Juan Cole dans The Nation pose la question que l’on se pose depuis 5 ans :
Why Is Washington Supporting Fundamentalist Jihadis in Syria ?
A CIA-backed rebel group has joined with Al Qaeda in attacking another rebel force—the one leading negotiations in Geneva.
▻http://www.thenation.com/article/why-is-washington-supporting-fundamentalist-jihadis-in-syria
Résumé : l’article part des combats récents entre différents groupes dominant la Ghouta orientale (est de la région de Damas). Pour une vue d’ensemble et ses probables implication étrangères on pourra lire ce récent article d’Aron Lund : ▻http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=63512 .
En gros des combats très violents ont opposé Jaych al-Islam, d’une part, et d’autre part un groupe lié à l’ASL, Faylaq al-Rahman, ainsi que la coalition menée par al-Nousra dans la région : Jaych al-Foustat (JAN + Ahrar + Fajr al-Oumma). Enjeu : le contrôle de zones et des taxes sur les tunnels et du leadership sur la Ghouta orientale.
Donc d’un côté le wahhabisme de JAI, soutenu par les Saoudiens, et dont un des commandants, Mohammed Alloush, est le chef des négociateurs de du HCN à Genève. Et de l’autre un groupe théoriquement lié à l’ASL, recevant l’aide des USA (dont des missiles TOW), et qui s’est allié avec la coalition salafiste comprenant la branche syrienne d’al-Qaïda le premier :
Now there is a problem. In the past month the Rahman Corps has flipped, joined with Al Qaeda, and begun attacking Alloush’s group, the Army of Islam.
That’s right: The leader of the negotiating team at Geneva on behalf of the rebels is now besieged by one of his own US-backed constituents, which is likely using CIA-provided weapons against him. And it is doing so in a battlefield alliance with Al Qaeda.
In the East Ghouta pocket, Nusra ally the Rahman Corps and the Fustat Army Operations Room (led by Al Qaeda) have been ranged against the Army of Islam. Fighting between the fundamentalists intensified Saturday night, but it has been raging for twenty days and has killed 300. Most of the dead were members of the Army of Islam and Al Qaeda, though dozens were from the Rahman Corps. The preachers of Al Qaeda, or the Nusra Front, were said to be inciting the killing of members of the Army of Islam.
A cela il faut ajouter le récent massacre de civils du village alaouite de Zaraa par al-Nousra mais aussi Ahrar, dont JAI est aussi un allié :
On Thursday, the Nusra Front, along with its ally, the Freemen of Syria (Ahrar al-Sham), also attacked in another part of Syria, the Alawite Shiite village of Zara, south of Hama. There, they stand accused of butchering at least 19 civilians and of desecrating the bodies of the dead Alawites, who mostly support the government of Assad (himself an Alawite). The villagers maintain that the invading insurgents slit the throats of their victims in their homes, and that those killed included children, women, and the aged. The Freemen of Syria denied targeting civilians. The Alawites comprise some 10 to 14 percent of Syria’s population. Remember that the Army of Islam of Mohammad Alloush, the lead negotiator in Geneva, is allied with the Freemen of Syria and that Alloush’s family has been vitriolic against Syrian Shiites.
Ceci amène Juan Cole à la conclusion suivante :
The Assad regime is guilty of crimes against humanity, and many of the groups that took up arms against it were fired by a desire for a more just society. But many of the supposed friends of the United States in Syria’s opposition have an unsavory ideology, unsavory friends, or are themselves guilty of war crimes. Washington has to stop arming these groups if there is ever to be peace in Syria, and it needs to pressure Saudi Arabia to cease trying to push Syria to the far right. The weaponry sent in by Saudi Arabia on Washington’s behalf in any case often makes its way to Al Qaeda or ISIS. The Army of Islam shouldn’t be the lead negotiator in Geneva! The leftist Kurds need to be brought into the negotiations if the northeast is to remain part of Syria, and their voice on the opposition side is important to offset the powerful megaphone of the minority Salafis.