With the expansion of the political umbrella of the revolutionary and opposition forces in Syria, the conflict is entering the stage of the unification of the factions and armed brigades under the wing of the military council affiliated with the National Coalition that was born in Doha, following difficult debates that went on with these forces. The Gulf Cooperation Council inaugurated the recognition of the Coalition as the “legitimate representative of the Syrian people," while the Arab League did not reach that level, thus provoking concerns within the opposition's ranks, which thought that the Doha meeting and what it induced were enough to ensure the beginning of the countdown for the final stage of the conflict with the Syrian regime. French President Francois Hollande's announcement of Paris' recognition of the National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces as the sole legitimate representative of the people brought back to mind the way the war banner was raised by his predecessor Nicolas Sakorzy against Muammar Gaddafi's regime, but Washington is insisting on leading the situation “from the back." It is thus recognizing the Coalition as the sole representative, but stressing that what was achieved in Doha did not justify the ending of the abstinence from arming the opposition. Obama's second administration is waiting for the Coalition and its military council to prove their ability to contain the brigades, in order to appease the concerns of the Americans and the Westerners in general towards the infiltration of the revolutionary ranks by Jihadists and extremists, knowing that this is the pretext being used by the regime and its allies abroad to justify the eradication war targeting what it dubs the armed terrorist groups. But there is a great difference between America's leadership over the war on Gaddafi's regime “from the back" – via the air cover provided to NATO's operations – and its cautious diplomacy in following up on the conflict in Syria. And after the West excluded for a long time any military intervention to stop the massacres which have so far claimed the lives of 40,000 people among civilians, oppositionists and regime forces, Washington is addressing a message to the Coalition, defining missions for it other than the toppling of the regime and featuring the country's cleansing from the Jihadists. Afterwards, Obama's administration could arm the revolutionaries while being fully reassured. In reality, the American president who won a second term a few days ago will find many excuses to retreat, even recant the leadership “from the back." Indeed, in addition to the economic crisis sweeping the country, the scandals affecting Washington have been snowballing ever since the resignation of the CIA chief, knowing that if this scandal had been revealed two weeks ago, it might have altered Obama's chances in the presidential elections. This caution will turn into further reluctance and indecision at the level of the United States' foreign policy, and the American recognition of the new Syrian coalition might remain limited to verbal enthusiasm. Still, it might be saved by Moscow's proposal of an exit from the war in Syria, to avoid risking the loss of its remaining interests in the region. But after Damascus dubbed the Doha meetings a “declaration of war," what is left for Russia to maneuver with? Before Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's arrival to Riyadh yesterday to meet with his counterparts in the Gulf Cooperation council, the question surrounding the core of the ideas or initiative he is carrying were raised once again, at a time when Russian diplomacy has been insisting on holding this meeting for quite some time. And while the gap between Kremlin's position and that of the GCC was clearly behind the delay affecting the ministerial talks, what was noticeable was that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev anticipated the meeting by reiterating the talk about some states' bias in favor of the Syrian opposition, in a way that did not encourage dialogue to seek a political solution with the regime. It should be mentioned at this level that the Putin-Medvedev duo has two problems. The first is that no one in the region, in Europe or America believes their claims regarding their non-bias in favor of whichever side in the Syrian conflict. The second is that Kremlin has not yet realized that the majority of the Syrian oppositionists have already proclaimed the death of dialogue with the regime months ago, i.e. ever since the revolution was forced to become militarized in light of the massacres and the total destruction of the cities. For that same reason, i.e. the absence of any chances of seeing a political solution since before the massacres broke the 10,000-dead barrier, the opposition no longer recognizes the purpose of the Arab-European call for an expanded dialogue between the National Coalition and Arab-UN Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to ensure a (peaceful) transition of power! In order to arm the opposition, Hollande is awaiting the proclamation of a transitional government enjoying legitimacy. Obama on the other hand is awaiting Syria's cleansing from the Jihadists to avoid the fall of Stinger missiles in their hands. As for Brahimi, he is waiting and keeping his plan confidential, while Erdogan is showing patience and settling for warnings and guarantees from NATO. Only the Syrians are moving forward in the long tunnel.
