8 March Revolution - Immediate Aftermath

Immediate Aftermath

The first act of the new rulers of Syria was to establish the twenty-man National Council for the Revolutionary Command (NCRC), composed of twelve Ba'athists and eighth Nasserists and independents. On 9 March, the NCRC ordered Salah al-Din al-Bitar, one of the Ba'ath Party founders, to form a government, and to implement the policies of the NCRC. Later, six civilians were given membership in NCRC, three Ba'athists (Aflaq, al-Bitar and Mansur al-Atrash) and three Nasserists. However, this did not change the balance of power, and the officers still controlled the country. From the beginning, the Military Committee members formed state policies behind the backs of other NCRC members – when the civilian leadership found out, al-Atrash said: "Why do not these gentlemen speak? May I suggest they appoint a liaison officer to communicate their views to us?" From that day, Umran gave the civilians a faint idea of what the committee members were planning.

At the beginning, there were no signs of the quarrels that would destroy the Military Committee. At the time, the members were bound together by their goal of building a prosperous nation. On 9 March the NCRC released Lu'ayy al-Atasi from jail, promoted him to the rank of lieutenant general, appointed him commander-in-chief and NCRC Chairman, the de facto head of state. Hariri was appointed chief of staff. While Atasi and Hariri held powerful posts, they did not possess enough personal or political power to threaten the NCRC. The Nasserist officers were also given notable offices: Muhammad al-Sufi became Minister of Defence and Rashid al-Qutayni became deputy chief of staff. However, the Military Committee, which had expanded its membership with five new members, ensured that the Ba'athist controlled the real levers of powers. The committee decided state policies before the sessions of the NCRC, and by doing so became the real seat of power.

Umran was first given the command of the 5th Brigade in Homs, but was promoted in June to become commander of the 70th Armoured Brigade. As head of the Bureau of Officers' Affairs, Jadid appointed friends to senior positions, purged his enemies and appointed several Ba'athists to senior positions. Ahmad Suwaydani, one of the new members of the Military Committee, was appointed Head of Military Intelligence and Mazyad Hunaydi became Head of the Military Police. The Military Academy at Homs was put under Ba'athist control – several hundred Ba'athists, including Assad's brother Rifaat al-Assad, were given a crash course in military teaching before being given command. Assad became the de facto head of the Syrian Air Force, a dizzying promotion for a man in his thirties. Considering that the members of the Military Committee were all too young to be perceived as the real leaders of Syria by the populace, the Military Committee appointed Colonel Amin al-Hafiz to the post of Minister of the Interior.