An excerpt from,
"Syrian opposition split over peace conference" by Fehim Taştekin, Al Monitor, November 9:
Another SNC member, Kamal Lebvani, dismissed concerns of losing
international support should the SNC not go to Geneva, saying: "There is
no international support anyway; otherwise, we wouldn’t be in this
situation. It is meaningless to talk of losing international support.”
He then said something that made all other debates irrelevant: "No
matter what decision comes out this meeting, it won’t be implemented
because the real actors are those fighters in Syria, not us. We have no
power to represent them."
An excerpt from,
"Syria's Rebels: Between Talks and a Hard Place" by
Benedetta Berti, The National Interest, November 8:
The National Syrian Coalitionfinds itself in an especially vulnerable situation: with the United States getting cold feet
over expanding military assistance, and with the option of an
international military intervention off the table, the Coalition now
finds itself weaker in terms of international backing and domestic
legitimacy. Its political leadership is increasingly contested, and its capacity to direct the fighting is more and more limited.
