syria deeply: breakthrough at the u.n., breakdown on the ground

7/27/2019 Syria Deeply: Breakthrough at the U.N., Breakdown on the Ground

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9/29/13 8:yria Deeply: Breakthrough at the U.N., Breakdown on the Ground

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This Week in Syria, Deeply

Dear Deeply Readers,

Breaking a two and a half year deadlock, the U.N. Security Council unanimously backed a

Syria resolution governing the handover and disposal of Syrias chemical weapons.U.S.

President Barack Obama called it a potentially huge victory, while some of his critics saw

it as a toothless concession to Russia the resolution does not set an automatic trigger to

punish the Assad regime, if it falters in its obligations. The Economist laid out a thoroughanalysis of whats in the resolution, and whats missing from it: notably, any blame for the

August 21 chemical weapons attack on eastern Ghouta, which raised the prospect of a

U.S. military strike.

The U.N. move did endorse a political transition in Syria, first proposed at the Geneva

Peace Talks in June 2012 (see the U.N. communique here). U.N. Secretary-General Ban

Ki-moon said that major powers hoped to hold a follow-up peace conference known as

Geneva II in mid-November, according to Reuters. Both the Assad regime and the

opposition have suggested they would go.

One snag, among others, is the breakdown of any rebel cohesion on the ground. Syrias

armed opposition, the decentralized forces that are fighting Assads army, have never

formed a unified front. But in the past few weeks theyve become even more dangerously

splintered. Weve seen moderate brigades joining Jabhat al-Nusra, out of a perceived

need for protection from other al-Qaida-linked groups, an escalating fight between

Islamists and Kurds, and a wholesale rejection of the oppositions political

leadership abroad. Eleven Islamist rebel groups came together to denounce the Syrian

National Coalition, the U.S.-backed body that represented the anti-Assad camp.

"The National Coalition and its transitional government led by Ahmed Tomeh do not

represent it and will not be recognized," they said in a joint statement quoted by the BBC.

Instead they insisted that the opposition should unite under an Islamic framework.

That makes it harder to negotiate a lasting peace or any kind of effective cease-fire in

Syria, without including the rebel groups that the U.S. and its allies find least palatable.

Highlights from Syria Deeply:
http://world.time.com/2013/09/26/syrias-many-battlefields-islamist-rebels-wage-war-against-the-kurds/http://world.time.com/2013/09/26/syrias-many-battlefields-islamist-rebels-wage-war-against-the-kurds/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/raqqas-fsa-brigades-join-jabhat-al-nusra/#.Ukgc3WSG1vYhttp://www.understandingwar.org/report/syrias-armed-oppositionhttp://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/09/un-and-syriahttp://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/09/un-and-syriahttp://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/09/un-and-syriahttp://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/09/un-and-syriahttp://www.cnn.com/2013/09/27/world/meast/un-syria-resolution/?hpt=hp_t1http://www.syriadeeply.org/http://www.syriadeeply.org/http://syriadeeply.org/http://syriadeeply.org/http://syriadeeply.org/http://syriadeeply.org/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24239779http://www.bbc.co.uk/rejection%20of%20the%20opposition's%20political%20leadershiphttp://world.time.com/2013/09/26/syrias-many-battlefields-islamist-rebels-wage-war-against-the-kurds/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/raqqas-fsa-brigades-join-jabhat-al-nusra/#.Ukgc3WSG1vYhttp://www.understandingwar.org/report/syrias-armed-oppositionhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/28/us-un-assembly-syria-idUSBRE98Q0Z820130928http://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Syria/FinalCommuniqueActionGroupforSyria.pdfhttp://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2013/09/un-and-syriahttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/27/us-un-assembly-syria-obama-idUSBRE98Q0XX20130927http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/27/world/meast/un-syria-resolution/?hpt=hp_t1http://www.syriadeeply.org/http://syriadeeply.org/


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Three Things We Learned About Jihadi Rebels From Syria Conflict Monitor

