Many Druze were loyal to the Assad regime, who they believed would protect minorities.

"He is a very, very down-to-earth normal guy and he's a really, really loyal friend and, as I've seen him with many other people, not the kind of enemy you would want," said Burnett.

Outwardly loyal to the military but secretly working for the pro-democracy rebels whose symbolic colour is red.

In Jobar, a district on the edge of central Damascus, a Christian officer loyal to Assad from the Syrian Arab Army took me into the tunnels they had dug under the ruins to attack rebels.

As a loyal fan of both rice vinegar and soy sauce, the viral cucumber salad definitely caught my attention.