UN: Most Syrian Rebels Don’t Want Democracy

Rebels Grow More Radical as War Continues

A new report from UN independent investigators warns that despite Western protestations that Syrian rebels are “angels,” there is only a very small minority of secular rebels still hoping to create a democratic nation with rights for religious minorities.

Instead, the report says, the rebellion is increasingly dominated by radicals, and it is becoming harder and harder to make a “distinction between the bad and the good rebels.”

The report, whose final findings will be released next week, will also warn that as rebel radicalization grows, their fighters are committing more and worsening atrocities, and that human rights violations are escalating on both sides of the conflict.

Though none of this is really a surprise to anyone paying attention to the war, a UN report confirming it will complicate the efforts by Western officials to justify arming the rebels, and claims that installing the rebels will mean any sort of improvement in the lives of most Syrians.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.