If the Syrian rebels are aided by Al Qaeda, doesn’t that make anyone aiding the rebels de facto Al Qaeda supporters?

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy too. I agree; it is a sorry mess.

Yes.

I don’t think it is that simple.

In one other thread, I mentioned how this reminded me of the time when Al-Qaeda and other groups provided humanitarian aid to Pakistan after flooding in 2010. In that instance, I could not assume that the Pakistanis were my enemies simply because they accepted Al-Qaeda aid.

I think something similar is occurring here. Al-Qaeda wants to win over the hearts of the Syrians, as well as gain the favor of the possibly-soon-to-be Syrian government.

In the case of the flooding, the answers was clear: provide Pakistan with aid in order to make them less dependent on aid from Al-Qaeda. Of course, the answer is not that clear in this case. “The Rebels” are far from a united group, with a wide variety of motivations and goals, some of which are more noble than others. The main idea, however, is that supporting the rebels might allow the US to gain favor instead of Al-Qaeda, at least to some extent. We at least need to take possibility that into account.

Too simplistic.

Some rebels are helped by Al Qaeda, but the various factions are legion and are definitely at odds with Al Qaeda.

I think it definitely is true that we have no idea what factions will prevail if Assad is taken down but there is a necessity for some kind of action based on humanitarian grounds. I hope it will be diplomatic.

All that means is that the U.S. must stay away from the rebellion and deal with the winner. There is no position, other than what I stated, that will keep us out of a war that is not our business.