There is no escape from ‘militarising' the uprising: Syrian opposition leader

Regime will not fall except through armed force, says rebel leader; divisions within Syrian army opening as sectarian angle to conflict deepens

The Khaled bin Al-Walid squadron of the insurgent Free Syrian Army – estimated at 10,000 soldiers – has withdrawn from the outskirts of the Syrian city of Al-Rastan after it came under heavy shelling, killing many among its ranks.
According to military strategy experts, it seems that neither forceful nor peaceful methods are able to deter the regime, in the absence of agreement among the opposition inside Syria.
Meanwhile, the Syrian border remains closed on all fronts, blocking necessary supplies to the opposition to counter the heavy flow of arms and equipment to the Syrian army.
Colonel Riyad Al-Asad, an officer who defected from the army three months ago and leads opposition troops, described what is happening as “the beginning of an armed rebellion.”
“The Syrian regime will not fall except through armed force,” Al-Asad toldThe Washington Post. “Our losses will not be any worse than what we are suffering today in the form of killings, torture and burying bodies.”
Ahmed Riyad Ghanami, spokesman for the Syrian opposition, told Ahram Online in a telephone interview that the Free Army, with an estimated 10,000 troops, will not be enough to block government assaults, citing the battle in Al-Rastan as a case in point. “We have not reached a point where we can say that the Free Army is fighting the Agent Army,” Ghanami asserted, arguing that Al-Asad's reported statements are not based on political reality and are highly exaggerated.
“Several hundred soldiers have deserted Assad's army,” he continued, “either out of fear of being killed because they were recording abuses by the army, or because they believe in the revolution.” These are basically Sunni Muslims, after the battle became a sectarian one within the army, “since we are being killed in Syria because we are of this sect.”
Some 90 per cent of the Syrian army is Sunni, but they are not allowed to hold top leadership positions.
“The majority of Sunni soldiers are now serving in administrative or field services, which means they are not at the frontline assassinating the people,” explained Ghanami. They were replaced by thugs who are in the front along with the Alawites, who are Assad's clan who control key army positions.
“While there are a handful of Sunni commanders, they are loyal to the regime and are rewarded for their allegiance; they are, naturally, viewed as traitors.”
Amidst these revolutionary sentiments in the a war where thousands have been killed, with more massacres expected, Colonel Al-As'ad called on the West to impose a no-fly zone over Syria, similar to the one over Libya. Ghanami viewed it as a continuation of double standard policies by the West. “What is worse,” he continued, “is that they – the US, Britain and France – are giving Assad a green light to continue the massacres by procrastinating and talking about the peaceful nature of the revolution, while they stand by with the Arabs on the sidelines as spectators.”
Neither Qatar, which interfered in Libya, nor revolutionary Egypt, which has not even taken a diplomatic position by recalling its ambassador, nor the Gulf heavyweight Saudi Arabia have stepped up to help the Syrian people. Meanwhile, the border with Lebanon is closed with the presence of Hizbullah, and with Iraq because the Baghdad regime supports Assad, while Qatar has not yet received instructions from Washington, which is standard procedure. “Geography has blocked many privileges,” he explained, while the Arab League has failed at every turn, and demonstrated its weakness in the Arab Spring. “Meanwhile, the US's spoilt child Israel has benefited from conditions where the West is quiet and slow.”
Ghanam declared that “there is no choice but to militarise the revolution; it is our legitimate right which we are forced to take. Divisions within the army are the beginning; using only peaceful methods will not achieve our goal.” He noted that the Free Army is not receiving arms or funds from anywhere, but they can set up booby traps and target military convoys, causing damage – even if on a small scale at first – which escalate. “We must review our positions once in a while,” he added. “Now is the time for us to use force; since we are being killed anyway, we should at least die with honour.”