Why the Syrian Opposition Needs a United Front

Hi everyone!

The more I think about the situation in Syria, the angrier it makes me feel. I realize there is no perfect solution for halting the violence and that the overthrow of the Assad regime does not guarantee a peaceful or orderly transition to democracy. The main problem the Syrian opposition has--as I've said before--is that there isn't a central leadership. The Free Syrian Army, mainly comprised of Syrian army deserters, is a loosely confederated network of freestanding militias. Whatever binds them together is under threat of dissolution. According to a recent report on CNN International's website, three rival rebel leaders are claiming that they are the driving force behind the rebellion, none of whom seem interested in sharing credit.

Major Mahar Naimi, spokesman for the newly created Higher Military Council, told CNN over the weekend that his organization, under the command of General Mustafa Sheikh, is the leading force driving change in Syria. In a case of tit-for-tat, Colonel Riad al-Assad long known to be one of the "commanders" of the Free Syrian Army, dismissed Major Naimi's charge by saying: "This man represents himself. He has nothing to do with the Free Syrian Army...those people are representing themselves and do not represent the revolution and the Free Syrian Army."

Into the mix we need to add Lieutenant Bassim Khaled, another defector from the Syrian army, who claims that neither the Free Syrian Army nor the Higher Military Council are the ones in command of opposition forces--at least not in Homs, the city currently being pummeled into the ground by Assad's pro-government troops--but rather a militia calling itself the Al Farroukh Battalion.

Who to to believe? Or are all claimants telling the truth? It doesn't really matter. The point here is that it is all well and good for each of these organizations to be fighting the good fight against Assad's forces. These are brave and patriotic men leading the charge in defense of a better and ostensibly freer Syria. I commend them and the men and women who fight under their leadership wherever they may be. The problem though is that despite these pockets of resistance, Assad still commands an army of at least 200,000 and, unless Russian and Chinese leaders are lobotomized, overthrown, or come to recognize their grievous error in vetoing the Security Council resolution, Assad will continue to benefit from Russian arms sales that will provide his army with vastly superior weaponry with which to quell the rebellion.

But further to that, the question remains: Without a united non-sectarian opposition front headed by qualified politicians and experienced diplomats, if and when Assad falls, what happens then? In the wake of the failure of the resolution, the West and its allies in the Arab World should work together to not only arm the rebels but actively work towards building an opposition leadership that can credibly work to building a free and democratic Syria when the fighting comes to an end. Otherwise, I fear more chaos and Sunni vs. Alawite sectarian warfare.

Ciao.