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Syrian Children Offer Glimpse of a Future of Reprisals
(New York Times) David D. Kirkpatrick - Sunni Muslim children from Syria in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, asked about what drove them from their homes, describe their hatred of the Alawites and a thirst for revenge. Parroting older relatives, the youngsters offered a disturbing premonition of the road ahead for Syria. Their unvarnished hatred helps explain why so many Alawites have stood by Mr. Assad even as the world has written him off. They see him as their best protection against sectarian annihilation. Joshua Landis, a Syria scholar at the University of Oklahoma, explained that the French colonists brought the Alawites into the military to help control the Sunnis. After Syria's independence, the military eventually took control of the country, putting Alawites in top government positions. "Now the Alawites believe - possibly correctly - that the Sunnis are going to try to kill them, and that is why the Alawite Army now is killing Sunnis in this beastly way," Prof. Landis said. "I don't see any way out of that."