The "Moderate Opposition" was Al Queda. ISIS spun off from them because they were too
moderate.
...but yeah it is true that these scumbags were funded by the State Dept to get rid of Assad.
Actually ISIS traces farther back.... To Libya. Remember Libya? We
turned it into an ashtray. A failed state like Somalia... but with
modern oil infrastructure.
The group's official name was the LIFG. The US State Department and
CIA hired them to sodomize Muammar al-Gadaffi with a bayonet and
provided Special Operators and NATO air strike to assist in that
goal. THEN they began looting weapons from Libya's armories and
taking them to Syria, as the DIA watched and wrote un-acted-on memos
=> <http://auntieimperial.tumblr.com/post/119961712749>.
THEN they ran into all the Iraq baathists who had fled Iraq to
Syria. THEN we see the inception of what was initially known as
ISIS. I seriously doubt the Baathists are still involved though.
As to Why The US Wanted Muammar al-Gadaffi Dead...