Bashar al-Assad: hero or terrorist?

Is Bashar al-Assad a hero or a terrorist? I have heard both things being said about him. Some think he is a hero because of the work he has done in modernizing Syria. He has made lives better in an economic way for people, improving the quality of their lives. This is very different what the Western media is reporting. The question is: is the Western media reporting accurately? Is it possible that the very bad things that Assad is accused of doing (killing children, kidnapping civilians, etc.) have not actually happened and the West is just trying to cope with the negative consequences of the financial crisis of 2008? Or is what they say about Assad true and he is little more than a terrorist. If the West can end Assad’s rule by encouraging people to fight against him, then perhaps they will benefit politically from the results of the uprising.