(Weekly Standard) Jonathan Spyer - I entered Syria with smugglers across the Turkish border. My purpose was to gain an impression of the Free Syrian Army from inside one of its heartland areas. Once we entered Idleb Province, in towns like Binnish and Sarmin, the regime of Bashar al-Assad no longer exists. The flag of the Syrian revolution, which is the flag of the Syrian republic before the Baath party took control in 1963, flies above the main square. Together with army deserters, Salafi Islamist fighters are prominent among the FSA men in Binnish. They are nearly all Sunni Arabs. One of the commanders in Sarmin, Lt. Bilal Khaibar, 25, is a seven-year veteran of Assad's airborne forces. His unit was deployed in the south in the early months of the uprising. They were told that armed Israelis had crossed the border and that they were to engage them. On closing with the "enemy," they discovered unarmed Syrian civilians. The troops were accompanied by non-Arabic-speaking men, who Bilal later discovered were Iranians. These men were responsible for the execution of a brother officer who refused to fire on civilians in the Daraa area. Khaibar joined the Free Syrian Army days after the killing of his friend.
2012-02-20 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive