The National quotes Rafik Hariri Center Nonresident Fellow Faysal Itani on the US strategy for combating the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham:

ISIL propaganda showing slaughter of hundreds of Syrian soldiers at the Tabqa airbase in Raqqa province “provoked considerable dissent among Alawis, whose support for the regime had previously appeared steadfast and unanimous”, Faysal Itani, a Syria analyst at the Atlantic Council think tank, wrote this week.

“Should these attitudes spread, a new opportunity will emerge for a negotiated settlement to the war between the elements of the Alawi-led armed forces and non-jihadi rebel groups.”

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