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----- Original Message -----
From: "Eli Stephens" <elishasteph...@hotmail.com>
What Revolution? (Part 1) http://www.thenorthstar.info/?p=10229
No point trying to argue with an article on the side of
counterrevolution in my view (there are actually some better articles,
still wrong, that try to make an at least sympathetic argument as to why
its not a revolution, without needing one that views the Baathist
tyranny as "progressive"), but I might just touch on a point or two to
destroy its credibility.
Estimates of the size of the armed opposition
at present range from 14,000 to 30,000 (including foreign fighters): at
best, this is one in 1300 of Syria's 22.5 million inhabitants, or .0062%
of
the population.
In fact, most estimates are around the 100,000 mark, with some more like
130,000. I've never even seen these estimates here. Obviously a
well-researched article.
Incidentally, how many Palestinians have on average, at any given time,
been members of one of the active resistance organisations? Don't most
people have to work, look after kids, do lots of other stuff while soem
fight, indeed don;t plenty have to work to keep the fighetrs fed?
National Coalition for the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces,
aka
the Syrian National Council (SNC)
Doesn't the author know these are not the same thing? Or who cares, if
you write tens of thousands of words about a place to shit on people in
revolutinary struggle against a tyranny, you don;t actually need to know
muuch stuff, I suppose.
They (the LCCs) are said to be at least non-violent, which is true, in
the sense they
are not a military organization. But this does not mean they are
neutrally
working as a separate organization from the opposition fighters. Insofar
as
they still effectively exist in the ground, they act as civilian
auxiliaries
and propagandists for the so called "FSA". Their report for September 2
is
typical: A large part of it is a description of the multiple attacks led
by
opposition fighters, accompanied by videos allegedly showing rebels
taking
on regime artillery positions, attacking Hezbollah, and downing
government
warplanes.
However, there are numerous examples across Syria of successful
cooperation between the civilian and armed opposition. In Idlib, Deraa
and
Kafrnabel, LCCs and local councils have remained strong; despite the
presence of armed groups. In Kabboun, activists have said that there is
a
clear division of responsibilities between the LCC (media outreach,
political activism), the local administration council (municipal
services
and local judiciary), and the local FSA division (security, aid and
resource
distribution on behalf of the local council)
Ah, yes? So how does this prove the LCCs are simply bodies doing
altrusitic stuff or organising services like you said above? I must
wonder about the politics of someone who finds it damning that the local
popular councils have both a civil and a military role in a situation
when their civil activities are confronted by a state that uses massive
repression against the people. Yes, exactly: the FSA on the ground as
oppsoed to the exile based SMC) is the armed wing, ifyou like, of the
LCCS, ie, of the popular revolution.
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