The major rebel forces in Syria are not a "popular revolt". They are professional, foreign-backed hardline Islamic extremists (which is why they could hold out

The major rebel forces in Syria are not a "popular revolt". They are professional, foreign-backed hardline Islamic extremists (which is why they could hold out for five years against Assad, Iran, and Hezbollah). "The alliance was formed in March 2015 under the supervision and coordination of Saudi cleric Dr Abdullah al-Muhaysini. It consists of Islamist rebel factions mainly active in the Idlib Governorate, with some factions active in the Hama and Latakia Governorates. In the course of the following months, it seized most of Idlib province. It is actively supported by Saudi Arabia and Turkey. In an October 2015 publication, the Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War considered Jaish al-Fatah as one of the "powerbrokers" in Idlib, Hama, Daraa and Quneitra provinces, though not in Damascus province, being primarily "anti-regime" and "anti-Hezbollah" but not necessarily "anti-ISIS". At its founding, Jaish al-Fatah contained seven members, three of them—al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham, and Jund al-Aqsa—were directly connected to al-Qaeda or have a similar ideology. With Ahrar al-Sham being the largest group, al-Nusra and Ahrar al-Sham together were reported to represent 90 percent of the troops." - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Conquest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_Conquest Discussion on Al Jazeera Arabic, "Should We Kill All Alawites?". (Alawites are the largest group in Syria backing the Assad government.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULtNYSUqYHw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULtNYSUqYHw