Quote:
Originally Posted by DemolitionRed
I read a couple of your links but I'm guessing they are all more or less saying the same thing?
There are moderate forces everywhere in Syria, in fact there are more than 1,000 different armed groups presently fighting, including IS, which isn't moderate at all. Its not that these forces don't exist, its identifying them that's a problem.
What we do know is, both Russia and Iran are out to protect Asad and they are ready to attack any opposing force. Whilst the West want to target the extremists 'IS' and rightly so, Russia wants to target any of the opposition.
How do they do this when so many moderates have gone to ground? by bombing hot spots where there is clear civil unrest towards the Syrian government and allies.
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Well they say the same thing in that they all highlight the difficulty in identifying any 'moderate' forces who have a substantial presence in Syria. The last one by Robert Fisk is the most worth reading I'd say: he fiercely attacks the Russians while also pointing out the holes in the Western narrative. Yes there are hundreds of different armed groups and that is exactly the problem: the opposition is far too fractured that any elements that might be moderate long ago became lost in the quagmire. It used to be the Free Syrian Army that held the greatest hope but they have fallen to pieces. IS is clearly far larger and more powerful than any other opposition group to Assad in Syria and even beyond them its al-Nusra who are the strongest and most organised force and they too are extreme Islamists. A lot of the weapons that were supplied by Washington have now found themselves in the hands of extremists as those supposedly moderate groups melted away or were absorbed.
Yes Russia do want to protect Assad: he is their ally in the region and is important to Russia maintaining their influence there. The West might not like it but the only force that is able to defeat IS in Syria is the Syrian Army. To hope that there could be an alternative where both IS and Assad are removed from power is wishful thinking, and the West is now starting to wake up to that hence the UK and US both now accepting that Assad could play a 'transitional' role in a settlement.