So-called Syrian moderates are a critically endangered species, a new study suggests.
The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics will release a new study Monday claiming that 60 percent of non-Islamic State Syrian rebel groups adhere to extremist Islamic ideology, and share similar goals with the bloodthirty Islamic State.
The study is the latest blow to hopes of national security hawks, such as Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who argue for arming moderate Syrian rebels.
The Centre on Religion and Geopolitics is affiliated with a group run by former U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who championed intervention in Iraq in 2003, but has since apologized for many of his actions in the prosecution of that war.
The BBC notes that the report “says the greatest danger to the international community are groups who share the IS ideology but are currently being ignored — they number about 100,000 fighters.”
The United States currently supports the removal of both Assad and the Islamic State, but some on the campaign trail have disagreed.
Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, in particular, have dissented with regards to the importance of removing Assad.
