the destructive wake of the Arab Spring to point to. This is maybe going off on a tangent but I don't think any of those countries' cultures have developed to the point where they can have something like a republic without it collapsing into infighting. It's awful to say but better they have a strongman that keeps order instead of all manner of warlords and extremists fighting and leaving the people to suffer more than they would otherwise.