[Elder of Ziyon] There aren't any pro-Western rebels in Syria. None.

From the NYT:

CAIRO — In Syria's largest city, Aleppo, rebels aligned with Al Qaeda control the power plant, run the bakeries and head a court that applies Islamic law. Elsewhere, they have seized government oil fields, put employees back to work and now profit from the crude they produce.

Across Syria, rebel-held areas are dotted with Islamic courts staffed by lawyers and clerics, and by fighting brigades led by extremists. Even the Supreme Military Council, the umbrella rebel organization whose formation the West had hoped would sideline radical groups, is stocked with commanders who want to infuse Islamic law into a future Syrian government.

Nowhere in rebel-controlled Syria is there a secular fighting force to speak of.

Syrian officials recognize that the United States is worried that it has few natural allies in the armed opposition and have tried to exploit that with a public campaign to convince, or frighten, Washington into staying out of the fight. At every turn they promote the notion that the alternative to Mr. Assad is an extremist Islamic state.

The Islamist character of the opposition reflects the main constituency of the rebellion, which has been led since its start by Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, mostly in conservative, marginalized areas. The descent into brutal civil war has hardened sectarian differences, and the failure of more mainstream rebel groups to secure regular arms supplies has allowed Islamists to fill the void and win supporters.

The religious agenda of the combatants sets them apart from many civilian activists, protesters and aid workers who had hoped the uprising would create a civil, democratic Syria.

When the armed rebellion began, defectors from the government's staunchly secular army formed the vanguard. The rebel movement has since grown to include fighters with a wide range of views, including Qaeda-aligned jihadis seeking to establish an Islamic emirate, political Islamists inspired by the Muslim Brotherhood and others who want an Islamic-influenced legal code like that found in many Arab states.

"My sense is that there are no seculars," said Elizabeth O'Bagy, of the Institute for the Study of War, who has made numerous trips to Syria in recent months to interview rebel commanders.

So much for the idea that Syria could possibly turn out OK in the foreseeable future. Either Assad will win - or radical Islamists. People still hoping for a secular, pro-Western state have been living in a fantasy world.

Seculars or those with a more pragmatic bent are going to get the hell out of the war zone, leaving nobody left but people who thrive on violence.

There are now 1.4 million refugees from Syria.



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Posted By Elder of Ziyon to Elder of Ziyon at 4/28/2013 08:45:00 AM