US will recognize main rebel group as Syria’s legitimate representative

The US government, on Tuesday, formally recognized the Syrian National Coalition for Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the sole legitimate political representative of the country.

“We’ve made a decision that the Syrian Opposition Coalition is now inclusive enough, is reflective and representative enough of the Syrian population that we consider them the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in opposition to the Assad regime, and so we will provide them recognition,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with Barbara Walters. “It’s a big step.”

The US has largely been sitting on the sidelines of the Syrian civil war that has claimed at least 40,000 lives. This announcement comes after France, Britain, Turkey and the Gulf states already announced their formal recognition of the rebel coalition as Syria’s legitimate leadership. Additionally, some say this move comes too late to make a significant difference in the outcome of the war.

“The recognition is designed as a political shot in the arm for the opposition,” said Andrew J. Tabler, a senior fellow and Syrian expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “But it’s happening in the context of resentment among the Syrian opposition, especially armed elements, of the White House’s lack of assistance during the Syrian people’s hour of need. This is especially true among armed groups.”

However; some officials have cited that the same factors that prevent the US from providing the rebels with weapons also played a large role in prompting this recent policy shift toward Syria.

“There is a small element of those who oppose the Assad regime that are affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq…and we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements of the opposition,” Mr. Obama said in his ABC News interview. “Not everybody who’s participating on the ground in fighting Assad are people who we are comfortable with,” he added. “There are some who, I think, have adopted an extremist agenda, an anti-U.S. agenda, and we are going to make clear to distinguish between those elements.”

There is concern on the part of US officials that Al-Qaeda backed militants are now beginning to infiltrate the Syrian revolution. The longer the war drags on, the greater the foothold Al-Qaeda will be able to gain in the region. The concern on the part of the US is that if they provide weapons to the rebellion, those weapons will in turn fall into the hands of parties hostile toward the US. One of the factions in particular, the radical Islamist Syrian group Jabhat al-Nusrah, has been designated as an Al-Qaeda affiliated terrorist group by the US.

But President Obama had mostly praise for the vast majority of the Syrian Free Army, calling its approach open and inclusive of various ethnic and religious groups. “At this point we have a well-organized-enough coalition, opposition coalition that is representative, that we can recognize them as the legitimate representative of Syrian people,” he said.