The Rise of ISIS: US Invasion of Iraq, Foreign Backing of Syrian Rebels Helped Fuel Jihadis’ Advance

 PATRICK COCKBURN:

 "True. Yeah, I mean, I was—I’m pretty contemptuous of it, to be honest, because it’s opportunism by Hillary Clinton. And it’s nonsense. You know, the idea, which is very widespread, that there was a moment that, with a few more guns and ammunition, that a moderate Syrian opposition could have taken over in Syria in 2011 or '12 or ’13, is just unreal. There are 14 provincial capitals of Syria. Assad held all of them until last year, when he lost one of them, Raqqa, to ISIS, not to any of these moderates. These moderates are an endangered species on the battlefields of Syria. The opposition is now dominated—military opposition is dominated by ISIS. They hold a third of the country. But the other military opposition are people like Jabhat al-Nusra, which is the official representative of al-Qaeda, of bin Laden's al-Qaeda, and some other jihadi organizations. So this is sort of fantasy that there was a moderate Syrian military opposition which, with a bit more support from Obama, could have taken power in Damascus. It was never going to happen. It’s just sheer opportunism."

 They held Homs until Assad razed it to the ground. They hold large parts of the country despite Assad's massive military materiel advantage, and even then he needs thousands of foreign troops to prop him up. This is not an analysis, it is a prejudgment. ISIS is not part of the opposition, to see its victories as theirs is nonsensical, and insulting to their victims. Labelling the actual opposition indiscriminately as jihadis would be rejected as racist if applied to other groups of Muslims by the same people who consider Cockburn wise, as long as they are fighting the US or its allies. A bit more support is a distortion when there was never any real support at all. Hillary Clinton may well be an opportunist.