ʿAlawite

Over time he can be eased out—as long as his Alawite people are protected in some kind of federal Syria.

The Assads come from the minority Alawite sect of Islam, and so do most of the key commanders in the Syrian armed forces.

The killings of some 7,000 Sunni Syrians in March of 2011 by predominately Alawite security forces forced Hamas to take a stand.

This would likely be a fatal blow to the Alawite-run regime.

The rebels are not ready to even tactically relinquish the objective of destroying the Alawite core of the Syrian state.