In a Damascus Classroom, Reading, Writing and Trauma

Exploding Bullets Target FSA Fighters

U.N. Roundup: Syrias Neighbors Speak Up

In Besieged Homs, Doctors Work in an Underground Hospital

A Syrian Backlash Against al-Qaida

Trouble in Turkey, as al-Qaida Becomes a NeighborFrom Saraqeb, the Sound of a Radio Start-up

We featured a range of stories on ourSyria Deeply podcast. And as always, to help you

review, heres our day-to-day roundup of Syria headlines last week:

Monday: U.N. General Assembly in Full Swing, Syria and Iran Dominate Agenda; Syria

Slams U.S. Resolution;Al Qaeda Commander Killed

Tuesday:Russia Sees Security Council Resolution This Week; CW Inspectors to Returnto Syria; Hezbollah Dismisses CW Claim

Wednesday: UN Inspectors Return to Syria; Jihadi Rebels Reject Opposition, Call for

Islamic Leadership; Blast Hits Damascus

Thursday: West Says U.N. Nears Syria Resolution;Al-Qaeda, Kurds Clash on Turkey-

Syria Border;Key Rebel Groups Abandon Exile Leaders

Friday:U.N. Security Council Reaches Syria Resolution; Inspections to Begin NextWeek; Rebels and al Qaeda-Linked Fighters Battle Kurds

Reads from the Week:

Reuters: Rebels Struggle to Rally Backing on U.N. Stage

AFP: Syria Chemical Cleanup the Biggest Ever Staged

Spiegel: Syrias Disneyland for Jihadists

LA Times: To Protect Syrias Antiquities, Dont Buy Them

Al Jazeera: Cruel Exile for Syrias Palestinians

DW/Opinion: Syria Resolution Shows Wests Weakness

We hope our work has helped to better engage and inform you on a critical issue. Were

fielding your feedback on how to better serve you and the story, via email

at [email protected]

Sincerely,
http://www.dw.de/opinion-syria-resolution-shows-wests-weakness/a-17121223http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/09/201392391310994865.html?http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-thompson-syria-looting-archeology-20130929,0,4594308.story?http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/foreign-jihadists-in-syria-favor-liberal-transit-towns-over-front-a-910092.htmlhttps://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/nowsyrialatestnews/syria-chemical-cleanup-the-biggest-ever-stagedhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/27/us-un-assembly-syria-opposition-idUSBRE98Q19T20130927http://world.time.com/2013/09/26/syrias-many-battlefields-islamist-rebels-wage-war-against-the-kurds/http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/27/us-syria-crisis-chemical-idUSBRE98Q0C020130927http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/27/world/middleeast/security-council-agrees-on-resolution-to-rid-syria-of-chemical-arms.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/world/middleeast/syria-crisis.htmlhttp://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-syria-crisis-kurds-idUSBRE98O17220130925http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/world/middleeast/west-says-un-nears-syria-resolution.html?_r=0http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24227704http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-syria-crisis-opposition-idUSBRE98O0LA20130925http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/world/middleeast/syria-crisis.html?_r=0http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/23/us-syria-crisis-hezbollah-idUSBRE98M10420130923http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24222714http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/24/us-syria-crisis-russia-un-idUSBRE98N0CM20130924?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&dlvrit=992637http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/23/us-syria-crisis-rebels-idUSBRE98M08V20130923http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/23/us-syria-crisis-assad-idUSBRE98M01G20130923http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/23/us-un-assembly-idUSBRE98M05020130923%20%E2%80%98https://soundcloud.com/syriadeeplyhttp://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/saraqeb-sound-radio-start-up/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/trouble-turkey-al-qaeda-neighbor/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/syrian-backlash-al-qaeda/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/besieged-homs-doctors-work-underground-hospital/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/u-n-roundup-syrias-neighbors-speak/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/exploding-bullets-target-fsa-fighters/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/damascus-classroom-reading-writing-trauma/http://beta.syriadeeply.org/2013/09/learned-jihadi-rebels-syria-conflict-monitor/


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syria deeply: breakthrough at the u.n., breakdown on the ground

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