 Before the crushing of the riots of 1964 , a power struggle started within the Military Committee between Minister of Defence Muhammad Umran , and Salah Jadid . Umran , the committee 's most senior member , wanted reconciliation with the rioters and an end to confrontation with the middle class , in contrast , Jadid believed the solution was to coerce and repress the protesters so as to save the 8th of March Revolution . This was the first open schism within the Military Committee , and would prove decisive in coming events . With Hafez al @-@ Assad 's support , the Military Committee initiated a violent counter @-@ attack on the rioters This decision led to Umran 's downfall . He responded by revealing the Military Committee 's plan of taking over the Ba 'ath Party to the party 's National Command . Aflaq , the Secretary General of the National Command , responded to the information by ordering the dissolution of the Syrian Regional Command . He was forced to withdraw his request because the party 's rank @-@ and @-@ file rose in protest . When an old guard Ba 'athist tauntingly asked Aflaq " how big a role his party still played in government " , Aflaq replied " About one @-@ thousandth of one percent " . Umran 's revelations to the National Command led to his exile , and with the National Command impotent , the Military Committee , through its control of the Syrian Regional Command , initiated an attack on the bourgeoisie and initiated a nationalisation drive which extended state ownership to electricity generation , oil distribution , cotton ginning , and to an estimated 70 percent of foreign trade . 
