More Syrian rebel groups leave SMC
Mitchell Prothero, Hannah Allam, McClatchy, Oct 11 2013
BEIRUT — Gen Salim Idriss’ Supreme Military Command (SMC) is becoming increasingly marginalized in Syria as dozens of militias peel away to form rival, Islamist alliances in a move that could leave the Obama administration with no battlefield partner in the country. The SMC and its forces, known collectively as the FSA, are reeling as 40 or more affiliates this month have signed onto two new umbrella groups, both with agendas that are at odds with their vision of a democratic, pluralistic Syria. If the project to build rival Islamist commands succeeds, opposition activists and Middle East analysts warn, the SMC is likely to fizzle quickly, essentially ending talk of a “moderate” rebel force to counter the influence of Islamist insurgents variously aligned with AQ. FSA spokeseman Louay Meqdad said:
Because we’re short on ammunition, short on supplies, some of our groups are going to them. The Islamists have their own supplies. We’re asking the international community, please don’t leave our people to choose between joining the extremists and surrendering to Bashar Assad.
The two emerging Islamist umbrella groups are known as the Azzaz Declaration Signatories in the north and, in the capital, Damascus, as the Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam). Though both groups are nascent, their arrival hardens the conflict’s turn from an anti-authoritarian rebellion to a Sunni Muslim campaign to install a government “consistent with the principles of Islamic law.” That’s a far cry from the SMC’s vision of a secular democracy with protection of minority rights. Meqdad said the force behind the formation of the Army of Islam, Zahran Alloush, a founder of the Liwa al-Islam militia, which had been part of the SMC, personally assured him that this was just a “gathering” of groups under an Islamist banner. Alloush’s father reportedly is a Salafi cleric in Riyadh, and the family is said to have Saudi backing, fueling rumors that the new project is Saudi Arabia creating a parallel command. Meqdad rejected the idea that Persian Gulf powers were behind the alliance but stressed that Alloush owed his rebel comrades an explanation. He said:
For sure, we are not happy about anyone starting his own army. This is not the time for this. We can’t divide the cake before we even get it. Internal talks are to be held within days to decide which brigades are leaving the FSA and whether our aim is solely to cooperate in battle, or whether it should be more explicitly to overthrow the SMC.
Officials said SMC head Gen Idriss heard reassurances over the weekend from US Ambassador Robert Ford that the Obama administration would keep supporting and delivering aid to the command. The two met in Istanbul. But how Ford’s pledge could be fulfilled is unclear, with growing difficulties in getting equipment to the moderates now that aQ-aligned groups control key border crossings and with increasing number of rebel units publicly disavowing any connection to the SMC. Fighters and observers of the conflict say the chief motivations for the shift away from the SMC are frustration with the US government’s slow delivery of promised combat equipment and Obama’s decision not to launch the proposed missile strikes. Another main issue was the attempted takeover of the rebel movement by ISIS. Most of the rebel groups, even fellow Islamists, decry that group’s extremist ideology and merciless dealings with local communities. ISIS has been engaged in fierce gunfights with more moderate rebels, who out of concern that the SMC isn’t up to the fight are turning to the other AQ affiliate in the Syrian conflict, Jabhat al-Nusra. Despite its US designation as a terrorist organization, many now consider Nusra closer to the mainstream because of its own rivalries with ISIS. Kristalina Georgieva, EU commissioner for international coordination, humanitarian aid and crisis response, said Friday at a Syria talk at the New America Foundation in Washington:
In comparison to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Jabhat al-Nusra look moderate.
In addition, there was festering disdain for the Syrian National Council (SNC), the political opposition that, ostensibly at least, oversees the SMC. The political opposition members are derided as exiles and “hotel revolutionaries.” Until now there had been higher regard for Idriss and his men because of their service in combat, but now the SMC too is fast becoming irrelevant, along with its dream of a moderate, professional force that abides by international norms on human rights and rules of war. Dan Layman, spokesman for the Washington-based Syrian Support Group, a pro-rebel fundraising group, said of the new Islamist alliances:
Now, more than ever, the US can get behind the SMC to prevent this from taking hold. At the end of the day it’s going to be about supplies: Who can support the fighters?
Aymenn al-Tamimi of the Middle East Forum, a conservative research center and monitor of Jihadi activity in Syria and Iraq, said:
Idriss and his command are good at making pledges, but they can’t back up their words because of a lack of resources. I think Idriss had some sway over certain rebel groups in the Damascus area and points south, but a lot of his gestures of being in touch with forces on the ground were only superficially impressive. For example, Idriss paid a visit to the coastal area of Latakia in a time of fighting, prompting some rebels to rejoice in what they perceived as the FSA’s advance. On the contrary, as my own research on both sides shows, the Latakia offensive was primarily led by battalions of foreign fighters, and the sole purpose of it was to score a symbolic victory through ethnic cleansing of Alawis.
That offensive was the subject of a scathing HRW report on Friday that accused the rebels, led by ISIS, Nusra and three other groups, of killing scores of civilians and kidnapping at least 200 more who are still being held hostage. The report said it had no evidence that troops reporting to Idriss had had a direct hand in the atrocities. But it said Idriss’ assertion that SMC-allied units had taken part in the offensive should be examined, and it urged the SMC to cease any cooperation with the Islamist groups.
