Syrian Rebel Army: 15,000 Strong Force to Fight Assad Regime
Commander of 'Free Army' Backed Openly by Turkish Government
Syria has had a large number of defectors from their military for months now, but an effort to organize a large number of these defectors into a rebel army seems to have picked up considerable strength, and formal backing from the Turkish government.
The force, the “Syrian Free Army,” is led by Col. Riad al-Assad, who claims to have 15,000 troops at his command, and is hoping for a Libya-style bombing campaign against Syria that it can use to its own ends.
“We are the future army of the new Syria,” Col. Assad insists. And Turkey seems keen on that, with the Turkish government providing the commander a security detail and providing access to him through their own foreign ministry.
The 15,000 number seems largely in keeping with reports that between 10,000 and 20,000 troops have defected, but it is unclear if most of them really are operating under the command of Col. Assad, or if this is simply a claim that their force is more formidable than it really is in an effort to court international support.
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That Guy
November 4th, 2011 at 10:13 pm
If Turkey is involved then NATO is behind this and certainly the US.
They want to install their own puppet just like in Libya. Once Assad is out, Israel can hit Iran.
Emilyrose
November 5th, 2011 at 4:13 am
15,000 strong force?
My word that must have cost the US, Israel and sunni arabs a bob or two.
One would have thought them a bit broke after buying all those Libyan 'rebels' at $10,000 a head.
Bianca
November 5th, 2011 at 8:01 am
Using information from Christian Science Monitor to then conclude that Turkish government is "keen" on supporting mercenary army within its borders. This may be merely a propaganda piece, not unlike many more already being put out earlier, just to be debunked. Caution is the order of the day, and jumping to conclusions — especially about the people what showed up overhight as "rebels" and "forces' — should be a journalistic NO-NO.
Turkey is more interested in insuring that Syrian Kurds and Turkish Kurds do not create a buffer zone that would be a thorn in its side for decades to come. It is already bad enough that Kurds are getting a lots of land in Iraq from where to attack Turkey. Managing THEIR problem is what interests Turkey most, not the internal problems in Syria.
Bill the Butcher
November 5th, 2011 at 9:40 am
As long as Russia and China keep the gonads they grew recently, those are 15000 dead rats.
Jan Burton
November 5th, 2011 at 11:11 am
I love how some people reach for all sorts of conspiracies to explain any conflict in a non-western allied nation.
What patronizing nonsense. As if the Syrians need outside forces to convince them that they don't like a tyrannical regime!
John Ellis
November 6th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
Is there a difference between a well run dictatorship, and democracy? Actually no, for they both are ruled by the upper half of society, the half most aggressive and wealthy.
And this points out the main difference between egotistic Gaddafi and the Syrian dictator with a sold backing of the upper class and educated middle-class.