Republican Guard (Syria)
| Syrıan Republican Guard Forces | |
|---|---|
| Active | 1971 – present |
| Country |  Syria |
| Allegiance | Syrian Armed Forces |
| Branch | Syrian Army |
| Type | Praetorian Guard |
| Role | Armoured |
| Size | 10,000 |
| Garrison/HQ | Damascus |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Maher al-Assad |
| Notable commanders |
Bashar al-Assad Maher al-Assad |
The Syrian Republican Guard (Arabic: الحرس الجمهوري) is a 10,000 man bodyguard unit of the Syrian Army. They are a single armored division used to protect the capital, Damascus from any domestic threats. The Guard is the only Syrian military unit allowed within the capital. [1]
[edit] History
The guard was formed in 1971 when anti-Syrian Palestinian groups launched attacks on Syria. The Republican Guard is used mostly to protect top Syrian government officials from any external threats.[2] It is reported that in order to maintain loyalty to the Syrian regime, officers of the Republican Guard receive a significant share of the revenue from the Syrian oil fields in the Deir ez-Zor region, which in large part is not recorded in the country's budget.[3]. Many members of the Assad family have served in the Republican Guard. Bashar al-Assad was a Colonel, and was given control of a brigade. His younger brother Maher was also a Colonel in the Republican Guard.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ MEIB (2000). "Syria's Praetorian Guards: A Primer". Middle East Intelligence Bulletin 2 (7). http://www.meforum.org/meib/articles/0008_s2.htm. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
- ^ Paul, James (1990). Human rights in Syria. Human Rights Watch. pp. 50. http://books.google.com/books?id=N-xjxWYWnlwC&pg=PA50&dq=syrian+%22republican+guard%22&hl=en&ei=wvImTt_FLY31sga0vOyPCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CEsQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22republican%20guard%22&f=false.
- ^ Batatu, Hanna (1999). Syria's peasantry, the descendants of its lesser rural notables, and their politics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. p. 237. ISBN 0691002541. http://books.google.com/books?id=Mbr-ZfU_uCoC&pg=PA237&dq=syrian+%22republican+guard%22&hl=en&ei=wvImTt_FLY31sga0vOyPCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=syrian%20%22republican%20guard%22&f=false.
- ^ Bar, Shmuel (2006). Bashar’s Syria: The Regime and its Strategic Worldview. pp. 379, 384. http://www.herzliyaconference.org/_Uploads/2590Bashars.pdf. Retrieved 2011-06-23.
[edit] Further reading
- Kenneth M. Pollack, Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in International Security, Vol. 28, No.2.
- International Institute for Strategic Studies, The Military Balance 2006, p. 208-9
- Richard Bennett, The Syrian Military: A Primer MEIB Bulletin, Vol. 3, No. 8, August/September 2001
- Norman Schwarzkopf, It Doesn't Take A Hero, Bantam Books, 1993, p. 467-9
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