Let Syria break up into its various regions where other sects and tribes predominate

“We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way,” Mr. Obama said then, in a statement that was coordinated with European allies. “For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside.”

This statement from Obama has got to be the stupidest, especially after the desultory result of taking out Saddam Hussein, another despot holding power with a minority sect as his power base, and thinking democracy will just bubble up and take over naturally. It's real that Assad will not be dislodged, but not necessarily for all of Syria. What is not understandable is why we can't fathom the next step  which is to let Syria break up into its various regions where other sects and tribes than Assad's Alawites predominate. It would clarify the solution to:

Still, major questions loom, including which political authorities in Syria will control Raqqa after ISIS fighters are evicted and how the international community might establish safe zones, or what Mr. Tillerson recently called “interim zones of stability,” to stem the flow of refugees. Another important question is whether it might be possible to negotiate a broader political accommodation for Syria; despite his gains, Mr. Assad lacks the military manpower to control the entire country.

and let a Sunni Arab political entity govern in Raqqa independent and protected from Assad and further to the east protect Kobani as a Kurdish enclave.