In Syria, Disputes Threaten Rebel Unity

As fighting in Syria presses on, the various groups that propagate the conflict, ever more confident that they will bring about the fall of President Bashar al Assad, eventually will succumb to political and ideological rivalries. In fact, already there have been instances of violence among rival groups jockeying for power, territory and supplies in hopes that their respective ideologies will prevail in a post-al Assad Syria. But for now, the rebels will avoid serious disputes as best they can to militate against their own defeat. Al Assad's forces remain a potent threat in the country, and the rebels know that disunity among their ranks would be detrimental to their ultimate objective of removing the president.