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"Tension is high between the Alawites, the minority Shite sect to which Assad belongs that controls the country, and the majority Sunni sect which is 70% of the Syrian population."

That's been the issue for the survival of the Assad family dictatorship from the beginning. That's the reason for Baathism, pan-Arab socialism, the vicious hostility toward Israel, anything to divert the people's attention toward outsiders and unify them in hatred.

It could only last so long.

If I were an Alawite or Christian or Kurd in Syrian, I'd be making "getting the heck out of Dodge" plans. When the Sunnis takeover, they're going to take it out on the inside 'outsiders'.

That's been the issue for the survival of the Assad family dictatorship from the beginning. That's the reason for Baathism, pan-Arab socialism, the vicious hostility toward Israel, anything to divert the people's attention toward outsiders and unify them in hatred.

There's no need to unify Arab Muslims in hatred of non-Muslims (Israel, US, et al) - they already do. The pan-Arab ideology exists to (1) show Arab Muslims that non-Muslims in Arabia are not their enemy, (2) distract Muslims from the fact that non-Muslims continue to exist in Arabia over 1000 years after Muhammad conquered all before him from what is now the southern part of Saudi Arabia and (3) these non-Muslims in Arabia are not paying the jizya tax for the privilege of living among the (Muslim) faithful. The unpalatable truth is that the Arab Muslim has been fed a steady diet of infidel hatred along with mother's milk since Muhammad imposed his rule and his religion on the region over 1000 years ago. Any dictator, Baathist or not, who breaks from that orthodoxy will incur the wrath of the populace and be toppled or killed.