Both sides are adamant: the opposition is determined to bring down a regime that it views as illegitimate, sectarian, corrupt, tyrannical, and stained with blood, while the regime’s hard-line core believes that by persevering it will ultimately silence the opposition, whereas any concession would jeopardize its very existence. Its downfall, they believe, would mean dispossession and death for the regime’s leadership and for a large part of the minority Alawite community from which it is drawn.
双方的立场都坚定不移：反对派决意推翻被其视为宗派主义、腐败、残暴、双手沾满鲜血的非法政府，而政府的强硬核心势力坚信只要坚定不移最终定能压倒反对派，而任何退让都可能危及自身的生存。他们认定如果政府倒台，领导人和处于少数地位的阿拉维教派就会丧失财产乃至生命。