That is why they are bringing in Iranian divisions.
Press gangs are a familiar item from Civil wars throughout the ages.
How is this any different than what ISIS is doing in the territories they control?
Or in Ukraine, or during the American Civil War?
100% of them will be dead if ISIS wins. As the article states, they are apostates. The men will be killed and the women will be sold into sexual slavery.
War is simply demographics sped up.
Syria's military age Alawites would be males aged 12-49, or roughly 660K men (12% Alawites x 50% males x 50% 12-49 individuals x 22m Syrians). 1/3 of that is 220K Alawite dead. Seem a little high, considering the total death toll is estimated at 200K.
The Alawites may be paying a high price for their loyalty to Assad, but they don’t have a choice.
They are an obscure ethnicity and Shia sect. They are a distinct minority in Syria, and as a general rule, if minorities rule a nation in control over a majority, that rule will not be peaceful or kind.
If ISIS took over or some other Sunni group (probably supported by Saudi Arabia) the Alawites would be slaughtered.
Nonetheless, Washington seems to be pursuing a policy of regime change on the cheap in Syria. The United States has halved Syria's economic growth by stopping Iraqi oil exports through Syria's pipeline, imposing strict economic sanctions and blocking European trade agreements. Regular reports that the United States is considering bombing Syria, and freezing transactions by the central bank have driven investors away. Next week, United Nations investigators will begin interviewing top officials in Damascus about the bombing death of the anti-Syrian politician Rafik Hariri in Lebanon, a matter that many expect the United States will bring before the Security Council. Politicians and businessmen alike here are convinced that Washington wants to bring down the regime, not merely change its behavior.
Nonetheless, the two countries have much to talk about: both are trying to solve their Iraq problems. They share a common interest in subduing jihadism and helping Iraq build stability. But instead of helping Syria help the United States, Washington prefers to make demands. The Bush administration believes it will be an easy matter for Mr. Assad to crack down on the Syrian Sunnis, who are giving comfort and assistance to mostly Arab fighters traveling though Syria.
On the contrary, it would be extremely costly for Mr. Assad. Sunni Arabs make up 65 percent of the population and keeping them content is crucial for any Syrian leader.
Syria has already taken the easy steps. It has built a large sand wall and placed thousands of extra troops along its 350-mile border with Iraq. Foreign diplomats here dismiss the American claims that the Syrian government is helping jihadists infiltrate Iraq. All the same, Syria has not undertaken the more painful internal measures required to stop jihadists before they get to the border, nor has it openly backed America's occupation of Iraq.
Nor is Mr. Assad - who inherited his job from his father, Hafez, in 2000 - willing to make a wholesale change in his authoritarian policies. But he has worked hard to repair sectarian relations in Syria. He has freed most political prisoners. He has tolerated a much greater level of criticism than his father did. The religious tolerance enforced by the government has made Syria one of the safest countries in the region. Washington is asking Mr. Assad to jeopardize this domestic peace.
Worse, if Mr. Assad's government collapsed, chances are the ethnic turmoil that would result would bring to power militant Sunnis who would actively aid the jihadists in Iraq. Mr. Assad is a member of the Alawite minority, a Shiite offshoot that fought a bloody battle against Sunni extremists in the 1980's. For Mr. Assad to help the United States, he must have sufficient backing from Washington to put greater restrictions and pressure on the Sunni majority. It would be suicide for him to provoke Sunnis and extremists while Washington seeks his downfall.
The headline is disingenuous. Alawites aren’t loyal to Assad - they’re merely convinced that as apostates in Sunni eyes, they will be exterminated if Sunni Arabs win, in accordance with the Koranic injunction to kill apostates in the most painful ways possible.
Assad’s Russian tanks after meeting combat-engineer-trained guerrillas: crematoria.
Assad’s Russian tanks after meeting combat-engineer-trained guerrillas: Crematoriums.
[Little spelling correction there.]
I read one article that said Alawites were 12 and a half percent of the population. Americans believe in democracy for America but how can these figures translate into other countries? Clearly, this is one factor in that troubled situation.
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