(NEW YORK) MintPress — When the first protests against the Syrian regime broke out in the spring of 2011, they were for the most part peaceful. Only after the government unleashed a brutal crackdown on demonstrators did the Free Syrian Army organize in order “to protect protesters and to fight against the Bashar al-Assad regime.
Even when there was violence on the part of the opposition, it was considered a reaction to the atrocities carried out by government forces.
Seventeen months later, the international media is suddenly latching on to the presence of al-Qaida and other jihadists on the ground in Syria.
But the warning signs have been there all along. For instance, in February, when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Russia and China of putting their commercial interests above human rights concerns when they refused to call on Assad to step down.
MintPress News reported at the time that more than trade ties might be at stake: Moscow and Beijing are concerned that instead of the downfall of Assad leading to a democratic government, it could give rise to a radical Muslim regime.
Indeed, ever since the outbreak of the Arab Spring, China and Russia have been worried about Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Egypt, Libya and now Syria, and believe that the Kingdom is not so much pro-democratization in these countries as pro-implementation of an extreme version of Islam called Salafism, also known as Wahhabism.
Body of proof
Then, in March, the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in an open letter to the Syrian opposition that armed rebels have themselves committed “serious human rights abuses.”
“The Syrian government’s brutal tactics cannot justify abuses by armed opposition groups,” said HRW Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson. “Opposition leaders should make it clear to their followers that they must not torture, kidnap or execute under any circumstances.”
That letter only bolstered fears in some corners that the opposition was not only highly disorganized but might also be comprised of destabilizing sectarian groups, including salafists.
Also in March, Arab news agency Al-Manar, which is affiliated with the Lebanon-based militant group and political party Hezbollah, reported on its website that according to “well informed sources,” around 700 Arab and Western gunmen surrendered in the besieged neighborhood of Baba Amr.
Syria is the main conduit for weapons and funds flowing from ally Iran to Hezbollah.
The agency said it was told by the sources that “huge and critical surprises will be uncovered in the coming few days … such as the kinds of arms seized, as well as the military tactics the armed groups followed, and the sides that supervised the operations.”
It also claimed that “Syrian expert in strategic affairs Salim Harba” told the agency that “the captured gunmen held Arab nationalities, including Gulf, Iraqi and Lebanese … among them were also … non-Arab fighters from Afghanistan, Turkey and some European countries like France.”
And according to the Syrian state news agency, SANA, at the time, Assad insisted he will continue to confront “foreign-backed terrorism.” Since the uprising began last March, he has blamed armed gangs and foreign terrorists for the unrest, not protesters seeking change.
Growing arsenal
There have also been recent accounts of rebel militias making improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and using them with increasing frequency against the regime.
They are essentially rudimentary versions of the types used by the Taliban in Afghanistan, where they have been one of the primary causes of death for NATO troops and innocent civilians, making it more difficult to distinguish these fighters from America’s enemies in that country.
There has also a been a growing spate of suicide bombings, a tactic commonly used by al-Qaida.
The al-Qaida-styled group in Syria is Jabhat al-Nusra li-Ahl-al-Sham, the Front for the Protection of the Syrian People. It has, in fact, claimed responsibility for several attacks against the Syrian army and security forces.
On Monday, a State Department official traveling with Secretary of State Clinton in South Africa said after learning of Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab’s defection, “Its (the Assad regime) days are numbered, and we call on other senior members of the regime and the military to break with the bloody past and help chart a new path for Syria — one that is peaceful, democratic, inclusive and just.”
Yet as the influence of foreign fighters continues to make headlines, it is getting harder for Washington to ignore the possibility that the outcome could in fact be quite different.