Who Is Really Doing The Fighting In Syria?

On The Front Lines of Syria's Civil War -- Elizabeth O'Bagy, Wall Street Journal

The conventional wisdom—that jihadists are running the rebellion—is not what I've witnessed on the ground.

With the U.S. poised to attack Syria, debate is raging over what that attack should look like, and what, if anything, the U.S. is capable of accomplishing. Those questions can't be answered without taking a very close look at the situation in Syria from ground level.

Since few journalists are reporting from inside the country, our understanding of the civil war is not only inadequate, but often dangerously inaccurate. Anyone who reads the paper or watches the news has been led to believe that a once peaceful, pro-democracy opposition has transformed over the past two years into a mob of violent extremists dominated by al Qaeda; that the forces of President Bashar Assad not only have the upper hand on the battlefield, but may be the only thing holding the country together; and that nowhere do U.S. interests align in Syria—not with the regime and not with the rebels. The word from many American politicians is that the best U.S. policy is to stay out. As Sarah Palin put it: "Let Allah sort it out."

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My Comment: Her view that the extremists groups are playing a limited and minor role in the Syrian civil war definitely contradicts the common held belief and conventional wisdom that it is Al Qaeda and their affiliated groups that are doing most of the fighting. I hope she is right .... but if she is wrong and it is these Al Qaeda groups that end up dominating Syria .... all the worst case scenarios than come into play.