(Reuters) - As one of the Sunni Muslim soldiers who form the bulk of the Syrian army, Lieutenant Adnan Suleibi kept being pushed to the front of units fighting in the rebellious city of Homs.
Alawite personnel - members of the same minority sect as President Bashar al-Assad - remained in the rear. Alawites control the military through their domination of the officer corps and, crucially, direct the Soviet-style intelligence and secret police apparatus entrusted with preventing dissent.
"The Sunnis are cannon fodder and morale has been sapped. There are 75 men left in my brigade out of 250. The rest were killed, injured or deserted," said Suleibi, a slim 23-year-old in jeans and striped t-shirt.
"As soon as the chance came, I made a run for it," he said after crossing to the safety of Turkey last week with a comrade...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/12/us-syria-crisis-defectors-idUSBRE86B0NF20120712