Mercy Aguilar, director of U.S. Programs at the Organization of American States (OAS), said that although the OAS had long recognized the role of the United States in the region, the United Nations had “still not recognized the U.S. presence or even the existence of this coalition or the fact that there is one.”

“This means that the U.S. is not only at the helm [of the coalition], but [that] this is a force that is also working its way through the entire region and there are significant forces in Iraq, in Syria and Egypt that are supporting and helping [the coalition] fight Daesh,” he said.

According to Aguilar, this “coalition” — more broadly termed “moderate opposition,” meaning the FSA, the PKK, the Syrian Kurds and their allies — comprises forces in Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Iraq’s southern provinces, including the Sunni majority cities of Diyala, Salahaddin and Baij.

Read more

It is led by Abdul Jabbar al-Omar, “a Saudi prince who has no training as a combat pilot or a fighter” and is being supported by a wide array of international and regional backers. Omar “was born to a Sunni family, which meant he can be perceived as a good Saudi and a good ally against the regime,” a former senior official in the Saudi foreign ministry told RT.

Some of these backers include Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Others, including the United States also have “support and encouragement.” This includes Turkey, which has given its military and paramilitary aid, and has “supported and supported the military leadership of the Syrian opposition,” according to the Pentagon official, who declined to name the country behind this.

As for the rebels who are fighting in Syria, “I would say in the west, and if not already supported, certainly they are at least less inclined to take the initiative from Daesh against ISIS,” said Paul Salem, an international law specialist and international security expert at Carnegie Europe, speaking by phone from Bulgaria. He noted, that with the defeat of al-Qaeda in Iraq, those rebels have turned over the management to the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units) — in this case, a Kurdish-majority component.

One of the rebel groups being supported by Turkey and Gulf states has been the so-called “Syrian Democratic Forces,” which