You show your ignorance. Democracy is entirely absent from this picture.\

The civil war is a multi faceted battle between an adamantly secular, power hungry Alawite government, but one which protected  Ismaili and other Shia minorities, Christians, and who are opposed by the mostly Sunni Islamists, ISIL and al Nusra, unleashed by Bush/Cheney and the Arabian peninsula Wahabists/Salafis. However, the Iraqi Kurds are almost entirely Sunni as are the Syrian Turkmen, both isolated from ISIL because of ethnic divisions. The Alevi remain somewhat distinct from the rest. 

Now if this completely confounds you, you should apply to become the Secretary of State if Exxon's CEO is somehow turned down. You'd fit right in with the comic strip theorists.