EDIT: This isn\'t happening because of the ajax call. I changed it to use a value from a TinyMCE component for fun and I get the same thing.
content = tinyM
This is happening because in your <html> you declared a XML Namespace (xmlns). If the xmlns anchor is not breaking anything, just leave it there.
<html>
Also, don't use async:false, make a callback function to be called on success.
async:false