Aleppo Rebels Slam US for Trying to Negotiate Evacuation

Insist US Is Giving the Russians What They Want

While the US has made much of its support for the “moderate,” albeit al-Qaeda dominated rebels in eastern Aleppo, with some officials going so far as to proclaim al-Qaeda’s loss in the city as America’s loss, the rebels don’t feel nearly the same way about it, and are publicly lambasting the US for not backing them further.

A spokesman for the newly created and already nearly destroyed Aleppo Army rebel alliance complained that the group sees America as having “no position” on the fight over the city, accusing them of just backing whatever Russia wants.

The complaint centers on the US trying to negotiate a deal to evacuate the rest of the rebels from the city, something Russia has sought for quite some time. The US has long resisted that position, however, and only seems to have shifted toward accepting it with the reality that the rebels are on the brink of being wiped out.

This is a continuation of a recurring theme in Syrian rebel reactions to the US, as they’ve repeatedly condemned the US as indifferent for not being able to unilaterally install them as the new government in Syria, and for the aid they have provided not being a panacea.

At the same time, nobody has seemed more surprised at their inability to unilaterally impose a solution on Syria than the administration, which has drifted around through myriad different failed strategies in Syria, and within the last few days was still demanding Syria accept an unconditional ceasefire in Aleppo to allow the rebels to keep the east.

The US investment of diplomatic efforts into “saving” al-Qaeda’s Nusra Front in Aleppo not only ended up failing, but forcing the US into the position of trying to save them again by negotiating a pullout, a move which is just making al-Qaeda all the angrier at them.

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.