Syria’s Activists: Rethinking Revolution

Syria’s Activists (I): Rethinking Revolution
By: Ernest Khoury – 20 March, 2012 – Al Akhbar

After one year of intensive work on the ground, some of Syria’s opposition activists are convinced it is time for an appraisal and overhaul of strategy and tactics in dealing with media, foreign support, and internal political organization.

Damascus – Winning the trust of young Syrians organizing the peaceful or military campaigns against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is not easy. This is not surprising given that many of them have been detained for days, weeks, or months for participating in the uprising.

But when the suspicion is finally broken and trust is achieved, it becomes possible to listen to those who are creating the news, not those who speak in their name. They are willing to offer their appraisal of the first year of their “new life,” as some like to call it, that started on March 15 of last year.

The young men and women active in Damascus and the area surrounding it agree on a number of very general points. Based on discussions with the activists, they can be summarized as follows:

– The world does not support Syria. They merely talk and make declarations.

– The positive aspects of keeping the internal opposition without a known political leadership outweigh the negatives.

– The blood and suffering of the dissidents has not been employed properly, internally and externally.

– The media performance of the youth of the Local Coordinating Committees (LCC), the Syrian Revolution General Commission, and the Supreme Council of the Revolution has varied greatly.

– The international and regional situation has not, and will not, allow for an external military intervention, at least in the near future.

– The military performance of what has become known as the Free Syrian Army (FSA) has fluctuated depending on the area. In any case, the military command needs an overhaul, leading to unification, organization, financing, and arming.

The positive aspects of keeping the internal opposition without a known political leadership outweigh the negatives.
This runs counter to the call for the unification of the opposition, seen by many activists as an excuse for the Arabs and the West who are unwilling and ill-prepared to do anything against the regime now.

Activists acknowledge that everyone is aware that the opposition’s veterans, inside and outside Syria, are not ready, in any form and at any price, to work together in a united framework. The reasons cited are numerous but many are personal. …more