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Syrian ‘Taliban’, a surprise for NATO
Tags: Syrian opposition , Politics, World, Syria, Opinion & Analysis
Nikita Sorokin
Oct 22, 2012 19:40 Moscow Time
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Photo: AFP
The death toll from Syria’s uprising has reached 30,000, unofficial sources say. Fights continue in Homs and Aleppo, in opposition forces stage regular attacks in Damascus. An uprising which began with protesters chanting pro-democracy slogans is turning into a jihad. By supporting the Syrian opposition, the U.S., the EU and NATO did not imagine what price they would have to pay for bringing democracy to Syria.
At the end of last week U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UNSC chairman Gert Rosenthal received from Damascus a letter featuring the names of 108 foreigners arrested in Syria on terrorism charges. Those were the names of mercenaries fighting against the Syrian government with the opposition forces. Mainly, they arrive from Tunisia, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and other Arab countries.
French journalist, political activist and founder of the Voltaire Network,Thierry Meyssan, told the Voice of Russia what the mercenaries looked like in the beginning:
"Originally, these armed groups were made up of Syrians. Those were peasants and poor rural residents. They joined Islamic extremists."
Since the late January of 2012 the number of foreign mercenaries among those killed or wounded during the fights has been on the rise. It appears that by the summer the Free Syrian Army had already been hiring many militants from abroad. At first, those were inexperienced men filled with enthusiasm, they hardly even knew how to use a gun and what military tactics was all about. But soon the situation changed. Thierry Meyssan continues:
"Currently, these armed groups are joined by foreign troops coming from NATO countries. They receive professional military training, as a rule, from coaches who arrive from Turkey, the U.S., Great Britain, France and Germany. And this is not my personal opinion. An influential American source claims that foreign mercenaries constitute 95% of the Syrian army and that Al-Qaida rebels make the bulk of theFree Syrian Army."
These are people who advocate hard-line religious policy and cannot tolerate all other people who do not share their religious views. These armed groups have never clearly outlined their demands. The only thing they want is to be ruled by Orthodox Sunni Muslims.
One should mention that the uprising in Syria has placed the US and the EU in a quite awkward situation. Trying not to get involved in the conflict, the EU and the U.S. let the Arab League to meddle in it. So they gave carte blanche to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab countries which have their interests in Syria and want it to become an Islamic emirate. Taking into account the fact that the Arab world traditionally opposes Europe’s humanitarian values, one cannot rule out that the Assad dynasty will get another ‘Taliban’ in Syria instead of secularauthoritarianism.
Syrian ‘Taliban’, a surprise for NATO
Tags: Syrian opposition , Politics, World, Syria, Opinion & Analysis
Nikita Sorokin
Oct 22, 2012 19:40 Moscow Time
Download
Photo: AFP
The death toll from Syria’s uprising has reached 30,000, unofficial sources say. Fights continue in Homs and Aleppo, in opposition forces stage regular attacks in Damascus. An uprising which began with protesters chanting pro-democracy slogans is turning into a jihad. By supporting the Syrian opposition, the U.S., the EU and NATO did not imagine what price they would have to pay for bringing democracy to Syria.
At the end of last week U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the UNSC chairman Gert Rosenthal received from Damascus a letter featuring the names of 108 foreigners arrested in Syria on terrorism charges. Those were the names of mercenaries fighting against the Syrian government with the opposition forces. Mainly, they arrive from Tunisia, Libya, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and other Arab countries.
French journalist, political activist and founder of the Voltaire Network,Thierry Meyssan, told the Voice of Russia what the mercenaries looked like in the beginning:
"Originally, these armed groups were made up of Syrians. Those were peasants and poor rural residents. They joined Islamic extremists."
Since the late January of 2012 the number of foreign mercenaries among those killed or wounded during the fights has been on the rise. It appears that by the summer the Free Syrian Army had already been hiring many militants from abroad. At first, those were inexperienced men filled with enthusiasm, they hardly even knew how to use a gun and what military tactics was all about. But soon the situation changed. Thierry Meyssan continues:
"Currently, these armed groups are joined by foreign troops coming from NATO countries. They receive professional military training, as a rule, from coaches who arrive from Turkey, the U.S., Great Britain, France and Germany. And this is not my personal opinion. An influential American source claims that foreign mercenaries constitute 95% of the Syrian army and that Al-Qaida rebels make the bulk of theFree Syrian Army."
These are people who advocate hard-line religious policy and cannot tolerate all other people who do not share their religious views. These armed groups have never clearly outlined their demands. The only thing they want is to be ruled by Orthodox Sunni Muslims.
One should mention that the uprising in Syria has placed the US and the EU in a quite awkward situation. Trying not to get involved in the conflict, the EU and the U.S. let the Arab League to meddle in it. So they gave carte blanche to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Arab countries which have their interests in Syria and want it to become an Islamic emirate. Taking into account the fact that the Arab world traditionally opposes Europe’s humanitarian values, one cannot rule out that the Assad dynasty will get another ‘Taliban’ in Syria instead of secularauthoritarianism.