Mostly when NATO attacks Muslim-majority countries ( eg. Libya ) that country will be a Socialist one, and the Socialists there claim their version of interpretation of Islam to be the rightful one. But NATO will support another faction within that country or from outside whose ideology will be reactionary based on general common sense. This faction's example can be al-Qaeda or FSA or NTC. Why does NATO support such reactionary factions ?? In this very thread we are talking about the American military being in support of FSA. Why ??
There is the other point of NATO seeing itself as the modern version of the Crusaders of the Middle Ages.
And yes, Islam does not have an established central authority agreed by all factions, but I believe in Muammar Gaddafi to be the "Imam of all Muslims", a leader of Sunni as well as Shia or other sects. His is not the position of a central priest ( there is no priest in Islam ) but more a guide.
People in the West view themselves as champions of human rights, not Christianity.
Leaders may have a more cynical view.
To go on a crusade is a proverb, which nowadays rarely have anything to do with religion.
You can go on a crusade to stop littering in the street.
We do not like dictators like Gaddaffi, Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevich and Assad.
The only one of these four that may have any legal base for governing was Milosovich.
The rest got into power through military coups, and ended up as dictators guilty of rape, plunder and mass murder. For both Gaddaffi and Milosevich it was pressure from the public which forced the leader to act. For Milosovich, the key factor was Madeline Albright who was persecuted as Young, and now she decided - not on her watch. European leaders were really not doing much until she forced her will.
The Syrian situation is much more complex. When the Arab spring started to spread, the illegal government of Assad responded with mass murder. The security services of Syria were built up by ex-nazis escaping from Nazi Germany at the end of WW2. Their Gestapo methods kept the Syrians down for 60 years. When they finally had enough they had no organisation.
Already in the beginning of the Arab Spring in Syria, the US came to the conclusion that it should keep out of Syria, because there were no obvious partner.
An obvious partner would be a group fighting for a free and democratic Syria.
1-2 years later FSA seemed to emerge as an umbrella organisation for the democratic opposition, mainly lead by ex Syrian Army officers having enough of the repression of Syrians by the regime.
They were SLAUGHTERED by the superior weapons of the Syrian Army.
Finally the US sent a minor shipment of TOWs.
They also started a training program which in the end produced maybe 2 dozen fighter. I.E. A total failure.
Meanwhile Islamists from all over the world convened in Syria to establish an Islamic State.
They were primarily supported by the Gulf States and KSA.
Arabs were and are the primary movers and shakers in Syria, not the West.
What complicates issues in Syria is there are about a thousand different rebel groups in Syria.
They form, and they disappear, and people move between groups.
If a rebel organisation has a certain agenda, and their people are trained, the people may switch to another organisation the day after.
I call BS on the statement that the West has ever supported Al-Qaeda knowingly.
The West now focuses on fighting ISIS in Syria, with Kurds as the major ally.
If Assad or the Russians interfere, then they get a reminder.