Syrians losing patience, confidence in revolution

Tom A. Peter, Special for USA TODAY | USATODAY

ALEPPO, Syria — Mahmoud Abu Kador managed to keep working as a tailor despite the intense firefights between rebels and Syrian troops for almost a year.

But he shut down recently, not because of the violence but over relentless demands for bribes from rebels and the drift of the rebellion from a demand for democratic change to desires for an Islamic state.

"At first, I believed in the revolution because I believe in civil rights, but now the revolution is going in a different direction, and Islamist groups are spreading all over the country," Kador says.

"I hope Syria will find the middle way, not too secular and too conservative," he says.

Monday, President Obama said the United States is working with Britain to strengthen the moderate opposition in Syria. At a White House news conference alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama called the violence in Syria appalling. Cameron announced more than $45 million in humanitarian aid for Syria and more than $15 million in non-lethal support for opposition rebels.

Forces opposing Syrian dictator Bashar Assad include members of the Free Syrian Army, a rebel group of deserters and officers from the Syrian Army, but also foreign fighters and jihadists with ties to al-Qaeda and other Islamist terror groups. The fighting has killed more than 70,000 people, and 1.4 million Syrians live as refugees outside the country, according to the United Nations.

Since last summer, Aleppo has been essentially divided between the opposition forces and government troops battling for control of what was once the commercial hub of Syria and its largest city.

Checkpoints enforce the divide. Cars are no longer allowed to cross from one side to the other. For businessmen such as Kador, it is almost impossible to make a profit under such circumstances.

Many Syrian civilians caught in the middle of the conflict say they support neither Assad nor the opposition.

"Before the fighting started, people here (Aleppo) supported Assad, but after they saw what happened in Homs and other places, they joined the revolution, but now that they see the problems, they are questioning the revolution," says Abu Ahmad, who runs a backpack factory in Aleppo.

"This is not freedom," he says. "We were supposed to get it without the destruction."

Shortly before the fighting started, Ahmad borrowed materials from suppliers to make backpacks for students. No one bought his backpacks after the fighting broke out, and he is $75,000 in debt, a small fortune in Syria, and struggling to keep his inventory safe from the fighting and looting.

Throughout Syria, it has become hard to make a living. In opposition-controlled areas, few people are able to work, and most people live off savings and humanitarian aid. The country has seen a sharp spike in crime. In many areas, kidnapping is emerging as a serious threat.

The family of Aleppo resident Abu Yousef had to pay almost $40,000 to kidnappers who took Yousef's cousin. A strong supporter of the revolution, Yousef says a corrupt faction of the FSA was responsible for the abduction. No one has faced any charges or legal action in courts run by the opposition movement.

"Even now, I'm afraid that someone will come into my shop and kill me or kidnap me," says Yousef, a former jewelry maker who works in his uncle's tire shop. "If no one helps the revolution, then more people will be like these criminals and steal for a living. If it goes on like this much longer, maybe even I will get this idea."

Yousef has lost his house to an airstrike. His car was crushed when a building hit by tank fire collapsed on it. His jewelry shop is on the front lines and has been damaged considerably.

He says he still supports the revolution and believes it is made up of many honest people. Like many Syrians, he hopes Islamist groups will win control of Syria because he says they have a reputation for being honest and evenhanded.

Over the course of the country's two-year uprising, Islamist groups have developed strong bases of support.

Off the battlefield, Islamist groups such as Jabhat al-Nusra, designated a terrorist group by the U.S. Treasury Department, provide humanitarian assistance and run Islamic courts to settle civil disputes or criminal cases in opposition-controlled areas.

"The Islamic revolution is better than any other side, but there is one problem with this side: They don't accept anyone else's opinions," says Abu Yousef, a lawyer in Aleppo who shares the same name as the former jeweler.

"People in Syria can't accept Islamic government, but at this time, they are needed," he says. "But when Assad goes, they will not be needed. I think there will be another revolution against the Islamists."

Kador may not wait around to see who prevails. He managed to stay in business selling his T-shirts on the government side of the city, but now that is not feasible because of the obstacles. He has stopped working and lives off his savings, which he estimates will last only a few weeks.

"I don't believe in joining any groups like the (Free Syrian Army)," he says. "If I can legally emigrate somewhere else, I will."