ISIS seizure of Syria's Azaz exposes rebel rifts

[SherriMunnerlyn]

ISIS seizure of Syria's Azaz exposes rebel rifts

By Paul Wood BBC News, on Turkey's border with Syria 19 September 2013*Last updated at 15:05

The Free Syrian Army is driven out of a town on the Turkish border. Several of their men are killed, perhaps as many as 100 captured. Inside the town, there are arrests of opposition activists and citizen-journalists. Members of the Sharia court are detained.It sounds like a description of a successful offensive by the regime. But the Free Syrian Army lost the town of Azaz to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, the most hardline group linked to al-Qaeda on the rebel side. As a measure of the grip the jihadis have in Azaz, one eyewitness inside the town said no-one was smoking on the streets - tobacco is forbidden according to strict Islamist doctrine.

BBC News - ISIS seizure of Syria's Azaz exposes rebel rifts

ISIS is fighting the FSA and taking over towns in Syria. We read more news of this sort every day.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

Syria's war more complex than ever as both sides face internal divisions

This article addresses the many groups making up the Opposition.

"More than 1,000 units now make up the anti-Assad forces."

"Every month since the beginning of Ramadan in July 2012, jihadist groups have increased in numbers and prominence. Jabhat al-Nusra was the standard bearer of the early days of the jihadist insurgency."

"By early this year, its ranks had been swelled by foreign jihadists who had flocked to Syria – many of them through Turkey. The foreigners called themselves al-Muhajirin..."

"*In May, the potency of Iraq's born-again jihad made its way to Syria, with a group loyal to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, breaking away from al-Nusra and later subsuming the group in much of the north. The new group, which calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq in Syria, has taken a more hardline stance than even al-Nusra, clashing with units aligned to the Free Syrian Army*."

Syria's war more complex than ever as both sides face internal divisions | World news | theguardian.com

 

[georgephillip]

Syria's war more complex than ever as both sides face internal divisions

This article addresses the many groups making up the Opposition.

"More than 1,000 units now make up the anti-Assad forces."

"Every month since the beginning of Ramadan in July 2012, jihadist groups have increased in numbers and prominence. Jabhat al-Nusra was the standard bearer of the early days of the jihadist insurgency."

"By early this year, its ranks had been swelled by foreign jihadists who had flocked to Syria – many of them through Turkey. The foreigners called themselves al-Muhajirin..."

"*In May, the potency of Iraq's born-again jihad made its way to Syria, with a group loyal to the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, breaking away from al-Nusra and later subsuming the group in much of the north. The new group, which calls itself the Islamic State of Iraq in Syria, has taken a more hardline stance than even al-Nusra, clashing with units aligned to the Free Syrian Army*."

Syria's war more complex than ever as both sides face internal divisions | World news | theguardian.com

Israel's ambassador to the US has let the cat out of the bag about which side the Jewish state is backing:

"Israel’s pronouncement that it wants Syrian President Bashar al-Assad toppled even if al-Qaeda-aligned rebels replace him puts into sharper focus the intensifying lobbying and P.R. campaigns underway in the United States to get President Obama to engage militarily against Syria and ultimately against Iran.

"Until the declaration by Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren on Tuesday, Israel’s precise position on the Syrian civil war was ambiguous, but now it is clear that Israel again is lining up with its new de factoally, Saudi Arabia, in a regional conflict to undermine Iranian influence.

“'The greatest danger to Israel is by the strategic arc that extends from Tehran, to Damascus to Beirut. And we saw the Assad regime as the keystone in that arc,' Oren told the Jerusalem Post in an interview scheduled for publication on Friday but excerpted by Reuters on Tuesday.

"Saudi Arabia, which is spearheading the military and intelligence assistance for the Syrian rebels, is concerned itself about what is called the 'Shiite crescent' extending from Iran through Iraq and Syria to the Hezbollah enclaves of Lebanon.

"The Saudis, who follow an ultraconservative form of Sunni Islam, are now viewed in the region as the geopolitical bulwark against the Iran-led Shiite coalition.

"Ambassador Oren, who is considered very close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu..."

