Thursday, May 15, 2014

David Ignatious Al-Saud calculates the extremists among Syrian rebels

"Of the roughly 110,000 total opposition fighters in Syria, ISIS accounts for somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000; the al-Nusra Front has 5,000 to 6,000 committed fighters. A third militant Sunni group called Ahrar al-Sham has 10,000 to 15,000 members, some of whom have extremist leanings. The extremists in these groups are regarded as the toughest and most motivated warriors within the opposition. "  So by his own arithmetic, his friends--the secular, liberal, feminists at the Fee Syrian Army--are still the overwhelming majority. Why the concern then?