Threat of chemical warfare in Syria means it's time for US, NATO no-fly zone
Providing weapons to a disorganized FSA and marginalized SNC would be disastrous. Although weapon caches may be scarce, which has led many FSA units to manufacture homespun grenades and rockets, divisions among rebel fighters are simply too great to arm them. History shows that doing so could prove catastrophic in a post-Assad Syria.
Supporters of the FSA and SNC are asking the United States and NATO allies to provide weapons to topple the Assad regime. They state that surface-to-air missiles are needed to shoot down MiG and L-39 warplanes and artillery is needed to push back advancing troop and tank columns.
What isn’t mentioned is the broad gaps in communication between the FSA on the ground and the SNC who have spent years in exile, and who, only a month ago, were deemed a failure by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. There are additional divisions within the various rebel groups. As my recent trip to Northern Syria and the city of Aleppo highlighted, the current conflict between the FSA and Syrian Kurds, supported by Kurdish separatists in Iraq (the PKK), is escalating. Manned and heavily armed check points have been established dividing FSA and Kurdish controlled neighborhoods inside Aleppo.
Additional divisions exist within the rebels. Islamic fundamentalists have taken to the fight, most notably Jabhat al-Nusra, whose use of suicide tactics and links to Al Qaeda in Iraq have been documented by US intelligence officials. Even within the FSA, divisions have arisen. A recent conflict broke out between two FSA groups responsible for controlling the Azaz border crossing with Turkey in Northern Syria. Each group was interested in maintaining a stake in the royalties received from controlling the border; a severe conflict was only narrowly avoided but required FSA units stationed at the front line to travel to the border.