Israel Sides with Syrian Jihadists | Consortiumnews

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

FSA brigade 'joins al-Qaeda group' in Syria

Hundreds of fighters under Free Syrian Army's command have pledged allegiance to al-Nusra Front, reports say.Hundreds of fighters under the command of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) have reportedly switched allegiance to al-Qaeda-aligned groups, in a move described as a huge blow to moderate rebel forces. Activists and military sources have told Al Jazeera that the 11th Division - one of the biggest FSA brigades - has switched allegiance to the al-Nusra Front in Raqqah province, a border province with Turkey.

A video was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday purporting to show members of the 11th Division parading through Raqqah with Nusra fighters. In the video clip, a voice can be heard saying in Arabic, "Raqqah ... September 19, 2013 ... The convoy of Nusra ... God is great ... Nusra in Raqqah province."

The switch, if confirmed, tightens Nusra's control of Raqqah just days after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) attacked members of the Free Syrian Army in Azaz, on the border with Turkey...

Abdulhamid Zakarya, military spokesman of Chiefs of Staff of the FSA, denied that Division 11 had joined Nusra. However, he said it had signed an agreement to collaborate in military operations. In a separate statement, the FSA also condemned the ISIS for its actions in Azaz, saying it was going against the principles of the Syrian revolution.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...342453621.html

Developments are so volotile, from one day to the next there are changes, alliances to infighting to new alliances.

 

[georgephillip]

FSA brigade 'joins al-Qaeda group' in Syria

Hundreds of fighters under Free Syrian Army's command have pledged allegiance to al-Nusra Front, reports say.Hundreds of fighters under the command of the opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) have reportedly switched allegiance to al-Qaeda-aligned groups, in a move described as a huge blow to moderate rebel forces. Activists and military sources have told Al Jazeera that the 11th Division - one of the biggest FSA brigades - has switched allegiance to the al-Nusra Front in Raqqah province, a border province with Turkey.

A video was uploaded to YouTube on Thursday purporting to show members of the 11th Division parading through Raqqah with Nusra fighters. In the video clip, a voice can be heard saying in Arabic, "Raqqah ... September 19, 2013 ... The convoy of Nusra ... God is great ... Nusra in Raqqah province."

The switch, if confirmed, tightens Nusra's control of Raqqah just days after the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) attacked members of the Free Syrian Army in Azaz, on the border with Turkey...

Abdulhamid Zakarya, military spokesman of Chiefs of Staff of the FSA, denied that Division 11 had joined Nusra. However, he said it had signed an agreement to collaborate in military operations. In a separate statement, the FSA also condemned the ISIS for its actions in Azaz, saying it was going against the principles of the Syrian revolution.

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middle...342453621.html

Developments are so volotile, from one day to the next there are changes, alliances to infighting to new alliances.

Always try to remember the purpose of disinformation isn't to make you believe what isn't real. It's real purpose is to overwhelm you with so much "chatter" you lose the initiative to seek the truth.

One truth that's looking more and more obvious to me with each passing day is how petrodollars and black ops are useless for spreading Democracy.

"The Saudi-Israeli Superpower
August 29, 2013
Exclusive: Egypt’s counterrevolution and Syria’s civil war could herald the arrival of a new superpower coalition, an unlikely alliance between Israel and Saudi Arabia, one with great political clout and the other with vast financial wealth, together flexing their muscles across the Middle East, writes Robert Parry.

"The twin crises in Syria and Egypt have marked the emergence of a new superpower coalition in the Middle East, the odd-couple alliance of Israel and Saudi Arabia, with Jordon serving as an intermediary and the Persian Gulf oil sheikdoms playing a supporting role.

"The potential impact of this new coalition can barely be overstated, with Israel bringing to the table its remarkable propaganda skills and its unparalleled influence over U.S. foreign policy and Saudi Arabia tapping into its vast reservoir of petrodollars and exploiting its global financial networks.

"Together the two countries are now shaping international responses to the conflicts in Syria and Egypt, but that may only be the start."

The Saudi-Israeli Superpower | Consortiumnews