The Middle of Islam's Road.

The Alawites are Muslim and 12% of the Syrian population. For centuries they were oppressed by the Sunni majority. At the end of the First World War France and England drew the usual arbitrary state boundaries because it’s easy to draw lines on maps and present day Syria was created. The new secular regime needed security, army and police, and the poverty stricken Alawites jumped at opportunities never given to them before of regular meals and warm uniforms. In just a few years they formed the majority of the army and security forces who as a side benefit were also provided with guns. Thus, as in the nature of unintended consequence, the Alawite minority had a coup d’etat and came to power over the Sunni majority who’d oppressed them for centuries. Now even without this festering background there’s nothing a Muslim hates more than a different Muslim so the brew evaporated down from beer to bathtub liquor as the Alawites cemented their grip on power under the family Assad. After years of inter-Muslim hatred there arose a faction, as might a good guy in the middle of the road, calling for a secular state and an end to the Assad regime. In the ensuing unrest, as in the nature of unintended consequences again, the Assad Alawites saw their oncoming genocide and the Sunnis saw an opportunity to regain power. And the guy in the middle of the road… well you know the rest. Now even the Alawite Muslims who never liked Assad cling to his regime as their only chance of survival and the Sunni Muslims are going all out for a Muslim Brotherhood state, which actually isn’t to different from Mohammed(the general)’s historical life. Islam by its very nature is an inseparable mix of state and religion, inflammable oil to secularism’s water. As with Egypt and Libya the guy in the middle of the road doesn’t stand a chance.