SUMMARY
– The battle over Syria has descended into sectarian strife led by extreme Salafists and other Islamic splinter organizations in a carefully orchestrated uprising coordinated and fueled by al-Qaeda operatives.
– The Syrian National Council, the main opposition group, could well be in a process of disintegration, as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) did not recognize its authority. Yet the FSA is no longer the sole force in the fight against Assad.
– As in Egypt, in Syria the Muslim Brothers have succeeded in appropriating (some would call it hijacking) the revolt and ultimately becoming its backbone. Moreover, Muslim fighters from around the globe are coming to join the ranks in the battle against Assad.
– The gradual transformation of the Syrian opposition into a movement led by extremist Muslims allied with al-Qaeda does not serve the opposition well. The majority of Syrians do not identify with those radicals. The more the opposition wears the mask of al-Qaeda, the more there is cohesion in the ranks around Assad.
– Recent street fighting in Tripoli, Lebanon, between Alawites and Sunnis is a reflection of the wider war between two alliances, with Syria, Iran, and Hizbullah opposed by an alliance led by Saudi Arabia and its allies, including its Salafist and Muslim fundamentalist troops.
– In addition, the battle over the future of Syria is symptomatic of the revival of the Cold War between the West – with the U.S., UK, France, and Turkey backing the anti-Assad forces – and Russia, steadfast behind the Alawite regime.
CONTINUE
Col. (ret.) Dr. Jacques Neriah, a special analyst for the Middle East at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, was formerly Foreign Policy Advisor to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Deputy Head for Assessment of Israeli Military Intelligence
Jerusalem Center, nahh, that thinking is wishful thinking. Not likely. Those Al Queda radicals may not be identified with, but they could be used, and then shown the door. They may even be happy to be used just to bring down the Assads, Al Queda know they won’t get power anywhere, it’s not them that want power, it’s the MB. The MB and Al Queda are rivals. The latter want political power and pretend to play moderates, but Al Queda doesn’t.
Jacques Neriah, an Israeli intelligence official makes the following observation :
“The gradual transformation of the Syrian opposition into a movement led by extremist Muslims allied with al-Qaeda does not serve the opposition well. The majority of Syrians don’t identify with those radicals. The more the opposition wears the mask of al-Qaeda, the more there is cohesion in the ranks around Assad.”
see http://jcpa.org/article/alqaeda-jihadists-join-battle-syrian-regime/ for the full article.
The Syrian government is responsible for the murder of all those children? Assad can’t fall fast enough.
There was no room to post more on the thread where Dweller and I were discussing the original population of Arabs in Palestine. Lo and Behold, some Americans might have been following it. An article on Arutz said a Republican senator put forth a bill that Arab refugees in Palestine cannot include the descendents of original Arabs who left between 1948 and 1948, so perhaps the number qualifying for refugee status should drop to 30,000 (Because of age, won’t all these people be dead soon?) The U.S. State Department is upset over this. Stay tuned…