Why Western countries courted Bashshar Al-Asad:

So Robert Worth writes:  "Western leaders courted him, in hopes he would democratize his country, make peace with Israel and stop supporting the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah."  Now, really Robert.  You believe those words?  You believe that Western leaders really cared about democratizing Syria?  When they court Moroccan, Egyptian, Libyan, Kuwait, Bahraini, Qatari, Saudi and Jordanian autocrats, you think that they also wanted them to democratize and urged them to democratize?  Don't you believe it was all about peace with Israel? Do you think if Bashshar signed a peace treaty with Israel, Western leaders would care if he were to massacre 10,000 Syrians per day?  And you also admit after all this:  "Yet Iran’s nemeses — including Israel, the United States and Saudi Arabia — are also deeply unsettled by the prospect of regime change in Syria, which could set off a messy Iraq-style civil conflict."  So which is which, Robert?  The first or the second contention?