Bashar al-Assad and his father, Hafez al-Assad, before him, both were capable of extreme brutality. Bashar Assad had to sign off on the trade/takeover of Afrin by Turkey. Was the call his or Russia's? Unclear.
The number of Alawites was always small in comparison to the size of Syria. But most of the leadership of the SAA were Alawites. They took huge casualties.
Now, can he be trusted to make a peace with the Kurds and the SDF? There is no clear answer.
So the US is setting in place as ISIS is finally eliminated in the Eastern Part of Syria. Best outcome? A negotiated peace with US and Russian interests assuring the transition.
This article does credibly describe the conflict from the view of those near Damascus.
Related article:
Assad’s bluff may double as a gain for Syria’s Kurds
https://thedefensepost.com/2018/06/21/assad-bluff-syria-kurds-opinion/
This article is 3 months old and since that time the two “canisters’ that had chlorine in them were NOT attributed to Syria by the UN inspectors. So this article is refuted in it’s basic premise. All chemical agents used in the war were of ISIS origin. Why do we hear these old lies? What is the real motivation for this? I think it is to rip sovereign land away from the Syrian people and give it to the Kurds and confiscate property and wealth of the Syrian people after lies and demonization of the Assad elected government. Of course, it will not work. Assad /Russia/ and Hezbollah a have successfully destroyed ISIS and the caliphate. We played a minuscule role because we were not invited.
Why would Assad have used chemical weapons again?
Simply because they work.
That is what shook loose the large group of jihadis in Eastern Ghouta just like a month ago, that were re-located to Afrin: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/08/syrian-government-accused-of-chemical-attacks-on-civilians-in-eastern-ghouta