http://news.antiwar.com/2013/05/01/syrian-rebel-disarray-leads-to-clashes/
Syrian Rebel Disarray Leads to Clashes
Rebel Commander Reports Mistaken Attack by FSA
by Jason Ditz, May 01, 2013
While brief skirmishes between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and more Islamist factions over the interpretation of Sharia law are not new, recent reports suggest that fighting is also erupting within rebel factions, seemingly a sign of growing disarray.
Abu Ahmed, detailed in an Agence-France Presse piece, is a leader of an unaffiliated rebel brigade. He is recovering from injuries suffered when he was attacked by FSA fighters.
The FSA had the wrong man, it turns out. Ahmed was mistaken for the leader of another FSA brigade, which had detained a member of this FSA brigade, which figured the most expedient way to get him back was to beat the rival leader unconscious.
“They apologised and went on to hunt for the FSA man they were after,” explained Ahmed, though this hardly seems like a good excuse, and Ahmed cautioned that “possessing lethal weapons does not give you the right to behave like warlords.”
Yet Syria’s piecemeal rebellion seems to be going down the exact same road trod in Libya, where victory didn’t so much end the fighting but shift it, and random militias continue to besiege government offices on a regular basis.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/05/01/jordan-frets-rise-of-syrias-islamist-rebels-across-border/
Jordan Frets Rise of Syria’s Islamist Rebels Across Border
Efforts to Back 'Secular' Rebels Not Paying Off
by Jason Ditz, May 01, 2013
Jordan’s eagerness to jump on the rebel bandwagon in Syria came with an explanation that they were really concerned about the al-Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels and figured the logical thing to do was openly back the more secular rebel factions in the hope they would somehow even out. Needless to say, that’s not working out so well.
Now, Jordan is finding itself with a whole bunch of rebel-controlled territory right on its border with Syria, which is according to plan. What’s not according to plan is that the territory is dominated by the very Islamists they were supposed to be countering, and having been publicly disavowed by Jordan, they’re not just an inconvenience but an overt long-term threat.
It was always pretty apparent that an Islamist win in Syria would be disastrous for Jordan, in that they have a pretty sizable number of Islamists in Jordan who would love to piggyback on the Syrian rebellion to oust the Hashemite king in favor of a more clergy-based society. Hosting US trainers and spearheading the rebel arms program was aimed at giving them some say over who the powerbrokers in the rebellion are.
In the end though, the rebellion is so nebulous that arms are readily passed back and forth, and backing the “secular rebels” is still backing the rebels. Direct aid may focus on only some of them, but apart from some incidents of intra-rebel fighting the rebels are mostly allies, so there’s no reason to have expected anything else.
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/05/01/reuters-poll-americans-strongly-opposed-to-attacking-syria/
Reuters Poll: Americans Strongly Opposed to Attacking Syria
Second Poll in a Row Showing Solid Opposition to New War
by Jason Ditz, May 01, 2013
A new Reuters poll has found an overwhelming number of Americans opposed to attacking Syria, with only 10 percent in favor and 61 percent firmly averse to the idea.
Even if the Syrian government began using chemical weapons, posed as a separate question in the poll, the number in support is only 27 percent, well below the 44 percent that remain opposed.
This is the second poll in as many days reflecting an opposition to starting a new war in Syria, with a NY Times/CBS poll yesterdayshowing a 24-63 percent opposition in a differently worded question about “responsibility” to attack Syria on behalf of the rebels. That poll also showed opposition to attacking North Korea, something not mentioned in today’s.
The Obama Administration has yet to comment on the popular opposition, but reports suggest that they are moving toward arming the rebels, perhaps seeing his as a more politically palatable alternative to a direct invasion.
Iraq news.......Iraq violence rose sharply in April , May starts off with many bangs .....
http://news.antiwar.com/2013/05/01/data-iraq-violence-rose-sharply-in-april/
Data: Iraq Violence Rose Sharply in April
Sectarian Violence Caps Another Ugly Month
by Jason Ditz, May 01, 2013
Violence was already on the rise in March, with tensions soaring and Iraq seeing spillover violence from neighboring Syria’s ongoing civil war. The last week of April saw deaths spike to a near-term high.
Agence-France Presse is putting the April toll at 460 killed overall, which with roughly 300 killed last week alone seems a tad on the low side. The violence centered in northwestern Iraq, starting with a military crackdown in Hawija.
But while exact figures may vary among different estimators, trends do not, and the trend is that Iraq, whose level of violence never really went down all the much after the end of the US occupation, is rapidly growing.
Officials have tried the usual downplaying of the violence, coupled with blaming the media, but the unrest among Iraq’s Sunni Arabs isn’t just some transient problem, but rather a long-standing concern that the Maliki government has shown little aptitude at acknowledging, let alone addressing.
Attacks Target Central Iraq: 28 Killed, 75 Wounded
by Margaret Griffis, May 01, 2013
Central Iraq, from east to west, was the focus of today’s attack, which killed at least 28 people and wounded 75 more. The figures could go higher throughout the day.
A suicide bomber killed six people east of Falluja. About 15 more were wounded in a bomb attack at a Garma police station. The bomb was detonated as Sahwa members had gathered to receive their salaries. A sticky bomb planted on a car killed a Sahwa official. A soldier was wounded during a small arms attack at a checkpoint.
In Baghdad, a bomb in the Husseiniya neighborhood left four dead and 12 wounded.
A blast in Baiji killed four policemen.
In Falluja itself, gunmen killed a policeman and wounded another. Three soldiers were killed in a bombing.
Near Ramadi a car bomb killed two policemen and wounded another 10 people.Three policemen were wounded in a separate bombing east of the city.
A civilian was killed and two others were wounded in Numaniya.
In Baquba, gunmen killed a cleric. A civilian was also gunned down. A civilian was killed and 11 more were wounded in a bombing at a restaurant outside Baquba.
A roadside bomb in Tal Afar killed one soldier and wounded two more.
Eleven people were wounded across Abu Ghraib during a mortar attack.
A roadside bomb wounded two people in Kanaan.
Security forces killed a suicide bomber in Samarra.
Three policemen were wounded in Kirkuk when a bomb exploded near their vehicle.
Two people were injured in Jalawla when a bomb targeting a taxi exploded.
No comments:
Post a Comment