It was with a certain chilling confidence that the commander of an Islamist brigade explained his vision of Syria’s future:

“The problem right now,” he said, “is that the West refuses to help us. They refuse to help us because they don’t want to help ‘terrorists’. But we are not the terrorists. We are the ones winning this revolution. We are the ones helping the Syrian people. If the West helps us topple the regime, we will work with them. But if they invade Syria after the regime has fallen, to support the thieves and infidels in the secular opposition, then we will know that their real war is against Islam.”