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Source: http://www.fpri.org//articles/2013/06/syria-irans-stalingrad
Syria Is Iran's Stalingrad
(Foreign Policy Research Institute) Gary C. Gambill - The influx of thousands of foreign Shiite fighters into Syria in recent months has enabled pro-regime forces to regain some ground. But the surge won't prevent the overwhelmingly Sunni Arab rebels from eventually prevailing on the battlefield, where Sunni Arabs have a 5-to-1 demographic edge over the Alawites who comprise most uniformed and paramilitary pro-regime combatants. The rebels are strongly supported by the overwhelming majority of Arabs and Muslims worldwide who are Sunnis, and their four principal sponsors - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Jordan. Iran's massive infusions of cash into Syria ($12.6 billion, according to one estimate) and stepped up training of pro-Assad forces has greatly inflamed animosity toward the Islamic Republic and its proxies throughout the Arab-Islamic world. A recent survey by James Zogby shows that Iran's favorability ratings have fallen to an all-time low in majority Sunni countries. Syria, he writes, has become the "nail in the coffin" of Iran's standing in the region.