"To understand what's at stake, it's crucial to keep in mind who's defecting from the Syrian army. Syria's top military - also members of the Ba'ath Party - are almost all Alawis, the folk Shi'ite sect (10% of the overall population). They are not defecting.
The defectors are overwhelmingly Sunni troops (70% of the overall population); they are forming militias, Libya-style, heavily infiltrated by mercenaries weaponized by the GCC, and fighting government troops. The government's response has been to target the neighborhoods where the families of these defectors live. The center of Homs nowadays is controlled by the rebels."
from asia times...
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