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Louis' and Tristan's thoughts on the nature of rebel groups and
alliances are right on target, the fact that membership reflects much
more who has better access to arms to money in such a desperate
situation against such a massively armed state-terrorist enemy. This has
been widely reported and analysed for years, and among those following
the situation, is not even remotely controversial. The idiocy of shallow
interpretation of events in actual revolutions, by those with a barrow
to push, was highlighted when I was once analysing precisely this fact
about the contradiction between much of the ranks and file troops of
Nusra and its reactionary sectarian leadership, and Assad bootlicker Tim
Anderson pulled a quote of mine out of context, which was explicitly
referring to "many of the ranks" of Nusra, made up up one of his
amoeba-brained 'memes' with my FB photo and a hacked off a half "quote"
which tried to say I saw "Nusra" itself as "decent revolutionaries."
While that might be expected of the likes of Anderson, it is sadder to
see such shallow analysis (without the slander of course) from some SA
comrades writing here in recent discussion. But I'll leave that for
another post.
Regarding this current rebel offensive in Damascus, which has linked two
long-time rebel-held working class bastions in the Damascus suburbs,
Jobar and Qaboun, there are three main components: Faylaq al-Rahman,
Ahrar al-Sham and HTS (ie, the JFS-led new coalition)
(http://en.eldorar.com/node/5159). Not involved in Jaysh al-Islam, which
dominates certain parts of Ghouta (west Damascus working-class suburbs).
Neither HTS nor Ahrar are very strong in this region, given the
traditional strength of Jaysh Islam and Faylaq al-Rahman, but appear to
be part of this same offensive. The Rahman legion is the known local
force in Jobar and Qaboun.
Faylaq al-Rahman is a kind of FSA-soft Islamist fusion project, which is
the main opposition force to the often overbearing Jaysh Islam in the
region, with which it has regularly clashed
(http://carnegie-mec.org/diwan/63376?lang=en). It is led by SAA defector
Cpt. Abd al-Nasr Shmeir from Homs, who claims to be fighting for a
non-sectarian future Syria (http://civilwaralsham.com/midsized). It was
formed a a fusion of several groups, including the FSA 1st Brigade
(https://beyondthelevant.com/2016/04/26/english-statement-first-brigade-in-damascus-has-fully-merged-with-al-rahman-corps/)
and the soft-Islamist Ajnad al-Sham Islamic Union, which was itself
formed on the basis of a more moderate interpretation of Islam than that
offered by Jaysh Islam, and more in line with traditional Damascene
Islam. It neds to be remembered that the "Damascus suburbs" where the
revolution dominates are new working class and poor shanties surrounding
Damascus, composed of hundreds of thousands of recent rural immigrants
from the neo-liberally-devastated countryside, and soft-Islamist
politics tends to reflect the traditionalism of these suburbs.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tristan Sloughter via Marxism
Sent: Monday, March 20, 2017 5:18 AM
To: Michael Karadjis
Subject: Re: [Marxism] Didn't Patrick Cockburn say the war in Syria was
over?
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Right, that is the case with nationalist jihadist militias that have
access to weapons. They still have to be fighting the same enemy.
It is also why FSA militias would fight along side Nusra. If an armed
group is making progress in fighting the regime and you sit it out, how
does that look to potential recruits? And has been a detriment to any
group accepting Western assistance:
"In the formation of strategic alliances, moderate armed groups face
restrictions due to their reliance on Western donors. As they cannot
formally participate in coalitions that include controversial groups
such as JAN, moderate armed groups have limited opportunities to
increase their military effectiveness through coordination with other
armed groups.[32] Yet, with every military success of coalitions in
which the FSA does not have a visible role, such as the takeover of
Idlib city, the image of moderate factions as a weakening force is
reinforced, making them less attractive to potential recruits."
Just trying to understand the makeup of the current offensive. I haven't
read any detailed reporting/surveys since 2016, and their content was
based on 2014/2015 I think.
--
Tristan Sloughter
"I am not a crackpot" - Abe Simpson
t...@crashfast.com
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