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What Does the Syrian Opposition Believe?
(Wall Street Journal) David Pollock - A confidential survey of 186 opposition activists living in Syria completed in December 2011 reveals that Islamists are only a minority among them. Domestic opponents of Assad, the survey indicates, look to Turkey as a model for Syrian governance - and even widely admire the U.S. About one-third expressed a favorable opinion of the Muslim Brotherhood, almost half voiced a negative view, and the remainder were neutral. While many respondents supported religious values in public life, only a small fraction strongly favored Shariah law, clerical influence in government, or heavy emphasis on Islamic education. Less than 2% had positive views of Iran as a political model. Fully 90% expressed an unfavorable view of Hizbullah. The writer is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.