Syria's Moderate Opposition Lives
Syria's Moderate Opposition Lives

By Russ Wellen

Is the Free Syrian Army the future of Syria? An opening may exist for Syrian moderates, backed by the United States.

The Free Syrian Army, composed mostly of defectors from the Syria military, comprises an assortment of brigades and militias. It has been weakened by Russian attacks, diminishing support from Jordan, low pay, and corruption, reported U.S. News & World Report in January. But it's time may be coming. Since the ceasefire began, demonstrators have been appearing in Syrian cities. At the National Interest, Ross Harrison finds this development encouraging.

What the street rallies may be revealing to us is that despite the dominance of radical jihadist groups like ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra over the battlefield during the course of the war, a large swath of Syrian society sees neither these radical groups nor Assad as part of Syria's future. This may indicate that while the jihadist groups have flourished during the most intense fighting, the future may lie with the more moderate mainstream opposition groups.

Thus, "the United States should augment the support it already gives to the Kurdish YPG and the Syrian Democratic Forces in the battle against ISIS with support for 'vetted' factions of the Free Syrian Army." Of course, one wonders: Does vetting actually happen? Is it possible to do correctly without turning into a stalling tactic? In any event, writes Harrison.

Defeating ISIS is only half the battle. A legitimate governing force has to be able to fill the political vacuum that remains after ISIS has been routed. … defeats against ISIS could enhance the legitimacy of the FSA in other strategic areas &ellips; where the recent rallies seem to indicate the FSA has some legitimacy.

Most important

&ellips; victories against ISIS by the moderate opposition will challenge Assad's false dichotomy narrative -- that he is the only alternative to Syria falling prey to jihadist Islamic groups. &ellips; [and] reinforces the notion that Assad is the problem, and can't be part of any long term solution.

Once more, into the breach, Syrian moderates!