Excellent, besides my personal skepticism.

Submitted by Godot (United States), Apr 10, 2007 at 12:03

The article revealed a concise history of the Alawi minority in Syria. It's an invaluable reference for those who need to understand the dynamics of Syrian affairs.

Erratum:
I read: "In 1959, during his exile in Egypt, Asad helped found the Military Committee and organize its activities."
At that time, Assad was not in (exile) in Egypt, he was serving in the Egyptian Air Force as part of the Military collaboration between Syria and Egypt under the short-lived UAR.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".