resilience of the Asad regime

This in a footnote: "In addition to Hizb Allah, foreign actors such as Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) and a constellation of Iraqi-based Shi’a militias and volunteers, among others, have likewise proven their mettle as allies to the Ba’athist regime. At the same time, the factors that have contributed to the Ba’athist regime’s staying power in the face of an increasingly muddled insurgency led by radical Sunni Islamist currents such as al-Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra (Support Front) and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant continue to be underestimated or disregarded outright. Indeed, the Ba’athist regime continues to count on a largely unified and loyal military and security apparatus that managed to weather an initial purge of defectors in the early stages of the conflict. "  This is largely ignored in all Western media accounts. (thanks Les)