Human Rights Watch has thrown an unexpected twist into the debate over the Syrian government's violent crackdown on its opponents, with a report accusing Syrian rebels of kidnapping, torturing, and even executing supporters of President Bashar al-Assad. The human rights watchdog has called on rebel leaders to condemn such tactics, although the alleged culprits don't appear to be under the control of any of the main opposition groups. Still, have Syria's rebels surrendered the moral high ground?
The rebels aren't as pure as we thought: Syria's opposition has run into "some bad publicity lately," says Robert Wright at The Atlantic. Days before Human Rights Watch released its sobering report, rebels set off two car bombs that killed civilians and security forces alike. Such violence isn't exactly "shocking" in a conflict like this, but "for westerners accustomed to seeing courageous rebels pinned down in Homs, felled by ruthless Syrian forces, this sort of publicity complicates the narrative."
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