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Most Syrian rebels sympathise with Isis, says thinktank

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TheDemSocialist

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More than half of the rebel fighters in Syria who are opposing President Bashar al-Assad are sympathetic to Islamic State views, a leading thinktank has claimed.
The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics said efforts to wipe out Isis in Syria and Iraq would not end the global threat from jihadi groups because extremist views were common among Syrian fighters of all stripes.

At least 15 militias, numbering 65,000 fighters, could fill any vacuum resulting from a defeat of Isis in Syria and Iraq by a coalition led by the US, a report by the thinktank found.
About 60% of fighters in rebel factions in Syria identified with a religious and political ideology similar to that of the terror group, it added.

The centre warned the radical groups, including al-Qaida affiliate al-Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham, could benefit if they went “unchallenged”.
It added: “If Isis is defeated, there are at least 65,000 fighters belonging to other Salafi-jihadi groups ready to take its place.
“The greatest danger to the international community are the groups that share the ideology of Isis, but are being ignored in the battle to defeat the group.
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Read more @: Most Syrian rebels sympathise with Isis, says thinktank

According to The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, more than half of the rebel groups other than ISIS share Salafi-Jihadi ideas.... This leaves the "moderate rebels" (or what is left/remains of them) not a lot of room....
 
Ironically, part of the reason for this is that Assad released a large population of extremists that he held prisoner so that they could flood the ranks of the rebels - thereby muddying the waters of which groups are the "good guys."
 
MrT said:
Ironically, part of the reason for this is that Assad released a large population of extremists that he held prisoner so that they could flood the ranks of the rebels - thereby muddying the waters of which groups are the "good guys."
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Assad did release hundreds of prisoners in 2011, which was a demand of many of the protesters and groups associated with the protests, and some very well were Islamists, some connected with the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria. It was really a mixed bag, some were secular activists, some were Islamists, and some where protesters who were locked up during the protests. However I dont buy into the conspiracy theory that Assad released them as a tool to wreck havoc on his population.
 
MrT said:
Ironically, part of the reason for this is that Assad released a large population of extremists that he held prisoner so that they could flood the ranks of the rebels - thereby muddying the waters of which groups are the "good guys."
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There are no good guys.
 
Apocalypse said:
So you're admitting that Assad isn't a good guy? ;)
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Of course Assad's not a good guy! Were you thinking otherwise. Hussein, Mubarak, Gaddafi, Netanyahu nor Bush were/are good guys either, but I support/supported militarily regime changing none of them either. ;)
 
Montecresto said:
Of course Assad's not a good guy! Were you thinking otherwise. Hussein, Mubarak, Gaddafi, Netanyahu nor Bush were/are good guys either, but I support/supported militarily regime changing none of them either. ;)
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OKay, the comparisons between democratic nations' leaders and dictators who were staying in power by the use of force aside, it's good to know that at the very least you realize that al-Assad is one of the bad guys.
 
Don't think we needed a think tank to tell us that!
 
Apocalypse said:
OKay, the comparisons between democratic nations' leaders and dictators who were staying in power by the use of force aside, it's good to know that at the very least you realize that al-Assad is one of the bad guys.
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There are similarities is the point. And I've never suggested that Assad is a good guy. But like I said, I don't think Bush or Netanyahu are either. Assad is however the preferred of choices, I've known from the beginning of this, others have now come to realize this, even on the fringe right. That was and is the point of my earliest post.
 
PakPuk said:
Don't think we needed a think tank to tell us that!
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Lol, the freaks on the fringe right do, even so, they'll still deny it as they deny the need for a UNSCR to project force in Syria to begin with.
 
Montecresto said:
There are similarities is the point. And I've never suggested that Assad is a good guy. But like I said, I don't think Bush or Netanyahu are either. Assad is however the preferred of choices, I've known from the beginning of this, others have now come to realize this, even on the fringe right. That was and is the point of my earliest post.
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If you understand that Assad is a bad guy then you cannot possibly accept him staying in power in the long-term. There's a "bad politician" in the sense of taking the wrong political decisions and there's a tyrannical dictator who rules his people by force, tortures and murders civilians on a daily basis. Saying that he's the most preferred choice of the current options is not mutually exclusive with saying that you wish to see actions taken to have an alternative, better choice in the near future. Such as combating radicalism within Syria so that in the long term there would be more moderates (actual moderates) than extremists, through education, economic prosperity, etc.
 
Apocalypse said:
If you understand that Assad is a bad guy then you cannot possibly accept him staying in power in the long-term. There's a "bad politician" in the sense of taking the wrong political decisions and there's a tyrannical dictator who rules his people by force, tortures and murders civilians on a daily basis. Saying that he's the most preferred choice of the current options is not mutually exclusive with saying that you wish to see actions taken to have an alternative, better choice in the near future. Such as combating radicalism within Syria so that in the long term there would be more moderates (actual moderates) than extremists, through education, economic prosperity, etc.
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You know how many leaders around the world I think are "bad guys". Point is, my country has no authorization that is consistent with international law to be in Syria attempting regime change. Again, and I don't know why this isn't clear, president Assad is the preferred option for Syria, and more and more are coming to this realization.
 
TheDemSocialist said:
Read more @: Most Syrian rebels sympathise with Isis, says thinktank

According to The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics, more than half of the rebel groups other than ISIS share Salafi-Jihadi ideas.... This leaves the "moderate rebels" (or what is left/remains of them) not a lot of room.... [/FONT][/COLOR]
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https://www.aei.org/publication/brennan-admits-isis-was-decimated-under-bush-but-has-grown-under-obama-by-as-much-as-4400-percent/?utm_source=paramount&utm_medium=email&utm_content=AEITHISWEEK&utm_campaign=Weekly122615

[h=1]CIA director Brennan admits ISIS was “decimated” under Bush, but has grown as much as 4,400% under Obama[/h] Foreign and Defense Policy, Middle East, Terrorism




In a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies yesterday, CIA director John Brennan made a startling admission: The Islamic State was “decimated” under George W. Bush and had just “700-or-so adherents left” following the surge in Iraq. Said Brennan:
[ISIS] was, you know, pretty much decimated when US forces were there in Iraq. It had maybe 700-or-so adherents left. And then it grew quite a bit in the last several years, when it split then from al-Qaida in Syria, and set up its own organization.
​
US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan addresses a conference on national security in Washington October 27, 2015. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas.

But in September 2014, a CIA analysis found that:
[ISIS] can muster between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters across Iraq and Syria … This new total reflects an increase in members because of stronger recruitment since June following battlefield successes and the declaration of a caliphate, greater battlefield activity, and additional intelligence.
​
This means that, by the CIA’s own estimate, ISIS has grown on President Obama’s watch from just 700 fighters to between 20,000 and 31,500 fighters.
That is an increase of between 2,700 and 4,400 %. . . .


 
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