Between Iraq and a Hard Place - Who to back in the Syrian Civil War

Who exactly are we supposed to be supporting in the Syrian Civil war? There are at least four different groups at the moment battling for control over the country but knowing who we should be helping is a tough question. 

The Assad regime? A man who uses chemical weapons on his own people? Vladimir Putin and Iran are backing this option. The West are appalled by this notion and are determined to see Assad replaced and are backing what they are calling "moderate rebel forces". But what does that mean?

Remember the Sylvester Stallone movie Rambo III? The film was set during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the hero of the piece, John Rambo, fought alongside the the Mujahideen. It seems when Muslims are waging a Jihad against our enemies then they are brave and noble rebels. When they shift their sights to our troops the labels change.

One man's freedom fighters are another man's terrorists.

The CIA armed and financed the Afghan mujahideen prior to and during the Soviet war in Afghanistan, from 1979 to 1989. It was this group of well armed Islamic warriors that evolved into the group we now know as the Taliban. The US trained Osama Bin Laden and a number of other Al-Qaeda members.

It wasn't too long ago that we were offering weapons and military aid to Libyan rebels and we all know how that turned out. Libya is still in disarray nearly five years after removing Muammar Gaddafi. Its a country in chaos. Much like Iraq the west rushed into military action without an actual end game plan. When will we learn this lesson?

It worries me when I hear the government and the media refer to assisting “moderate rebels”. These are the people who are fighting in the Syrian civil war against Bashar Al-Assad. You can almost guarantee that once Assad and ISIS are removed that these “moderates” will fill the void and evolve into the next generation of terrorists.

The sad truth is that the people who should form a government to replace the Assad regime are not among the so called moderates. The people who deserve to run Syria democratically have already left. They are the peaceful 3,000,000 refugees who have been forced from their homes.