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Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=10857
Hizbullah and Iran Keep Syria's Assad in Power
(Israel Hayom) Eyal Zisser - The Syrian civil war, which will soon mark its fourth anniversary, has all but obliterated the country. Syria proper has been reduced to a narrow, north-bound strip stretching from Damascus through Aleppo, to the Alawite provinces along the coast. What was once eastern Syria is now controlled by the Islamic State, and the rest of Syria is controlled by various rebel groups. In the past few years President Assad has become more dependent on his Iranian ally and its proxy, Hizbullah. It is doubtful that Assad could have survived this long without their aid. It is Hizbullah's hundreds of wounded and dead that have been keeping Assad in power. Prof. Eyal Zisser is former director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies at Tel Aviv University.