A long article by a SME via Open Democracy; with a short opening summary:
Why is the Syrian Army, against all predictions, winning the war in Syria? One has to delve into the history of the Syrian state since independence to understand how the military shaped the state and learned to divide its opponents.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-aw...-allconquering

Some history given refers to fighting the IDF, which was a "hot" topic on another thread on the 1982 war.