Syrian Opposition Opposes International Orders

By: Faisal Quyyumi, contributing intern (@faisalquyyumi_)

The Syrian National Coalition has firmly declared that they will not proceed with a ceasefire until President Bashar al-Assad agrees to step down. Their goal is to replace al-Assad with a “transitional government” (www.aljazeera.com). Since violence erupted throughout the nation four and a half years ago, more than a quarter of a million people have died. According to reports, there are currently over 150 Syrian opposition groups and 5,000 Syrian opposition rebels who are involved in the fight against ISIS.

On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian President Vladimir Putin, along with several other officials will meet in New York to discuss tactical and cohesive plans on defeating ISIS. The Vice President of the coalition, Nagham al-Ghadri, strongly voiced his opinions, “We will decide our own fate, regardless of all the talks and meetings held by them.” Within a 24-hour span from December 14th to December 15th, Russia conducted 17 airstrikes targeted at Raqqa; the self-proclaimed capital of ISIS. Despite a great deal of Russian airstrikes aimed at ISIS, thousands of people have been left unimpressed. British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond believes that the attacks are benefiting President al-Assad and his forces more than they are harming him.

A few of the Russian’s goals are to destroy ISIS combatants alongside uniting the Free Syrian Army with government troops who are fighting against the terrorist group. “It is still only around 25 percent of the total of their (Russian) air strikes, the remainder are targeted against the moderate opposition and that is deeply unhelpful to put it mildly,” Hammond said on Wednesday. He isn’t completely inaccurate, as recently the airstrikes seem to consistently weaken the opposition forces meanwhile giving ISIS an opportunity to advance in their attacks.