Syria's moderate rebels still losing ground to extremists
The ascendance of Islamic groups among Syria's opposition has clouded prospects for more advanced weapons to be provided to moderate factions.
Fear of armed Islamist groups in Syria has been a major sticking point between the United States and its regional allies in determining the quality of arms supplied to Syrian rebels. It was again high on the agenda on March 28 when US President Barack Obama touched down in Riyadh for a brief visit.
According to the Washington Post, Obama was considering backing down from his stern opposition to arming rebels with more advanced weaponry, including anti-aircraft missiles, or MANPADs. The Saudis have long pressed Western powers to arm rebel factions fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with sophisticated weapons, hoping it would turn the tide in the opposition’s favor in the three-year, brutal conflict.
To bolster its argument that it is taking concrete steps to limit the actions of jihadist groups fighting in Syria, Saudi Arabia passed unprecedented anti-terror laws that specifically targeted Saudi nationals fighting abroad, as well as listing Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorist organizations.
Proponents for further militarization of the Syrian war insist that “moderate” rebel fighters can be trusted with such sophisticated weaponry, and can be used as a counterweight to rising jihadist groups as well as to confront a national army receiving strong support from Iran, Russia, Iraq and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
