"This climate of sectarian polarization has triggered a slow but certain "Islamization" of the armed movement. Ultraconservative Salafi-jihadis, in particular, have made rapid inroads among the rebels. They tend to organize in small, close-knit groups, but their ideological impact is visible across the rebel movement, with other factions increasingly adopting their religious discourse. Even the most well-known insurgent alliance, the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a loose umbrella term used by several inter-related insurgent networks, is hardly the secular movement it is portrayed as in the West, where it is represented by a small coterie of exiled military defectors. In Syria, the main body of FSA networks has come to resemble a Sunni sectarian movement, which is increasingly influenced by Islamist ideology." Aron Lund in FP
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The revolt in Syria has ALWAYS BEEN a Sunni sectarian rebellion against a government that represents the interests of Syrians who wish to live in a multi-confessional country that is essentially secular. pl
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/10/15/holy_warriors?page=full
