Western categorization of terrorists in Syria 'absurd'

An analyst has described as 'absurd' the bid by the Western governments to draw a distinction between terrorists in Syria based on expediencies.

The Western governments have constructed an "absurd" dichotomous classification of extremist and moderate terrorists in Syria, Emad Abshenas, a political analyst and a former managing director of the Iranian English newspaper Iran Daily, said in an oped published in the Persian service of the Russian media outlet Sputniknews on Monday.

That classification mainly serves the interests of those governments by enabling them to target a certain type of terrorists and paving the ground for the activities of the other, the analyst said.

By definition, Abshenas said, the group of terrorists that the West calls "moderate Syrian opposition" should be "Syrian in the first place and also be moderate and can then be considered the opposition of the state if they have a political goal and had failed to reach their objectives through political means.” 

The analyst then asked whether terrorist groups like the al-Qaeda-linked Nusra Front or the Ahrar al-Sham could be classified as moderate based on the US interpretation of the militants in Syria.

For more than a year, the US alleges to be fighting terrorists in Syria and Iraq but reports on the ground do not back up this claim , Abshenas said, citing Washington's reluctance to deliver the fighter jets and weapons that Iraq has purchased from Washington as well as the provision of logistic and financial aid by the US allies in the region to terrorists.  

The US and its allies have been engaged in an aerial military campaign against alleged Daesh position in Iraq and Syria since last August and September respectively. Many have questioned the effectiveness of military measure.

For nearly a week, however, the US and allies have been accusing Russia of targeting the so-called moderate militant groups in its alleged attack on Daesh militants in Syria. Russia denies the charges, saying it chooses its targets based on intelligence provided by the Syrian military.

Damascus, which is well in its fifth year of battling militant groups, dismisses any classification of terrorists in Syria, calling all armed groups fighting against the government as terrorists.

"When the United States and allies carry out bombardments, it is acceptable, but when others pound the militants, it is viewed as wrong?" asked Abshenas, hailing Russia for successfully accomplishing a mission in Syria in a matter of days which “the US and allies failed or, better to say, refrained from doing,” despite all the hype and hullabaloo in Western media.

“They are afraid the terrorists they have been nurturing for years may be obliterated by Russia,” Abshenas said. 

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