[lbo-talk] nearly half rebel fighters are jihadists

[Gar Lipow]

Syria is culturally Muslim, so if non-Jihadist  Muslims and secular groups
combined represent more than 50% of the armed groups that is good news,
especially since the unarmed portion of the rebels have a much higher
percent of non-Jihadist members.   That is actually good evidence for LPs
viewpoint on Syria being correct.  As a side note, if the US ever develops
a sustained left movement I suspect it will be because the liberal
Christian churches becomes radicalized and move  beyond liberalism.

On Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 4:10 AM, Wojtek S <wsoko52 at gmail.com> wrote:


> Opposition forces battling Bashar al-Assad's regime in
> Syria<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria> now
> number around 100,000 fighters, but after more than two years of fighting
> they are fragmented into as many as 1,000 bands.
>
> The new study by IHS Jane's, a defence consultancy, estimates there are
> around 10,000 jihadists - who would include foreign fighters - fighting for
> powerful factions linked to al-Qaeda..
>
> Another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists who share much of the
> outlook of the jihadists, but are focused purely on the Syrian war rather
> than a wider international struggle.
>
> There are also at least a further 30,000 moderates belonging to groups that
> have an Islamic character, meaning only a small minority of the rebels are
> linked to secular or purely nationalist groups.
>
> The stark assessment, to be published later this week, accords with the
> view of Western diplomats estimate that less than one third of the
> opposition forces are "palatable" to Britain, while American envoys put the
> figure even lower.
>
>
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10311007/Syria-nearly-half-rebel-fighters-are-jihadists-or-hardline-Islamists-says-IHS-Janes-report.html
>
> --
> Wojtek
>
> "An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>

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