Latakia offensive inflames
Syria’s sectarian wounds
' “Tit-for-tat wars generally backfire,” Landis said, pointing to the brutal slaying of possibly hundreds of Sunni civilians in Baniyas, south of Latakia, at the hands of Alawite loyalist militia in May.
“Whenever there has been any activity in this region the retribution against the Sunni population has been immediate and brutal,” he said.'
Joshua Landis seems to believe that any advance by the largely-secular rebel forces is incitement to sectarian bloodletting by the régime.