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Benghazi Index
Posted on 06/19/2013 6:33:23 AM PDT by PieterCasparzen
(Reuters) - As the Syrian civil war got under way, a former electrician who calls himself Sheikh Omar built up a brigade of rebel fighters. In two years of struggle against President Bashar al-Assad, they came to number 2,000 men, he said, here in the northern city of Aleppo. Then, virtually overnight, they collapsed.
Omar's group, Ghurabaa al-Sham, wasn't defeated by the government. It was dismantled by a rival band of revolutionaries - hardline Islamists.
The Islamists moved against them at the beginning of May. After three days of sporadic clashes Omar's more moderate fighters, accused by the Islamists of looting, caved in and dispersed, according to local residents. Omar said the end came swiftly.
The Islamists confiscated the brigade's weapons, ammunition and cars, Omar said. "They considered this war loot. Maybe they think we are competitors," he said. "We have no idea about their goals. What we have built in two years disappeared in a single day."
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Where the government forces did cede ground, Aleppo's residents did not welcome the rebels with open arms. Most fighters were poor rural people from the countryside and the residents of Aleppo say they stole. Omar acknowledged this happened.
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(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The mysterious hardline Islamists reportedly don't steal - so they must get their supplies from SOMEWHERE.
Gosh, I wonder where... hmmmmmm...
“... and calls into question whether the United States, which announced practical support for the rebels last week, can ensure supplies of weapons go only to groups friendly to the West.”
Wow... Rooters asking the tough question... the ONLY question!
The moderates lost to the hard liners.
Wow, what a surprise. Ever was it thus.
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Same thing as in Russia 1917, while moderates dithered, the Bolsheviks took over.
With financial backing from American International Corporation (a director was George Herbert Walker), Kuhn, Loeb, & Co, J P Morgan, etc.
Sounds like the Republicans the the Gang of Ocho.
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