The Syrian opposition feels let down by its friends, Arab as well as Western. It asked for weaponry and got none, begged for a military strike that never was, and pleaded for international pressure on the regime at Geneva II to no avail. As options narrow, many in the opposition are willing to admit that their own performance was substandard. But some hope that, with a bit of restructuring in the opposition's ranks, the worst can be avoided. Badr Jamous, Secretary General of the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (NCSROF), believes that the Syrian opposition can still get its act together. Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, Jamous said: “We are still in favour of a political solution of the Syrian crisis, but considering the international situation and the failure of Geneva II… We are left with the military option, and we need to unify the forces of the revolution on the ground through an interim government.” Jamous is hoping that the “friends of the revolution” would impose a no-fly zone in northern Syria. Such a step, he said, would help the interim government perform its tasks, restore normal life, and bring back the millions of refugees who fled to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. “We may be losing battles on some fronts, but we are winning elsewhere. The revolutionaries made great victories in the past two weeks along the coast and in Aleppo,” Jamous claimed. Abdel-Razek Eid, President of the National Council for the Damascus Declaration, finds all attempts to placate the regime futile. Speaking to the Weekly, Eid said: “Although most members of the NCSROF lived in the West, they are still prone to illusions of grandeur. They insist that they are victorious and that the Syrian revolution is gaining ground.” Eid ruled out the possibility of sharing power with members of the current regime. “The murderous regime of Al-Assad has undermined all possibility of power sharing. Even when the international community came up with peace plans, Al-Assad opted for bloodshed instead.” Wael Mirza, a key figure in NCSROF, is as disappointed with the performance of the opposition. “Frankly, I don't see an improvement in the opposition's performance in the short run. There is a need for a major revision of the structures, the faces, and the thoughts. Three years have passed since the revolution started, and it is time we created an organisation that lives up to the sacrifices of the Syrians,” Mirza said. Osama Qadi, Chief of the NCSROF Aid Coordination Unit, sees the need for a competent administration. Speaking to the Weekly, Qadi said: “Syria's future political and economic weight depends on its unity and ability to enforce law and order. We need to have a system that is based on the separation of power and on a competent and professional administration of the country.” Qadi warned of the grave consequences of ethnic and sectarian strife. “Sectarian and ethnic strife is detrimental to the revolution as well as to future development and reconstruction... We in the opposition will work to activate programmes of civil peace and to promote a culture of interim justice. We will seek to enforce law and order while starting economic projects in areas of tension, to reduce social tension,” he said. Borhan Ghalyun, a key figure in NCSROF, said the opposition needed to restructure its fighting groups. “We have to revise our combat units, so as to make them more effective and capable of using better armament. We must close our ranks, for divisions undermine our military power and discourage the countries that are trying to help us,” he remarked. Mohannad Al-Hosni, President of the Syrian Organisation for Human Rights, wants to see people who caused the death of 150,000 Syrians brought to trial. He wasn't pleased with the attempts by international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to placate the regime. Speaking to the Weekly, Al-Hosni said: “The time for power sharing and forgiveness is over. We talked peace two years ago, when the death toll stood at 25,000. But now Brahimi is trying to promote peace at the expense of justice. Such a peace can only be fragile.” According to Al-Hosni, all those who committed crimes against the Syrians, whether from the government or the opposition, must stand trial. “The Syrian regime is following a scorched earth policy in areas that it cannot control, and encouraging the Islamists to move to other areas. It is planning to divide the country, for it believes that through partitioning it can get away with murder,” he added. There is a growing belief among the opposition that if the regime loses control over Damascus, it will try to partition the country. The regime is said to be encouraging demographic changes along the coast to ensure that Alawites are the majority there. It has also encouraged the Kurds to plant the seed of their own mini-state in the northeast. Fawwaz Tallo, a former member of the Syrian National Council, is worried over the mounting prospects of partition. Speaking to the Weekly, Tallo said: “The areas in which the Alawites and the Kurds live are quite mixed, with villages and towns intermingled to a large extent. Syria doesn't have regions that are pure in their ethnic or sectarian composition. The Syrian Revolution is not going to allow the creation of such entities as West Kurdistan or an Alawite state. Any attempt to create such entities will lead to more war and destruction.” Syria must belong to all ethnicities and sects, Tallo added: “The future of Syria belongs to all ethnicities and sects, which should have equal rights. We will not allow any majority or minority to persecute another group. We will not allow any regime to divide the country. Even federalism is out of the question.”
