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Syrian rebels overwhelmingly condemn US bombing as an attack on
revolution
http://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/syrian-rebels-overwhelmingly-condemn-us-bombing-as-an-attack-on-revolution/
(clip)
In any case, it is the reactions from the FSA and other rebels which are
most remarkable.
One of the first statements condemning the US attacks came from Harakat
Hazm, a 7000-strong secular FSA militia operating mostly in Hama. Hazm
stated (23/9/2014):
“The Hazem Movement rejects the external intervention of the US
Coalition, which launched its first airstrikes on Tuesday in the
governorates of Deir el Zour, Raqqa, al Hasaka, Aleppo, Idlib and Homs,
with 11 civilians killed in rural Idlib province and five others in
rural Homs province, as well as fighters from Jabhat al Nusra and the
ISIS.
“These air attacks amount to *an attack on national sovereignty* and
work to *undermine the Syrian revolution* and demonstrate the
international community’s continuing ignorance of the demands of the
Syrian revolution and failure to provide unconditional military aid to
the FSA is simply an indication of massive failure and a harbinger of
further catastrophes that will harm the entire region.
“We of the Hazem Movement hereby reaffirm our full commitment to the
principles of the revolution, and emphasize that *our actions are guided
solely by revolutionary principles and national interest, not by the
demands of the international coalition.*
“We also affirm that the international community’s unilateral decisions
taken in an effort to win public support globally will not succeed in
combating extremism, but will actively promote its growth. The only way
to achieve the peace in the nation and region will come through
fulfilling the aspirations of the people of Syria at the hands of
Syrians.
“The only beneficiaries from the US coalition’s military intervention
will be the Assad regime, in the light of an absence of any real
strategy to oust it, and the regime will spare no efforts in its attacks
on civilians in its attempt to rehabilitate itself internationally.
“We pray for mercy for our martyrs, healing for our wounded, and freedom
for the detainees imprisoned in Syria, and life and freedom for our
beloved people” (https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByPSsxMIYAQy2Wt.jpg).
One of the extraordinary things about this statement is that, after all
the years of “leftists” falsely asserting that the US was arming the
FSA, when in fact it never sent them a bullet, is that Hazm is precisely
one of the very few FSA units that *did* receive a handful of US
anti-tank weapons beginning in April 2014. It was never very many, but
Hazm could possibly have expected more if it played ball. This
magnificent declaration indicates that while the US might be able to buy
some dozens of puppets here and there, it is very difficult to buy an
army of 7000 fighters to be your puppets.
Meanwhile, Jaish al-Mujadeen, a markedly soft-Islamist coalition that
was set up last December and which then played a major role, alongside
the FSA and important components of the Islamic Front (of which it is
not a member), in driving ISIS out of Aleppo in January, also condemned
the US attacks
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ClRaIMESbk&feature=youtu.be).
Abu Ratib, head of the Sufi-led Al-Haq Brigade, part of the Islamic
Front, termed the intervention “a total war against Muslims”
(http://syriadirect.org/rss/1580-syria-direct-news-update-9-24-14);
Suqour al-Sham, the main Islamic Front unit in Idlib, condemned the
airstrikes and said they “will breed more extremism and terrorism”
(https://twitter.com/zaidbenjamin/status/514831422675513344/photo/1);
the Army of islam, the IF unit in Damascus, which drove ISIS out of the
Damascus region several months ago, also condemned the strikes; the
secularist FSA Forqat 13 issued a statement condemning US-led airstrikes
as “aimed at weakening the revolution” in Syria
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByTaFn8IEAAANl3.png:large).
Then in a joint statement, the Syrian Revolutionaries Front (SRF – the
major secular FSA coalition in the north-west, which single-handedly
drove ISIS out of Idlib in January), Jaish al-Mujahidin, Al Zinki, Hazm
and others condemned the US airstrikes, declaring “you help Bashar”
(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ByUiHcTIMAAmTDF.jpg).
So while we haven’t yet accessed statements from every group, it is
clear all the major groups have declared solidly against the US air war.
Full:
http://mkaradjis.wordpress.com/2014/09/25/syrian-rebels-overwhelmingly-condemn-us-bombing-as-an-attack-on-revolution/
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