I'm just trying to understand your thinking.  It seems clear from Kristof that he has met and cares for those in Syria.   To accuse him, or me, of not caring about millions of refugees is unfair.    Assad has slaughter  thousand.   Isis would be a cruel fate as well.    It's a brutal conflict.    

It's a fair question t0 ask if living under an authoritarian rule is better than dying for a democracy.   Or dying for the even worse Isis.  Americans and Syrians may answer that question differently.    More millions of refugees it was never a choice, they ran to save their life