Assad is a murderous butcher whose regime tortured children[1][2]. I think that's a fairly good reason to dislike him.
It's easy for us in the West to sit here and say that he was better that what came later. That certainly wasn't apparent at the time, and I think that alone is enough of a reason to be wary of him.
If that wasn't enough, there's his regime's history of attempting to build nuclear weapons with North Korean help as well as it's use of chemical weapons against civilians. These aren't the Iraqi-war mythical weapons of mass destruction, but real weapons that were either used (chemical) or destroyed.
It's possible that the rebels used chemical weapons too, but absolutely certain that Assad's forces did[3]. Notably, the Russians (who don't often fall for Western propaganda) were the ones who forced Assad to give up his chemical weapon stockpiles after they were used. The Russians did blame the rebels for one attack, and it is likely that may be correct. That doesn't remove Assad's guilt for the other attacks.
It's easy for us in the West to sit here and say that he was better that what came later. That certainly wasn't apparent at the time, and I think that alone is enough of a reason to be wary of him.
If that wasn't enough, there's his regime's history of attempting to build nuclear weapons with North Korean help as well as it's use of chemical weapons against civilians. These aren't the Iraqi-war mythical weapons of mass destruction, but real weapons that were either used (chemical) or destroyed.
It's possible that the rebels used chemical weapons too, but absolutely certain that Assad's forces did[3]. Notably, the Russians (who don't often fall for Western propaganda) were the ones who forced Assad to give up his chemical weapon stockpiles after they were used. The Russians did blame the rebels for one attack, and it is likely that may be correct. That doesn't remove Assad's guilt for the other attacks.
[1] https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/16/syria-stories-behind-pho...
[2] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-12-17/photos-show-deaths-of-...
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Use_of_chemical_weapons_in_the...