We've all seen the circa WW2  B&W photos of columns of women, children and the elderly seeking refuge. To this day no one is unsympathetic to the plight of refugees.
Hundreds of thousands of fighting age men - not even from Syria - but from North Africa, Algeria, etc, are refugees?

When the West had our wars, men served under the draft and died for the country. They should have been drafted and performed their duty to rid their homeland of Al-Queda and the Jihadist rebel terrorists. With regard to Putin - indeed he's no progressive democrat  - he simply filled the vacuum.