Omar Kaddour searches in vain for them:
Opposition fighters are not moderate. By the same standards, they are not extremists, and it must be noted that the standard used to distinguish between them is Islamic in the first place. These fighters are in very harsh conditions, and their attempt to survive and overthrow the regime that has targeted them is more important than any ideological luxury that the majority of them possess.
In many instances, the members of moderate groups have fled to better-armed groups and more effective groups under the pressure of necessity. Entire groups have also become extremist to ensure their share of foreign funding. But the most important development that has happened is that tens of thousands of officers and soldiers who have defected from the regime’s army have been taken away and they have been placed in conditions resembling house-arrest in neighboring states. They have not been trained to become the kernels of an organized army independent of ideological projects.
In the real meaning of the phrase, there is no moderate armed opposition.
The Dish 