. . . the Syrian conflict has come to represent one involving (1) elements within the Syrian government; (2) Lebanese Hezbollah units and foreign fighter-dominated Shiite militias; (3) small remnants of genuinely nationalist and sometimes secular opposition rebel units; (4) Muslim Brotherhood-type rebel groups; (5) Salafist groups; and (6) al-Qaeda affiliates and similarly aligned units. Crucially, while 1 and 2 share a central goal of ensuring Assad’s survival and 3 through 6 aim to overthrow the Assad regime, all six can be said to individually retain their own unique ideological and operational objectives.

Syria’s multipolar war – By Charles Lister and Phillip Smyth | The Middle East Channel (Foreign Policy)- 10/31/2013.

______

Report: Qaeda recruits enter Syria from safe houses in Turkey – Alarabiya.net English | Front Page – 10/31/2013: “Abu Abdulrahman manages a network of receiving centers in southern Turkey for volunteers wishing to join al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria, known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).”

______

ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan: Largest camp for Syrian refugees becoming a city – World Wires – MiamiHerald.com – 11/1/2013: “ZAATARI CAMP, Jordan — The manager of the region’s largest camp for Syrian refugees arranges toy figures, trucks and houses on a map in his office trailer to illustrate his ambitious vision. In a year, he wants to turn the chaotic shantytown of 100,000 into a temporary city with local councils, paved streets, parks, an electricity grid and sewage pipes.”

______

Kurds in Iraq, Syria work as shield against al-Qaeda – Alarabiya.net English | Front Page – 10/31/2013.

______

BBC News – Have missing Norwegian sisters joined fighting in Syria? – 10/30/2013: ” . . . and they say to me your daughters are not in Norway.  They are in Turkey.”

______

Saudi Arabia funds Syrian rebels, splits with U.S. – UPI.com – 10/8/2013: “BEIRUT, Lebanon, Oct. 8 (UPI) — Saudi Arabia, exasperated with U.S. vacillation related to Syria’s chemical arsenal and now its effort to reconcile with Iran, Riyadh’s foremost adversary, is forging a new alliance of Islamist rebels in Syria under a pro-Saudi warlord to supersede the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army.”

______

Obama’s bungling has enabled Russia’s chief autocrat to 1) seize leadership of the Christian position and leverage power and approval unto himself while supporting an essentially murderous dictator and 2) urged on Arab support and de facto Turkish allowance — either that or incompetence — for the Al Qaeda affiliates to produce a sustained presence and fill out their ranks in the theater.

Not only does “Syria” not end well . . . it doesn’t end.

The Assad regime long ago lost the ability to enforce its sovereignty out to the boundaries of its writ; substantial Syrian populations have been displaced internally or made refugee, many permanently, having no business or homes to which to return; for the west, Israel and Kurdistan mark the chief lines of containment while Jordan and Turkey flex to take in the stranger and resist losing themselves, or parts of themselves, in the chaos next door.

# # #