Transformations of the Syrian Military: The Challenge of Change and Restructuring Note of Appreciation Omran Center for Strategic Studies expresses its appreciation to the Carnegie Middle East Center for its partnership and support in this project funded by the European Union and Germany as part of the Syria Peace Process Support Initiative (SPPSI). All the information, ideas, opinions, themes and supplements contained in this book are the express the views of the authors and their research efforts and do not necessarily reflect the positions of the Carnegie Middle East Center or the donors. -3- -3- Concepts and Practices -4- -4- Transformations of the Syrian Military: The Challenge of Change and Restructuring Omran Center for Strategic Studies -5- Omran Center for Strategic Studies An independent think tank and policy research center focusing on presenting an objective understanding of Syria and the region to become a reference for public policies impacting the region. Omran began in November 2013 in Istanbul, Turkey. It publishes studies and policy briefs regarding Syrian and regional affairs in the areas of politics, economic development, and local administration. Omran also conducts round-table discussions, seminars, and workshops that promote a more systematic and methodical culture of decision making among future leaders of Syria. Omran’s work support decision making mechanisms, provide practical solutions and policy recommendations to decision makers, identify challenges within the Syrian context, and foresee scenarios and alternative solutions Website: www.OmranStudies.org Email: [email protected] Publish date in English: December 31, 2018 © All rights reserved to Omran for Strategic Studies -6- Contributors Navvar Şaban Bashar Narsh, Ph.D Maen Tallaa Col. Ahmad Hammadi -7- -8- Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................. 11 Introduction ............................................................................................. 15 Chapter 1: The Syrian Army 2011-2018: Roles and Functions .......... 18 Introduction ............................................................................................ 18 First: The Framework of Syria’s Military-Civilian Relations ............... 19 Second: The Army’s Activities from 2011-2018 ................................... 29 Conclusions ............................................................................................ 38 Chapter 2: Military Actors and Structures in Syria in 2018 ............... 44 Introduction ............................................................................................ 44 First: Revolutionary Forces and Islamic Factions: Unstable Interactions ................................................................................................................ 45 Second: Syrian Democratic Forces: People’s Protection Units Under a New Name ............................................................................................. 79 Third: The Militias Scene in Regime-Controlled Areas: Dissolution or Reintegration .......................................................................................... 86 Conclusions: Fragile Arrangements and Diverging Directions ........... 103 Chapter 3: Stability and Change in Syria: The Future of the Military in Syria .................................................................................................... 108 First: Guiding Principles for Reforming Military Institutions: An Absence of a National Vision .............................................................. 108 Second: The Army and Requisits of Stability: The Need for Reframing and Rebuilding ..................................................................................... 114 Third: The Path to National Reform: Prioritizing Political Neutrality and Strengthening of Civil-Military Relations ........................................... 125 Conclusion: Reform as a Condition for Stability ................................. 129 Annex Report 1: Significant Transformations in the Army: 1945- 2011 ......................................................................................................... 134 First: 1945-1948: Turbulent formations ............................................... 134 Second: 1949-1961: The Army as a Main Actor in the Political Scene .............................................................................................................. 140 -9- Transformations of the Syrian Military: The Challenge of Change and Restructuring Third: 1961-1970: Baath Control and Key Structural Changes ........... 143 Fourth: 1970 -1985: Concentration of Power with Loyalists .............. 148 Fifth: 1980-2011: An Indoctrinated Military and a Short-Lived Military Ambassador .......................................................................................... 152 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 155 Annex Report 2: Laws and Regulations Governing the Military After 2011 ......................................................................................................... 160 Introduction .......................................................................................... 160 First: The Military Service Law - Amendments to Control and Termination .......................................................................................... 162 Second: Military Pensions Law - Changes Directly from the Commander in Chief ............................................................................ 169 Third: The Mandatory Military Service Law - an absence of parliamentary oversight frameworks ................................................... 174 Fourth: General Mobilization Law – Questions of its public and private application ............................................................................................ 178 Fifth: The Penal Code and Military Court Procedures – Everyone is subject to military laws ........................................................................ 183 Sixth: Organizational Structure - Substantial transformations that undermine coherence ........................................................................... 189 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 197 -10- -10- Executive Summary ● Throughout its history, the Syrian military has gone through a number of stages in its structural and functional evolution. These include processes undertaken based on the need to develop the military’s professional and technical capacity, or as required for the domination and control of the regime over the army, or as dictated by the war conditions. But since Hafez al-Assad took power, the military has become a major actor in local “conflicts,” whether as a result of the social composition of the military and the sectarian engineering efforts started by Hafez al-Assad and continued by Bashar al-Assad, the special privileges granted to military members, or as a result of the military doctrine that is customized for the preservation of the regime and not based on national ideals. Some of the most significant structural and human changes in the history of the Syrian military took place between 2011 and 2018. These shifts included the entry of auxiliary non-Syrian forces, both individuals and groups, which completely changed the role of the “army” from that of a traditional national army into a force used primarily to protect the ruling regime. ● As a result of the unexpected outbreak of military operations across the country against a popular uprising, there was a significant increase in the number of amendments made to laws governing the military establishment in order to address gaps in those laws. Some of the laws were ignored in favor of custom and tradition. This was reflected in the promotion and evaluation of officers based on sectarian or regional affiliations. The introduction of a partial mobilization in Syria without official certification of the decision as a result of the events starting in 2011, and the issuance of a new mobilization law at the end of 2011, supported the regime's efforts to distribute mobilization tasks to all state institutions and departments. Previously, the last law on mobilization had been issued in 2004. ● At the outset of the uprising in Syria, the military's deployments were characterized by complete chaos. The regime's use of local and foreign -11- Transformations of the Syrian Military: The Challenge of Change and Restructuring militias, in addition to the Iranian and Russian regimes, transformed this deployment from complete chaos to a more organized chaos. The regime was able to recapture many villages and cities based on a strategy of collective punishment, scorched earth offensives, and guerrilla warfare. The Syrian regime's use of local and foreign militias led to an imbalance in the structure and responsibilities of the army during the revolution, so that the military became a more Alawite-dominated institution because of its reliance on its Alawite members. Most of the officers were corrupt, and that corruption became much worse during the years of revolution, causing the military to become increasingly distant and isolated from society. This pushed the officers to collude with corrupt networks within the regime and to exploit them to achieve further gains and accumulate wealth. ● In 2018, the military landscape witnessed many major transformations,