International Crisis Group

To Stop ISIS in Syria, Support Aleppo | JEAN-MARIE GUÉHENNO and NOAH BONSEY

President Obama’s speech last week signaled a likely expansion into Syria of American airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, yet offered little indication of an immediate strategy to halt ISIS’ gains there. The administration’s first focus thus remains on Iraq, while familiar pledges to work with regional allies and increase support to moderate rebels in Syria — if Congress approves sufficient funding — appear divorced from the urgency of the situation on the ground.

Though Western attention is drawn to Iraq, it is Syria that has witnessed the most significant ISIS gains since June. It is Aleppo, Syria’s largest metropolitan area, that presents ISIS’ best opportunity for expanding its claimed caliphate. An effective strategy for halting, and eventually reversing, ISIS’ expansion should begin there, and soon.

FULL ARTICLE (The New York Times)

Photo: Basma/Foreign & Commonwealth Office/flickr

Syrian Forces Advance on Aleppo, Rebels Fear Another Siege | Maria Abi-Habib

REYHANLI, Turkey—Syrian government forces have nearly encircled Aleppo, preparing a siege to wrest control of the city from rebels in what would be the biggest blow yet to the three-year uprising.

The fall of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and economic hub before the fighting, could also bolster the ranks of Islamic State militants who continue to make gains across the country, as defeated members of the Western-backed Free Syrian Army switch to their side.

Rebel commanders in Aleppo say they are stockpiling goods as aid groups step up food deliveries—crates of lentils, rice, ketchup and baby formula—seeking to prevent the same kind of mass starvation that forced them to surrender the much smaller city of Homs in May.

Losing Homs, once dubbed the capital of the revolution, was a tremendous blow to the rebels. If they lose the battle for Aleppo as well, it could spell the end of their revolt against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, rebel commanders warn.

FULL ARTICLE (The Wall Street Journal)

Photo: Ed Brambley/flickr

Free Syrian Army threatens blood feud after senior officer killed by jihadists | Martin Chulov 

Commanders of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have reacted with fury to the assassination of a senior FSA officer by a jihadist group, warning that the killing would lead to further violence between the disparate factions battling to oust the president, Bashar al-Assad.

FULL ARTICLE (The Guardian)

Photo: Freedom House/Flickr

Are Foreign Jihadists Gaining Influence Inside the Syrian Rebel Forces? | The Daily Beast

By Anna Therese Day

When I first met the man I’ll call Mahmoud, he refused to speak with me because he “hates America.” Carrying a conspicuous wad of U.S. dollar bills and surrounded by young Syrian men, Mahmoud caught my eye one evening in the lobby of my Turkish hotel on the border with Syria. Through a series of talks, I slowly discerned that he was from Saudi Arabia, that he had learned English in Canada, and that he was here to “help the Muslims of Syria in their jihad.”

One evening, 29-year-old Mahmoud explained to me that he ferries money, not guns, to the Syrian people. He said that the Free Syrian Army (FSA) can use the funds for humanitarian purposes or for weapons, but he just gives it to the officers and lets them make the decisions. “I’m just a soldier of Allah,” he told me.

FULL ARTICLE (The Daily Beast)

Photo: FreedomHouse2/Flickr

Cajoling, Drugging and More as Rebels Try to Draw Defectors | The New York Times

By Kareem Fahim

ANTAKYA, Turkey — For months, the disparate militias known as the Free Syrian Army relied on defections from the Syrian military to lead a credible if halting challenge to the government of President Bashar al-Assad. Every day seemed to bring word of new recruits. Soldiers fled in packs, or officers stole across a border, lifting the rebels’ morale while swelling their ranks.

FULL ARTICLE (The New York Times)

Photo: FreedomHouse/Flickr

As Syrian War Drags On, Jihadists Take Bigger Role | New York Times

By Neil MacFarquhar and Hwaida Saad 

BEIRUT, Lebanon — As the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad’s government grinds on with no resolution in sight, Syrians involved in the armed struggle say it is becoming more radicalized: homegrown Muslim jihadists, as well as small groups of fighters from Al Qaeda, are taking a more prominent role and demanding a say in running the resistance.

FULL ARTICLE (NYT)

Photo: FreedomHouse2/Flickr

Accounts of Syria rebels executing prisoners raise new human rights concerns  |  Kansas City Star

By Hannah Allam and Austin Tice / McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON – Syrian insurgents fighting to unseat President Bashar Assad face a growing list of accusations that they’ve carried out executions and torture, muddying the Western narrative of a heroic resistance force struggling against a vicious regime.

FULL ARTICLE (Kansas City Star)

Photo: Freedom House/Wikimedia Commons

Victory closer, divisions deepen in Syria opposition  |  Reuters

By Yara Bayoumy

Three separate Syrian opposition groups have floated proposals for a transitional government in the past week, a sign that differences among the many factions opposing President Bashar al-Assad are deepening even as victory seems closer.

FULL ARTICLE (Reuters)

Photo: Freedom House/Flickr

Syria crisis: rebels ‘execute shabiha’ in Aleppo - Wednesday 1 August 2012  |  The Guardian

By Matthew Weaver and Brian Whitaker

Summary of the latest developments on Syria

• The Assad regime is morphing into a brutal militia that is pushing the conflict towards an even bloodier outcome than many feared, according to a new report by the International Crisis Group.

• In a telephone interview with the Guardian, a spokesman for the Tawheed (“Unification”) Brigade in Aleppo has described “field trials” of shabiha suspects. He said those believed to have been involved in killing were executed, while others are being kept for trial “after the collapse of the regime”.

• After some delay, the opposition Syrian National Council has now condemned the executions carried out by rebels in Aleppo.

The Guardian

Photo: Freedom House/Flickr