In increasingly detailed strategy sessions over recent weeks, US officials have urged rebels and Syrian political opposition leaders to resist sectarian reprisals if Mr Assad’s government falls. Officials said they are endeavouring to help the rebels learn from US mistakes in Iraq, where the dissolution of the army and other institutions unleashed further turmoil.
”You can’t have a complete dissolution of that [system] because those institutions will be needed in a political transition,” said one US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because discussions with Syria’s fragmented opposition are sensitive.
”What you need to prevent is the de-Baathification of the country,” the official said, referring to Mr Assad’s ruling Arab nationalist movement. A Baath offshoot also ruled in Iraq under Saddam Hussein.
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