In Revenge of the Sith, the emperor replaces Count Dooku, his elderly apprentice played by Christopher Lee, with a younger, more vigorous apprentice with puppydog eyes named Anakin Skywalker. It looks like GOP insiders and the Chamber of Commerce crowd have done much the same thing. Bush was supposed to be their anointed candidate but is faltering, and their backup candidate, Chris Christie, seems stuck in the polls. So they have chosen a new and more powerful apprentice for Bush, in the form of John Kasich.

Kasich is starting to gain traction in New Hampshire, which is filled with refugees from high-tax liberal Massachusetts who want to turn New Hampshire into a high-tax liberal state. But the problem is that Kasich is giving interviews and saying dumb things:

Ohio Gov. John Kasich suggested on Sunday the current surge of Syrian refugees into Europe could have been avoided if the Obama administration had given greater support to the Syrian rebels fighting the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

"We should have been supporting the Syrian rebels years ago," the Republican presidential hopeful said on ABC's "This Week." "I pitched [House Speaker John] Boehner and [Sen. John] McCain on it, the administration ignored it. And the simple fact of the matter is we should have been supporting the opposition to Assad. This thing could be over by now."

President Barack Obama signed legislation last year to train and arm Syrian rebels, but those efforts have been hampered by the diffuse nature of the groups fighting the Assad regime and the Islamic State, as well as U.S. concerns about arming rebels with ties to Al Qaeda and other radical Islamist groups.

That's right! There are only three armed camps in Syria: the brutal Assad, the brutal Islamic State, and the brutal, diffuse "other" rebels, most of which are affiliated with Al-Nusra, the local franchise of Al Qaeda.

Every time liberals (and some Republicans) complain that we aren't doing enough to help "moderate" rebels, it is discovered that very often when we give them weapons, they wind up in the hands of Al Qaeda. That's why we paid $500,000,000 but could only find 60 rebels to train.

Donald Trump gets criticized for not knowing the obscure leaders of rebel groups, but Kasich is the true ignoramus, because he would have us give even more weapons to Al Qaeda.

The sad fact is that the vast majority Syrian people, like many peoples of the Middle East, subscribe to violent and deadly ideologies. That's why there is no "moderate" rebel force. If Assad ultimately wins, he will continue to fund terrorist groups like Hizb'allah. If Al-Nusra wins, they will join Al Qaeda in committing acts of terror abroad. And if the Islamic State wins, they will do much the same.

Therefore I would watch the conflict carefully, and give small arms and ammunition to any side that seems to be losing. Keeping them busy with themselves deprives them of the energy and interest in playing badly with others.

This article was written by Ed Straker, senior writer of NewsMachete.com, the conservative news site.