In Syria

Arabic satellite channels as well as Facebook allow exiled Syrian opposition figures to observe the slogans of demonstrators on the ground so that they can in effect be led by the opposition on the street and reflect their views to the rest of the world. As a result it is safe to say that of the opposition activists and organisers on the ground (those who demonstrate, fight or provide aid to activists), nearly all back the Syrian National Council (SNC) as their representative to the outside world. At this point the SNC has been virtually recognised by outside countries as their main interlocutor with the Syrian opposition - despite the fact that the SNC is torn by divisions, jealousies and suspicion and is under the influence of many different countries. In my view, it is not sufficiently connected to local leaders inside Syria. It has not done enough to assuage the fears of minorities, to offer a plausible post-regime future or to come up with a strategy for removing the regime. But its position more or less reflects the views on the "street".

[...]

Until now there is no direct foreign state assistance to the opposition inside Syria or the Syrian insurgency commonly called the Free Syrian Army. Insurgents purchase their weapons locally from arms dealers and smugglers.

However, there is foreign assistance to the Syrian National Council, which is based in Turkey.

A lot of money to the opposition inside Syria is coming in from Syrians living outside. Some of those are in the SNC and some of those may receive financial assistance from some countries, but most of the money comes from Syrians.

  Nir Rosen for alJazeera

And our influence in the SNC will undoubtedly eventually be backed by the most money and therefore win the day.

Most opposition activists, fighters and supporters on the ground in Syria are in favour of some form of foreign military intervention. The older intellectual opposition figures who are well-known but not significant in this uprising are opposed to foreign intervention.

Surprisingly, the mainstream Syrian opposition on the ground looks to the West for help. This is despite decades of anti-Western attitudes and anger over issues such as Palestine and the American invasion of Iraq. And despite evidence of how disastrous the American intervention in Iraq was and the mixed reviews the NATO intervention in Libya has received. 

If you look at it in terms of the need for money to run the revolution, it takes some of the surprise out of it.

But the Syrian opposition associates notions of resistance and anti-imperialism with the Assad regime and therefore the causes themselves have been discredited and their enemy has been reduced to the regime and the daily struggle for survival.

That, too.

One example is an opposition military commander in Douma who is an Islamist and a former sheikh. "You and your friends supported jihad against America in Iraq, didn't you?" I asked him. "Of course," he said. "And now you want American help in your struggle against the regime?," I asked. "Of course," he answered, "There is a difference between an aggression and occupation and helping an oppressed country."

A very fine distinction in our country, and one we hope not to accentuate. But this can only be to the monetary advantage of the Syrian rebels.

Read this post and another which gives basics and background from Nir Rosen as he reported from two months amongst the demonstrators in Syria to understand what's going on there.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.